Purchasing a backpack/trolley setup (Will this be everything I need to get it running?)

[Derekarogers]

I am just about to purchase a backpack/trolley WFP setup for now.

Can someone please look at my cart and just let me know if there is anything missing? I am just confused on what fittings I need.

I just want to make sure I order everything so it's ready to connect out the box and everything snaps together ie the hose fittings and is fully functional.

I think I may need some of the o-clip clamps? If so which size would I need and how many?

Appreciate any help on this I will attach my cart below.

I chose the PU hose as I heard it's best for fitting a uni-valve with which I plan to possibly do in the future.

Thank You

 

[Iron Giant]

Everything looks ok, I don't know what the fitted valve is though is it a little tap? also you have added extra hose you need the fittings to join both pieces of pole hose to be able to do this if that is your intention, you could use one of these https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/push-fit-8mm-to-8mm-straight-connector.html but buy a few spares in case they fail moving forward.

Also are you sure you need a 27ft pole for your work a 27ft pole used all day will take its toll on your arms and shoulders, I only use a 22ft as my daily and can reach top floors and dormer windows on some townhouses and I'm 5ft and shrinking, I have never bothered with Univalves or the like either I just nip the pole hose.

 

[Derekarogers]

Everything looks ok, I don't know what the fitted valve is though is it a little tap? also you have added extra hose you need the fittings to join both pieces of pole hose to be able to do this if that is your intention, you could use one of these https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/push-fit-8mm-to-8mm-straight-connector.html but buy a few spares in case they fail moving forward.

Also are you sure you need a 27ft pole for your work a 27ft pole used all day will take its toll on your arms and shoulders, I only use a 22ft as my daily and can reach top floors and dormer windows on some townhouses and I'm 5ft and shrinking, I have never bothered with Univalves or the like either I just nip the pole hose.

Thank You for your reply

Yeah I think the fitted valve is a little tap on the hose so I can control the water on and off below the pole.

Yeah that's right I am looking to connect the hose to the gardiner backpack then that hose to the pole hose so I will purchase that connector you linked, I knew there would be something I'd miss.

I wanted to purchase the 27ft because someone I seen before mentioned you can just take one of the poles out if need be and use that. Then if need be for higher reach jobs I can just add the pole back in. Guess it is better to have the extra when it could be needed.

Do you think I would need any of the o-clip clamps for this kit to connect any of it?

Thanks again for your help

 

[Iron Giant]

One thing to note about stripping poles down is if you work on houses with overhead powerlines going into the house only the base sections are insulated not the other sections so you'll have no protection if you hit a powerline.

You shouldn't need any O clips as they'll be pre-fitted as you have added the fittings to your order so Gardiners do all this when prepping an order

 

[ched999uk]

I started with a Gardiner backpack and an SLX27.
One thing is that while PU hose is good and strong, I'm not keen on it even though I have it on my main 2 poles. I find that using it with cold water it likes to coil the way it wants to coil, I have tried a few times to remove it's 'memory' by running hot water through it and stretching it out straight then cold water through it but it still likes to coil the way it wants too. I bought some cheapy 5mm pole hose from the Cleaning Spot here: Yellow PVC Hose 5mm for pure water fed pole window cleaning at 36p a meter. I'm not saying it's going to last as long as PU but it was so much more manageable as an extension hose. Gardiners have other pole hose too but I haven't tried them.
After funds allowed I bought a CLX18 as the SLX27 is quite heavy - I wasn't used to manual work. I now have 3 poles, a CLX8 great for bungalows and big conservatory sides(about 30%), CLX18 for about 30% of work and the SLX27 for about 30%. I tend to use only 1 pole on each house as walking back to van to swap takes up valuable time. When you start you will probably have more time and not be doing many houses a day so the SLX27 is a good choice in my opinion plus it's shorter collapsed than a SLX25! Removing the bottom section will remove the insulating section so you will be more vulnerable to overhead wires.

