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You can't buy a complete pole, only individual sections so a 22ft would cost around £660
County Durham Lad
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Facelift Phantom Pole
- Thread starter Daniel Perkins
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County Durham Lad
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Has anyone bought one of these poles and have an opinion on them? Going to buy an 18ft pole soon, something light weight to lessen wear and tear. Would love to get an xtreme but damn expensive so might between phantom and slx 18ft me thinks. I'm not buying into the hype just yet so interested to hear other people opinions after using them thoroughly.
Just to give a different opinion to most,
I started with a clx, then a slx, and for the last two n half years been using an extreme 22 for the bulk of my work and occasionally an extreme 35 where required.
The extreme 22 is a great pole, but the clamps have wore away the carbon just below the clamp position. To overcome this I put a single wrap of insulation tape just under the clamp, this sorts the spinning and also stops it wearing away more carbon.
I thought i would try the phantom hi mod 22. Both poles stripped down its the same weight as the extreme 22 bar a few grams. The phantom has just a little more flex to it than the extreme, this may be because the phantom top section is a smaller diameter than the extreme, but in general use this is easily sorted by not fully extending each section where not required. The clamps though are so much better. They grip the pole better and hopefully the clamp will wear and not the pole. Also the ends of the pole are a slightly larger diameter to stop it coming out the clamps, not just a bit of tape so hopefully less maintenance. A bit of grit or something got in there the other day, so easy to just take the pole apart on the customers lawn and give it a flush through and not have to worry about damaging or replacing the tape.
With the the top section being a smaller diameter it won’t take the Gardiner swivel gooseneck, but with a bit of patience and a bench grinder I have reduced the gooseneck to fit. The gooseneck will however go straight into section no 2 and clamp down. I am told that extension pieces will be available as with the gardiners. If they do I may buy one and do away with the no 1 section and this I think will sort the slight flex when fully extended.
The red exceed hose that you can get with it is also good in my opinion. I use hot water and it works well with the univalve with no problems.
I bought this pole pole for my lad as an upgrade from the slx he uses, but I haven’t give him it yet as I prefer using it myself. Not sure but it probably works out more expensive than an extreme especially when you consider the Gardiner poles come with a brush and a nice free gift sometimes.
After using it it for a month or so, if I had to buy another pole tomorrow I would buy another phantom.
These were my comments from another thread regarding poles which I have just copied and pasted onto here for your info. I still standby my comments and would buy another. My phantom is the high mod version which i believe is meant to be the equivalent of the extreme. There is a cheaper heavier carbon version which I believe is meant to be the equivalent of the slx. Not 100% but I think “a glass act” has one of these poles so may be worth asking him how he is getting on with his.
Personally i I wouldn’t get an 18, I would go for the 22. There are occasions when I need to fully extend it to reach over a conservatory/extension and if I was using the 18 I wouldn’t reach. For the slight extra weight I would prefer the option of extra reach, but obviously you know yr work and what will work for you.
I started with a clx, then a slx, and for the last two n half years been using an extreme 22 for the bulk of my work and occasionally an extreme 35 where required.
The extreme 22 is a great pole, but the clamps have wore away the carbon just below the clamp position. To overcome this I put a single wrap of insulation tape just under the clamp, this sorts the spinning and also stops it wearing away more carbon.
I thought i would try the phantom hi mod 22. Both poles stripped down its the same weight as the extreme 22 bar a few grams. The phantom has just a little more flex to it than the extreme, this may be because the phantom top section is a smaller diameter than the extreme, but in general use this is easily sorted by not fully extending each section where not required. The clamps though are so much better. They grip the pole better and hopefully the clamp will wear and not the pole. Also the ends of the pole are a slightly larger diameter to stop it coming out the clamps, not just a bit of tape so hopefully less maintenance. A bit of grit or something got in there the other day, so easy to just take the pole apart on the customers lawn and give it a flush through and not have to worry about damaging or replacing the tape.
With the the top section being a smaller diameter it won’t take the Gardiner swivel gooseneck, but with a bit of patience and a bench grinder I have reduced the gooseneck to fit. The gooseneck will however go straight into section no 2 and clamp down. I am told that extension pieces will be available as with the gardiners. If they do I may buy one and do away with the no 1 section and this I think will sort the slight flex when fully extended.
The red exceed hose that you can get with it is also good in my opinion. I use hot water and it works well with the univalve with no problems.
I bought this pole pole for my lad as an upgrade from the slx he uses, but I haven’t give him it yet as I prefer using it myself. Not sure but it probably works out more expensive than an extreme especially when you consider the Gardiner poles come with a brush and a nice free gift sometimes.
After using it it for a month or so, if I had to buy another pole tomorrow I would buy another phantom.
These were my comments from another thread regarding poles which I have just copied and pasted onto here for your info. I still standby my comments and would buy another. My phantom is the high mod version which i believe is meant to be the equivalent of the extreme. There is a cheaper heavier carbon version which I believe is meant to be the equivalent of the slx. Not 100% but I think “a glass act” has one of these poles so may be worth asking him how he is getting on with his.
Personally i I wouldn’t get an 18, I would go for the 22. There are occasions when I need to fully extend it to reach over a conservatory/extension and if I was using the 18 I wouldn’t reach. For the slight extra weight I would prefer the option of extra reach, but obviously you know yr work and what will work for you.
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Nice comprehensive review, cheers mate.
