Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: heath verrall on March 26, 2015, 06:46:53 pm

Title: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: heath verrall on March 26, 2015, 06:46:53 pm
My pole came today and it's fantastic , you have put a lot of thought into your designe from the weight point of view to the hose fittings, brush fittings.

I wish I had bought  my first pole from you years ago,  (best till last) springs to mind.

Thank you again Alex Gardiner
Kindest Regards
CCMIDS
I will be buying more poles and stuff from you soon :)
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Dave Willis on March 26, 2015, 07:03:37 pm
I had to take my Gardiners hat off today - it's had it.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: ChumBucket on March 26, 2015, 07:26:37 pm
I had to take my Gardiners hat off today - it's had it.

You must have a shed full of 'em Dave!!
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: tlwcs on March 26, 2015, 08:28:16 pm
Mine blew off today and went over the house next doors fence, they were out. Bummer.
It was a cap Alex
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Spruce on March 26, 2015, 09:15:17 pm
I had to take my Gardiners hat off today - it's had it.

You must have a shed full of 'em Dave!!

You get to keep your home then Chumbucket!  ;D ;D ;D

Didn't expect any other outcome TBH.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Spruce on March 26, 2015, 09:26:10 pm
My pole came today and it's fantastic , you have put a lot of thought into your designe from the weight point of view to the hose fittings, brush fittings.

I wish I had bought  my first pole from you years ago,  (best till last) springs to mind.

Thank you again Alex Gardiner
Kindest Regards
CCMIDS
I will be buying more poles and stuff from you soon :)

It like going from a Morris Minor to a Rolls Royce.

Alex has to be applauded for all he has done to make an excellent product at an affordable price for us window cleaners.

But he needs us to sing his praises as he is too modest to sing his own.

I have often wondered how much progress the wfp manufacturing industry would have made without Gardiners. All we had in those days was ali and fiberglass poles. Carbon fiber was the forte of Facelift and they were too expensive for us mere mortals.

Then when we thought it couldn't get any better,  Alex raised the bar with his smart clamps. We now await his new Supreme brush range.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on March 26, 2015, 10:06:59 pm
I bought an slx 30 along with a clx 4, quick lock stuff and swivel necks.

I've used a variety of poles in the past and as my Ionic Glyder was reaching the end of it's life, I thought I'll give an slx a go seeing as so many on here rave about them.

To say it's like going from a Morris Minor to a Rolls Royce sums it up.

The quality of the build and all that is superb and the pole is so well thought out. The self adjusting clamps seem to be extremely well thought out. The swivel neck, I don't know how I managed without it.

Comparing an slx to an ionics glyder - why did I ever buy that pile of over priced tat from Ionics.

Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: SeanK on March 26, 2015, 10:12:56 pm
Personally I find the smart clamps to be the worst Iv ever used but then I never had a problem with his old clamps.
I still tend to use my  CLX18 with the old clamps over my other SLX poles with the smart clamps.
But have to agree you wont get a better pole for the money and the xtreme brush is second to none.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on March 26, 2015, 10:32:15 pm
I haven't used a pole with the old clamps so I cannot comment. What the problem or issue with the new smart clamps?
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: SeanK on March 26, 2015, 10:48:21 pm
I haven't used a pole with the old clamps so I cannot comment. What the problem or issue with the new smart clamps?

I don't like the movement in the levers and if they loosen slightly then tend to turn on the clamp or flap about, I have a SLX18 an SLX25 and two extensions which all do this to some extent so it isn't just a faulty clamp.
Not saying it isn't something I cant put up with, just saying compared to clamps Iv used in the past I like the smart clamps the
least.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: gary999 on March 26, 2015, 11:26:21 pm
clx pole I have is great apart from the sideways clamp levers which are a pain  but hey ho could be
worse I could be using the 24ft universal pole I had in 2007 ;D
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: andyM on March 27, 2015, 07:40:53 am
Glad im not the only one that doesn't get on with the newer style clamps.
I've still got the original clamps on my 3 year old SLX25  but have 2 extension sections for it which have the newer clamps on.
I do find it mildly irritating when I have 30ft+ of pole up in the air and have to faff around with the clamp that is flopping about.   
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: ChumBucket on March 27, 2015, 08:17:27 am
I think the smart clamps are fantastic!! Keep them serviced (clean & a drop of oil on the cams now & then) & they are more like little switches rather than levers.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Spruce on March 27, 2015, 08:29:13 am
Maybe Alex could design in  little 'wings' on each side of the clamp would stop the sideways movement for those who haven't got the tension exactly right on the adjusters.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Alex Gardiner on March 27, 2015, 08:58:05 am
Appreciate the positive feedback and also the constructive criticism. With regard to the spinning levers when not adjusted up tight we have just introduced the Smart Clamp v2 on to our pole range. They now feature on all of the CLX, SLX and Super-Max poles. They are also available as spare clamp bodies.

