Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Wc Solutions on September 04, 2011, 10:18:07 pm
-
cant make my mind up!!!!!
i know most say slx range but im not sure yet!!
-
cant make my mind up!!!!!
i know most say slx range but im not sure yet!!
buy the lot
-
I've tried the Grafter plus pole at the Ionic road show in Guildford,the normal Grafter is crap,I mean the bend on it ,you could scratch your back with it,cheap but crap,however the Grafter Plus is completly different,it's a mix of carbon and glass fibre and is a really good pole for the price and the closed down lenght is impressive at 32 feet,it closes down to four to five feet I remember or there abouts,did order one but got fed up waiting after two months and cancelled to get an Elite 30 foot pole,fully carbon manufactured and a great pole and was cheaper than the Ionics Grafter Plus pole I originally went for,so rigid and light,as for the SLX,I really can't compare as I never used one but by reading the reviews on here,they are the best of the best poles you can buy!
-
cant make my mind up!!!!!
i know most say slx range but im not sure yet!!
forget them go for the extreme pole its the daddy, mine is a complete joy to use its unbelievable.
-
forget thr grafter and go for the Glyder pole by Ionics as its the best pole out there bar none
-
After using the slx its only my opinion but there isnt enough glue used on the clamps which is frustrating as the actual pole is very gud they say they sorted but a mate bought one recently and it happened again so keep that in mind when buying and facelift also do very gud poles. But you would need to look at yhe price as they cost more but otherall both very gud poles. most would disagree but i prefer the facelift poles as they seem to be better quality.
-
Elite pole mate fantastic very close second to slx in terms of lightness and rigidity , and the clamps are fastened on via nut and bolt assembly so no risk of glue failure , Had mine over 5 months now use it everyday no complaints , apart from end caps are rubbish but thats a minor detail. MIKE
-
If I was going for another full carbon pole again I would use gardiners as customer service is second to none,quick delivery and support when u need it.
-
Im the same mate, cant make my mind up.
I know most on here are huge fans of Gardiners but Im put off by the clamps coming loose, Ive also here the stop ends jam on the clamps too, is that the case? what are the stop ends made of? Ive seen some of the Gardiner brushes too, they seem to wear abit to quick for my liking.
Problem is, time is money, if you have got to mess around for half a day with clamps etc, thats half a days turnover lost.
Ive used a Gylder for the day, nice pole, but expensive. Im currently using the ergolite, but its time for retirement now, Ive had them for at least 4 years, they are built to last, brushes are well made too. I would like to see the Grafter plus, sounds like a nice pole.
The elite pole I havnt a clue about.
Regards
Simon
-
good customer service from the water fed pole company ELITE pole and speedy delivery , got texts before delivery
-
used the glyder for two years and it is a pole made to last,old style of clamp let it down,got three slx much lighter had two for six months no probs with the clamps.brushes showing very little ware :)
-
I haven't a clue about Ionics poles, but I have used an SLX and an Elite pole side by side.
Both are fantastic poles,.. my personal preference is the SLX because its lighter and has a shorter closed length. The Elite is more rigid (you only notice it with a heavy brush) and a little cheaper, but its weight is similar to the CLX range.
Whichever you choose, it'll be worth every cent!
-
I've had a slx25 since they were first released (approx 4 years). It got used & abused every day for all that time with zero issues, including clamps.
I've just replaced it with another slx25 which is even better! Lighter, slimmer base diameter & just as rigid! This also gets used & abused every day & has given me zero issues. :)
I also have an Xtreme 48 which is the muts nuts & also has zero clamp issues.
I've had every super-lite brush & now only use Xtreme brushes, also zero issues! ;D
The choice of poles is now better than ever before so you shouldn't end up with a piece of rubbish whichever you choose. I would base your choice on statistics (weight, length, closed length, rigidity, base diameter etc) & general opinions of experienced users. For me, the stats, backed with industry leading customer service send me to Gardiners. The difference in price isn't great enough for me to settle for anything less! ;)
-
yes top quality customer services is most important for me, so Gardiner win that for me and have used them for 5years plus, :)
-
after 2 years of use, 1 clamp came loose on my sl-x , only took a few mins to glue it back on, so considering, that is minor for 2 years of regular usage,
-
yep gonna start buying all my poles from gardiners now because the customer service is so good . it does need to be tho . funny ive never needed customer sevice with my elite . lets hope something goes wrong with it ;D ;D ;D
-
The SLX clamp problems seem to be getting exaggerated here,.. if its 1 pole in 50 that has issues it a lot!
The Elite clamps don't have the same issues its true,.. but then the Elite clamps are 3X the size so you end up with a longer closed pole.
-
If different forum members keep posting problems about the clamps, is it an exaggeration?
