Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Closing the PLM after use has proven to be a mystery for us. It should be straight forward and must be for most. So far we have had wrestling matches with it each time. Any helpful insights?

My method:

1. Unscrew the speed-ring and remove it from the PLM (I have the PLM shaft permanently mounted in the PLM)
2. Loosen the thumb-screw from shaft until it nearly falls off.
3. Press the back of the umbrella up against the floor or wall (I find the wall less awkward with larger PLMs).
4. Firmly pull the 'circle bracket' where the thumb screw is directly away from the umbrella. Watch out for the recoil from it 'snapping' out.
5. Fold up and store.

Alternatively, keep the speedring installed, loosen the thumbscrew until the center shaft can be removed, remove it and the speedring as one piece, then loosen the screw until the slider can move, collapse as a normal umbrella.

Depending on how you plan on storing/transporting the PLM would help dictate which method would be most appropriate.

This is the method I use regularly. I then slide the plm and the (now loose) ring/shaft into the shipping tube for storage/transport. The ring/shaft is just loose, though, so a little bit of care is needed just so it doesn't fall out. But this works well, and the set-up next time is easy: remove from tube, open the umbrella, and then slide the already assembled ring/shaft into place.

Thank you everyone. We gave your advice a go and we now have a better way to close the PLM.