Emergency Services Show - 2013... Looking out for the best and worst heavy duty slides on the market

With the show still running at the NEC as I type, I felt it would be a good opportunity to reveal the type of heavy duty slides showcasing on this year's fire vehicles and what fantastic new products are out there.

Firstly let's start with how not to do it.  As you can see this primitive solution is basically a tube within a tube, we noticed a couple of blokes pull this and you could see their ears almost bleeding with the strain as they heaved the small generator out of it's housing.  The rust and the broken paint did not, in this case, lubricate the inner tube and I pitied the poor devils who had to use this on a regular basis.

Hungry for more I prowled the periphery, where vehicle builders were showcasing the big boys and here I found a set of Widney aluminium slides at the bottom of a pull out tray.

In my opinion the use of Aluminium slides on front line vehicles is more to do with cost, rather than performance and therefore I am always a little perturbed to see lighter duty options carrying heavy duty loads.  This is just my personal opinion, and no reflection on Widney who have a great range of products, but in my experience buying cheap often means, buying twice.

I wished them well with their life cycles and went out into the show to find out what I perceive to be the bad boys of the heavy duty slide market.

Chambrelan.  You see them everywhere and this years ESS was no different.  One build we noticed a pair of RA5's, on another a pair of RA7s and then, a small surprise, in that Chambrelan have only just started manufacturing them, was a slam lock draw front on the side of a glisteningly new fire vehicle.

Manufactured in France, Chambrelan's heavy duty slides are considered one of the best ranges of heavy duty slides on the market and with over 60 years of experience, working in the defence, manufacturing, marine, automotive, rolling stock and emergency services industries Chambrelan's heavy duty slides have an impressive pedigree are incredibly built and fantastically robust.

All in all it was a great show and I managed to press the flesh with vehicle builders, both large and small, and was gunned at how positive the vibe was.  All in all it was a good exhibition and I hope everyone had a successful ESS.

Buy Cheap Slides, Buy Twice...

With a growing number of slide manufacturers on the market, some of whom are from China and Eastern Europe, we're seeing a large increase in cheaper, but less well made slides enter the market.

As tempting as it is to buy a more cost effective slides over and above a more expensive product, there's a reason why it's cheaper and only when things start going wrong do buying cheap, becomes a major problem.

Not only do cheaper slides use softer material, which can cause brinnelling, but cutting corners in the construction process can also mean the slide falls apart under normal shock and vibration.

In this particular incident, the enclosed slide had only been fitted into the vehicle for two weeks and in that time the central 'I' beam had broken free and the inner runner had severe brinnelling.  From a brigades point of view having a VOR (Vehicle of Road) is a worse case scenario and can cause life threatening delays.

What's surprising is that the slide in question is one of the leading brands of heavy duty slides on the market and the slide in question wasn't up for the job.

"Having cheaply made slides that break is one thing, but mis-selling heavy duty slides that simply cant do the job is entirely another," confirms one industry contact who wishes to remain nameless.

The moral of the message is, if you're looking at making savings, think about how you might pay in the long run.  More often than not, buying cheap means buying twice.

Chambrelan Slides Extend Party Platform

We think you'll like this one.  Jon Chance is passionate about boats and boating, but after buying his Sealord 344 offshore cruiser, which he purchased to take him and his friends out for fishing trips down the south coast, he realised he didn't have enough to cast from the back of the boat.

The problem was how to extend the back of the boat into a party platform without incurring mooring costs, which are charged per metre.

That's when he called Chambrelan, the heavy duty slide specialists.  Selecting the right heavy duty slide from Chambrelan's range, with the right load capacity, wasn't going to be a problem.  Chambrelan are renowned for their huge range of telescopic slides, but Jon needed a specific type of high grade marine steel, which would not decompose or rust when subjected to prolonged salt sea conditions.

By working with Chambrelan's sales team Jon chose the ST508, a three beam stainless steel slide with over a metre extension and recirculating ball bearings that carries the heavy loads more smoothly and with less resistance than other slides on the market.

We caught up with Jon recently to find out what his experience was like and how the ST508's are doing.  "Chambrelan's customer service was fantastic," confirms Jon.  "They helped me identify the slides i needed and made sure we received them in good order."

