[Ben Walker]

hi
thinking of getting the above pole for wfp, for economy mostly (i'm part-time), but its also light, right?.

Read back posts, Tosh i think it was you who said it was rather 'whippy' at full reach.

just wondering if becuse of this people would rather recommend glass fibre instead for this height.

thanks for any advice

ben

-also, is anywhere cheaper than Scrim City? 

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

i have a unger 30ft and yes they are a bit whippy when fully extended
i only uise mine on town houses (i use the 18ft for domestic)
but at the end of the day they work and you only get what you pay for.

[Ben Walker]

Cheers
do you ever feel you might loose control of it at that height?

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

no, i manage it ok

[Ben Walker]

thanks

[Ian_Giles]

I use the Unger setup too, but when well extended it is whippy, but no more whippy than the fibreglass ones of a similar length.
If your pole hose is fed on the outside of the pole then it has the advantage of being very versatile.
You only slip on the length of pole you need for any particular job.
On a lot of houses I'll only have the first two sections in use, the rest are in the van.

Even if you have a lot of tall town houses, most of the time you will get away with just three or four of the sections.
Mine can be configured to go up 42 ft, but I rarely need to go that high, and I do some high stuff too.
Plus you are only working at 30+ ft on a few windows here and there.

you also do not need loads of brush setups either, all you do is unclip the brush and slip it onto one of your shorter poles (I have one that extends to about 5ft and another that extends to about 10ft)

It does have its drawbacks of course, cold to hold in winter weather, you need to cut the end sections back and re-drill a couple of holes now and again (or I should say you do if you use a 15inch brush and the heavier duty angled connection)
But I have stayed with the Unger poles because of their sheer versatility, and when you are only using two of the sections then you will have to spend an awful lot of money to get a lighter one.
Also with the Unger angle joint, when you are getting at windows above conservatories, because the brush angle is so adjustable, you can always keep all of the brush in contact with all parts of the window.

Regards,

Ian

[AuRavelling79]

Yeah - wot Ian says.

Also I use a vikan 10" brush along with an adjustable joint for angle on mine for domestic.

I use three or four sections and go up to third floor. The final (thinnest) section, I tend not to extend beyond half way as it can get bent and be hard to push in and out.

I think there is a new twist click-lock version rather than the "cone" tighteners I've got. So when my pole dies I might go for one of these.

[Ben Walker]

Cheers guys
Ian, i take it you're talking about the unger pole with seperate sections, ie
http://www.soapnational.co.uk/acatalog/Unger7.html
and Malc, you're talking about this:
http://www.scrimcity.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_7&products_id=167

now i was thinking in terms of the latter, the extension one, but i see your point Ian about just adding the sections that are needed.
Sounds good for me, then i'll only need one set-up.
But Ian, if you join a number of those sections together, say for 30', are those push fit joins stable enough. do they not have more 'give' over a greater height/ more weight?
And, sorry, what is this about

you need to cut the end sections back and re-drill a couple of holes now and again (or I should say you do if you use a 15inch brush and the heavier duty angled connection)

hmm, don't get it? 

Cheers again for advice 
Ben

[Ian_Giles]

Mmmm......Methinks a photo is called for

I am just going to fetch in my pole so that it is clear what pole I have, what I mean by cutting bits off the pole, and the type of 'cone tighteners' I have.

Malc, have you any more info on this new twist click-lock version of the pole??


Ian

[AuRavelling79]

Actually my pole is like Ian's - but I just use the top three or four sections. (All two metres long)

The drilling bit:-

The top section is just a thin ally tube with two small holes in - into which you click the angle extension or brush extension. These holes wear over time (the heavier the brush, the quicker they wear) and so every six months or so you need to cut half an inch off the end and drill two new holes for the extensions to click into.

[windows_chepstow]

Don't forget that because the Unger pole seperates completely, they can easily be left behind on a job and fogotten about.

Later you mightn't remember where you left it.

Luckily enough, I know you can buy the pole sections seperately.

It happens.

Doesn't it Ian_Giles.