Gardiner's claim 1% of clamps have problems, that would mean for every 1,000 clamps, 10 clamps would fail, or one clamp in about every 200 poles
i know someone with 3 Gardiner's poles, all 3 have had clamp problems, he wouldn't liked to told he was exaggerating
-
What do Gardiners use on the SLX to stop you over extending the pole.
-
If different forum members keep posting problems about the clamps, is it an exaggeration?
Gardiner's claim 1% of clamps have problems, that would mean for every 1,000 clamps, 10 clamps would fail, or one clamp in about every 200 poles
i know someone with 3 Gardiner's poles, all 3 have had clamp problems, he wouldn't liked to told he was exaggerating
Hi again "Alex." or whoever you really are ;D You always have such a keen interest in our products ;D
To give an accurate picture of %.
About 6 months ago we were having about 3-4% poles with a gluing issue - so for every 1000 poles sold 30-40 would have some kind of issue. Unfortunately for some clients these would often bunch together from the same batch so if a client ordered more than one pole from those batches they may well experience multiple problems.
From the batches sold about 2-3 months ago the problem is down to just under 1% of poles affected - so for every 1000 sold we have found about 10 poles have had some kind of issue.
For the current batches being sold the issue is down to about 0.25% of poles affected - so far every 1000 sold we are getting about 2-3 poles affected.
Many of these gluing issues only happened after several months of hard use and yet we have always rectified the problem for a client.
It would be great to have a product that had zero chance of a defect, but in reality with manufacturing this is rarely possible. We have worked very hard over the last 6 months to eradicate this issue for our clients and it has paid off. The current figure about 0.25% is very, very small, but we still feel that it can be improved on which is why we have introduced some new techniques on the assembly line to try and get this down to about 0.1%.
Having spent many years previously retailing X-Tel poles we found that these poles usually had about 1-2% fault rate (unglued clamps, jammed section, cracked clamps etc.) so I think that we are now probably well below industry average in problem rate.
This is something I take very seriously as it has affected some potential clients perception of the product and has caused inconvenience to some of our current clients. Hence the time spent behind the scenes in the factory to ensure this becomes a thing of the past.
-
What do Gardiners use on the SLX to stop you over extending the pole.
Each section has a wrap of PVC tape which works against the clamp jaws as a joint stop. This is easily maintained if needed and can also be removed if clients wish to remove sections. To do this:
1. Undo lever arm assembly from the clamp on the section you wish to remove.
2. Prise apart the clamp jaws and slide the section out past the joint stop.
3. The tape can now be removed if required or the section can be re-fitted when needed.
We have found that it is safer to use a pole with joint stop tape than a pole without (we have produced the SLX with both options in the past). When there is no joint stop tape present you spend more time looking at the clamp and watching for the markers than you do looking at where you are putting the top of the pole. At greater heights this poses more of an issue as controlling a 45ft pole is hard enough without having to watch for the markers. You also run the risk of over-extending the section out of the pole with 40ft of pole in just one hand - and yes I have done this and it gives you scary moment!
-
Lies damn lies and statistics ;D
-
very true alex it has happened to me before it is pretty scary. but i do personally prefer i pole without positive stops . MIKE
-
Hi All,
It's great to see that our Elite poles are getting some good reviews on the ciu forum, I expected nothing else ;)
I've been watching some of the recent posts but thought it was good practice not to get involved and to let the end users discuss matters themselves. After all I thought that's what forums are for, aren't they? I could answer every question about our Elite poles but I don't think this is my place to do it. This is just my opinion :)
The fact that I don't have to come on this site to offer support and customer service can only speak volumes imo. We have a very very very low defect rate (not going to get into percentages).
I didn't want people to think that our customer service was not very good because we are not on here all the time and I thought I would explain this.
Whilst I'm on here I will quickly answer the question about positive end stops. Our Elite poles don't have them and have a marker line. A lot of our customers have preferred this because they can quickly reduce the size of the pole if it is not needed. We can however fit positive end stops, on request.
Any further questions please feel free to email me adam@thewaterfedpolecompany.co.uk
Keep up the good banter, which makes this site one of the best forums out there.
Adam
-
I've been watching some of the recent posts but thought it was good practice not to get involved and to let the end users discuss matters themselves. After all I thought that's what forums are for, aren't they? I could answer every question about our Elite poles but I don't think this is my place to do it. This is just my opinion
Whilst I'm on here I will quickly answer the question about positive end stops. Our Elite poles don't have them and have a marker line. A lot of our customers have preferred this because they can quickly reduce the size of the pole if it is not needed. We can however fit positive end stops, on request.
You've just gave an opinion ;)
-
I think it's great when manufacturers com on here, as long as they are open about who they are. I thought in part that was what the forum is about a place for window cleaners to speak to manufacturers.
As regards the original question, I've used slx's and they have worked well for me.
Simon.
-
I am very interested in the outcome of this thread.. :o
What did you go for in the end WC? and How does it perform?
Ta Pauly.. 8)