Jon's expertise is in demand and although we don't have his contact details, i am sure he can be found by searching for his engineering expertise via search engines.

For more information on how Chambrelan can help with your heavy duty slide or linear rail enquiries, contact 01746 783 972

Chambrelan UK Set to launch Linear Motion Brand

There's a spring in Chambrelan UK's step this year as the company announces a new linear rail brand to complement their existing telescopic slide range.  Although the Chambrelan have been manufacturing linear rail motion systems now for over 50 years, it's the first time that the UK arm will launch a stand alone brand, allowing customers to buy directly from their new online store, which will be open in the next month.

We caught up with Jeremy Binnington, Director of Chambrelan UK, who has given us his appraisal of the new brand what the reasons for launching the new company.  "Having re-established ourselves in the  telescopic slide market, we realised we can deliver the same quality product and service to the linear rail market, which compliments our existing offer perfectly."

With new premises now open, Chambrelan UK now stock a range of linear rail for lighter, medium and heavy duty applications.

"We're currently stocking aluminium, steel and stainless steel products," confirms Jeremy, "and their relevant carriers.  By bringing them to the UK we will be able to service customer enquiries that much quicker and with a tight stock programme which will carry four lengths of rail we can improve delivery times dramatically.  In addition because the new site is fully operational, we'll be able to make bespoke items for more specialised requirements."

Although not up and running yet, the new website will feature an e-commerce shop, a case study page with testimonials and customer projects, product availability and full details and load capacities of each of our products.

"We'll be sending out a release with the launch date very soon," confirms Jeremy.

We'll look forward to it.

For more information on Chambrelan's linear rail or telescopic slides please visit.  www.chambrelan.co.uk

Quik Corp Adopts Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides Across Vehicle Build

Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides fully extended

Quik Corp Fire Engineering are specialist vehicle builders, designing and manufacturing a range of specialised fire and emergency equipment for the Australian and South East Asia Market.  By working With Queensland Rural Fire Service, the Australian Department of Defence, New South Wales National Parks, Forestry plantations and mining corporations they have built themselves a reputation for quality and delivery.

Heavy duty slides extend 'Jaws of Life' cutting equipment

So when Quik Corp were commissioned to build a remote fire application used as an airport fire appliance they knew they needed to pack a serious amount of kit into the vehicle.  Based on a 6000L MAN 6x4 chassis, the Remote Fire Appliance was expected to carry everything from heavy duty cutting equipment through to stretchers and essential recovering kit.

Chambrelan's unique Slide & Tilt System

The team of experts quickly decided that a range of heavy duty slides and Chambrelan's unique slide and tilt systems would be used across the build.  The sliding locker housing the stretcher needed to be operated from only side of the vehicle and be fully extended out via Chambrelan's heavy duty slides.  Other essential kit was stored in overhead slide and tilt lockers and was operated by Chambrelan's Slam lock with the Lock in Lock out option.  In addition further road crash rescue equipment mounted on Chambrelan's RA7R 450mm closed length extension which also includes Chambrelan's new slam lock.

Chambrelan's heavy duty slides, linear rails, slam locks and slide and tilt systems are now being used across a number of Quik Corp vehicle builds.

For more information on how any of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides can help develop your application drop us a line www.chambrelan.co.uk 

Head Farrier Uses Heavy Duty Slides For Mobile Forge

As head Farrier for the Great British Endurance team and one of only three farriers chosen for the Beijing Olympics, Kelvin Lymer is the Christian Louboutin of horse shoes, the problem is, his customers are generally to be found wandering in the most inhospitable places and therefore he knew he needed to design and build a one piece mobile forge and workshop, operated by heavy duty slides, that could take him into the wilds.

Being a farrier means I need to be out and about," said Kelvin.  "It also means I need to carry a huge amount of kit around with me.  The only option was to carry this equipment in a vehicle strong enough to manage such heavy loads, whilst having the 'off-road' capabilities to access the most inhospitable terrain."

Having chosen a Landrover Discovery 4, a bruisingly big brute of a vehicle that sports a 3.0 litre, 255hp diesel engine with a four corner air suspension and Landrover's unique Terrain Response as standard, the next problem was the design of the stainless steel pod and the sliding movement to extend and retract it from the vehicle.

