[pdhanson]

Can anyone suggest which are the best poles to use?  

I used one for the first time yesterday, and found it really difficult.  The ones I used were 5 section, 2 metre aluminium.

I found them heavy and difficult to extend.  What is the best way to do it?  Smaller sections?

The locking collars kept jamming too, and killed my wrists trying to undo them.

Thanks
Silly

[paul]

i had one of them they are a killer carbon fibre are better much lighter and quick release mecks on them

[shinnyshinner]

Hi silly philly
what one did you try today
Cheers
Alan

[pdhanson]

It was the Unger "Teleplus" aluminium, 5 sections of 2m aluminium.  Heavy, and the collars are a beggar to undo.

And high off the ground so had to stand on my ladders to extend the thing.

Paul, what is the correct way to extend them?  I ended up "walking" it up the wall, but the brush head got dirty doing this, and it nearly fell a couple of times.  It was only up about 30 feet.  Where did you get your carbon pole from, and how much was it?(if you dont mind me asking)

As it was an office building over a busy street, there was no room to extend it on the ground then "tilt" it up.  It was a real beggar!  

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Silly Philly

[Majestic]

Could you not make it your first job  of the day before the crowds arive.  ???I walk my pole as well , I put it at the bottom of the wall and then push it up , I think the tucker site had a diagram of how to extend it .

[fez]

I use the Unger Teleplus system in 2m sections, what I do is stand on my pointer about half a metre up (so that I'm inline with the collars or slightly above) and extend each section one at a time with the pole held vertically. I don't use the top (thinest) section if I can help it as there's too much flex and I don't touch the building on the way up unless I really have to.

I hope that this helps.

[Peter Fogwill]

Can anyone suggest which are the best poles to use?  

I used one for the first time yesterday, and found it really difficult.  The ones I used were 5 section, 2 metre aluminium.

I found them heavy and difficult to extend.  What is the best way to do it?  Smaller sections?

The locking collars kept jamming too, and killed my wrists trying to undo them.

Thanks
Silly

What you want to do is start off with some second storey work until you get used to using the pole.  Most people want to start with their highest most awkward work and expect it to be easy, it dosnt matter which pole you use the higher you go the more awkward it is.

As far as undoing the collars go, you are tightening them up too much, all it needs is a little nip up, the more you tighten them the quicker they will wear out, and the harder they are to undo.

The Tele-pole at 30 feet should be able to be lifted straight from the ground by holding near the bottom of the thickest section, again it may need a little practice, but it can be done easily.

You want to avoid poles with smaller sections, as there is more sections to adjust to get to the desired height.

Peter Fogwill

[Polepro]

You should try Ionic's new Ergo-lite carbon fibre waterfed poles. They are the lightest most rigid poles on the market, very easy to use and because they are so light a 60ft pole is just as easy to use as a 30ft pole of heavier construction. While a 30ft Ergo-lite feels like nothing at all.

Tom

[pdhanson]

Thank you all for your help.

Majestic: Unfortunately it is a very busy road, and in order to get there when empty I'd need to be there at 4am!  The tucker brochure shows a man extending it on the ground then tilting it up.  Thats fine if there's a nice big empty car park at the building front!

Fez : Yes it does rather bend like Rolf Harris's flex board! However, I cant get to the height without it, so I end up looking like a circus performer!

Peter Fogwill : Yes, this is my most awkward job!  I havent tried it on normal 2 storey work yet.  But as soon as I can afford a Water Purifier I will.  I agree about smaller section poles, you'd spend all day faffing about to get the right height.  Thanks for your tips.

Polepro: I got a brochure for Ionic, I couldnt see where to get the poles on their own, only packages costing thousands.  How much do they go for?

Dom Matrix (?!): I couldnt find a website for brodex, do you know the www? (www.brodex.co.uk doesnt work)

Are there any poles that extend with a winder handle or similar?  that would be handy

Thanks for your help

Silly

[Polepro]

Silly,

Ionic do sell their poles separately, not in packages at all. I checked their pricelist the cheapest 40ft residential pole costs £189.95 and their most expensive 45ft Ergo-lite pole costs £894.95.

Dom,

The standard 45ft carbon fibre pole like the one brodex sells weighs 8.85kg while the 45ft Ergo-lite pole weighs just 6kg. Thats nearly 3kg lighter, I have both and I can tell you that the Ergo-lite feels much ligther, is easier to use and bends less than the original 45ft carbon fibre pole and its easier to extend because the sections are just 6ft long instead of 8ft long. The shorter sections also make them easier to store in the van. The safety clips you speak of are in fact just guides to take up the slack in the standard poles, when you extend an ergo-lite pole if you see the red section then there is still 10 inches of pole to go before it will come out. Anyway the fact that you can take the sections apart easily is great, just like a Tucker pole I can remove sections to make the pole even ligther and easier to use when working at lower levels.

Tom

[Reuben_Reynolds]

Interesting comments regarding the Ergo-lite pole over a standard Universal Carbon pole. On demonstrations of our Reach & Wash Systems we show Glass fibre, Carbon fibre and the Ergo-lite. For 30ft and higher over 80 % of customers purchase the Ergo-lite for ease of use and feel the benefits of a lighter pole. You can easily use an Ergo-lite pole to access awkward angles reducing the risk of repetitive strain and able to use on lower levels.
Dom matrix otherwise known as Brodex, i doubt you have ever used an Ergo-lite pole and as you do not sell a pole to this standard i guess you are little biased.    

