Gardiner Poles (Maintaining)

I must be the worst person for maintaining the pole, but how does everyone manage to keep it from needing to be tightened all the frigging time.

Poles probably a year old, do you guys just tighten it all the time? 
 

We don't know what poles you are using. But, if you are having to tighten the clamps regularly this might suggest excessive wear due to a low maintenance routine. I say might, because it could also be that the clamps are just coming loose in which case you need to figure out why. Replacing locking nuts might be the answer.

Maintenance wise I find I have to carry out maintenance very frequently in the wetter months due to grit getting pulled into the pole on the wet hose. This involves frequently wiping down the pole hose during each working day and stripping the pole down about once a week and cleaning it out. I do this by ramming a microfibre through all the pole sections (except the top one) with a long dowel purchased from a DIY store. Then wiping the outside of each section before re-taping where necessary and reassembly.

The clamps on my Gardiner poles seem to require occasional minor adjustments but it's no big issue for me and seems to be due to atmospheric conditions more than wear

I add a few wraps of insulation tape to all my new poles to avoid the closed telescopic to wear. Also adding rubber O rings as bump stops help prevent clamp slap when closing them down but never drop them down.

PTFE / silicone helps maintain the lacquer coatings from wear. Also washing pole sections with soap and water removes grit and grime. 

Clamp maintenance is key and new clamps are available as a replacement for nearly all poles made 

Apw1210 said:

I add a few wraps of insulation tape to all my new poles to avoid the closed telescopic to wear. Also adding rubber O rings as bump stops help prevent clamp slap when closing them down but never drop them down.

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I do the same as well. Lidl did a big box of various sized 'O' rings a while back which I us for this purpose