With the help of the boys from Stainless & Alloy products Limited, headed up by Jeremy Hughes-Hubbold, the pod needed to be capable of being slid from the back of the vehicle and then 'unfolded' to deliver a fully operational forge.  Space was always the biggest problem for the team, closely followed by the load capacity of the pod, but with over 30 years of experience in

"It was like," confirms Jeremy, "Squeezing 10 gallons of water into a single pint."

The pod, made of stainless steel is designed to house all the kit a farrier might need, including a forge, an anvil and grinding stones to name a few and to house it all in one, took a lot of trial and effort, but once designed, the next problem was to make the pod retractable.  That's when the team decided to contact Chambrelan UK, manufacturers and distributors of heavy duty slides and sliding systems.

Chambrelan advised the only slide capable of carrying these extreme loads was the E1700 slide, a zinc coated, three beam nested slide, which uses reinforced ball bearings to deliver a soft and smooth sliding 100% extension.  Easy to fit and easy to maintain, the E1700 is one of the preferred heavy duty slides used by the defence and emergency services and therefore has a good track record and pedigree.

Suffice to say the project was an enormous success and Kelvin is now designing and building these pods for other farriers.

For more information on a full range of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides and linear rails please visit www.chambrelan.co.uk 

SEM Fire and Rescue Uses Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

SEM Fire and Rescue - sporting Chambrelan's heavy duty slides

SEM Fire and Rescue, the specialist vehicle builders based in Australia, recently won a contract from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to build a Technical Rescue Vehicle (Hino FM 2630) for front line fire and rescue alerts, which could also include water rescue, control and a range of fire and rescue operations including forest fire, house fire and commercial properties in and around Australia.  Complete with Chambrelan's heavy duty sliding systems, this build was something that took our breath away when we first saw the designs, but when we saw the photographs, we were blown away.

Heavy duty slides carrying tool boards and kit drawers

You see, this is no ordinary rescue vehicle and has been designed as a transportable pod or module, which is dismounted from the chassis and thereby be operated as a stand alone unit, encompassing all the necessary equipment relevant for that particular operation.

By using a massive hino A09C-TT turbo charged intercooled 6 cylinder diesel engine, the pod is lifted and dismounted using the multi-lift LHS 250, which has enormous lifting capabilities up to 17,000kg.  The module itself has been designed to carry a series of storage compartments, work benches and sliding generator as well as a series of slide and tilt pull out drawer systems, that deliver essential kit to the operator, quickly and easily.

A range of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides have been integrated into the build and were chosen for their high strength and extension, as well as being easy to fit and easy to maintain.

Work benches and tool drawers extending out

We caught up with Jeremy Binnington, Director of Chambrelan UK, to find out a little more about the build as well as finding out how growth in the South East Asian market is faring.

"It's going well, as you know we've been stocking Australia quietly now for about a year and in that time we've come across some very interesting applications."

By doubling their commitment to the Australian market Chambrelan continues to lead the way in the development of sliding systems for heavy duty applications in the mining, fire and emergency and defence markets.

For more information on these or other Chambrelan heavy duty slides and linear rails, please visit www.chambrelan.co.uk 

Chambrelan Heavy Duty Slides Used Down Under

Multi-drive technology, the leading Australia manufacturer of multi-drive vehicles, has recently announced a collaboration with Chambrelan UK.  The order, which comes from Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining companies in the world.  Commissioned to carry out rail maintenance on a 400 kilometre line in one of the most extreme desert climates in the world, namely the Pilbara Region of North Western Australia, these vehicles needed to carry enough equipment to manage the long haul.

Using a seriously beefed up Land Cruiser - the MDT 5750kg GVM Model with 2500kg load capacity, boasts another drive axle and uses a torque management power divider, making it able to tackle the most extreme conditions without any wind-ups or spinning of axles, even when it's carrying 2.5tons.

In addition the vehicles will be carrying specialised lightweight custom built trailers, which have been tailor made to store the right equipment.  Using Chambrelan heavy duty slides and linear rails these trailers are packed with tool boards, storage draws and compartments each carrying vital engineering equipment.

For more information on how Chambrelan products can help you, please contact Bruce Elliott from Integrated Equipment on +61 (0) 353 673 513 or visit www.integratedequipment.co.au.

