[Tosh]

I haven't a clue, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help.

[Spruce]

Hi Tosh
Thanks for this.
I am a bit dim so please can you go over the gaffer tape section again.
If you wrap the tape around the male/female join, does this mean to say that we would need to undo the gaffer tape each time we disassemble the pole?
Thanks
Spruce

[Tosh]

Spruce,

No, the poles just pop-on-and-off.

You could use the poles without the gaffer tape, but you would be at risk of sections jamming together and you'd have to struggle to pull them apart.

So, you have to gaffer tape the male pole, just below where the female pole ends, when they're joined together; to act as a STOP; so the poles can't slide in too deeply together and get jammed.

It's one of those very simple concepts that is difficult to explain.

Is it any clearer now?

[Jeff Brimble]

?   
I tried but yes its simple but difficult to explain 

[geefree]

nice one tosh.... poles pole came today... nothing else  ... not happy after one week.

[Spruce]

Hi Tosh
I am even dimmer than I gave myself credit for. I see that wrapping a couple of turns of gaffer tape around the male section to stop it from completely 'bedding' into the female section seems to work. I've just tried it now.
I refer back to a picture taken toward the end of last month with your dog and poles on some outside decking in support of Jeffs advise to fill the male ends with foam to give a little extra support. I also see that the 2nd and 5th pole pole from the left have gaffer tape on the male section. It appears from the photo that the edge of the gaffer tape closest the camera is pushed up, indicating to me that the next section, the female end has been pushing up against it.  
Spruce

[Tosh]

Hi Tosh
I am even dimmer than I gave myself credit for. I see that wrapping a couple of turns of gaffer tape around the male section to stop it from completely 'bedding' into the female section seems to work. I've just tried it now.
Spruce

Spruce,

It was me who got it wrong, with reference to 'male' and 'female' ends; sorry fella.

As you can tell by my avatar, I often get confused about 'male' and 'female' ends.

I'm just off to amend and correct my posts; thank you; but I see you understood what I was on about.

Sorry. 

[Tosh]

I refer back to a picture taken toward the end of last month with your dog and poles on some outside decking in support of Jeffs advise to fill the male ends with foam to give a little extra support. I also see that the 2nd and 5th pole pole from the left have gaffer tape on the male section. It appears from the photo that the edge of the gaffer tape closest the camera is pushed up, indicating to me that the next section, the female end has been pushing up against it.  
Spruce

This photo, though I haven't got all the female ends taped up; but it's probably a good picture showing what I mean about making the STOPS out of gaffer tape.

Simple really.

I wouldn't bother with the expanding foam stuff; it didn't really work for me!

[Tosh]

nice one tosh.... poles pole came today... nothing else  ... not happy after one week.

Give the supplier a 'bell', or at least an e-mail; be polite; just to find out when your gear is comming.

Have you read my DIY instruction?  Does it sound simple enough to you?  If it sounds complicated, then that's my fault; it's really simple; it should take no longer than 20 minutes to sort out.

[Captain Scarlet]

I love that dog!!! is he a corgi?

[Tosh]

I love that dog!!! is he a corgi?

He's from the RSPCA, a rescue dog, so we don't really know, but we strongly suspect he's half Corgi, half Jack Russel.

A Kojak! 

He's a lovely little guy though - very bright - loves everyone; a real 'people dog'.

[geefree]

nice one tosh.... poles pole came today... nothing else  ... not happy after one week.

Give the supplier a 'bell', or at least an e-mail; be polite; just to find out when your gear is comming.

Have you read my DIY instruction? Does it sound simple enough to you? If it sounds complicated, then that's my fault; it's really simple; it should take no longer than 20 minutes to sort out.

will do ... sent them an email just now...will also bell them tomorrow...

yes it looks pretty straightforward...... i will tackle it properly when all the equipment is here.
Oh by the way tosh   ... the  Emporium Econ 18ft Modular Pole looks ok.... are they the same as fishing poles.... in other words ... whats a modular lol?

[Tosh]

Oh by the way tosh   ... the  Emporium Econ 18ft Modular Pole looks ok.... are they the same as fishing poles.... in other words ... whats a modular lol?

I can't comment on the Emporium Econ 18ft modular pole, with regards to how good it is, but this is the three different types of poles:

Telescopic; as the the name implies; it lengthens and retracts like a telescope; normally with an internal hose.  For Example SLX.