These new v2 Smart Clamp Bodies prevent the lever from spinning in use even if they are not adjusted up correctly. Although only a minority have commented on this issue, we felt that it would be beneficial to all so re-designed the clamp bodies a short while ago. We believe that these new clamp bodies have made the Smart clamps even more user friendly.

If anyone would like to know more about these then please feel free to drop me an email.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on March 27, 2015, 08:58:16 am
I don't like the movement in the levers and if they loosen slightly then tend to turn on the clamp or flap about, I have a SLX18 an SLX25 and two extensions which all do this to some extent so it isn't just a faulty clamp.
Not saying it isn't something I cant put up with, just saying compared to clamps Iv used in the past I like the smart clamps the
least.

How odd. Mine don't do that.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: slap bash on March 27, 2015, 05:20:26 pm
One of the misconception of the smart clamps, is they need to be quite tight in comparison to the older clamps. Because of the spring they will work well if tighter. This will stop the clamp spinning.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Susan Dean (1stclean) on March 27, 2015, 06:16:08 pm
alex why have you changed the bolts in the clams , they have gone from normal bolts to threaded bar with double nuts , we have lost two end nuts already on a pole that's 2 months old we have now changed them all to a standed bolt with is much better
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Alex Gardiner on March 27, 2015, 07:37:01 pm
alex why have you changed the bolts in the clams , they have gone from normal bolts to threaded bar with double nuts , we have lost two end nuts already on a pole that's 2 months old we have now changed them all to a standed bolt with is much better

Hi Susan

The bolt design was changed about 6-8 months ago so that standard locking nuts could be used in the lever assembly. Previously we had used bolts with nylock on the thread itself. However we found that this could wear off very quickly. The locking nuts are more reliable overall we have found in maintaining their tension.

However we do have a new bolt/nut design that we have just finished testing that we are in the middle of getting tooled-up. This will combine all of the best features from both methods and will be fully backwardly compatible with all previous Smart Clamp lever assemblies.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Spruce on March 28, 2015, 07:35:37 pm
Appreciate the positive feedback and also the constructive criticism. With regard to the spinning levers when not adjusted up tight we have just introduced the Smart Clamp v2 on to our pole range. They now feature on all of the CLX, SLX and Super-Max poles. They are also available as spare clamp bodies.

These new v2 Smart Clamp Bodies prevent the lever from spinning in use even if they are not adjusted up correctly. Although only a minority have commented on this issue, we felt that it would be beneficial to all so re-designed the clamp bodies a short while ago. We believe that these new clamp bodies have made the Smart clamps even more user friendly.

If anyone would like to know more about these then please feel free to drop me an email.

This man's amazing.  He listens and then makes improvements.

Alex, we owe you so much gratitude for all you have done and are doing to make our equipment easier to work with. Thank you.

A fellow window cleaner has taken delivery of 2 x clx22 recently; will have a look at his clamps.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Susan Dean (1stclean) on March 30, 2015, 07:58:49 pm
alex why have you changed the bolts in the clams , they have gone from normal bolts to threaded bar with double nuts , we have lost two end nuts already on a pole that's 2 months old we have now changed them all to a standed bolt with is much better

Hi Susan

The bolt design was changed about 6-8 months ago so that standard locking nuts could be used in the lever assembly. Previously we had used bolts with nylock on the thread itself. However we found that this could wear off very quickly. The locking nuts are more reliable overall we have found in maintaining their tension.

However we do have a new bolt/nut design that we have just finished testing that we are in the middle of getting tooled-up. This will combine all of the best features from both methods and will be fully backwardly compatible with all previous Smart Clamp lever assemblies.

good good we were finding that the single nuts were coming lose more then then old nut types , however we do work our/your poles a lot harder then most, ill look forward to the new set up , and we feed back from the flipping of the levers is that its mostly gone now
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on March 30, 2015, 11:09:43 pm
This man's amazing.  He listens and then makes improvements.

Alex, we owe you so much gratitude for all you have done and are doing to make our equipment easier to work with. Thank you.

A fellow window cleaner has taken delivery of 2 x clx22 recently; will have a look at his clamps.

I agree with that 100%.

I'm astounded at how many manufacturers obviously don't bother to use or try their own products.

I bought a back pack from a cleaning supplies shop near me last year. First time I used and wheeled it along, the wheel turning undid a nut holding the wheel on. The cleaning shop replaced both nuts on both wheels with a thin locking nut tightened onto a nylon bushed nut. It was made by a well known WFP manufacturer as well.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Spruce on March 31, 2015, 10:37:35 am
Appreciate the positive feedback and also the constructive criticism. With regard to the spinning levers when not adjusted up tight we have just introduced the Smart Clamp v2 on to our pole range. They now feature on all of the CLX, SLX and Super-Max poles. They are also available as spare clamp bodies.