Regards

Reuben  

[elfords]

Hi Reuben,

Having recently purchased my first Ergo-Lite pole I would firstly congratulate you on producing an excellent product which is much lighter and easy to use than my standard carbon and fibre glass poles. However I have some negative feedback that I would appreciate answers on:

1. Considering the extra cost of these poles I was disappointed to find they came with the inferior plastic hosing as opposed to the much higher quality black hose as used on all your other poles, which was one of the main reasons I always bought your poles. I appreciate it is probably lighter but in my opinion not enough to justify the drop in quality(note you have since sent me some black hose to replace this thanks) any comments?

2. Whilst I have no problem with the idea of the red paint acting as a stop guide as you would have to be very stupid to keep raising it past this for it to cause any problems(unless your colour blind eh Dom  ), but what I do have a problem with is the fact that after only five uses of the Ergo-Lite pole the red warning paint is already wearing off so pretty soon this will be a problem as is obvious, again on such an expensive product I expected better  

3. Finally the new brass hose connector is far too small and it needs a knurled finish for gripping your cold little fingers on when pulling apart

So sorry to moan but overall I am impressed I just feel an expensive quality product is let down by a few minor details which should not be too much trouble to correct, I look forward to your reply.

Merry Christmas to one & all on this forum

[Reuben_Reynolds]

REUBAN
Easy tiger...! If I was BRODEX I'd probably be a lot better off...! You said 80% of people buy ergolite poles over 30ft, which means to make that claim you know how many poles are sold by all  of your competitors every day in the U.K..! interesting, can I borrow your crystal ball sometime, happy xmas x  
DOM

Dom,
You're playing games, you are so pro Brodex that I checked your forum profile. Your user name is Sean Rimmer, you work for brodex as their salesman. Others have worked you out too yet you continue to pretend to be a window cleaner.

What I said was that 80% of the customers that I demo the poles too choose the Ergo-lite poles. If you do have an Ergo-lite pole and you have weighed it you will find that our weight claims are true, Ergo-lite poles are 30% lighter than the standard UNIVERSAL carbon fibre poles that you sell. Jim from Exel will confirm that the Unversal pole that you sell is a pole that was originally designed for military use to hold up camoflage nets. It has been used successfully for a wide range of applications. Our Ergo-lite pole however was designed specifically by our in-house designer to be a waterfed pole specially for window cleaning not as a fishing rod.

As you well know the HSE has compiled a report on the use of waterfed poles and they have made suggestions to the industry about the need to reduce the weight of waterfed poles in order to reduce the risk of back and repetitive strain injuries. Ionic Systems has been pro-active and produced a light weight pole in order to comply with these recommendations.

Long term members of this forum know that I have only used the forum to offer advice and to answer direct questions. In the 2 days since you signed on you have done little exept slag others off with a better than thou attitude while using every opportunity to promote your company, all while denying to represent brodex.

I am sure that the group would welcome any positive posts you may make. But when you tell so many lies it makes it difficult for anyone to believe anything you have to say.

Happy New Year

regards
Reuben

[elfords]

Hi Reuben,

Whilst I appreciated reading your reply to Dom`s posts and would agree with both points of view and the fact that we should stand up and be counted and honest as to who we are representing I also note that you say you answer direct questions, I thought my questions above were very direct and fair so I am still eagerly awaiting for your answers  

[Reuben_Reynolds]

Gary,

Thank-you for your posting about the Ergo-lite pole, and of course I'm happy to answer your questions.

1) When producing this pole our goal was to reduce weight were ever possible. Although tough, the black hose adds 1kg on a 45ft pole so we opted for the lighter clear tubing in the short term. As you said we happily gave you the heavier black bose when you asked for it. In the mean time we have been working with an Italian company to develop a tough black hose that fullfils all our requirements including toughness and weight. I'm pleased to say that I have it in my demo poles and its great. From early in the New Year all of our poles will come with the new hose. It costs us a little more but the quality is worth it.

2) I take on board what you say about the need for knurling on the brass hose fitting and you can expect that to be a feature on our poles next year too.

3) The red two-pack paint that we currently use is also due to be replaced with a red resin which should resist wearing better.

Over all you had positive comments and I thank you.

regards
Reuben

[elfords]

Reuben,

Thanks for your reply when the new paint is available could you send me some assuming it can be applied by hand? Also with regards to the knurling that is good news I would also suggest the shoulder is around 5-10mm wider as this allows a good grip for your thumb & forefinger.

Regards

[Forum Admin]

Dom,
You're playing games, you are so pro Brodex that I checked your forum profile. Your user name is Sean Rimmer, you work for brodex as their salesman. Others have worked you out too yet you continue to pretend to be a window cleaner.

Dom, if this is the case please change your user name to reflect the fact that you work for Brodex - posting in the way you have does not reflect very well on Brodex at all

Perhaps you will take on board that this is a professional forum and, if you wish to contribute for the benefit of others, you should register legitimately as Reuben and Peter both have - this forum is not here so you can knock your competitors.

I'm sure other members will draw their own conclusions!

[Reuben_Reynolds]

Gary,

I was working on the first reply when you sent your last post.

The new red resin is a 2-pack also but tougher, it still needs to be sprayed because a thin film is required.

Next batch of brass hose fittings will be bigger diameter as you suggest, and knurled.

regards

Reuben

[elfords]

Reuben,

It is not the diametre thats the problem it is the width of the shoulder to be able to get a firm grip it needs to be wider so this together with a knurled finish should make the job a lot easier to perform when you have a stiff connection and your hands are wet and cold

[Reuben_Reynolds]

Gary,

I'm with you now, I'll talk to Craig about it.

regards
Reuben