For UK based enquiries you can contact Chambrelan directly by visiting www.chambrelan.co.uk

Museum in Wellington Use Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

How would you go about displaying a range of ancient fabrics and cloaks in a museum?  Well one company, Anderson Design, were posed with that very question when they were asked to design and build an artefacts case for the Roturua Museum of Art and History in Wellington New Zealand.

Anderson Design originally chose to use a pair of heavy duty slides (we cannot name the manufacturer for obvious reasons) for the build and everything was going swimmingly, with the artefact case being fitted at the museum and everyone was happy.

It's only when things start going well, that they start to go badly!

It was soon found that the case was requiring far too much force to open and close the sliding draws.  The heavy duty slides were grinding and locking up and there was a fear that school children and elderly people might have problems opening the draws mounted on heavy duty slides.

After an emergency internet search Anderson came across Chambrelan's range of heavy duty slides and linear rail motion systems.  Within 24 hours of Anderson sourcing the product from Chambrelan's heavy duty slide supplier in Australia - Integrated Emergency Equipment - the problem was identified and within 7 days of placing their order a new pair of Chambrelan RA7 heavy duty slides were sent to the Anderson Team.

Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slide is one of the best heavy duty slides in the market, with unrivalled strength, smooth operation, length and protection Anderson Design realised they were going to need a massive 1500mm extension capable of carrying 95 kilos.  Still uncertain that Chambrelan's heavy duty slides could take the extreme weight of the draw and glass; the team of designers and engineers took it upon themselves to give it a test and climbing on to the draws they jumped upon down until they were satisfied Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slides were strong enough.

After testing the pull-out load, using a spring balance, the Anderson team we pleased that the traction load had been reduced from 17.5 kilos using the old heavy duty slides, down to a very easy 5.5 kilos using Chambrelan's heavy duty slides.

Check out Chambrelan's bog for more information on this story or alternatively go to their website for a full list of heavy duty slides and linear rails

Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Carrier for Their Slide and Tilt System

Chambrelan's carrier

In our last issue of 100% Extension - that razor blade blog covering all things heavy duty slide related - we discussed what's available in terms of new Slide and Tilt systems currently on the market.  Well, it seems we touched a nerve because not longing after posting, Chambrelan's marketing team dropped me a line and with an image of one of their carriers.  Thanks Chambrelan's marketing team!!

As you can see this is a uniquely designed product in that the carrier sits on re-circulating ball bearings, which spread the load more effectively and allows easy operation even when carrying extreme weights.

For more information on Chambrelan's heavy duty slides and linear rails visit their website:  www.chambrelan.co.uk

The Ins and Outs of Slide and Tilt Systems

Slide and Tilt systems are used by the Fire industry and defence markets in vehicles to allow front line crews to access essential equipment.  The slide and tilt system allows quick and easy access and have been designed to be operated by gloved hands.  Since coming onto the market a few years ago slide and tilts have become standard kit - especially for the emergency services - but with more and more slide and tilts being designed and built, we thought we'd take a look at what's out there and run a comparison.

Essentially there are two main designs, ones that use a dual roller system and the ones that use re-circulating ball bearing carriers.

To be honest with you there's not much difference between the two in terms of operational design, but where each of the designs differ is the internal movement which extends the drawers out.

The first is a dual roller system that uses a set of rubber wheels to extend the drawer out.  The problem with this system is that if the drawer is heavily loaded, the wheels tend to 'drag' or 'buckle' with the weight, meaning users will have to use more pull to draw the system out.  This can become hazardous especially in an emergency situation when essential equipment is needed.  Having said that this system - because it's been around for so long - is used by most brigades.

However, that was before Chambrelan, the French based heavy duty slide manufacturer, launched their own slide and tilt system earlier this year.  Chambrelan's slide and tilt system - although very similar to the other systems on the market - is notably different due to one feature, the circulating ball bearing carrier.  This is one nifty piece of kit as the carrier spreads the load to the ball bearings ensuring that a smooth and easy pull out is possible even under the heaviest conditions.

Cost is also important and I understand that Chambrelan's heavy duty sliding system is a little more expensive, but as more and more brigades are finding out, buy it cheap often means buying it twice and it's these companies that are realising that delivery and quality are more important than saving a few quid up front.