clam nanook pole operation/maintenance

[rundrave]

I have a nanook thermal that is a few years old. any recommendations of what sort of product (wax, oil? etc) I can use on the poles to get them to operate/slide smoother. A few of mine work great and a couple have gotten to be really stubborn. Just looking for some sort of lubrication or recommendations.

The very front bar has a slight bend to it as I fought to get it pushed down which I know isnt helping things. 

Also anyone know of any replacement pole push buttons that go inside the tubes that are similar in size to the clam replacements?
http://stores.clamoutdoors.com/pole-push-buttons-small-large.html

[Uncle Al]

I junk picked a flipover that was pretty nasty after being used for a chicken roost, poles bent, tent full of holes and chicken sh*t everywhere. I cleaned the poles that weren't too rusty with mothers aluminum polish, this stuff works real good. After cleaning you could put a auto paste wax on them.

[hardwater diehard]

Try amazon for the clips

I have used silicon spray on a rag  for the poles with success 

[perchnut]

I had a couple of those buttons break on me, and clam sent me some new ones....they are a pain though, the buttons not clam.  Ive used car wax, paraffin, wd-40, etc on the poles.  Haven't found the magic potion yet, but all seem to help some.

[Spider1]

I was having problems with the sliding poles on my clam bigmouth. I took them apart and the insides had some rust. I sanded them clean and soaked them with silicone spray. I heard that auto wax was good. The main problem with mine was that the pole would get wet, and then freeze. The rust gave the ice a lot of rough surface to grab onto. The trick is to keep the ice fron sticking to the metal or freezing up the clips.

[rundrave]

thanks for the replies everyone glad to hear I'm not the only one.

I did take mine apart last season and lightly sanded them also. I took them apart again this year and found rust. Looks like its just going to have to be part of my yearly maintenance. I used spray products in the past I may have to give some was a try.

[wolverine]

Try a product called Fluid Film, it is lanolin based. Stops and protects against rust besides lubricating. I use for everything anymore like locks on house and vehicles, snow blower to stop snow from sticking, underside of mower deck to help keep clippings from sticking so much. Check out their web site and explore all the uses. Really is an amazing product. This would work well on the poles as I have used it on mine and am thrilled with the results.

[Northern_MN Outdoorsan]

Graphite lubricant is the best thing I've used for portable house poles.

[onestring]

You can get clips from clam I did the old plastic inserts were a pian to get out had to take a screwdriver and hammer and punch them down

[Uncle Al]

I've had 2 clams with the same push buttons in the link the OP posted that came with the shanty, and have yet to have problems with them. Clam's price is $4.99 for 10 isn't that much.