[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Next week I will use my new 60ft SL-2 for the first time. Never used a modular pole before & never been above 45ft either.

Got to admit, I'm a tad nervous, the tapered sections especially feel like I could sneeze & break them!

So, any do's / don'ts, tips, advice would be greatley appreciated. I'm going to spray the joints with ptfe & apply the lubricant both supplied with the pole today.

Regards

Winp

[StanA]

Next week I will use my new 60ft SL-2 for the first time. Never used a modular pole before & never been above 45ft either.

Got to admit, I'm a tad nervous, the tapered sections especially feel like I could sneeze & break them!

So, any do's / don'ts, tips, advice would be greatley appreciated. I'm going to spray the joints with ptfe & apply the lubricant both supplied with the pole today.

Regards

Winp

Well if you an SL2 virgin, lubricant may well be appropriate.  Remember that carbon splinters can be VERY painful 

Seriously now.  If using the pole on a longer job, it may be a good idea to disassemble it from time to time to avoid sections sticking.  I'm not convinced that lubricant is the best way in case of sections spinning.  PTFE spray is good though so long as it's the right type (I believe Gardiners supply this).  Make sure you insert the pole end well into the next section without forcing.  It has to go in far enough as you may damage the end if you don't but not so much that you need to push it.  The section numbers seem to wear off the pole and I need specs anyway.  I found it helpful to use different coloured sticky tape on each section.  I used snooker ball colours as that was easy for me to remember (i.e. yellow for section 2, green for section 3 brown for section 4 etc).  I put the sections away in the bag with 2, 3 and 4 inside each other as it can be a very tight fit if put away individually.
IMO it's a great pole for certain types of work but I wouldn't usae it as an every day pole due to its modular nature (I do mostly domestic).

[williamx]

I use vaseline instead of the spray, I find it lasts longer.

Be careful when you push the poles together, do not ram them together, instead let gravity do its job.

Also try to kept the ends dry, if water gets on them the poles jam together.

If they do jam, lightly turn one pole clockwise while you turn the other one anti clockwise.

If you are using them at 30' plus, get yourself a golf trolley and attaced either a bag, or what I do is I have 6 drain pipes that are 5' long, they are taped together, I then place this on the golf trolley instead of the bag.

The when you are extending or breaking the pole down you place the pole sections in the drain pipes, you do not want you sections being blown all of the place if you drop them on the ground. 

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Thanks guys. It's for a paticular job, 60ft reach for highest windows, even the ground windows are 20ft & it will take four days. I will use it for other stuff though, mainly to 45ft.

The pole came with ptfe spray & vaseline, should I use both? I'll have to look at the instructions again.

[williamx]

I would spray the ends with pt first then apply the vaseline, make sure that you don't put too much on otherwise it can jam the poles together.

Also if this is your first time at 60 feet, you need to take care how you go about cleaning the windows.

Firstly do not stand to close to the building at this height, it might not be windy on the ground but at 60' it can be hair raising.

At this height never move the pole sideways, always go down to a safe level say 35' then go sideways and upwards.

The same applies when you go around the side of the building.


Finally tape off a safe working zone around you and the pole height you are working at.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

There's no acsess or room issue with this job. It's a private school for the filthy rich & will be half term when I do it.

So you're saying I should dismantle the pole to 35ft to move to next window 6ft away?

[williamx]

Yes I would recommend you do that, if not and the wind catches the pole, you will lose it and at £100 per section it can be costly.

I clean at 60' all the time, what I do is I start at the top I then clean downwards to 35' I then move to the next windows and send the pole upg and clean down again to 35'.

I do this all the way around the building, when this is finshed I clean the rest of the windows the same as you would on houses, by going sideways.

You have to be careful at these heights because buildings create wind vortexs which will whip the pole out of your hand.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

To be honest, that's not going to be an option for me. What about all the water still running/dripping on the windows below you are now cleaning?

I usually clean a side at a time, on large buildings. All the tops, left to right, then middle, then bottom.

On this particular job at least, doing it your way would really extend the time to finnish the job.

No disrespect to you but that method seems more trouble than it's worth?

Maybe, I'll understand more when I do it.

[williamx]

If you insist on going sideways, then walk the pole along the wall, also extend your distance away from the building so the the angle of the pole is more shallow.

DO NOT GO AROUND THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING AT THIS HEIGHT

The distance I normally work at is up to 30' 6 to 10 from the side of the building I then move backwards 1' for every 6' to 10' I go up in height

[mark dew]

You will experience those conditions that hydro mentioned above 35 at some point. If not tomorrow another time. It is also very hard to manouvere the pole above 45ft.
How i do it is to rest the section against my foot and sorta swing the pole around. But it is very difficult in the gentlest of breezes.
You will fly around the windows below 30 feet but above will take much longer per window.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Ok mate, thanks for that, I'll see how I get on. I've got a hotel to do first which I'm gonna test it on but it's only 45ft reach. I might be back for some more advice after that!

