Vinten Vision 22 head.

[Bob Hart]

Does anyone know of a source for component breakdown or exploded diagrams for the Vinten Vision 22 fluid head. I bought a damaged one off eBay a few years back, fully aware of what I was getting and have been slowly repairing it since. I haven't had much luck in finding anything on the internet. Vinten has downloads of newer products and is apparently working back through older products.

The degree of damage, wear and tear, means the head is not really worth sending offshore for repair. For something that looks like it went end-for-end down a steep hillside, it remains functional. If anyone knows of any severely wrecked Vinten 12, 22 heads which might have a few peripheral bits like pan/tilt lock levers, any advice will be appreciated.

There are some on eBay which are as substantially damaged as the one I have but the vendors want gold-plated prices for them.

[Chris Soucy]

Hi Bob.

It is possible - though how close that is to probable I can't say- that one of Vintens engineers could enlighten you on compatibility/ commonality between what you have and what's currently stocked as spares, if such individual could be tracked down.

If it was any company other than Vinten I wouldn't even suggest this as you'd get the "not a current product" bums rush by return of post sooo, fire a mail to either or both:

Andrew.Butler@VitecGroup.com - Peter.Harman@VitecGroup.com and see if they can scare up said engineering bod.

BTW both the above are PREVIOUS Product Managers, not current. The current PM is (supposed to be) Philip.Dalgoutte@VitecGroup.com but I have not been able to establish contact with the latter so maybe he ain't the current PM after all.

Good luck. Oh, how about a couple of piccies, I've never even heard of a model 22 before today?


CS

[Bob Hart]

Chris.


Apparently the Vinten Vision 22 has been supplanted by the Vinten Vision 250. It is a big beast.

Common components are the end-pieces with heavier models having larger centres but the same knobs levers etc..

They are an inspired piece of work, anti-friction bearings everywhere and two counterbalance springs which would not look out of place as valve-springs on an old BMC Mini Cooper of probably the same vintage.

Like all things British of the times, there was also indiosyncracy. The castings are a bit thin, obviously to save weight but for heavier heads, maybe a bit too fragile. A topple is all it takes and an aviation welder I consulted determined that the stuff cannot be welded back up again.

The pattern design and the making of the patterns would have been exquisite work to observe. Where you might see black springsteel rollpins in other products, you see in the Vinten, these pins or pillars which look like bits of rolled up Sunshine Milk tinplate strip. Maybe that is where the term "roll pin" came from.

They are apparently still being used in the modern product. They appear likely to bend and snap off but seem less likely to injure and crack light die cast metal components.

A pic to follow.

[Bob Hart]

The image won't copy but here is a link to the same model.

Vinten Vision 22SD Pan Tilt Head for 10 35 KG 22 Is Same Spec as 250 | eBay

[Bob Hart]

It is mainly the tilt lock lever which gets broken-in or broken-out when the toe goes in the cable and pulls the whole lot over or some born-tired-never-got-over-it lazy clown airmails the tripod into the back of a ute from two metres out when you are not watching.

In this link about three pix along the row, you see the hole where the missing tilt lock lever once was.

If that happens, operators do the Tarzan and cringe the tilt damper knob up extra tight to lock off which :-

Damages the roll-pin limiter by forcing it over in order to do more than the almost one turn only permitted of the knob. ( Bushies cure - bend it straight with a quiet prayer it doesn't snap off. )

Tears the inner guts out of the plastic knob. ( No bushies cure. )

Strips the thread inside of the diecast draw piece inside the knob. ( Bushies cure - remake in brass or helicoil it - Oddball BSW thread ?? ).

Squeezes the friction material which then becomes alternately slippy and grabby. ( Bushies cure. Pull apart. Put the tilt friction section out in the warm sun to go soft. When it's warm rotate the partially dismantle piece in full circles to spread the friction material until the grabby sectors go away. )


On the bigger heads, the sliding plate with all the camera weight pulling up on it ricks the tongue of the locking system upwards, bends the platfrm up in the centre which cracks ion the edges and will no longer lock off. The little lever gets overtightened and bottoms, walks off the upper surface of the tongue which has cracked the platform even more and jams. In a rightside fall, this little lever just gets bent over and jams/strips the thread next time it inevitbaly gets forced by desperate operator.