These new v2 Smart Clamp Bodies prevent the lever from spinning in use even if they are not adjusted up correctly. Although only a minority have commented on this issue, we felt that it would be beneficial to all so re-designed the clamp bodies a short while ago. We believe that these new clamp bodies have made the Smart clamps even more user friendly.

If anyone would like to know more about these then please feel free to drop me an email.

That mod is very simple yet very clever.

 Are these new clamps standard with all upgrade kits?
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Alex Gardiner on April 01, 2015, 10:49:16 am
Appreciate the positive feedback and also the constructive criticism. With regard to the spinning levers when not adjusted up tight we have just introduced the Smart Clamp v2 on to our pole range. They now feature on all of the CLX, SLX and Super-Max poles. They are also available as spare clamp bodies.

These new v2 Smart Clamp Bodies prevent the lever from spinning in use even if they are not adjusted up correctly. Although only a minority have commented on this issue, we felt that it would be beneficial to all so re-designed the clamp bodies a short while ago. We believe that these new clamp bodies have made the Smart clamps even more user friendly.

If anyone would like to know more about these then please feel free to drop me an email.

That mod is very simple yet very clever.

 Are these new clamps standard with all upgrade kits?

Yes all of the upgrade kits and individual clamp bodies now are the v2 version.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on April 01, 2015, 12:05:35 pm
Alex, I don't want this to sound like I'm having a go.

I bought an SLX a few week ago and I'm more than happy with it. It's the best pole I've ever used by such a long way.

I admit I havn't had any problems with the clamps as yet and maybe I won't ever have a problem. However, had I known that your wfp poles would soon have upgraded clamps, I would have waited before buying.

I can understand you have stock already made up and all that, etc.

I'm not suggesting advising customers months in advance or even a month but I bought the slx about the same time or shortly before the changes were made to the clamps. If I now get a problem it'll cost me time and money to fix something that was a known issue.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: chris turner on April 01, 2015, 02:03:18 pm
Alex do you have any plans to incorporate the metal clamping points on the extreme poles onto the other pole ranges?
I really like that idea as the clamping points are always the first bits of the pole that start wearing.
I would like an extreme but my understanding is you can't use aquadaptors/aquataps with it and I can't live without my aquatap!
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Alex Gardiner on April 01, 2015, 06:00:43 pm
Alex, I don't want this to sound like I'm having a go.

I bought an SLX a few week ago and I'm more than happy with it. It's the best pole I've ever used by such a long way.

I admit I havn't had any problems with the clamps as yet and maybe I won't ever have a problem. However, had I known that your wfp poles would soon have upgraded clamps, I would have waited before buying.

I can understand you have stock already made up and all that, etc.

I'm not suggesting advising customers months in advance or even a month but I bought the slx about the same time or shortly before the changes were made to the clamps. If I now get a problem it'll cost me time and money to fix something that was a known issue.

If you bought your SLX only a few weeks ago it is most likely that you have already got the new v2 clamps fitted  :)

We have been quietly introducing them on to various sizes of poles as the stocks were worked through. We have been doing this for about 3 months now on certain sizes. They do not look very different so most clients will not have noticed the change.

Now that all of our poles (bar the Xtreme poles which are on sale) have them fitted as standard, we have started mentioning the existence of them.

If you are in doubt as to whether you have the newer clamps fitted then drop me an email with a photo of the clamps fitted and I will let you know.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: Alex Gardiner on April 01, 2015, 06:03:02 pm
Alex do you have any plans to incorporate the metal clamping points on the extreme poles onto the other pole ranges?
I really like that idea as the clamping points are always the first bits of the pole that start wearing.
I would like an extreme but my understanding is you can't use aquadaptors/aquataps with it and I can't live without my aquatap!

We do not have any plans for this. It is a very expensive construction method and with the Smart clamps there is not such a need for it.

We do not recommend the use of those devices on the top of an Xtreme pole, but many of our clients still fit them.
Title: Re: Alex gardiner I take my hat off to you
Post by: rosskesava on April 01, 2015, 11:19:27 pm
If you bought your SLX only a few weeks ago it is most likely that you have already got the new v2 clamps fitted  :)

We have been quietly introducing them on to various sizes of poles as the stocks were worked through. We have been doing this for about 3 months now on certain sizes. They do not look very different so most clients will not have noticed the change.

Now that all of our poles (bar the Xtreme poles which are on sale) have them fitted as standard, we have started mentioning the existence of them.

If you are in doubt as to whether you have the newer clamps fitted then drop me an email with a photo of the clamps fitted and I will let you know.

Alex, thanks for replying.

I'll do that tomorrow.