how to fix "stuck" BD poles?

[buckyball1]

fix stuck BD poles?-FIXED-wohoo

see post 10/11 for how
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unfortunately, it appears this may have a less than optimal (from my perspective) resolution--see my post from today, 10/1/10
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original post..

I have 2 (don't ask) pairs of Black Diamond Contour poles (elliptical shaft, 3 section, flick locks)-fairly "new", not much usage-upper two sections are stuck "closed-collapsed" on all four-middle section almost completely inside upper section.

I've been successfully using cheapo poles to bushwack these last few years as i'm hard on/tend to lose poles. The BDs have been sitting in "closed" position in the garage for 1-2 years. The lower sections still "slide" decently and show little wear and no sign of oxidation, but the upper sections won't budge. I'm sure i should have cleaned them better and "exercised" them periodically, but.......

I've can loosen the screws on the locks and take the locks off completely. After i remove the lower pole section,I'm looking at about 1 3/4 inches of middle section protruding from the upper section into which it seems frozen as Kevin says.

Any thoughts on how i might get the sections apart w/o a good chance of deforming/destroying $$ poles? ...and if i am successful, what have you found useful to prevent this from happening again.

thanks
jim

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Sounds like the upper sections have corroded/oxidized so that they're "semi-fused". I'd take a Phillips and make sure the cinch screw was plenty loose, put the tip of a piece of wood while holding a pole upright, and then tapping/rapping the top of the pole downward with a wooden block.

Might take a few raps, but I think you can break it loose. Once they're apart, take a piece of steel wool and smooth off the pole. If you have a cleaning kit for a 20 gauge, you can use that to ream out the inside of the poles.

Give the BD's a shot (no pun intended). I've found that after usage, I'll never go back to Lekis, Komperdells, Wal-Marts etc. The BD's are just a better mousetrap.

 

[buckyball1]

Kevin-thanks

-not sure if i described situation clearly in original post (i've edited it)

-if i try the "top rap" suggestion, i'm concerned that even if it does free the middle section from the top section that the middle section will be driven further "into" the top section leaving almost nothing to "pull" on

-am considering penetrating oil, but will wait until i really think this through and gather most promising suggestions

thanks
jim

 

[Stash]

-am considering penetrating oil, but will wait until i really think this through and gather most promising suggestions

Get the penetrating oil going now and let it work in while awaiting those suggestions. It'll do no harm I can think of.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Kevin-thanks

-not sure if i described situation clearly in original post (i've edited it)

-if i try the "top rap" suggestion, i'm concerned that even if it does free the middle section from the top section that the middle section will be driven further "into" the top section leaving almost nothing to "pull" on

-am considering penetrating oil, but will wait until i really think this through and gather most promising suggestions

thanks
jim

You can probably prevent the sections from being driven further into each other by snugging up the flicklock between the sections in question.

Personally, I'd be very leery of putting any kind of oil, solvent, penetrating fluid, lubricant, etc on your poles. All poles use friction as the method for extending the poles, and these types of fluids may come back to haunt you later on.

 

[DougPaul]

Personally, I'd be very leery of putting any kind of oil, solvent, penetrating fluid, lubricant, etc on your poles. All poles use friction as the method for extending the poles, and these types of fluids may come back to haunt you later on.

Just clean up afterward with an organic solvent such as rubbing alcohol to remove the oil after the parts are loosened.

Doug

 

[buckyball1]

...i'm probably beating a dead horse, but really don't want to lose these poles before even using them much..

to clarify.....let's call the top/handgrip piece "section 1"
.............................. ...the middle piece "section 2"
................................. the thinnest lower/tip piece "section 3"


-in all the poles, section 2 was stuck in the "closed/retracted" position inside section 1, totally seated with about 1 1/2 inches of section 2 sticking out
-in all the poles, section 3 was closed all the way, but still slides easily in/out of section 2 and shows absolutely no corrosion (all section 3s look brand new)

-corrosion is the problem-suspect it's because i may not have wiped poles before closing them after a hike, but man.....

-i finally managed to pull one section 2 out, by locking section 3 part way open and having my wife and i each pull on one end of pole -section 2 is pretty badly corroded especially on the top half of the section and mostly on the side that would be right under "Black Diamond Contour" printing on section 1--i will clean both sections and treat them better
-i can't get section 1/2 on the other poles apart even with two people pulling

-unless i'm missing something, i don't think "rapping" on the pole's handgrip end will do much as there's no place for section 1/2 to move under that scenario (section 2 is totally seated)-i have gently rapped the sides of the frozen parts with hope of loosening the oxidation, but no luck

-Black Diamond hasn't been much help on this one so far

-i'm still considering trying penetrating oil (would clean it off with organic solvent if i got the poles apart), but i suspect it won't seep/penetrate far enough down to where the corrosion seems to be-

-any other ideas? -i'd hate to "lose" these before i even have a chance to really use them

thank again

jim

 

[TCD]

Before you give up, try heat. Ideally, if you can heat the outer tube, so it expands, you may make it easier to get the tubes apart. But because the nested tubes are so closely approximated, it will be difficult to create a temperature differential. But even heating the whole assembly evenly may give you enough differential expansion to make a difference. Try hot water, or the hair dryer. When those don't work, and you're ready to throw the poles away, try the blowtorch; but be careful to go lightly, as you might melt the poles.