How often do you treat the joints, daily, weekly or is it a case of trial & error + experience?

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

What makes it so difficult? Is it because it's so light or so flexible?

[williamx]

Neither, its the height, on the ground you can pick up 200' of sl2 sections with one hand, but at 50' you need 2 arms and a lot of muscle power to move the pole sideways.

You also add a lot of stress on the pole sections and if there is a weakness in a section, it will break, that I can assure you.

[mark dew]

i think because its so light. I can clean 1 handed at 45 feet without a breeze. Someone on here before described it as 'wrestling a crocodile' (which is a very good description,) in the wind.
The 1st time i used mine i thought it was going to break at 35ft. But it is very rigid really.

[mark dew]

My number 3 section snapped the 3rd time i used it. I repaired it by pushing the broken end through the larger section and gluing. Have lost about 15 inches of the section doing this.

[williamx]

I broke my number 4 section going sideways

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

What makes them snap?

I can't see how moving sideways is any more stressful than moving it up & down when cleaning. I'm even more nervous now This job has to be done in a 5 day slot, there is no time leverage to order new sections. I've never has any pole snap on me before, slx, facelift etc.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Are these troubles only in wind?

[williamx]

What makes them snap?

I can't see how moving sideways is any more stressful than moving it up & down when cleaning. I'm even more nervous now This job has to be done in a 5 day slot, there is no time leverage to order new sections. I've never has any pole snap on me before, slx, facelift etc.

You could stop at your local hospital and asked them to mri your poles to see if there are any stress fratures or weaknesses in them

You will see, when you send the pole up, watch how the pole bends, then try and move it sideways, you will see the pole bend even further, then in a micro second a 90mph wind vortex will grab at the brush head, and like Dorothy you will be transported to the land of oz

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Well I've 6 years wfp experience behind me so I've come accross many situations, but nothing above 45ft or modular.

We'll see how it turns out.

[williamx]

Best of luck, if you want any help or advice while you are on site gives us a call on my mobile and I will try to help

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Cheers.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Any other oppinoins from sl2 users?

[StanA]

If you insist on going sideways, then walk the pole along the wall, also extend your distance away from the building so the the angle of the pole is more shallow.

DO NOT GO AROUND THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING AT THIS HEIGHT

The distance I normally work at is up to 30' 6 to 10 from the side of the building I then move backwards 1' for every 6' to 10' I go up in height

That's pretty much how I've done things at 50' (not used SL" at 60' yet).  I do work sideways but walk it along the wall if conditions are a bit tricky.  If there is wind and it seems to be in a consistent direction, I start at the end the wind is coming from.  I tend not to go around the corner if possible anyway with the pole at that height.  I just remove a section or two and start at the window below where I initially began (or thereabouts depending on window layouts).
I take your point about working downwards but I too would be concerned about water coming down the walls and ruining my work.  If conditions were so tricky that I needed to resort to this, I would attempt to go onto another job and resume on a less windy day (not always practical I know).

[windowswashed]

Try getting high level work done as a priority over lower level work when the wind speed is at it's minimum in the week. Check weather forecasts.

I wouldn't work sideways above 45ft. From one side of building working my way down to 30-35ft then move around corner very cautiously before starting next wall. May not be any wind where you are standing but the wind at the top or above a building can whip it right out of your hands if you are not aware of strong side gusts. Even worst when the tall building you are working on is higher than surrounding buildings.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Another thing- What length do you guys lift the pole up from the ground before adding sections up the wall?

[mark dew]

i pick up with 5 sections at the most. I usually slot 4 together and then add sections while the pole is upright against the wall.

[williamx]

4 sections

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

i pick up with 5 sections at the most. I usually slot 4 together and then add sections while the pole is upright against the wall.

Thanks Mark, I take it you just slide the back of the goosneck up the wall?

To be honest, I may not need 60ft (hoping not now ) I estimate 55ft max, but had to be sure as, like I said, there is a strict time frame to do this job in.

Let's hope it's only 50ft!!!

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

4 sections

On gardiners video/instructions they lift it up at 40ft.

Is 4 sections all the tapers then, can't remember how many tapered sections there are, it's in it's holdall under the bed. Must get it out & get more familiar with it

[williamx]

There are 6 sections marked 1 to 6, then if you need to go higher just kept on adding no6 sections

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

There are 6 sections marked 1 to 6, then if you need to go higher just kept on adding no6 sections

Thanks pHC.

I like the rubber end protectors on each section, at least I should be able to put the base down while I move any removed sections.

[williamx]

There are 6 sections marked 1 to 6, then if you need to go higher just kept on adding no6 sections

Thanks pHC.

I like the rubber end protectors on each section, at least I should be able to put the base down while I move any removed sections.

You will need to check these at times, because they come loose, so even though they are there don't bang the pole ends on the ground.