Advice on tab curtain runners

[gotty]

I'm just finishing a school panto (supervising the pupils doing sound), and they're having all sorts of problems with the curtains (hand-cranked, and easy to start, closing and opening, but very stiff towards the end of the movement)

 

The school is already running in the red, so funding is pretty much impossible. We're very remote, and we've contacted a couple of companies, but they either want to charge an absolute fortune or don't want to know.

 

I've sorted a few basics out (some of the cable from the winding drum up to the pulleys was twisted), but the whole thing needs some TLC. I'm guessing that the track probably just needs a very good clean, and various online advice is not to lubricate under any circumstances.

 

I and the caretaker (both of us very technically and mechanically competent) would like to tackle this so I've been looking for some guidelines on giving it a basic (not major) overhaul, including retensioning, but can find none.

 

I wonder if anyone had experience they could share

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[Gerry]

If you specified where in the UK, assuming you are in the UK, you are based then somebody might be helpful and pop around to your place to advise/ help you.

Cheers

Gerry

[Peter18]

My experience is limited to one situation in which we had to replace the wire rope on the curtains in a school hall so I am ready to be told that we did it all wrong!

I would suggest that you first unclip the tabs and store safely. Without the tabs in place check if there there still any sticking. My guess is that you will find none - in our experience the amount of extra effort need to fully open tabs is due to the pressure required to push the folds of material against each other and is to be expected.

As for tensioning, we guessed that the tensioning springs should at all times be neither fully extended nor fully compressed ie there was always a consistent tension being exerted on the wire rope. We achieved this by clamping the springs whilst we secured the rope at the drum end and then undid the clamps.

Our greatest difficulty was clamping the 'lead runner' onto the cable sufficiently securely to stop it slipping.

Hope this helps.