AGlassAct
Well-known member
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Lennie, Daniel Perkins
Yes I have the poor mans carbon version - think it’s 3k wrapped so more the equivalent of the super max. Anyway - still love it, no wear at all. I got around the gooseneck ‘issue’ by just nicking the top half of my swivel Gardiner quick loc, used the Gardiner clamp too and now use whatever brush I like with the quick loc fitting. I’m still using the phantom DuPont brush. I brought the 25ft which is heavier than I would hope for but it’s still ticking all the boxes for me and I can do ALL of my work with this one pole. I’m keeping an eye out for the Black Friday deals and will get a hi-mod version. Either that or the neon with the phantom clamps. The other thing I have noticed about the clamps is - because they are easily removed with an Allen key - when the pole does start to wear I can rotate the clamp slightly to even things up a bit, I noticed on my SLX the pole wears less where the gap in the clamp joint is - by being able to rotate the clamps fixing point regularly it will enable even pole wear so the pole should last even longer (no thin weak spots)
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Yes I have the poor mans carbon version - think it’s 3k wrapped so more the equivalent of the super max. Anyway - still love it, no wear at all. I got around the gooseneck ‘issue’ by just nicking the top half of my swivel Gardiner quick loc, used the Gardiner clamp too and now use whatever brush I like with the quick loc fitting. I’m still using the phantom DuPont brush. I brought the 25ft which is heavier than I would hope for but it’s still ticking all the boxes for me and I can do ALL of my work with this one pole. I’m keeping an eye out for the Black Friday deals and will get a hi-mod version. Either that or the neon with the phantom clamps. The other thing I have noticed about the clamps is - because they are easily removed with an Allen key - when the pole does start to wear I can rotate the clamp slightly to even things up a bit, I noticed on my SLX the pole wears less where the gap in the clamp joint is - by being able to rotate the clamps fixing point regularly it will enable even pole wear so the pole should last even longer (no thin weak spots)
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Lovely, cheers for the info mate
♠Winp®oClean♠
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For anyone who thinks the SLX poles are expensive.... my current 25ft is over 5 years old and used all day, every day!! It's my second one in about 10 years since Gardiners originally released them. I've just ordered another to replace it as a matter of course but it is remarkable how long these last given the sheer abuse I give them!! One pole every 5 years- that kind of value doesn't take much working out!![emoji106]
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lol yikes that told me! I suppose instead of doing some research and looking out for reviews and feedback etc I should just blindly spend a few hundred quid on a product?
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I'm going to hold off till the new year I think see how it holds up & what accessories they bring out for it. My other Gardiner poles have been fantastic hence why i'm reluctant to make the switch.
CM Cleaning Services
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- Cwmbran
Been to Wcw today to test out the 40ft as I'm looking to buy a pole and I must say it's considerably light but still reasonably rigid at full extent , the last section is quite thick in my opinion and the new clamp design is great only time will tell if it has durability to everyday use and wear .... Just my opinion !!!
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RyeCleanLiam
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I have purchased a Phantom Carbon 18, I’ve had it about a month now. I have used Gardiners SLX for quite a while now, and tbf they have always been good for me. But I fancied a change as for me personally I like to try different and new things and not just be stuck to one brand. So just to start off I have no issue with Gardiners poles and still feel they’re good poles. In fact I have bought 2 extensions for my SLX 18 to turn it into a 25 for higher reach work and over certain connys.
So I purchased a Carbon Phantom 18 for everyday use. First impressions were really good. It looks smarts. It feels as light as the SLX, and I feel more rigid. The clamps look a really good bit of kit, they are really easy to open and close, the whole action of opening the clamp an sliding the pole up is smooth. After a month of using it I still love it, and so far it still looks like new. But of course only time will tell if it really is a long lasting pole, but early signs are good.
If its still looking good by early next year I will purchase a Phantom 25 High Mod.
Window Cleaning Warehouse also recently sent me their Smart Lock Gooseneck which is their version of Quick Loq. Unfortunately there is currently no swivel version so I’m still using my Quick Loq swivel on the end of mine, but for anyone who doesn’t use a swivel the smart lock looks a good bit of kit, and it comes with 3 different interchangeable lengths (see pic attached)
So I purchased a Carbon Phantom 18 for everyday use. First impressions were really good. It looks smarts. It feels as light as the SLX, and I feel more rigid. The clamps look a really good bit of kit, they are really easy to open and close, the whole action of opening the clamp an sliding the pole up is smooth. After a month of using it I still love it, and so far it still looks like new. But of course only time will tell if it really is a long lasting pole, but early signs are good.
If its still looking good by early next year I will purchase a Phantom 25 High Mod.
Window Cleaning Warehouse also recently sent me their Smart Lock Gooseneck which is their version of Quick Loq. Unfortunately there is currently no swivel version so I’m still using my Quick Loq swivel on the end of mine, but for anyone who doesn’t use a swivel the smart lock looks a good bit of kit, and it comes with 3 different interchangeable lengths (see pic attached)
So their version of the Quick-Loq will only connect one way. In other words, it doesn't allow you to turn the brush through 90 degrees.
RyeCleanLiam
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No 90 degree swivel no @spruce. Personally I’ve never once turned my brush 90 degrees but I can see why some would need that feature.
I’m sure gardener do an adapter that fits the phantom and has swivel somebody sent me a pic other day
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