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.
