Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: need a cleaner on December 13, 2007, 05:58:55 pm
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my Xtel clamp come of the 2nd section, does this happen often , i dont really have the pole that long and it as not have that much use as i only have 45 clients ??? ???
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Yes they do , very annoying. What probably has happened is the tape that stops the pole from coming out has come off. You will have to strip the pole and add a section of tape where the old tape was.
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you are reffering to the botom of the section, but what happen was that the clamp actualy got of the top section, basicly its lose it locks the next section but because its loose its just no good.
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This has been a fault from the factory with the last batch they shipped in from Finland. Basically the machine that squirts glue is not squirting enough glue on some of the clamps. To fix it, use an epoxy resin type glue, put a small amount on the end of the pole section, push the clamp back down onto it, wipe off any excess and allow to set.
It's a pain but easily fixed.
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where can i get some from ???
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B&Q, Asda. The easiest stuff is in the twin chamber syringes. You could try Superglue if you've got some at home. Depending which clamp it is (some are a tighter fit than others) Superglue may well do the job.
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I had one from this batch and I had to glue it with epoxy resin. In all honesty I don't think them xtel poles are up to the job of window cleaning, both 17ft ones I have are spinning with the clamps closed on the top section, Luke
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luke, did you tighten up the screw, thats what i had to do,
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Yes I've tightened them but its still rubbish and also cleaned the poles, Luke
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i have one also from this " batch " ::).... same one , middle clamp... and also spinning brush every other day no matter how i tighten it , its still the same..... i have used the glue recomended by alex.... and many more expensive waterproof glues, they last around 3 days before having to sit down and re-glue them... i think the pole is excellent for versitility and weight , easily fits in the van too.... its just a shame it really is .
Gary.
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I feel the same as you Gary, its just the right length and weight but the spinning really lets it down, Luke
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You do have to make sure that you clean and prepare both surfaces before re-gluing. Scrape the old glue off the pole end and then using a bit of sand paper, abrade the inside surface of the clamp. This will give something for your glue to bond on to. Might help - it did for me.
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hi alex,
the pole comes away from the clamp leaving the glue part showing.... but the clamp inner sleeve stays put... inside the clamp.... its nearly impossible to sand inside.. and even harder to glue any of it... as when i put a layer of glue on the pole bit.... it all comes off as i slide it back in and vice versa.
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I sanded both sides and managed to get glue on both surfaces, Luke
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I know it's difficult. If you take a piece of sandpaper about 6 cm square, curl the smooth side around the section and slide up under the clamp and then twist the clamp around on it - seems to work. Some people have had no problem re-gluing, others like myself glued once and it came undone 2 days later, I then had to prep both surfaces as above and it worked and has stayed glued 3 months later.
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I dismantled the entire pole so I could do it properly. I just sanded both surfaces and applied a thin layer of epoxy resin to both sides, I then wiped away the excess that squeezed out. The hardest part was dismantling the pole!!
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i have discovered a fault in the extel, i took of the top section on mine yesterday as i am addapting my xtel to a rotary window cleaning brush, i will email alex with my findings,
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You will give us some videos of that rotary brush won't you!!!!
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yes i will luke, its realy good, i think its well underestimated, the brush on it is brilliant, i am working out a simple system that anyone can use,
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The clamps on these poles are not heavy duty enough,there flimsey and break easily.
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The clamps on these poles are not heavy duty enough,there flimsey and break easily.
its not the clamps at fault, i know the exact problem, i am very familar with the internals of those pole, i just thought they where made the same as all the other glassfibre poles, this problem is what is causing the failure with the clamps, alex would not know this, or he would have mentioned, its simple to fix, but is a serouse fault,
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the second clamp came off mine on tuesday aswell . araldite sorted it thou
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Facelift carbon- 13 months of solid abuse, no wear, no broken clamps, no spinning brushes, no hassle, no lost days work etc. etc. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Sorry, couldn't resist :-[
tony
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SHOW OFF ;D
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SHOW OFF ;D
;D ;D
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Macmac my only xtels are 17ft ones, facelift dont make poles that small. My other poles are tougher, Luke
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its not the clamps at fault, i know the exact problem, i am very familar with the internals of those pole, i just thought they where made the same as all the other glassfibre poles, this problem is what is causing the failure with the clamps, alex would not know this, or he would have mentioned, its simple to fix, but is a serouse fault,
ive just bought a 17ft xtel. Please share with us jouk, so i won't get so flustered and confused when it happens to me.
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Exel (the company that makes the X-Tel) spent years and a lot of money developing the new Xtel range.
This is a simple manufacturing slip-up not a major design fault with the clamps. Basically there has been the lack of glue on the occasional clamp. The fibre glass range is not going to be as tough as it has been designed to be relatively cheap and lightweight. The Hybrid and Carbon Fibre poles are obviously the poles for serious use.
There is an admirable simplicity to the design of these poles and clamps. Bonding a clamp on to the pole is a simple and (usually) very effective way of fixing the clamp. The old method of a plastic peg through a hole in the top of the fibre glass section is by comparison crude. I used to have to regularly re-drill a new hole as the peg would gradually wear the hole until it broke. I was also slightly dubious of the tape method of stopping the section coming out. Having used these poles myself it works very well and is also simple to replace and dismantle. It also allows the sections to be much tighter together thereby giving a smaller diameter.