The only cure for this is aviation-style smack-guards around all controllers but who would then buy new tripods as the insides last a good long time.


Vinten Vision 12SD Head 12 SD Tripod Head | eBay

[Bob Hart]

Chris.

In my distraction of going into the ins and outs of the tripod head in my replies, I neglected to thank you for taking the trouble to look up your contact information and respond with the details.

I finished the last bit of drilling and tapping of the screwholes to hold down the patch plate I machined to replace the broken-out bit over the sliding-plate wedge-tongue locking system. It all fixed together and works fine if a bit too tight. This may allow for the rough finish of my milling work to wear down a bit and not go sloppy.

I was concerned the wedge action might pull the 4 x 3mm screw threads and bend the patch plate but so far all is well. It is going to have a Panasonic SHAN TM700 quick release plate fitted. The Vinten sliding plate is desirable as it enables balance however if it lays down again, then the holes are already drilled to directly fasten the TM700.

[Chris Soucy]

It appears that the Vitec mail server(s) were down over the weekend, so if you mailed any of the contacts I gave you they may well have been bounced as undeliverable.

I have just now had a reply from Peter Harman, having resent my original message to all three this morning. He is going to ensure that both of the other parties are aware of this thread.


CS

[Andrew Butler]

Hi Bob, Chris,

As Chris correctly pointed out we had a few e-mail issues over the weekend, however we are up and running now.

Phil and I will work to dig out the old drawing for the Vision 22, where it has common parts with the 250 availability wont be a problem, for other unique parts I'll see what the spares department have got hidden away...

Regards

Andrew
(Former Vinten Product Manger)

[Bob Hart]

Andrew.


Thank you very much for that.

The parts which are damaged are several. It is a head that has been possibly used a lot for outdoors documentary or wildlife. There are areas on the deck which are physically worn down from sliding in vehicles by the look of it.

The broken bits I am sure you are familiar with. Hopefully some are still exchangeable with the Vinten 250 parts.


Now that I have established that the innards are working perfectly I would like to fix the outer bits.


Replace left cover if possible.

Replace missing tilt lock lever.

Replace "friction insert" which fits into the threaded end of the tilt lock lever.

Replace tilt friction "draw nut".

Replace tilt friction knob rollpin "movement limiter".

Replace broken "sliding bolt" tilt lock pin/shaft. I can remake it but genuine is better.

Replace bubble lamp battery. - I have no idea what type of battery it is.

Repaint the head.

Replace the ball base rubber "O" ring.

Replace the missing original black soft rubber covers on the blue knobs.

Find out where the "spare" approx two-inch long screw came from. ( It probably offers up to the left side from within the counterbalance space but I can't for the life of me find where it goes ).



The left side cover has taken a heavy hit. The tilt lock lever has been crushed inwards and its threaded pillar has begun to crack out of the housing around the shaft. I understand the metal is a cast alloy and cannot be welded.

If the cracked piece becomes looser, I could use an old-school "stitching" technique using threaded studs and adhesive or make a bridge-piece but I'll leave that until things worsen as the crack does not seem to be growing.

I have used a careful heat and controlled pull technique to restore warped die-cast fuel pumps and filter bowls but it is a risky business at best.

What I have defined as a "draw nut" is a threaded die-cast piece with a castellated rim. It draws the tilt friction control stud tight when rotated upon it by the blue knob. The roll pin in the casework which limits the movement has been disabled by bending it over to enable more turns of the blue knob.

The screw which retains the blue knob has been forced out of its threads by the stud being wound too far into the hole due to somebody using it as a tilt lock by over-tightening. ( I could helicoil the "draw nut" or remake the piece if I could find an appropriate helicoil kit or thread tap set for the older British thread type.)

By adding washers I have recovered some good thread for the knob retaining screw but it is a tenuous grip at best.

Fortunately the tilt friction material itself appears to have survived and it is not gritty in its movement. It did have tight spots and free spots until I rotated the piece whilst I had it dismantled to redistribute the lube inside.

