[kempy]

I will definitely be ringing the office for this upgrade as I basically stopped using this slx with the clamps on as I just find them terribly awkward . At first I thought I was the only one , out of 20,000 +. Now on this forum theres quite a few and a few on the other forum , plus persons I physically know .
Alex , do you seriously think these clamps are good , you've posted me new bolts , what are new bolts going to do ?
Now your saying in 2 weeks time there's more new stuff / upgrades .
It's nice that you are doing this , but it can't be just a handful of folk who have problems .
I first brought this up 3 or 4 weeks ago and since then the amount of persons with the same problem seems to be escalating .

Is there a reason or a patent why you can't bring out Vertical clamps . As these continuous upgrades on your clamps always seem to be followed by ANOTHER UPGRADE .
I hope you do crack it , but I just find them not good at all.

My pole with the vertical clamps , I never have to tighten them up , don't break , don't get caught on anything . Just a lot better .

To bring out another Clamp or Upgrade - I just don't have the confidence to buy it or even bother to fix it to the slx .

[ben M]

I will definitely be ringing the office for this upgrade as I basically stopped using this slx with the clamps on as I just find them terribly awkward . At first I thought I was the only one , out of 20,000 +. Now on this forum theres quite a few and a few on the other forum , plus persons I physically know .
Alex , do you seriously think these clamps are good , you've posted me new bolts , what are new bolts going to do ?
Now your saying in 2 weeks time there's more new stuff / upgrades .
It's nice that you are doing this , but it can't be just a handful of folk who have problems .
I first brought this up 3 or 4 weeks ago and since then the amount of persons with the same problem seems to be escalating .

Is there a reason or a patent why you can't bring out Vertical clamps . As these continuous upgrades on your clamps always seem to be followed by ANOTHER UPGRADE .
I hope you do crack it , but I just find them not good at all.

My pole with the vertical clamps , I never have to tighten them up , don't break , don't get caught on anything . Just a lot better .

To bring out another Clamp or Upgrade - I just don't have the confidence to buy it or even bother to fix it to the slx .

if you are not happy about gardiner clamps, buy facelift poles!

[kempy]

My new 18ft & 45ft poles has vertical clamps .

My next purchase will be a 23ft pole and  will have vertical clamps .

Then when Money permits my 30ft pole will have vertical clamps

Then I will have 18,23,30 and 45 all vertical .

Then I will sell my 25ft slx and 30ft slx .

I shouldn't moan  at the clamps anymore , just more and more are doing so . So it's not just me . Another upgrade why , are they not doing their initial job ? Free upgrade , under pressure to make them adequate ?
Personally can I be bothered to fit another clamp or set of bolts , my 30ft slx will be about 3ft soon with all the chopping of I'm doing .
I'm afraid I think I've lost patience with them
Tighten them up another turn , turn and a halve , then few hours later again or not even that .
Good luck fellow slx's
I genuinely hope your better at operating them than me .
Good poles , brushes most of them , sections and necks , but the main component of a pole , the clamps , still need a massive improvement !!

[Alex Gardiner]

I will definitely be ringing the office for this upgrade as I basically stopped using this slx with the clamps on as I just find them terribly awkward . At first I thought I was the only one , out of 20,000 +. Now on this forum theres quite a few and a few on the other forum , plus persons I physically know .
Alex , do you seriously think these clamps are good , you've posted me new bolts , what are new bolts going to do ?
Now your saying in 2 weeks time there's more new stuff / upgrades .
It's nice that you are doing this , but it can't be just a handful of folk who have problems .
I first brought this up 3 or 4 weeks ago and since then the amount of persons with the same problem seems to be escalating .

Is there a reason or a patent why you can't bring out Vertical clamps . As these continuous upgrades on your clamps always seem to be followed by ANOTHER UPGRADE .
I hope you do crack it , but I just find them not good at all.

My pole with the vertical clamps , I never have to tighten them up , don't break , don't get caught on anything . Just a lot better .

To bring out another Clamp or Upgrade - I just don't have the confidence to buy it or even bother to fix it to the slx .

We seem to be going in circles with this Kempy as I have answered all of your questions and discussed all of these issues many times on another forum  

When you first expressed your dissatisfaction with your upgraded clamps on your older SLX30 pole (I think it is 4 years old now?) I even offered to have this pole collected at my expense to set it up correctly for you despite the age of the pole. For some reason you were not keen on this idea. It also seems from your question that you have not even fitted the new bolts that I sent you months ago to help you with your clamp adjustment. You ask what use new bolts are - if you fitted them you might find out!

We have sold thousands of poles with these new smart clamps and at least another 1500 older poles have been upgraded by clients. This equates to about 30,000 new smart clamps out there in operation. Of these a very small percentage (less than 2%) have had issues with bolts not staying tight. If anything the majority find them slightly too tight. It is because we want to make them easy for all users that we are constantly trying to improve. Hence the new bolt design for those who need it - this is being provided for free because relatively few people will need them. It will cost us very little to offer this. I have however explained all of this to you on another forum over the last few months.
 
