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Thinking about changing from Gardiners poles

WCF

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Wow, I think this is the first forum I've seen that mr gardiner himself doesn't respond in milliseconds! I had convinced myself he has a physic ability and knows within seconds when something is posted Re gardiners. I am now thinking he is a mere mortal...nah, can't be so. /emoticons/smile.png
What's to say /emoticons/smile.png

Everyone is en***led to their opinion and have a right to post it. If they don't like our clamps - they don't like them! Fortunately of the 1000s of poles we sell every year the vast majority love the clamps and found them better than anything else they had previously used.

Sometimes the advantage of clients trying other equipment occasionally is that it helps them appreciate our products even more /emoticons/smile.png
You might be right Alex i have 3 of your poles and they are great except clamps i have tried brodex and ionics both **** gone back to you but a change is good i am going to buy a elite i like a change as you said compe***ion is good

 
Thatis the point - you can't kink it as otherwise you would be forever replacing it.

I assume you want to kink to stop the flow - try a tap or an aquadapter:)

 
Thatis the point - you can't kink it as otherwise you would be forever replacing it.

I assume you want to kink to stop the flow - try a tap or an aquadapter:)

I disagree - I had Ionics pole hose and kinked it for 2 years with no damage to it whatsoever. It's more rubberised than the Gardiners which feels more plasticky. Those small taps are a pain and why spend £50 when I want to kink it?

I am thinking of buying some Ionics pole hose for my Gardiners poles lol

 
Do you need the aqua adapter to turn the water off from The pole? Is there no other way without kinking it? Anyone use a trigger?

Also does anyone use a remote control for their pump?

 
The carbon fibre water fed pole choice is bigger now and better priced, so trying other equipment does make sense.

I make wfp brushes and I am often contacted by pole manufacturers; and now have loads of sample poles to compare. Here is what some of those pole manufacturers say about pole sections and clamps….

“The pole rigidity is the most important characteristic of carbon fibre water fed pole, that’s why carbon fibre is used. A rigid carbon fibre water fed pole cost much more to make than a carbon fibre pole that flexes; a basic guide is the more flex the pole has the cheaper the pole will be to manufacture. Multi-modulus poles are the most expensive – much better quality in both material used and the manufacturing process providing stiffer and stronger pole sections.”

“The weak point with any water fed pole is where two pole sections are clamped together, so you could argue the clamp is just as important as the pole sections. Regardless of which clamp is most suitable, the fewer the clamps the pole has, the more rigid a pole will be.”

Richard

 
Thatis the point - you can't kink it as otherwise you would be forever replacing it.

I assume you want to kink to stop the flow - try a tap or an aquadapter:)

I disagree - I had Ionics pole hose and kinked it for 2 years with no damage to it whatsoever. It's more rubberised than the Gardiners which feels more plasticky. Those small taps are a pain and why spend £50 when I want to kink it?

I am thinking of buying some Ionics pole hose for my Gardiners poles lol
I must have a differnt hose to you as my Gardiners hose is very soft I originally had a harder hose but sent it back. I suppose its down to preference. I prefer not to kink my hose, but each to their own



Do you need the aqua adapter to turn the water off from The pole? Is there no other way without kinking it? Anyone use a trigger?

Also does anyone use a remote control for their pump?
Never used a trigger but was told they were not great. I have often wondered about a remote but everyone said the batteried keep running out but I am sure you coud wire it up to the main battery.

Aquadapters are good and don't think I was a pushover. If you go back to last years posts I was adamant that it was a rip off and would never buy one but now I have a few (or did util they were stolen).

 
Gardiners did used to offer a "soft pole hose option" but they don't do it anymore /emoticons/smile.png

 
Hi Alex,

I buy a lot of components etc from Gardiner and have no issue at all as otherwise I wouldn't buy your products (obviously). As with any consumer that buys multi-products from a company such as yours that sells hundreds of different lines there will always be the odd gripe, that's just how it is and I am sure that you do not need me to tell you this.

But..I see that a l of people really like your poles but are not keen on the clamps (I personally have no issue with them) so I was wondering whether you had thought about offering the other type of clamp (as on streamline etc) in addition as an option. Obviously this would mean that the pole section and overall length would be slightly compromised but at the same time offering consumers a further choice which can't be a bad thing.

I would be interested in your thoughts on this please.

Richard (from sunny Southend)
Hi Richard

This is an interesting thought, but not one that I have pursued due to increased manufacturing and stocking issues that would arise - this could easily add another £250,000 to our stock-holding costs. When I was designing the lateral clamp a lot of time was spent looking at how the clamp worked and what it needed to do, this resulted in the design we currently have. When designing a product it is very difficult to design in two directions. One design will usually fulfil a criteria far better than another so, in the pursuit of the best, secondary designs need to fall by the wayside in the R&D process.

When we introduced the lateral clamp idea to the world of Water-Fed poles in 2007 no other pole manufacturer had previously used them on WFPs. The reason was that most other poles, at that time, were adapted from other industries (Military etc) or were a follow on from such poles. Since releasing our latest design of the Gardiner lateral clamp in early 2009 every other new pole that has been released since this has emulated this design - Ionic's New Glyder, Ionic's Grafter, Ionic's Swift, Ionic's Grafter Plus, Ionic's Glyder Plus, Ionic's Swift Plus, All Elite Poles, Reach-iT, Vertigo (are they still selling?), New Simpole, Racenstein's 3-star pole and several other brands around the globe. These were all released about 1 year or more after our design hit the shelves.

There is good reason that our original lateral-clamp design has been emulated throughout the rest of the industry - this must be due to its strength, adjustment and packaging advantages. All I know is that our own pole sales have increased dramatically with the introduction of these clamps compared to the poles we used to retail from other manufacturers. The design that we have still allows for the most compact, well packaged poles on the market without exception. This is of great importance to the everyday window cleaner who needs to be able to manoeuvre and operate with ease.

