Arm ball out of socket

[Maurillo]

On the way back from a dive, yesterday, one of the balls of my ISS 2000 ball arm slipped out of its socket, leaving me literally with... a broken arm. I frankly don't know how, I was simply twisting the arm to put it back in its bag...

Can it be repaired? It looks easy, as it easily came off, but certainly it requires some serious strength, or a special device??

I'll be travelling in two weeks to the brazilian tropics, so I'd love to have it fixed by then...

Thanks!


Maurizio

 

[timz]

Any picture..?

 

[MikkelBC]

I am guessing that the arms you are talking about is something like Loc-line arms. Loc-line does sell a specialized tool for assembly:

Loc-Line Hose Assembly Pliers: Cutting Tool Coolants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

but it is possible to assemble without it. With my Loc-line arm I have had success with putting the socket end in very hot water for a minute or so and then pressing the links together.

 

[Maurillo]

Yep,
it's not far from the Loc-line design. There's a thread inside which keeps things still together. There are also holes in each piece, perhaps they can be used with a clamp to squeeze the two balls back together....

I will give it a try with hot water.

 

[Kmart4321]

Heat up the female end and freeze the male end.
My dad used to use heat and cold to press tight fittings together when he used to pull wrenches on heavy equipment.

 

[timz]

I tried mine just now... hot and cold works perfectly. Put male side into the freezer for 2 mins. Meanwhile boil some water and pour it to the frmal side.

It should fit well or maybe loose. Then rinse with tap water.

 

[Maurillo]

Thank you all, problem solved with hot water only. I couldn't separate male from female, ' cause they're connected by an internal thread, so I could use only one of the two temperature extremes. And hot worked fine.

 

[MikkelBC]

I am glad it worked for you. I understand where the hot/cold idea its coming from, but I suspect that the reason hot water works in this case has more to do with the heat making the plastic softer rather than thermal expansion.

 

[KeithG]

These are press fit parts. High end arms have a wire inside that prevents your most favorite light/strobe from drifting down into the deep. The wire is connected inside to each end. To me it reveals a fundamental flaw in the arm design.

My original Amphibico video camera included a "Loc Line - ish?" arm for the video light. The arm sucked. It would not support the weight of the light out of the water. Underwater it was just fine, but very hard to re position in a consistent manner.

As press fit design, they really do not need special "heat" and "cold" to reconnect, just some muscle power.

But: If you do not have the internal wire... FAIL!

 

[Maurillo]

Giffenk, agreed on all.

I had understood the reason of the internal wire, and I think it's a really smart idea: in water, it prevents a drift into the abyss, and in air, a crash onto ground (that's where it append to me, on the boat).

This arm has always been extremely hard to reposition and bend, though (I wrote another thread time ago in here, asking if it was a good idea to grease it...). No problem at all in supporting ANYTHING, in and out of water, but geez it's hard to move the strobe! Often I give up trying, and simply accept and work with a given position

And the manufacturer confirmed the press-fit design, they said "Grasp both sides firmly and you can pop back together". In my case, I can guarantee I wouldn't have made it in a million years, so the hot solution was more than welcome.