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Afterglow Window Cleaners

  • Posts: 256
Now that's embarrassing....
« on: February 07, 2014, 08:22:49 pm »
Went to clean out some gutters today with my gutter vac.

Finished the job and went to dismantle my poles only to find that they were all stuck fast together.

However hard I tried with the help of my customer holding them, I could not get them apart. Had to abandon them in custy's back garden until tomorrow :(

Any ideas how to get them apart, I assume that some water is holding them together in the joins? would wd40 help?


ben M

  • Posts: 4720
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2014, 08:26:01 pm »
aluminium poles or carbon poles?

Afterglow Window Cleaners

  • Posts: 256
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2014, 08:26:32 pm »
aluminium

rosskesava

  • Posts: 17015
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2014, 08:29:24 pm »
Calor gas blow torch and warm up the joints.
Just chant..... Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. It's beats chanting Tory Tory or Labour Labour.

ben M

  • Posts: 4720
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2014, 08:38:00 pm »
message from Alex Gardiner when i had 2 gutters carbon poles stuck together ( will probably work with aluminium poles too!):

When it comes to disassembling them the natural inclination is to pull the sections apart (which is fine if you have only used them lightly or for a short time) or to twist the lower section anti-clockwise which is actually going to tighten them. The best way though  to separate them is to twist the lower section clockwise and it will twist the joint apart. To assist this it can help to stand to one side of the pole, facing the joint and twist the lower section away (clockwise) from you. If they are very stiff, wearing a pair of rubber gloves will give you much better grip and usually makes all the difference. - (When saying the lower section we are referring to the way they are used in window cleaning with the male joint fitted up into the female joint of the sections above. of course for gutter work you may be using them the opposite way up. In this  case to get the right twisting action stand with joint in front of you and the outer female stuck joint should be on the left and the inner stuck male joint on the right. You will then need to twist the inner male joint and section away from you which is twisting it clockwise.)

If a section appears completely 'fused' together then get a helper wearing rubber gloves to hold the upper section, you then twist the lower section which will shift almost anything! The important things to remember when attempting this is to twist the lower section 'clockwise' which looks wrong. Twisting it this way will 'unwind' the section. Wearing rubber gloves increases grip dramatically Get one person to hold the smaller section about 10" up from the joint, then the other person can hold the lower section just below the joint and twist, but do not pull at all.

If the above just will not shift them then spray with WD40 or similar penetrating spray leave for a while and try again". Once apart it is important to clean the WD40 fully off of the sections and re-treat with dry-film PTFE spray to avoid complications.

If the above does not work then there is a final method to try This final method is as follows:

You will need three people. Get one person on opposite far ends of the stuck section and get them to pull the section apart as hard as they can.. The third person then needs to stand next to the stuck joint, holds the joint and tries to move the joint in a clockwise circular motion as if the pole section were a skipping rope. You will not actually get much movement on the pole as it is rigid unlike a skipping rope, but what will happen is the joint will be made to 'unwind' itself. This does sound slightly daft, but will usually do the trick if carried out for a minute or so without giving up.

Wishing you all success.

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2014, 08:52:32 pm »
How embarrasing ... Yep sucking tile grit through gutter vac poles does make the joints stick together for sure. As mentioned already using a twisting motion will free the joints apart.

Happy gutter clearing bud as will happen more often than not ;D


Smudger

  • Posts: 13438
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2014, 10:26:30 pm »
Before breaking down run a bucket of water through the pipes this clears the grit and grime out allowing them to come apart

Darran
Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2014, 10:30:35 pm »
I found can sometimes make it worse doing that so just dry twisting seems to work for me.

Before breaking down run a bucket of water through the pipes this clears the grit and grime out allowing them to come apart

Darran

Afterglow Window Cleaners

  • Posts: 256
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2014, 10:08:32 am »
Tried twisting with rubber gloves on, still stuck tight, even got my bodybuilder customer to help, no joy, lol

Going to try heating slightly to either expand the outside tube or to help remove the water seal, hopefully that will work, otherwise I'm lost what to do :(

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2014, 11:16:55 am »
Hacksaw would be the last resort if all fails bud but you could also try pipe wrenches to try twisting it free. Just be careful though as too much pressure could damage the thin pipe. As mentioned you could try also washing it through with a hosepipe to see if it makes any difference.  

It is not a water seal but small particals of grit stopping the joints moving.

Myself I use old omni t1 ali semi telescopic (2 poles per section) that are forever getting stuck. Now I just keep all the sections seprate and only put together the lengh of pole I need.

Smudger

  • Posts: 13438
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2014, 11:27:01 am »
Heat should help, sometimes just leaving them for a few days in a dry warm place can give the joint, poles to dry out and then be broken apart

Darran
Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2014, 11:30:55 am »
As they are at a customers house I don't think that's an option in this weather somehow just to leave them there for a few days hoping they will dry out so can be broken down.

Best to try using a heat gun if you want to dry the joints out quick.

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2014, 12:16:34 pm »
Quick update folks....As a test I’ve just tried the heat gun method on an omni ali semi telescopic 2 pole section that the smaller diameter section had been stuck solid inside the other for the last 3 years.

Would not budge until I heated up all the outer section then hay presto the inner section came out just by using pliers to pull it out with minimal effort.

What a result ;D


Afterglow Window Cleaners

  • Posts: 256
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2014, 03:04:54 pm »
Finally got mine undone using a heat gun, thanks for all the replies and help :)

Would smearing vaseline on my pole help in the future ;D

Smurf

  • Posts: 8538
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2014, 03:17:01 pm »
Nice one...Best carry a heat gun in your van now at all times as will come in very handy for next time ;)

Finally got mine undone using a heat gun, thanks for all the replies and help :)

Would smearing vaseline on my pole help in the future ;D

rosskesava

  • Posts: 17015
Re: Now that's embarrassing....
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2014, 07:59:05 pm »
Finally got mine undone using a heat gun, thanks for all the replies and help :)

Would smearing vaseline on my pole help in the future ;D

Before assembly, making sure the joints are free of any dirt, grit, etc helps.

Also, spray the joints with something like furniture spray before assembling or even use good old fairy liquid. They may still get stuck together but getting them apart will be a lot easier.
Just chant..... Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. It's beats chanting Tory Tory or Labour Labour.