The pan friction is fine and there are no apparent leaks. The pan lock appears to have been improperly used as a friction device as the rocking piece is very worn.

The "tongue" which retains the wedgeplate had been forced upwards in its channel either by over-tightening or by a tumble. This channel was almost cracked away and was opening in use with no effect in locking the wedge plate.

The little lever itself was bent and jammed. I managed to free it and bend it straight without furthur injury. I have milled out the damaged area.

I replaced it with a thin piece of aluminium boat plate resting in a shallow machined channel approximately 8mm wider than the tongue channel at each side. The machining was reproduced in its lower surface. Four x 3mm countersunk screws retain it, so far without pulling away. This trick is probably best done with stainless steel or a higher strength alloy as the boat plate, whilst adequate is a bit soft.

The tilt lock lever appears to have had a small metal disk with tail in the end of the threaded section. This had dropped out and was found inside the casework when I pulled it apart. It appears the small disk may have had friction material glued onto it. Re-installed, it works as is but needs excessive tightening and injures the surface of the stainless spring steel disk inside.

There is a second tilt lock which is a simple sliding bolt, operated from the rear of the head. This "sliding bolt" had fractured at one of the "E"clip grooves and the broken piece was intermittently and unpredictably engaging and locking the tilt movement.

At some point somebody gave it a coat of what seems to be white house-paint to make it look clean and go faster. Most of that has come off.


Much of the damage seems to have occurred during careless transport. More came maybe from somebody without a knowledge of how the head operates doing their own thing and after impact damage, making innovation by using the tilt friction as a brake/lock. It is probably testament to the workmanship of the head that it still functions at all.

You may have gathered from all of this that I am a bit of a restorer.

[Michael Maier]

Hi Bob,

I know this is an old thread. But did you ever manage to repair your Vision 22? Thanks.

[Bob Hart]

Michael. This response is made for sake of anyone else who has been reading as we have since contacted direct via email.

I did have the Vinten head working fine. The repair to the deck with a small machined plate and four screws has held up. It is a dream to use but I stored it over a summer and forgot to wind the frictions off. The tile friction seems to be much less than it was.

I have pulled the tilt friction apart and find that much of the friction fluid has become metallised and discoloured.

The friction surfaces are intriguing, two thin nylon rings set into a round diecast plate and rubbing against polished stainless disk surfaces. The rings are not centric but their centres are offset by about 1/8th of an inch. The friction adjustment appears only to add pressure against one of the nylon faces with the other remaining constant.

It would seem that it was only ever intended that no more than approx twice the level of background drag might be expected with the adjustment wound in.

If anyone knows an Australian source for the Vinten Type 3 friction fluid or an equivalent, advice would be appreciated.

[Bob Hart]

For those who have curiosity in Vinten Vision 22 repair work.

The baseplate lock tongue slides in a milled space. On my specimen which has lived a hard life, the casting had cracked upwards and the lock wouldn't work. The entire cracked section was removed and the piece was duplicated in new metal.

The matching section was milled out to original design using the broken-out piece as a reference. This replacement piece was secured with four screws in holes tapped into the metal after a shallow relief was milled out. The available depth for drilling and tapping screw threads is marginal and the parent metal is soft. It looks flimsy but works fine.

[Ian Johnson]

Hi Bob,
I have an authorized repair facility here in Canada, IJES.ca if you would like to send me an email to ian@ijes.ca I will send you a copy of the SD22 manual.
If you are interested I also have an SD22 in decent working order on the shelf that we have yet to break up for parts, the left hand "rosette" is broken off the head though. I'll part with it for $600Cad if you'd like it?
Best regards, Ian.

[Bob Hart]

Hello again Ian.


Thank you for your responsive post.

I have assembled the head back together again for now. The frictions remain a bit light but that is apparently the way they were supposed to be. It sees those left side covers and rosettes were a magnet for damage.

I'll give the $600 head a miss but thanks for giving me notice of it. I'll email you about the SD22 manual.


Cheers from Western Australia.

[Ian Johnson]

Hi Bob, As they age the SD22 drags get weaker for sure. The labyrinth leaks out. Happy to have helped with the manual. Good luck with the repairs. Best regards, Ian.