You also seem to have an issue with the fact that we upgrade and improve stuff. I firmly believe in making improvements when needed. For instance you have been able to extend the life of a quite old pole with this smart clamp upgrade (not that anyone made you buy the upgrade) You would not have been able to do this with any of the vertical clamps on the market as they all have flaws in their mechanical action which leads to a lack of adjustment as the sections wear. It will be interesting to see whether any of your new vertically clamping poles will still be operational after even half the operational hours that your SLX30 has been in service.

I could very easily bring out a vertical clamp as none of them are patented (the original facelift only had design protection on the shape). The reason I have chosen not to is down to the inferior way they clamp a section. Most other manufacturers have likewise followed suit since we introduced lateral clamps in 2007.

It is of course possible that the 4 year old SLX30 that you have upgraded is simply too old and too worn for even the smart clamps to work with. If you had let me have it back to examine and setup for you, as originally offered, I could have assessed this for you. There should be no need to be chopping bits off the pole when upgrading unless of course it was damaged.

If you are interested in the upgraded bolts when available, rather than ringing the office I will arrange for your pole to be collected and I will fit them for you as I feel this is the best way forward in your case.

[Stephen Fox]

Difference is the wear on certain vertical clamps is a lot less than lateral. That is why there are vertical clamps still in action from before 2007 on the same pole, this can not be said for any lateral clamp around.

The 'mechanical flaw' seem to lie in certain lateral clamp designs hence the constant upgrading to deal with issues which then bring more issues!

There is no actual patent on lateral clamps either. At Facelift, we decided to design and release a vertical clamp as they are simply better and nicer to use over what is out there currently.

[Dave Willis]

Depends on what pole material you are using. Aluminium poles will last much longer than carbon. I had a pole with vertical clamps that lasted five weeks! I've seen the utube evidence of a knackered Facelift pole too. All the carbon poles seem to wear at a pretty fast rate. The clamps themselves don't seem to wear too bad but pole sections do.

I wonder if an ovalised pole section would be less likely to spin in the clamps when worn - probably harder to manufacture.

[Clever Forum Name]

I haven't upgraded my clamps yet to the new ones as just not had the time. But never suffered with any spinning clamps ever, as after first using poles years ago we soon realised they need looking after. Hence why we coat all our poles.

Got an slx which is years old and looks brand new still.

My extremes look like new as well.

[Stephen Fox]

The old Extender poles had a hexagonal shape to the tube, but were far as I know, only made of glassfibre which will wear pretty bad as we know so never really had a chance at longevity.

I think there legs in different pole shapes, something we have toyed with for the future. There are quite a number of benefits.

[dazmond]

so you dont like the clamps then kempy?

C,MON LETS GET READY TO GRUMBLE!!!

your pole is 4 years old its probably time for a new one!

i personally dont know what all the fuss is about!i fitted some to my 22 slx and they are great.the top 3 sections had started to wear and it cured the problem straight away.

they came as standard on my extreme 25.again great clamps.a little bit of adjustment needed a few times a week to the odd clamp but it takes seconds to turn a bolt!

im very happy with the new clamps and find lateral clamps easy to use also the fantastic thing is when sections start to wear the sections dont spin!

vast improvement IMO.


very best wishes to you all


dazmond

[Roy Harding]

I'm  having the new clamps delivered today for my Slx 25 it was one of the first batch made, must be 7yrs old now. It had originally metal clamps.

If the new clamp extend the life of the pole a few years it may make 10yrs, that cant be bad.

And to keep improving a product and giving it more life can only be good.

And you can see by Alex response he does go the extra mile to try to sort any problems out.

Roy

[kempy]

I'm not bothered you upgrade stuff , for me the upgraded clamp has sorted the spinning sections out , coupled with me LACQUERING each section .
4 years old , part time use , I wouldn't say that's that long .

Anyway I'm content , the clamps are ok , just the actual use and operation of them aren't as good as my new carbon fibre poles that have vertical clamps on . I haven't tightened these yet . The use of these are so , so ,so easy compared to gardiner ones .

These are my preference , my favourite . This is a public forum , I think , to give the thoughts of persons on equipment . Sorry I can't like everything from gardiners .
Their CUSTIE service is good , 95% of products are good , just I prefere other products from other companies that's all from time to time .
I'm i allowed to say this , I believe so .
I'm not affiliated to any product so my thoughts for what it's worth are just my opinion .

[Mike #1]

I initially only had an issue with the new clamps because if allowed to flop open and rotate once or twice clockwise for instance,  Unless you rotate the the clamp lever anti clockwise to its original position the clamp will require what we all see as regular adjustment .

But  over a week or two you get used to how they work which is just a case of opening the clamp with your thumb keeping your thumb on the clamp lever then close it once section is collapsed .