I added a 12v remote switch to the backpack (invalidates warranty) so I could start and stop the flow to save water but now I have a van I switched to a univalve (well 3). Looking back I would pay the little extra and get a univalve from the start. With a backpack you are limited on the water you have and filling up takes time, moving the backpack back to vehicle, getting a barrel out to fill it up (I used a 12v transfer pump) then moving backpack back to job. So having a way to easily shut off water when extending or collapsing pole and even sometimes between windows saves water. I would imagine a tap is OK but it's not as easy as just tugging on the hose to stop or start the water, your tap is at the end of the pole hose so even at full pole extension is 2m away from the bottom of the pole, with the pole only extended to first floor the tap maybe 5m from your hand!

Ez-wraps are quite handy as they do hold the hose together and are quick to flick on and pull off.

I guess it's just your Gardiners order above but I would advise a decent trolley to move the backpack as when full it's about 25kg to move!

I would get some spare ez-snap (rectus 21) male and female connectors as if you damage one you are a bit stuck!

Good Luck.

 

[Derekarogers]

One thing to note about stripping poles down is if you work on houses with overhead powerlines going into the house only the base sections are insulated not the other sections so you'll have no protection if you hit a powerline.

You shouldn't need any O clips as they'll be pre-fitted as you have added the fittings to your order so Gardiners do all this when prepping an order

Thank You for your reply,

When you say base sections is that the very last section of the pole? If I was just stripping down the inside extendable poles then is the last pole I hold onto the insulated one? I would leave the outside pole but maybe take 1 of the inner poles or am I getting that all wrong?

Thanks

 

[Derekarogers]

I started with a Gardiner backpack and an SLX27.
One thing is that while PU hose is good and strong, I'm not keen on it even though I have it on my main 2 poles. I find that using it with cold water it likes to coil the way it wants to coil, I have tried a few times to remove it's 'memory' by running hot water through it and stretching it out straight then cold water through it but it still likes to coil the way it wants too. I bought some cheapy 5mm pole hose from the Cleaning Spot here: Yellow PVC Hose 5mm for pure water fed pole window cleaning at 36p a meter. I'm not saying it's going to last as long as PU but it was so much more manageable as an extension hose. Gardiners have other pole hose too but I haven't tried them.
After funds allowed I bought a CLX18 as the SLX27 is quite heavy - I wasn't used to manual work. I now have 3 poles, a CLX8 great for bungalows and big conservatory sides(about 30%), CLX18 for about 30% of work and the SLX27 for about 30%. I tend to use only 1 pole on each house as walking back to van to swap takes up valuable time. When you start you will probably have more time and not be doing many houses a day so the SLX27 is a good choice in my opinion plus it's shorter collapsed than a SLX25! Removing the bottom section will remove the insulating section so you will be more vulnerable to overhead wires.

I added a 12v remote switch to the backpack (invalidates warranty) so I could start and stop the flow to save water but now I have a van I switched to a univalve (well 3). Looking back I would pay the little extra and get a univalve from the start. With a backpack you are limited on the water you have and filling up takes time, moving the backpack back to vehicle, getting a barrel out to fill it up (I used a 12v transfer pump) then moving backpack back to job. So having a way to easily shut off water when extending or collapsing pole and even sometimes between windows saves water. I would imagine a tap is OK but it's not as easy as just tugging on the hose to stop or start the water, your tap is at the end of the pole hose so even at full pole extension is 2m away from the bottom of the pole, with the pole only extended to first floor the tap maybe 5m from your hand!

Ez-wraps are quite handy as they do hold the hose together and are quick to flick on and pull off.

I guess it's just your Gardiners order above but I would advise a decent trolley to move the backpack as when full it's about 25kg to move!

I would get some spare ez-snap (rectus 21) male and female connectors as if you damage one you are a bit stuck!

Good Luck.