[Ben Walker]

hah, yeh just thinking that.

and if you're doing a 30' job say, thats like 5 sections of pole to carry into position before you assemble. isn't that a hassle?

if you had an extending one couldn't you carry that in one hand and pull your trolloy with the other. If you're a trolley man that is.

ben

[Ian_Giles]

I don't know what you mean Tosh :

I did just happen to borrow your poles, but I just wanted to test them for you

Ben,

Assembling the poles takes seconds, ditto taking them apart while the brush is up at the window ready to continue when you have dumped the section you don't want behind a wall/hedge/gate/car.....not that you will ever drive off and forget it of course.......that never happens


Ian

[H h20]

I use the unger poles i never take them apart i don`t see any reason to,well i do have big biceps and shoulders so i don`t think they are heavy,Gaz

[Ian_Giles]

Ok, it's piccy time!

These are the three poles I use, pretty straight forward as you can see, but the grips are all different.

The clamps on the larger pole are the ones that myself and Malc both mentioned, they work ok, and are cheap as chips  to replace the little pieces that actually grip the pole.
I love the grip system on the yellow fibreglass poles (such as the one set that Tosh has) they are so much better than the Unger ones.

The method of securing the esnded pole on the next pole down is a kind of eccentric cam on the smaller pole, works great, but wouldn't want it on a several pole set, when it collapses it shoots down like lightning and takes you by surprise!

The smallest pole is a variant of the bigger pole.



Next post!

[Ian_Giles]

next  pic shows the holes that wear and need cutting back now and again.

I can't be bothered to explain it, Malc's explanation was tops, can't beat it, very sucinct I must say....hits the nail on the head...to the point....leaves no room for misunderstanding

But I can at least show the bits you have to lop off with a hacksaw and re-drill

The holes are cunningly indicated with a pointy thing (a chopstick that happened to be at hand )

[Ian_Giles]

This pic just shows the Unger 'elbow joint'
it is made of cast aluminium, but stresses on all of it conspire to make it wobbly after a while, so you simply do a little cutting and re-drilling and screwing to get everything nice and tight again.

The Ionics residential brush is plastic, so it isn't as robust, but it is lighter, and that makes wuite a difference when you get it up at a great height.
Their commercial type assembly is far more rigid, but from what I can see, you lose out in not being able to angle the brush up when you are working over a conservatory.
But they don't degrade and wear like the Unger ones.
I think that Omnipole do have the facility on their brushes to angle the brush head itself, but I don't personally think this is as good as the Unger set up where you can angle the gooseneck itself.
But again, the Omnipole one is far more robust.

But one more advantage of the Unger setup (and the brush that Peter F supplies) is that you simply pop it off whatever pole you are using, and pop it on to the next one you want to use, ergo you can get away with just one brush, and one pole hose.

The setup is cheaper with Unger, and it isn't as robust as the other systems on offer, but it is so versatile.



Wel that was fun, at least by using i you can post photo's on thesite!

Ian

[Ben Walker]

Thanks Ian, im now much the wiser, cheers 
good pics, they really show up the grime!... you must have been working hard!
oh, and you better get back and mop that kitchen floor b4 your wife sees it!! 

well...I have a question now re the brush!

The bristles seem rather short, say compared to a vikan. does that not cause problems when moving around from glass to frame, or with georgians... ie the plastic bit hits on the wood?
i like the idea of being able to remove it easily. are there any other brushes that you can do this with. does p. fogwill do others? i've googled peter fogwill but didn't get anywhere...

ben

[Morph]

Your grouting Ian?

Very neat

Pj

[Ian_Giles]

Rustic tiles and walls that don't conform=a bloody nightmare to tile Hence the rustic type of tile
With 5 dogs and 2 cats we keep vileda afloat with the amount of mops we go through

And all that mopping is a nice bit of exersize for the wife when she comes home from work

The length of the bristles hasn't been a problem in use, but you can bang the frames and chip paintwork.
A link for Peter Fogwill's website, it alsao has links to his forum too, has a lot of info for WFP users, lots of facs.

http://www.window-tools.com/


regards,

Ian