Rather than opening the clamp lever and letting go and letting it spin  , I assume the new bolt upgrade will effectively lock the clamp lever in position when correctly adjusted for each section .

Which is what most of us have been used to over the years with using vertical clamps . Mike

[[GQC] Tim]

I'm  having the new clamps delivered today for my Slx 25 it was one of the first batch made, must be 7yrs old now. It had originally metal clamps.

If the new clamp extend the life of the pole a few years it may make 10yrs, that cant be bad.

And to keep improving a product and giving it more life can only be good.

And you can see by Alex response he does go the extra mile to try to sort any problems out.

Roy

Hi Roy, I've got them on my original SL-X as well, feels like a brand new pole.

These clamps are amazing, providing they've been set up right. Can't see why people have got so many problems.

[Dave Mills]

I haven't upgraded my clamps yet to the new ones as just not had the time. But never suffered with any spinning clamps ever, as after first using poles years ago we soon realised they need looking after. Hence why we coat all our poles.

Got an slx which is years old and looks brand new still.

My extremes look like new as well.

What do you coat them with?

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Difference is the wear on certain vertical clamps is a lot less than lateral. That is why there are vertical clamps still in action from before 2007 on the same pole, this can not be said for any lateral clamp around.

The 'mechanical flaw' seem to lie in certain lateral clamp designs hence the constant upgrading to deal with issues which then bring more issues!

There is no actual patent on lateral clamps either. At Facelift, we decided to design and release a vertical clamp as they are simply better and nicer to use over what is out there currently.

I have a MKI SLX-25 still in use, I believe that makes your statement incorrect.

[Stephen Fox]

Difference is the wear on certain vertical clamps is a lot less than lateral. That is why there are vertical clamps still in action from before 2007 on the same pole, this can not be said for any lateral clamp around.

The 'mechanical flaw' seem to lie in certain lateral clamp designs hence the constant upgrading to deal with issues which then bring more issues!

There is no actual patent on lateral clamps either. At Facelift, we decided to design and release a vertical clamp as they are simply better and nicer to use over what is out there currently.

I have a MKI SLX-25 still in use, I believe that makes your statement incorrect.

Winpro............YAWN!!!!

It doesn't actually, SLX didn't exsist before 2007 so therefore statement is correct! Boom! 

[Nathanael Jones]

100% correct Mr Fox - but you fail to point out the reason behind this wear differential - - - Lateral clamps were designed primarily to reduce the closed length of the pole, and to do this they have to clamp with more pressure on a much smaller surface area. Vertical clamps avoid this issue, but have the downside of being quite big in comparison and adding significantly to the closed length of the pole.

Difference is the wear on certain vertical clamps is a lot less than lateral.

[Clever Forum Name]

I haven't upgraded my clamps yet to the new ones as just not had the time. But never suffered with any spinning clamps ever, as after first using poles years ago we soon realised they need looking after. Hence why we coat all our poles.

Got an slx which is years old and looks brand new still.

My extremes look like new as well.

What do you coat them with?

Search on you tube for pole maintaince. Basically car lacquer

[Carl2009]

My SLX 25 is my day to day pole and get's used a helluva lot. It's a pole that I bought with the new sprung clamp factory fitted. I initially found the clamp bolts (the bolt head is itself a redesign from before and an improvement as it's "oval" and easier to grip) were very stiff, as was to be expected. Pretty quickly they loosened up.

A month or two in I dis find that the clamps spin when open fully, and still do. I can stop this using the method Alex has suggested, by opening the clamp just enough to allow movement of each section, but by leaving it tight enough so the cam of the lever sits in the "hollow". The thing is that after a couple of extensions and collapses i'm back to square one.

I am getting by, but any upgraded bolt would be welcome.

Personally I prefer the new clamps if they are going save spinning sections, which are a royal pita. For those complaining about continual upgrades - that's how life is. Alex does his best to hit the mark first time, but the "field tests" we all do in our thousands will find any and all weaknesses, which he can then react to. And he does. Quickly. I think we should be glad Alex has taken wfp technology way beyond where it was 5 years ago when I came into the industry. I'm making a lot of money thanks to Gardiner and Pure Freedom.

[Stephen Fox]

100% correct Mr Fox - but you fail to point out the reason behind this wear differential - - - Lateral clamps were designed primarily to reduce the closed length of the pole, and to do this they have to clamp with more pressure on a much smaller surface area. Vertical clamps avoid this issue, but have the downside of being quite big in comparison and adding significantly to the closed length of the pole.

Difference is the wear on certain vertical clamps is a lot less than lateral.

Actually Nat, the history behind the bigger vertical clamp is simply at the time of release a much smaller clamp could of been introduced but was rejected as it didn't look 'industrial' enough. The best part of 10 years ago this was an issue. It s really nothing to with a shorter closed length as the current increase in lateral clamp sizes has shown. Smaller clamp bodies were popping off poles due too inadequate gluing area so manufacturers where increasing the staggered length of poles to stop this happening. This by default increased the closed the length of the pole.