[colin bird]

Thanks for reading,I have a gardiners slx22 that I use on a daily basis approx 6 hours a day,the pole is seven months old.
When do you need to change the shims ?
What are the benefits of changing the shims ?
Advice appreciated as I want the pole to last
Many thansk

[Smudger]

Change them when they start having big grooves in them, they are there to protect the clamp body, in a time before shims the ware was direct on the clamp body

Darran

[colin bird]

Change them when they start having big grooves in them, they are there to protect the clamp body, in a time before shims the ware was direct on the clamp body

Darran

Ok thanks so do the shims protect the clamps from wearing

[jk999]

Had my slx four years n never changed them n my poles still  going strong

[Smudger]

Only on the outside where the lever would rub the clamp body.

Darran

[Smudger]

Had my slx four years n never changed them n my poles still  going strong

@ four years old not sure you would have the new clamps with shims fitted 🤔

Mine at 2 years old needed new shims on sections 2 and 3

Darran

[colin bird]

Only on the outside where the lever would rub the clamp body.

Darran

Thanks Darren,am I correct in saying that the shims don't protect or make the pole last longer? If yes what is the only benefit of changing the shims to make the clamps last longer ?

[jmb]

Darren, weren't the shims fitted directly on the pole  ?  Only asking because I asked Alex before about buying them to put on a pole and his reply was they were fitted onto the poles and couldn't be put on after.

Although the pole I wanted to fit them on was before they came as standard.

[colin bird]

Darren, weren't the shims fitted directly on the pole  ?  Only asking because I asked Alex before about buying them to put on a pole and his reply was they were fitted onto the poles and couldn't be put on after.

Although the pole I wanted to fit them on was before they came as standard.

On my 7 month old slx the shims can be removed

[colin bird]

Thanks for reading,I have a gardiners slx22 that I use on a daily basis approx 6 hours a day,the pole is seven months old.
When do you need to change the shims ?
What are the benefits of changing the shims ?
Advice appreciated as I want the pole to last
Many thansk

Not sure if Alex is in the Maldives on a winter break,hopefully he will be along soon,to help us

[Smudger]

Well looking at the way the clamp and shim work, as the shim wears you get play and will not clamp the pole section effectively possibly allowing it to spin.  Replacing the shim takes out the slack and gives better grip a bit like replacing your brake pads.

Jmb - with the original clamp the lever used to wear grooves into the clamp body, the more you adjusted the lever to clamp the more it ruined the clamp body, I vaguely remember talking to Alex and him sending some new levers but it may have been barrel nuts 🤔 ( that had also worn ) anyway not long after the new clamps came out so I upgraded the older poles to the new spec that have shims

By the way check the barrel nut, this sometimes has wear as well

Both are only penny's to replace

Darran

[colin bird]

Well looking at the way the clamp and shim work, as the shim wears you get play and will not clamp the pole section effectively possibly allowing it to spin.  Replacing the shim takes out the slack and gives better grip a bit like replacing your brake pads.

Jmb - with the original clamp the lever used to wear grooves into the clamp body, the more you adjusted the lever to clamp the more it ruined the clamp body, I vaguely remember talking to Alex and him sending some new levers but it may have been barrel nuts 🤔 ( that had also worn ) anyway not long after the new clamps came out so I upgraded the older poles to the new spec that have shims

By the way check the barrel nut, this sometimes has wear as well

Both are only penny's to replace

Darran


Ok Darren many thanks for your informative replies,much appreciated

[jmb]

Well looking at the way the clamp and shim work, as the shim wears you get play and will not clamp the pole section effectively possibly allowing it to spin.  Replacing the shim takes out the slack and gives better grip a bit like replacing your brake pads.

Jmb - with the original clamp the lever used to wear grooves into the clamp body, the more you adjusted the lever to clamp the more it ruined the clamp body, I vaguely remember talking to Alex and him sending some new levers but it may have been barrel nuts 🤔 ( that had also worn ) anyway not long after the new clamps came out so I upgraded the older poles to the new spec that have shims

By the way check the barrel nut, this sometimes has wear as well

Both are only penny's to replace

Darran

Thanks for that darran, unfortunately you can actually see the wear on my pole  spins like a 1000 dollar pole dancer

[toby richards]

Thanks for reading,I have a gardiners slx22 that I use on a daily basis approx 6 hours a day,the pole is seven months old.
When do you need to change the shims ?
What are the benefits of changing the shims ?
Advice appreciated as I want the pole to last
Many thansk

hi  I have just changed the shims they take all the wear.this is only after a year,they are only pence so just as well to change whole lot.This is important as it saves wear on the pole cheers toby

[Alex Gardiner]

Thanks for reading,I have a gardiners slx22 that I use on a daily basis approx 6 hours a day,the pole is seven months old.
When do you need to change the shims ?
What are the benefits of changing the shims ?
Advice appreciated as I want the pole to last
Many thansk

There have already been many good replies to this thread 

From a mechanical point of view the shim helps reduce friction on the action of the levers and reduce surface wear on the cam on the lever and the cam bed on the clamp body.  It does not actually improve or affect the clamping action of the clamp on the section below.

