Best Carbon Fibre Water Fed Pole ? How do you define Best?
This is often a personal opinion rather than an overwhelming majority opinion. Recommendations often come from end users, suppliers, news/blog articles, and social media but the best option is research and personal specification requirements you can afford and classify as a good return on investment.
What to consider when researching for a Carbon Fiber Water Fed Pole.
Carbon fiber water fed poles come in many different materials, specifications, and useful attachments. When deciding on a telescopic water fed pole look at the maximum height you would like to achieve. How often and for long it would be used during the days/weeks/months? This may give you an indication of the material type to choose which will reflect in productivity gains due to the rigidity and reduced flex of the pole when in use.
First, lets look at the carbon fibre materials that could be chosen.
Hybrid/Hybon Carbon Fibre – usually offered in a 50% glass fibre and 50% carbon fibre ratio.
High Modulus/Hi Mod Carbon Fibre – higher grade of carbon fibre tensile strength and reduced wall width of 0.9mm
Ultra High Modulus/Ultra Hi-Mod Carbon Fibre – expensive grade of carbon fibre tensile strength and 0.9mm wall width.
Hybrid/Hybon Carbon Fibre – cheapest option with increased flexibility and weight. If heights over 25ft are not needed and only to be used for a few hours/days a week, then this could be an option. Often provided by suppliers within a starter package.
100% Carbon Fibre – provided in a number of tensile strengths (T24, T30) and a wall width of 1.2mm. The wall width does add weight but also provides reliability and longevity. Reduced muscle strain compared with Hybon poles resulting in higher productivity.
Hi Mod Carbon Fibre – provided with a tensile strength higher than Cabon Fibre (T40) and often with a reduced wall width of 0.9mm. The reduced weight from higher quality carbon and thinner wall width provides great productivity and end-user satisfaction, a winning combo! Or is it?
Ultra Hi Mod Carbon Fibre – manufactured with the highest tensile strength carbon fibre (T46 and above) and the reduced wall width of 0.9mm, this is the current ULTIMATE carbon fibre and rare to find. Brittle yet superiorly stronger, rigid and ideal for heights over 15m/50ft. Due to current low orders for this specification, manufacturers rarely have the resources or stock to provide this variant of carbon fibre. Lets all hope this improves over time and provide the end users/operatives with a really productive pole.
Let’s delve a little deeper
As a water fed pole manufacturer purchasing carbon fiber tubing from OVA8 International Ltd the first time will likely inquire about the grade of the carbon fiber in our products. That’s because we offer four different grades: standard, intermediate, high, and ultra-high modulus. When it comes to grades, the tensile modulus
Standard modulus fiber is the most commonly used grade across industries. It is used for items like sporting goods, bike frames, and general-purpose tubing, as well as aerospace applications. Standard modulus fiber is rated at 33 MSI . This means the resulting material has a tensile modulus of 33 million pounds per square inch . Ultra-high modulus fiber is the least utilized and most expensive of the grades. With a modulus rating up to 135 MSI, this grade is rather brittle and is used primarily for space applications. Remember, tensile modulus is a measurement of stiffness and should not be confused with tensile strength.
Carbon Fibre Modulus Rating
Carbon fiber is a long, thin strand of material about 0.0002-0.0004 in (0.005-0.010 mm) in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber. The crystal alignment makes the fiber incredibly strong for its size. Several thousand carbon fibers are twisted together to form a yarn, which may be used by itself or woven into a fabric. The yarn or fabric is combined with epoxy and wound or molded into shape to form various composite materials.
High modulus and ultra-high modulus fibers are sometimes called pitch fiber. Pitch fiber starts as a different raw material than standard or intermediate modulus fibers and uses a different manufacturing process. High modulus fiber has a rating of at least 42 MSI while, ultra-high modulus is rated beginning at 65 MSI.
The downsides to creating more pure strands of carbon fiber are increased cost, increased brittleness, and decreased strength. However, the upsides outweigh the downsides for some applications. High and ultra-high modulus are often used when maximum stiffness is the priority. This generates far less muscle fatigue and therefore increases productivity rates when often the highest rate is an operative/end-users cost.
How Manufacturers Get The Ratings
To make most types of fiber, manufacturers start with large groups of carbon atoms that are aligned in a long plastic string. Through a pyrolyzing process that applies extreme heat to the carbon atoms, impurities are gradually burned away leaving just the carbon atoms. Modifications to the pyrolyzing process can produce higher purity strands with higher MSI ratings.
High modulus and ultra-high modulus fibers are sometimes called pitch fiber. Pitch fiber starts as a different raw material than standard or intermediate modulus fibers and uses a different manufacturing process. High modulus carbon fiber has a rating of at least 42 MSI while, ultra-high modulus is rated beginning at 65 MSI.
The downsides to creating more pure strands of carbon fiber are increased cost, increased brittleness, and decreased strength. However, the upsides outweigh the downsides for some applications. High and ultra-high modulus carbon are often used when maximum stiffness is the priority.
How OVA8 water fed poles are Rated
To provide some clarity and simplification OVA8 poles are rated by T numbers . We offer the most popular requested carbon fibre specifications, T24, T30, T40 and T46. Here is our table showing more details of the specification ratings:-
OVA8 would like to recommend the following rates of carbon fiber versus the heights they comfortably remain productive.
T24 – upto 35ft Low Price
All the water fed poles are great to use at low levels but the higher you reach the more flexibility will be experienced and reduced productivity. One additional benefit OVA8 ‘s oval shape with two flat sides provides is less flexibility when compared like for like with round poles.
Example:return on investment .