Thank You Ched,

Hmm I may get the SLX27 then, I thought you could just strip some of the inner poles out so it would not need to remove the actually insulated handle?

Do you think gardiners standard hose is better than the PU in terms of less likely to coil?

The 12v remote switch is this like a keyboard type device you can connect to your backpack to turn on and off your water supply? Where can I get one of those? Are they difficult to install?

I did watch a video on gardiner with a guy demonstrating the tap with his pole and he kind of just has the hose overlapped in his hand whilst holding the pole so its always close by but I can imagine that can sometimes be a bit fiddly whilst trying to move around with a 30ft pole extended.

Yeah I added on the Ez-wraps as I intend to use these to keep the hose strapped to a trolley as I am unloading and moving around.

Thanks again

 

[ched999uk]

Thank You Ched,

Hmm I may get the SLX27 then, I thought you could just strip some of the inner poles out so it would not need to remove the actually insulated handle?

Do you think gardiners standard hose is better than the PU in terms of less likely to coil?

The 12v remote switch is this like a keyboard type device you can connect to your backpack to turn on and off your water supply? Where can I get one of those? Are they difficult to install?

I did watch a video on gardiner with a guy demonstrating the tap with his pole and he kind of just has the hose overlapped in his hand whilst holding the pole so its always close by but I can imagine that can sometimes be a bit fiddly whilst trying to move around with a 30ft pole extended.

Yeah I added on the Ez-wraps as I intend to use these to keep the hose strapped to a trolley as I am unloading and moving around.

Thanks again

As the poles are telescopic the thickest pole is the base and then each is thinner as it goes up, so each clamp fits to the next pole. You can only remove the bottom pole, then the next one and so on, you can't remove a random one as the remaining clamp would tighten on the thinner section.

The remote I used is like this one: 12v 1channel remote switch £14.99 It does take a bit on knowledge to fit and would invalidate the warranty. I used it for about 6 months and even after 5 months of univalve I still sometimes reach for the remote which used to be round my neck ?.

No idea on Gardiners standard pole hose as I haven't used it, sorry.

Some people use taps and get on great with them, since having the univalve I must say it does make things easier but as with most things you have to adapt a little when using them. i.e. you need to have the pole in such a position that you can reach the hose, so if you have just cleaned the sills the bottom of the pole might be close to the ground and you have to lower your hands to reach the hose but that's just getting used to things, same as you would need to do to get used to a tap.

 

[Iron Giant]

since having the univalve I must say it does make things easier but as with most things you have to adapt a little when using them. i.e. you need to have the pole in such a position that you can reach the hose, so if you have just cleaned the sills the bottom of the pole might be close to the ground and you have to lower your hands to reach the hose but that's just getting used to things, same as you would need to do to get used to a tap.

That's why I nip the hose just as much of an exercise I'd have thought as working the pole hose for a univalve and costs nowt, all hail the greedy northerner

 

[Skxawng]

You get a free Gardiner baseball cap?
I've just ordered a backpack, slimline pump, SLX 22 and spare clx section #7 on Saturday and it didn't say anything about a free cap...

 

[ched999uk]

You get a free Gardiner baseball cap?
I've just ordered a backpack, slimline pump, SLX 22 and spare clx section #7 on Saturday and it didn't say anything about a free cap...

You have to buy a SLX25 or bigger to get a free cap!

 

[Skxawng]

Oh, and these are great for the backpack. £38 on amazon. Einhell brand. Very strong but very compact.

 

[Skxawng]

You have to buy a SLX25 or bigger to get a free cap!

I've spent over £560 quid and no hat! If only I'd gone for the extra 3 foot! ?

 

[JEM]

I've not read all the replies, If you take one section out and then buy a pole bung for that section I think that would be section 5? someone will correct me

I've got a 27SLX great pole and I bought extension no 7 for reaching Velux windows in the roof, then I take two sections off for most of my work, so the extra bung is worth having to save the end of the pole