Has clamp design reached its pinnacle? Certainly not, we have already made several incremental minor changes to our own design since release, many of these to improve manufacturing process and we have a few more improvements to roll out over the next few months. However I can guarantee that even better clamps are on their way over the next few years that will re-define how a clamp works and interacts with the pole sections - exciting times.



Gardiners did used to offer a "soft pole hose option" but they don't do it anymore /emoticons/smile.png
We have tried to simplify with a single hose type that suits the majority of users.

For those that like a 'pinch-able' hose I would recommend looking at the various silicone hose options that can be bought (such as Algarde etc).



Do you need the aqua adapter to turn the water off from The pole? Is there no other way without kinking it? Anyone use a trigger?

Also does anyone use a remote control for their pump?
There is a remote control pump controller on its way very soon.

Personally I have not yet been able to beat the simplicity, reliability, adaptability, value and downright ease of use that a push-fit flow valve gives -



We designed it not to!

Silicone hose is very good for its ability to shut the water flow off when kinked.

 
There is a remote control pump controller on its way very soon.
Personally I have not yet been able to beat the simplicity, reliability, adaptability, value and downright ease of use that a push-fit flow valve gives -
hope its good Alex,

I always thought a remote control on the pole which operates a solenoid to stop/start the water flow would be a very good idea,

I have never got on with the push fit flow valve and the yellow hose really doesnt like hot water,

i really like the aqua dapter but not the extra weight on the pole

 
I like the video Alex. I went straight for the aquadapter when I started wfp but find it a little frustrating at times. Now I've seen a simple flow controller in action like that I think I'll give it a go.

As to clamps, I use an slx pole and haven't had any real issues with the clamps apart from an occasional section turning while in use which has been easily solved with a quick quarter turn tighten. I think the slx is a fantastic pole, excellent value.

I also use an old ott products fibreglass pole which I also enjoy using, for low work only. The sections have a slight ridge on them so it isnt possible for them to turn while in use. I wonder if there is a reason why manufacturers haven't started using different shaped poles to alleviate the sometime turning problem, I'm sure thus would put much less stress on the clamps although I could well be wrong. Just a thought really.

 
There is a remote control pump controller on its way very soon.
Personally I have not yet been able to beat the simplicity, reliability, adaptability, value and downright ease of use that a push-fit flow valve gives -
hope its good Alex,

I always thought a remote control on the pole which operates a solenoid to stop/start the water flow would be a very good idea,

I have never got on with the push fit flow valve and the yellow hose really doesnt like hot water,

i really like the aqua dapter but not the extra weight on the pole
The remote is called a One-Shot and just has one button. This turns the pump off when pressed and back on again when pressed again. It comes on a small key fob type thingy, but this could always be Velcro attached to the pole just below the bottom clamp or similar. http://www.springltd.co/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Spring%20V9%2Cone%20shot%20.jpg



I like the video Alex. I went straight for the aquadapter when I started wfp but find it a little frustrating at times. Now I've seen a simple flow controller in action like that I think I'll give it a go.

As to clamps, I use an slx pole and haven't had any real issues with the clamps apart from an occasional section turning while in use which has been easily solved with a quick quarter turn tighten. I think the slx is a fantastic pole, excellent value.

I also use an old ott products fibreglass pole which I also enjoy using, for low work only. The sections have a slight ridge on them so it isnt possible for them to turn while in use. I wonder if there is a reason why manufacturers haven't started using different shaped poles to alleviate the sometime turning problem, I'm sure thus would put much less stress on the clamps although I could well be wrong. Just a thought really.
I know what you mean about the shaped sections - on the older multipoles they had this. This does work quite well for low level poles. The problem for higher level poles is that a circle shape diameter offers the best strength and rigidity of any shape possible. An ovoid or hexagonal type shape would introduce too much flex and whip into the pole at any serious height. This is why these older poles only went up to about 18ft maximum.

 
There is a remote control pump controller on its way very soon.
Personally I have not yet been able to beat the simplicity, reliability, adaptability, value and downright ease of use that a push-fit flow valve gives -
hope its good Alex,

I always thought a remote control on the pole which operates a solenoid to stop/start the water flow would be a very good idea,

I have never got on with the push fit flow valve and the yellow hose really doesnt like hot water,

i really like the aqua dapter but not the extra weight on the pole
The weight is hardly noticeable get some muscle in you boy lol

 
how do you find this works as i find that it gets all tangled up and enu up having to take apart to fix it
Because the quick release fittings allow the hose to rotate to some extent it doesn't tend to get too tangled up.

 
Well i suppose del boys van (reliant supervan is its proper name!) and my 34' brodex pole do have two things in common, they are both made of fibreglass, and both pretty unstable in the wind! :)
Delboys van kept going for near on 25 years lol

 
I'm really pleased with both my Slx's, I've ditched my aqua dapter and use it with the carbon fibre gooseneck quick release system (very good)

No probs so far with the clamps, they're very similar to ionic's expect a little better. Cant see me changing for a while. /emoticons/sad.png

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Gardiners poles are the only ones I will buy, great poles I have never had a problem with any clamps including my older ionic poles.

I have tried facelift brodex and extel(never purchased)they just don't come anywhere near the quality of Gardiners.

Regards.

 
ive had a few probs with my clx but the speed & quality of the way they sort it out means i'll only get my poles from them

 
Hi

Sorry to have to bring this thread back but I just come across it and thought I would let you know that we have slashed all our prices for our complete Elite pole range. We have experienced good sales and have upped our buying therefore we have been able to negotiate better prices. We are passing these savings on to our customers.

Adam

The Water Fed Pole Company

 
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