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Toad in the Hole detached unexpectedly.

Discussion in 'MōVI M5' started by Nicolas T, Jul 28, 2014.

  1. Nicolas T

    Nicolas T Member

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    I had taken the Movi out and was moving along nicely when suddenly the Toad in the hole came unclamped and the bottom part of the Movi made a plummet for the ground. Fortunately the rig was not up high and was over dirt, not pavement. No real damage noted to anything except may be some scuff marks.

    I do not know why it came undone. I was walking with it for a few minutes without a problem. Something had to both pull the hinge back and press both buttons at the same time. It seemed perfectly steady before that so I would think if I didn't have it fully engaged it would not have worked that well. I was filming at the time.

    If I had to guess, one of the cables was perhaps locked inside the clamp and use of it caused the clamp to disengage. I am not sure how the Movi works with that clampe disengaged but since it can spin freely it might have wrapped a cable around it cause both buttons to press in and detach.

    It happened so fast that I wasn't able to figure out what happened. As Soon as it fell I immediately grabbed for it and was focusing on turning it off.

    Just a word to warning to make sure you clamp the toad in the hole together without obstruction and that it is good and secure with nothing near it before using it.
     
  2. Jason Comparetto

    Jason Comparetto Active Member

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    Wow scary. I'm definitely going to check its integrity by jiggling it the next time I have it attached. This simply *cannot* happen
     
  3. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Nicolas my understanding is the Toad as it engages is 'locked' into the system and should not come out unless the push buttons are pressed. The clamp stops the Toad from rotating. In your description if something prevented the latches from full engaging that could result in what you saw.
     
  4. Nicolas T

    Nicolas T Member

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    Thanks Gary. I will have to be more attentive to the attachment. I know the clamp was pressed in and was able to use the Movi. It was secure enough to hold for a little. It could be that I didn't have it attached just right. I will be double checking it to make sure its secure moving forward.
     
  5. Josh Shimasaki

    Josh Shimasaki New Member

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    Hi Nicolas, It's happened to me too. It was very sudden, so hard to see what really happened, but only thing I can think was one of the cable was caught in the lever while MoVI was turned around in dual operation mode and pull the lever out. As Gary said, it should have been held even the lever was released, but it obviously wasn't. It might be rare case but two of us already had same experience, so Freefly Systems must seriously investigate this matter. For my opinion, the toad in the hole is not secure enough for the heavy payload, too easy to pull the lever, too easy to push the button. For the time being I strongly recommend that put the cable tight or guffer tape around the lever when you use it.
     
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  6. Mark Langille

    Mark Langille Member

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    We gaffer tape the lever on ours to be safe.
     
  7. Tim Joy

    Tim Joy Active Member

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    If you open the lever all the way there is a hole in the end where you can tighten the clamping power. If a cable can easily pull the lever open then it is definitely not tight enough. Still, I don't see how it could come undone if the safety catch is fully engaged. Whenever we have forgotten to clamp the lever, the movi will spin it wildly around, making itself known.
     
  8. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    Can the locking teeth and the tip of the male part wear out? so it looses its grip?
    they are made of a different metal than the rest for a reason
     
  9. Tim Joy

    Tim Joy Active Member

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    Those are special coated so they don't wear. I imagine you would have to attach it millions of times for it to wear out.
     
  10. Nicolas T

    Nicolas T Member

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    When it happened to me it was very unexpected and since it was so fast, it was hard for me to know what exactly happened. As I mentioned above, the clamp itself came unattached and then the cable wrapping around was what pressed in the buttons that made it detach. Its only a guess though. Interesting to see that I was not the only one to have this accident. Has not happened since for me but I am sure to secure it, and sure to not have cables near the lever.
     

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