cleaning & lubricating a tripod head?

[lightstand]

I have some Bogen equipment that needs to be cleaned and Lubed. Specificily Bogen's #3047 Deluxe 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head can this be cleaned / lubed or is it sealed and best left untouched? I am hoping to get a smoother tilting action. thanks in adavnce jeff

[Jim Galli]

I've had mine apart a bunch, in fact I'd have junked it and moved on long ago otherwise. You have to remove the decorative plate with the useless degree wheel to get to the nuts and bolts. There's no black magic then, just clean and adjust. Don't expect it to stay adjusted, it'll loosen up over time and require more fiddling.

[andrea milano]

Don't ever use oil on aluminium! Use a touch of grafite powder instead. Do this only If really necessary, in general I would agree that a good cleaning and careful adjusting are enough. good luck