UKC

I have one of the green beta sticks. The clamp for one of the sections has become slightly loose. It's not so bad that the affected section slides in and out without any resistance at all, but I don't think it would stay retracted if the thing was clipped to my harness while dogging a route, and I think if I had each section extended then that section would close up under the weight of a quickdraw and rope.

Is there a way to tighten the clamps once they have become loose?

I had this problem. I traced it back to there not being sufficient interference between the closed clamp and the tube to hold it properly

I fixed it by removing the clamp arm - using a jewellers screwdriver to carefully push out the central pin enough to remove it. I then cut a shim to fit between the part of the clamp that contacts the tube and the tube itself. This was inserted in place (loose, not fixed) and the clamp arm reattached.

This has worked fine for 2 years

Thanks, that sounds promising.

When you say that you cut a shim, could you elaborate on what you did, please? What sort of material and tools did you use? I'm just trying to work out whether I'll manage a good repair with the tools/skills I have. If this were in a Haynes manual, how many spanners are we talking?!

Someone on the other channel has just directed to this clip from Beta Stick themselves. Does replacing the grommet sound like the fix I need?

youtube.com/watch?v=VxyZeN5_miQ&

When my mate forgot to de-extend my clipstick while lowering off and totally spannered one of the poles, I called Beta to ask if I could buy a spare. They told me to just come by their office in Sheffield and were kind enough to replace the broken part, totally free of charge, and while they were at it tightened up one of the clamps. 

They might not necessarily want every man and his dog turning up demanding free repairs/spares, but it might be worth a punt if Sheffield is convenient for you (plus I think it's a good story in terms of showing how sound they are as a company). 

That's how i removed the clamp. I cut a small piece of an old credit card to fit as a shim between what they call the "gromit" and the tube, then re-assembled. I suspect getting a replacement part from beta themselves would probably be a better fix, but I was going on holiday and needed it quickly.

Perfect. Thanks very much for the advice.

When I contacted them about exactly the OPs problem (by email) - which has occurred on both the clipsticks I have bought over the years,I didn't get any response.   Can't help but feel it's a design fault that causes them to slacken off.

[Edit] Not quite the OPs exact problem on re-reading.

Thanks for this , I had a similar problem to Will, mainly causing an issue on the last extension, but others felt a bit less tight than would like as well.  Just added a shim to the problem clamps easy to do and seems to work brilliantly, clamps feel much more solid now.   

It works! Would be worth 2 spanners in Haynes I reckon. Easy peasy.

In place of the jeweller's screwdriver, a meat thermometer was just right. Had to use a thin kitchen knife to pry the grommet out.