[easy clean]

alex, can you tell me how you would handle this situation please?

if you had supplied an x-tel pole along with many other products to a regular customer and that customer rang you 3 days after taking the pole saying that it had a crack forming in the base section about 4 inches long and about 6 inches away from the clamp and this pole has not been dropped or misused in any way, how would you deal with it?

many thanks jon.

[Alex Gardiner]

Depends who the customer was and whether I liked him or not ....

Obviously if it hasn't been dropped, stood on or misused in any way, then it has to be a faulty product.  It is very unlikely that it is a manufacturing problem as these pole sections are made in 1000 metre lengths at a time and then chopped into sections.  Using this process, it would be very hard to have one part of that length of a different quality strength than the rest of that batch.  The fault is most likely to have occurred because of being crushed or stressed in some way. This could have happened in many places - in the factory before assembly, in the crate whilst in transit to the UK or whilst in the hands of the courier whilst in transit to the customer.

Whatever the reason it would obviously need a replacement section. 

[Alex Gardiner]

In my opinion this would not be an acceptable solution.  The reason that the split has become apparent after use (even though the damage will have been there already) is that when using the pole extended, the bottom of the section above will be putting stress on the inside of the pole causing the crack.  Putting resin on the outside would not provide enough strength to resist this internal pressure.  The only realistic solution is to replace the damaged section.

[Alex Gardiner]

If you want to carry on using the pole and are unable to get a replacement section, then wrap a good amount (probably 4-5 wraps) of duck tape around the pole over the split. It won't look good and it might spoil the handling of the pole but it is very strong stuff and will keep the pole usable for quite a while.  Would I do this? - I would in the short term to keep me going but only until I could get a replacement section.

[Village Gleam]

I broke my bottom 17xtel section- my fault- If I order another can Kirsty include a  bottom section and if so  how much? approx not exact.

[DASERVICES]

Easy clean,

I had the same problem with the pole , crack on the bottom base near the clamp.

My supplier admited that there had been problems with this pole and that xtel replaced then.

Great service, AG

[Alex Gardiner]

I broke my bottom 17xtel section- my fault- If I order another can Kirsty include a  bottom section and if so  how much? approx not exact.

A bottom section for a 17ft X-Tel should be about £20 (very rough idea!). No problem to include with another order.

[Village Gleam]

One
How come I broke my xtel bottom section myself by pushing the sections out too far and going too horizontal causing a stress fracture at the base section about two inches from the end, which is obviously a misuse weak spot, and yet everyone else has damage to theirs in the exact same spot caused in transit?
What are the chances?
Two
I've a new product idea/ design improvement to the xtel range. Twice my tail has come  out  after my snaging and pulling when I shouldn't and it's been almost impossible to feed it back in.(an hour both times).
So what about some kind of stop collar that can be fitted onto the tail just before the brush to stop it sliding back through the hole and out the brush?
Three
Not so cocky today about my hot system. My gas ran out 19kg(£25) lasted 18 working days heating 400l daily. By chance the job it ran out on was near the farm supply shop so it was a quick swop without having to use the spare I keep at home.
However on resumption of operations it became a little erratic. Most worryingly when I checked it it carried on burning when the flow had stopped. I'm hoping it's just a bit on the dim side and the drop in pressure when the bottle emptied confused it.
It's after the pump by the way and I haven't had any issues with noise.

If it's not man enough to do the job I'll have to get one of them infinity's.