 

[am&pm]

One of my BD lower sections was frozen in the closed position. I used a dowell and drove the section out with much effort. The poles were slightly used but badly corroded

 

[buckyball1]

thanks both--

-will try heat, carefully
-"driving out with dowel" ( as "rapping") not possible as it's middle section stuck in upper section

--edit -hair dryer, no go
-hot water, afraid to try as i'll potentially get more "corrosive" liquid in poles

jim

 

[buckyball1]

not sure this is of much important in the larger scheme, but i gave them props when they were helpful, so when they're less than that...welll

I've had numerous e-mail exchanges with Black Diamond re the stuck poles. My approach has been uber polite and sought help/ideas to get the poles apart---no rant, begging, demands, etc. First several exchanges were with mail order rep, then was passed on to repair/warranty with same result...essentially the replies were were "sorry, too bad, maybe try to pull them apart really vigorously"-DUH , then "try WD-40 or penetrating oil" (which i already told them was my next step

No offers of help, no "send them in and we'll look at them", no "what can we do?"..nada---perhaps they'll respond again in next few days since on Wed i told them politely that i was very disappointed with their response and my frozen Contours; seems doubtful

i'm trying penetrating oil on the poles that are still stuck-adding a few drops more each day with no "response" as yet and will give the torch idea a try as a last resort

ah well......the ABOL slide was great the other day with my $16/pr Marden specials

jim

 

[DSettahr]

In addition to heat, you might also try cold. Getting the screws to contract in size, even a little bit, might free things up.

 

[buckyball1]

DS--thanks, but see my longish post in middle of thread--"screws/locks" are not the issue (i can remove them totally i i choose)---

--the top two sections are "frozen" in the completely closed position with middle section seated as far as it will go and 1 1/2" of middle section sticking out of top section --it's caused by corrosion (even the the poles were hardly used) as i can see from the one i did get apart--being "closed/seated", you can't "rap" the poles sharply to break the rust loose as there's nowhere for the sections to move

--the bottom section slides right out on each pole and is indistinguishable from when it was brand new

thanks and i guess i'm just a bit whiny (sp?), but i am not happy

jim

 

[DSettahr]

DS--thanks, but see my longish post in middle of thread--"screws/locks" are not the issue (i can remove them totally i i choose)---

Ah, ok... I guess I can't quite picture it. Could you post some pictures?

 

[DougPaul]

DS--thanks, but see my longish post in middle of thread--"screws/locks" are not the issue (i can remove them totally i i choose)---

Expanding and/or contracting the tubes with heat and/or cold might help free them.

--the top two sections are "frozen" in the completely closed position with middle section seated as far as it will go and 1 1/2" of middle section sticking out of top section --it's caused by corrosion (even the the poles were hardly used) as i can see from the one i did get apart--being "closed/seated", you can't "rap" the poles sharply to break the rust loose as there's nowhere for the sections to move

You might be able to rap the poles from the side. Pad both sides of the pole with wood, place the stack against a concrete floor and hit it with a hammer. Rotate the tubing and repeat. This will flex the tubing and might help to break the corrosion free.

Doug

 

[buckyball1]

After my last exchange with BD about 10 days ago (from my perspective they just blew me off re the poles), i had essentially given up on the poles, but decided to try my plan of penetrating oil for a few days and then a propane torch as a last ditch attempt.

I dripped Liuid wrench penetrating oil into the "seams of the stuck sections several times over a course of a week and set the poles on end to allow possible seepage toward the corrosion--still could not pull the poles apart. I had a can of WD-40 sitting there and on Thursday i decided to try that in the same fashion -much more less viscose than the oil.

I've been hiking the last 3 days and today tried (with my wife's help) to pull the poles apart--SUCCESS. Both middle sections were were badly corroded just like the ones i got apart initially. I may have closed them and stored them damp (who knows), but the were certainly not soaked or dirty. I've stored all my cheapo poles similarly over the years and never had a problems approaching this. I'll know better, but perhaps either the metal/finish or even the elliptical design are a problem.--they are BD contours

Sorry to say, i felt Black Diamond customer support was terse and totally unhelpful.

jim

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Jim -

Anyone reading this thread would agree that BD did not handle the situation very well, and probably will loose sales as a result.

Last week I hiked with an old friend I now see only a couple of times of year when I'm back in New England, and he had a pair of red poles with the flicklock closure mechanism. They didn't look like BD poles, and it turns out he bought them at WalMart (he gives new meaning to the word frugal). I don't know who makes them - perhaps Victorinox.

 

[Stash]

Last week I hiked with an old friend I now see only a couple of times of year when I'm back in New England, and he had a pair of red poles with the flicklock closure mechanism.

Komperdell has a locking mechanism similar to the BD (http://www.komperdell.com/en/poles/touring/carbon/index.php.

Mine are the twist lock type branded as EMS, beat all to heck and still working flawlessly.

 

[The Hikers]

The Wal-Mart cheapies are considerably heavier than more expensive poles, and break easier. But a case could be made for just replacing them as they fail at the extremely low cost.
I still love my Leki's which have given me great service through the years.