Modular;  It's in sections that you add or remove depending on the job.  Always with an external hose.  For Example SL2 or DIY Fishing Pole.

Telescopic and Modular; there's a few poles that are both telescopic and modular, almost always with an external hose.  For example Facelift  (I think I'm correct in describing the Facelift as such) or Unger Telepole.

[geefree]

Thanks Tosh,

going back to the gaffer tape as a stop end.... is that so it doestn slip down whilst cleaning... as well as popping out.....

its just that i thought  it was simple to detach all parts to pop in the van.... or take a section or two off .... to do downstairs...

but the gaffer tape will soon wear away right?..... so prob needs re-doing regular...

or is it a daft comment ?? 

[ftp]

Question? Why hacksaw your top section down to fit the adapter? Why not glue a section of the next length on the end (the extra strong bit about for inches) and fit the adapter in that? Maybe add a few turns of insulating tape to bulk it up to fit otherwise your shortening the pole even more by chopping bits off?

[Wayne Thomas]

Facelift and original Ionics ergolite are both telescopic and sections can be removed as easily as sliding the sections off the poles.
Emporium 18ft pole is carbon & glass composite. It's whippy, weighs 1.1 kg and is very strong. I've really thrown mine about and still not damaged it on the ends yet. If I was treating my SL-2 as abusive as my emporium pole it would be chipped and cracked all over by now. I recommend using a gardiners superlite brush on this pole otherwise it's too whippy with all 6x 3ft sections raised from ground straight onto the glass. All 6 sections are 3ft in length and the top section has a plastic gooseneck with about 18 inches of pole length which the 1st section slides into. This makes it ideal for working on conservatories in very confined spaces. It's a good, cheap, (£59) pole for domestic work up to 21ft reach which will withstand a lot of knocks.

[ftp]

Sorry to butt in. Assemble your pole so that the sections are a snug fit but not mega tight then wrap two or three turns of insulation tape as close to the join as you can so it can't slip in any further.
Wrap about ten turns of insulation tape around the bottom of each unassembled section to form a collar then when you pack them away inside each other they will all stack nicely and sit on their collars.

[Tosh]

Oh by the way tosh   ... the  Emporium Econ 18ft Modular Pole looks ok.... are they the same as fishing poles.... in other words ... whats a modular lol?

I've just re-read your post; yes it's just a fishing pole adapted for window cleaning; unless someone can prove me wrong.  It is 18 foot though, and the pole I'm showing you how to make is 15 foot.  So it's bigger; probably slightly better too, though I can't prove that.

But this DIY post is a good high-impact-low-cost solution to make a lightweight 'bread-and-butter' pole; I know I won't use anything else from now on; for normal two-story work.  

And if you want to spend 'proper' money on a manufactured pole, a DIY pole is a good place to start.

If anything it'll give you something to base future opinions on.

[Spruce]

Thanks again Tosh

We have used Unger Teleplus poles for the last 3 years and they have done us proud.
Sadly our hands get so black from ali residue that we have to think of something else. Ali poisoning must be considered a real issue. If cooking with ali pots is now a no no, then working with ali poles must also pose a health risk. 
Members here complain about telescopic fibreglass poles wearing quickly, fibreglass splinters, too heavy and whippy. Carbon fibre modular, although not as convenient  as telescopic needs to be considered as a future alternative for us anyway.

This is a great post. Its so simple to build and will help us to get a feel to see if this will work for us.

Spruce

[Tosh]

Cheers Spruce, it's always nice to get a thankyou for a helpful post that you've taken the time to post, though all credit should go to Jeff B.  He was the first to try 'fishing poles' as a water fed pole, and I've just jumped on the band-wagon and made a 'song and dance' about it; because I found it so good.

I'm not sure how the suppliers got wind of Jeff's 'invention' - all light-weight modular poles are based on fishing poles - but I'm betting there's a story behind it somewhere.

Anyway, no matter how I look at it, if you're in the market for a cost-effective modular pole for two-or-three storey work; nothing too extreme; then you won't go far wrong with a DIY pole.  And if you've got 'extreme' work and want to use a modular pole for it, then fork out for the expensive ones and keep it for best.

And use the much much cheaper DIY pole for bashing about your regular two-story work.