Slipping glass pool fence

[bitsnpieces]

Hello I am a newbie to this site.

Please help with my pool fence as three different tradesmen have just shrugged their shoulders!

I have attached a photo.

As you can see, it is frameless glass. It is safety glass 10mm thick and is held by clamps that work with tension only (no screw through clamp and this can not be done post production).

Each clamp is stainless steel with 3mm of black rubber on inside against glass. The clamp is tighten with an allen key with screws on one side only.

My problem is that 2 out of these five sheets of glass continually slip about 1-2 inches. I have had the sheets swapped around in an attempt to get more glass in the clamps - as the first tradesmen said that 'there wasn't enough glass inside the clamp for a true grip'.

The next tradie said the glass is too heavy for clamps and 'siliconed' the clamps - but only worked for a short while.

The third tradie said the only option was the lift and retighten clamps on a regular basis. I asked him to check the screws and he said they looked fine.

I am just wondering if the rubber/glass combination creates too much slip? Perhaps there some easy substance or method I could use to create more traction?

I would love any help you can offer as this has really been a pain.

[Mech_Engineer]

What kind of material is actually touching the glass? How thick is it?

[xxChrisxx]

This is just a brute force job, you near MOAR GRIP! Bigger pads, more clamping force.


It may be a case of getting thicker rubber blocks or tightening the clamps further, or using bigger clamps (bigger clamps will allow higher forces to be used without increasing the pressure on the glass which could lead to cracking). Maybe getting a different pad matieral with a higher coefficient of friction with glass. Or sticking an intermediate layer between the rubber and the glass. Something that can be bonded to the glass, but with a rough surface that will allow the rubber blocks to grip.

Can you take a close up photo of the clamp?

[AlephZero]

A better design would be to have something attached to the posts (i.e. screwed or bolted on, so it can't slip down) which the bottom of the glass rests on. Then the clips don't have to support the weiight of the glass, just stop it falling over sideways.

You should be able to find some plastic blocks of the right size (intended for joining the corners of the panels in kitchen units and suchlike) in a DIY store.

If you do that, leave the clips almost loose, so nothing breaks because of thermal expansion, the posts moving around a bit as the water content of the ground changes, etc.

[mp3car]

Hmm... Have any of the folks that have come to look at it worked in the commercial world? You see these types of installations in retail places quite often, so perhaps they would know the "common" solution.

And I second xxChrisxx's request for a close up photo of the clamp, but i think i know what it's going to look like. I also agree that if you could bond (epoxy?) something more with more friction to the glass, maybe that would help. Like if you could epoxy a thin piece of rubber to the glass perhaps (like a tire patch?)...

Maybe another option is, as Chris said, bigger surface touching the glass. If you could fit something larger in between the clamp and the glass, almost the same way you would use a piece of wood with a c-clamp so you don't have such a small area applying the pressure. Also, how old is the installation? Perhaps the rubber has hardened a bit and isn't as "grippy" ???