No pole is perfect! (We have even recently had a client who broke their Facelift!!) Unfortunately the X-Tels have had this minor assembly fault, but otherwise they are proving to be good for the job they have been designed for. I personally would not use the fibre glass range for work above 21ft work, but surprisingly the fibre glass 24ft,28ft 31ft have proved to be extremely popular. Why? because although they are flexible they are a very cheap, user-friendly, and a lightweight way of reaching high windows.
It is interesting that we have no faults with clamp bonding on the Hybrid or Carbon X-Tel range, they must be assembled on a different assembly line.
Another reason that this fault has become remarked upon is that more of these poles have been sold in the UK in the last year (probably) than any other pole. I do not have any exact figures, but I would estimate the figure to be about 4000 poles. This dwarfs the number of Facelift/Omnipole/Tucker/Super-Lite/Unger/Ionics poles that have been sold. We have sold about 600 of these poles and have had about 14 customers who have had the clamps come un-glued this represents only 2.3%.
Having said all of this in the poles/clamps defense, it still annoys me that a simple fault in the factory is causing this problem for us as retailers and for end-users. I have spoken to them about it and hopefully the latest batch we have in stock will have had it rectified.
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its not the clamps at fault, i know the exact problem, i am very familar with the internals of those pole, i just thought they where made the same as all the other glassfibre poles, this problem is what is causing the failure with the clamps, alex would not know this, or he would have mentioned, its simple to fix, but is a serouse fault,
ive just bought a 17ft xtel. Please share with us jouk, so i won't get so flustered and confused when it happens to me.
I have three of these poles, one of them the brush started spinning on day 2 of use, I just glued it, problem solved with super glue ;)
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(We have even recently had a client who broke their Facelift!!)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT!!!!
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
( you been drinking Alex? )
tony
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It is interesting that we have no faults with clamp bonding on the Hybrid or Carbon X-Tel range, they must be assembled on a different assembly line.
Not quite true Alex mine is a 24' carbon hybrid and mine came apart very quickly, on further examination there appeared only to be 2 small dabs of glue holding it .. not surprising it came apart
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I must say that the gardiners have one of the best customer services in the country, no doubt. They sorted me completely out. I had the top screw in come loose after I screwed on the gooseneck. (Xtel 17') They were extremely helpful, and got me something to get it sorted. Absolutely fantastic.
Gardiners, can't choose any better company to buy from in my opinion.
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I could never fault Gardiners either, if the broken clamp on my pole was more of a problem i'm 100% sure Alex or Kirsty would have sorted it for me but it wasnt and it was so easy to glue it myself & only took me 5 mins tops .. problem solved
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Brand new X-tel, clamp was loose, superglued it. No problem with it since. Emailed Alex for his info.
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It is interesting that we have no faults with clamp bonding on the Hybrid or Carbon X-Tel range, they must be assembled on a different assembly line.
Not quite true Alex mine is a 24' carbon hybrid and mine came apart very quickly, on further examination there appeared only to be 2 small dabs of glue holding it .. not surprising it came apart
Thanks Chris - I've taken note of that fact and will pass it on.
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I have sung the praises of Welmac poles before but after having owned one of their carbon
poles for over 3 years - no complaints.
I have used Ionics,Extender,Brodex,Streamline and others - all clamps wear too quickly and spin.
Welmac clamps are a simple design but i have never had a pole or brush head spin.
They use no glue - hence no problems
Tristan
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Who are
Welmac poles
?? And can we have a link, Luke
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I have just been out weighing clamps and the new SL-X clamps weigh on average 25g less than the X-Tel clamps.
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I have just been out weighing clamps and the new SL-X clamps weigh on average 25g less than the X-Tel clamps.
Wow.....that is good.
I'm seriously going to sell my 17' Xtel for this one, take off the alu gooseneck I have now, and use the old vikan for dirty work. One pole to rule them all. ;D
I have not seen any info on the new brush, good you please point me to a previous post (if you've made one on the new brush).
Thank you Alex.
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I have just been out weighing clamps and the new SL-X clamps weigh on average 25g less than the X-Tel clamps.
Wow.....that is good.
I'm seriously going to sell my 17' Xtel for this one, take off the alu gooseneck I have now, and use the old vikan for dirty work. One pole to rule them all. ;D
I have not seen any info on the new brush, good you please point me to a previous post (if you've made one on the new brush).
Thank you Alex.
I probably have posted some information on the new brush in the past, but I cannot find it right now!
Basically we have designed a very light brush (220-230g) which has a standard screw stock. It is rectangle to provide best glass coverage with the bristles, but with slightly rounded corners to protect the windows frame/paintwork. It will have mono-filament dual trim bristles with an easy splay make-up. We have been using the prototypes now for about 8 months and they really are the best bristles we have ever worked with. We are hoping to be able to retail them at a very competitive price compared with other top-flight brushes.
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I have just been out weighing clamps and the new SL-X clamps weigh on average 25g less than the X-Tel clamps.
Wow.....that is good.
I'm seriously going to sell my 17' Xtel for this one, take off the alu gooseneck I have now, and use the old vikan for dirty work. One pole to rule them all. ;D
I have not seen any info on the new brush, good you please point me to a previous post (if you've made one on the new brush).
Thank you Alex.
We are hoping to be able to retail them at a very competitive price compared with other top-flight brushes.
Hope we are not talking about Tucker brush prices? :o
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I do rank Tucker brushes as top-flight brushes. However, I did say I wanted our brush to be competitive when compared to them. Does half the price sound competitive? :)
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That sounds very acceptable to me. :)
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Yep sounds very very good. Going to have a lovely February with that for sure.