Why do we have these shims on the clamp mechanism as no other mainstream clamp has them?

This is because they help keep the movement and action of the lever arm smooth and easy during the whole life of the pole. A modern pole/clamp body can stay in service for 3-4 years and so will attract a lot of wear. This will show as grooves worn on the lever cam and the cam bed on the clamp. This negatively affects the smoothness and ease of actuation of the lever. These self-lubricating shims keep the action as easy as possible for as long as possible.

Why change the shims?

On a clamp where the shims are wearing replacing them will restore the ease of lever actuation which will improve the feel and use of the clamps. This can quickly restore that 'new clamp' feel to older clamps.

What it will not do is improve the clamping strength of the clamp any more than adjusting the bolts up would. However with worn clamps adjusting the clamps up tighter without replacing the shims will result in stronger action but the levers will become progressively harder to operate which will negatively impact your interaction with the pole.

Whilst it is not essential, replacing the shims every 6-8 months will make the clamps easier to work with.

[colin bird]

Thanks for reading,I have a gardiners slx22 that I use on a daily basis approx 6 hours a day,the pole is seven months old.
When do you need to change the shims ?
What are the benefits of changing the shims ?
Advice appreciated as I want the pole to last
Many thansk

There have already been many good replies to this thread 

From a mechanical point of view the shim helps reduce friction on the action of the levers and reduce surface wear on the cam on the lever and the cam bed on the clamp body.  It does not actually improve or affect the clamping action of the clamp on the section below.

Why do we have these shims on the clamp mechanism as no other mainstream clamp has them?

This is because they help keep the movement and action of the lever arm smooth and easy during the whole life of the pole. A modern pole/clamp body can stay in service for 3-4 years and so will attract a lot of wear. This will show as grooves worn on the lever cam and the cam bed on the clamp. This negatively affects the smoothness and ease of actuation of the lever. These self-lubricating shims keep the action as easy as possible for as long as possible.

Why change the shims?

On a clamp where the shims are wearing replacing them will restore the ease of lever actuation which will improve the feel and use of the clamps. This can quickly restore that 'new clamp' feel to older clamps.

What it will not do is improve the clamping strength of the clamp any more than adjusting the bolts up would. However with worn clamps adjusting the clamps up tighter without replacing the shims will result in stronger action but the levers will become progressively harder to operate which will negatively impact your interaction with the pole.

Whilst it is not essential, replacing the shims every 6-8 months will make the clamps easier to work with.
[/quo

Alex many thanks for that reply,the issue I'm  having with my 7 month old slx is,after regular cleaning and looking after it,I'm finding I'm regularly  tightening the bolts to stop it rotating,this is happening on all sections,my concern is,over the next few or several months,the bolts will not be able to be tightened anymore,resulting in constant spinning,making the pole  not useable,I'm not expecting the pole to last forever it I am concerned how much I have had to tighten bolts

[Alex Gardiner]

Hi Colin

The best thing to do is to send me an email (alex@agardiner.co.uk ) with some photos of the following:

1. Photos of the the clamps when open and when closed - from the top of the pole showing the jaw gap.

2. Photos of the section surface where most worn.

3. Slide the sections apart and take photos of the bottom 20cm of each section.

This will help me assess the pole more accurately and better advise you.

[Smudger]

Colin, are you sure that during operation that sometimes you inadvertently turn the lever, thus undoing it a quarter of a turn ?? - since I brought mine I think Alex updated the clamp design so they don't twist undone so easy also when I do a full clean and set the clamps ready for use, quite often they need a tweak after a day of being used under "working" conditions

Darran

[Smudger]

What's wrong with you man - it's a gardiners pole, of course it'll last forever !!!

[Mike #1]

Like with any pole how you use it will affect the wear , With my Xtreme when i extend each section i place my index finger on the underside of each section as extending to prevent it rubbing on clamp body thus causing wear and a similar thing when collapsing  i keep the pole totally vertically and use my index finger as brake if you like .

The little things help reduce premature wear and for me and rub against clamp bodies is one of major causes of wear .