Aluminium or Carbon for Gutter Vacuuming?

ShropsWindowCleaner · Mar 17, 2021

Hi all. I recently purchased a Panther gutter vac. It’s an awesome little thing and the camera works well too. I purchased it with the aluminium pole set. It’s strong and rigid, but on the heavy side for me personally. Other windies don’t mind the weight. I’m thinking of selling the aluminium set and going for the carbon vacuum poles. Does anyone have any experience with two? And any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Pjj · Mar 17, 2021

We have a Skyvac and use there elite carbon poles , they are much better than alloy poles but are more delicate and need to be treated with respect, I have a set of alloy poles been in the garage over 15 years and we certainly won’t be using them , just be aware some firms sell poles claiming they are carbon but they are more fibreglass the poles you want should be 100% carbon , I would phone @Julia Martin as you have there vac and see what there poles are like , the Skyvac ones will set you back around £1000 , which is a lot of money unless you are doing loads of gutter work .

GVS Julia Martin · Mar 17, 2021

Pjj said:
We have a Skyvac and use there elite carbon poles , they are much better than alloy poles but are more delicate and need to be treated with respect, I have a set of alloy poles been in the garage over 15 years and we certainly won’t be using them , just be aware some firms sell poles claiming they are carbon but they are more fibreglass the poles you want should be 100% carbon , I would phone @Julia Martin as you have there vac and see what there poles are like , the Skyvac ones will set you back around £1000 , which is a lot of money unless you are doing loads of gutter work .

It's very true regarding carbon fibre content. It is also the same with aerospace aluminium.
Ours are the lightest aerospace aluminium gutter pole on the market at 500g per pole. I know some that are 715-800g per pole as they're a heavy gauge aluminium.

Our 51mm push fit carbon fibre are a 1.5m pole, they weigh 360g and are 100% carbon fibre.

Carbon fibre do take more looking after than aluminium. Also if there is wind, carbon can be harder to control at heights. I only know of one customer working 45/50ft with carbon whereas with aluminium I have many customers who work at 60-65ft. Two at 70ft though we would never recommend working at those kind of heights alone for safety reasons. The aluminium also allow you to be more aggressive with tougher gutters.

They both have their place on the market. We do actually have quite a lot to customers who have both kits, if they're on domestics all day, carbon for the lightness, if they're working to four storey or have tougher gutters the aluminium will come out.

Finding aluminium heavy can be adjusted by straddling the pole for better control, taking a pole off and changing where the operative is stood to the angle of the pole. We do sell our carbon fibre pole kits up from 20ft to 40ft if required, a full set with our three attachments is £669.98. We will have our clamped carbon poles coming out in April, these will have their own range of nozzle attachments, we'll price those nearer the time.

Pjj · Mar 17, 2021

GVS Julia Martin said:
It's very true regarding carbon fibre content. It is also the same with aerospace aluminium.
Ours are the lightest aerospace aluminium gutter pole on the market at 500g per pole. I know some that are 715-800g per pole as they're a heavy gauge aluminium.

Our 51mm push fit carbon fibre are a 1.5m pole, they weigh 360g and are 100% carbon fibre.

Carbon fibre do take more looking after than aluminium. Also if there is wind, carbon can be harder to control at heights. I only know of one customer working 45/50ft with carbon whereas with aluminium I have many customers who work at 60-65ft. Two at 70ft though we would never recommend working at those kind of heights alone for safety reasons. The aluminium also allow you to be more aggressive with tougher gutters.

They both have their place on the market. We do actually have quite a lot to customers who have both kits, if they're on domestics all day, carbon for the lightness, if they're working to four storey or have tougher gutters the aluminium will come out.

Finding aluminium heavy can be adjusted by straddling the pole for better control, taking a pole off and changing where the operative is stood to the angle of the pole. We do sell our carbon fibre pole kits up from 20ft to 40ft if required, a full set with our three attachments is £669.98. We will have our clamped carbon poles coming out in April, these will have their own range of nozzle attachments, we'll price those nearer the time.

We only use carbon poles s do big commercial work up to up to 65 feet , if it’s that windy we wouldn’t be doing the job anyway, like all things it’s knowing how to use the equipment safely and right tool for the job , I could never go back to alloy poles ??? my last set I got from carbon fibre tubes and apart from the fact they are taper fit and can be prone to sticking together they were 12 years old when I sold them and they are still going strong to be honest they are a better pole than the sky vac elete they are much stiffer and stronger pole .

GVS Julia Martin · Mar 17, 2021

Pjj said:
We only use carbon poles s do big commercial work up to up to 65 feet , if it’s that windy we wouldn’t be doing the job anyway, like all things it’s knowing how to use the equipment safely and right tool for the job , I could never go back to alloy poles ??? my last set I got from carbon fibre tubes and apart from the fact they are taper fit and can be prone to sticking together they were 12 years old when I sold them and they are still going strong to be honest they are a better pole than the sky vac elete they are much stiffer and stronger pole .

I'd imagine the ally ones you have from 15 years ago would be very heavy indeed, probably up at the 800g per pole if not possibly more. I used to like carbon on some jobs and ally on others.

Our old Aqua-Lite Carbon in this photo were a good pole and still around today too. When we rebranded as GVS we made the poles lighter, they have a different weave in the carbon, so we've worked to keep the strength in them.

You are correct in knowing how to use equipment safely, there are those proficient in both poles and those who will only use one type, like anything there will always be a preference. Personally I disliked aluminium in the cold weathers without my gloves (still do when I make my YouTube videos) mind you, the speed of debris coming down the carbon was always fun ? but both have their place.

Julia

Pjj · Mar 17, 2021

The alloy poles are omnivac ones , I agree about them getting very cold in winter it was like holding ice cubes but to be honest find the carbon ones the same we did some gutter jobs the other week and lifting ice slithers out of the gutters ???

GVS Julia Martin · Mar 17, 2021

Pjj said:
The alloy poles are omnivac ones , I agree about them getting very cold in winter it was like holding ice cubes but to be honest find the carbon ones the same we did some gutter jobs the other week and lifting ice slithers out of the gutters ???

I know the omnivac poles, Mark had a set of them. Yes poles can change temperatures so much and the weights differ with muck inside for sure ? At least it's warming up again, always nice to move on to the dry dusty moss and pine needles rather than pigeon poop and mud soup.

ShropsWindowCleaner · Mar 17, 2021

Wow what great advice! Really glad I started this thread. Thanks both so much ?? I may well go for the clamped carbon poles coming out in April. I do mainly domestic work ?? More than happy with the alu poles until then. ?? @Julia Martin @Pjj

AW Services · Apr 6, 2021

ShropsWindowCleaner said:
Hi all. I recently purchased a Panther gutter vac. It’s an awesome little thing and the camera works well too. I purchased it with the aluminium pole set. It’s strong and rigid, but on the heavy side for me personally. Other windies don’t mind the weight. I’m thinking of selling the aluminium set and going for the carbon vacuum poles. Does anyone have any experience with two? And any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

With gutter vacs it's aluminium all day for me

I know how much work it takes to look after carbon fibre and to maintain it's strength. It's very temperature and moisture sensitive

I don't personally find aluminium at all heavy, use it wash store it away without the worry of it splitting or the lacquer wearing away

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