I have the exact same problem with a Gitzo 2542L that I just bough used. Cleaning the tripod, there seems to be a bit of corrosion from salty water, but nothing too damaging. The only problem is this one tube that is stuck in the spider. I have just putted some WD-40 on the "tube" in the hope that it would trickle in between the tube and the spider and do its magic. But if this does not work, I really don't know how I am going to unstuck the tube without damaging the spider. If you guys have some ideas, I am interested!
Get a small amount of Kroil. Apply so gravity helps, meaning upside down. Put in a warm corner and wait a couple days.
Repeat if necessary.
http://www.kanolabs.com/
AlexB..if Kroil won't get it loose, it's hopeless!
I managed to unstuck it! Here is how I did it for those who may be unlucky enough to be in the same situation.
I have first tried WD-40, letting it there for a couple of hours. It didn't do anything.
Then Randy made the comment about Kroil, so I looked to find this near my place (Canada), and the closest I came to was PL-100, which is a "super penetrating lubricant" (which is supposed to be similar to Kroil because of that "penetrating" thing... ). I applied some, placed the spider so that the lubricant could sink in, and let the whole thing there for a few hours.
I think it helped, but ultimately the real problem is that it is very hard to have any grip or get any leverage on the small tube. At some point, some force is required and you need to find a way to apply some real force to either push or pull out the thing out of there. I tried multiple things that did not work. and then, alleluia!
I took the Gitzo screw and screwed it in the tube, but not completely. I left just enough space to be able to grab the screw using the back of a hammer. While being careful about where on the spider I was creating leverage with the hammer, I pulled the tube out with the spider in one hand and the hammer in the other, pretty much just like you can use a hammer to take nails out of stuff. So, I guess the lubricant helped, but what ultimately did it is that "technique".Again, I was just very careful about where on the spider I was creating leverage with the hammer.
Hopefully this will help someone in the same situation.
I cleaned the whole thing, and now everything works just fine.
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