I serviced my two Gardiners poles at the weekend, CLX-10 & CLX-22. I dismantled all the sections, removed the gooseneck, cleaned the insides & sprayed with the dry-film PTFE spray, (also supplied by Gardiners), where the sections join.
I managed to re-assemble the CLX-10 easily however when it came to fitting the gooseneck back into the CLX-22 I had a great deal of difficulty getting the gooseneck shaft completely into the top pole (see photo). As you can see I had also completely dismantled the top clamp and tried to prise it apart slightly. In the end I just had to use brute force - which is not ideal.
I don't remember having these problems when the pole was new (6 months or so ago). Does anyone have any tips on how I can make this job easier next time?
![](http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1443460166_IMG_20150919_123406007.jpg)