[synlights]

hi guys,

I'm looking for a reasonably priced safe option for rigging an electric hoast 9m up with a 1m mirrorball hanging from it.. don't require the mirrorball to rotate just go up and down maybe 3meters

have 0 experience with hoasts etc so any help would be welcomed

[david.elsbury]

Lack of experience aside, I would suggest that you should look for "hoists" or perhaps "winches".

[dbuckley]

As I had it explained to me, winches aren't designed to lift, just pull. Hoists lift. I'm sure an expert will be along in a moment to refine me.

Probably make bugger all difference on the couple of kilos a MB weighs, however

[timd]

Rope, pulley and cleat? Stopper knot in the rope to stop the ball dropping below a set height, and you're good.

Tim

[brainwave-generator]

As far as electric hoists go it really depends on:
• How much the mirror ball weighs
• What power arrangements you have

I wouldn't go with a rope and pulley option, you will have to get on a ladder every day to hide the rope. If you install a motor hoist you can plug it all up once and be done with it.

If you've 3-phase power, a CM Prostar 125kg / 250kg hoist should do you fine. They are small, quiet, and pretty cheap.
They MAY also do a single phase version, I'm not sure.

You could get a manual chain block, this still has the issue of going up the ladder to tidy the chain away, but they're a lot easier to pull.

[Jivemaster]

First check the weight of the ball, some big balls get heavy 50kilos would be a fair GUESS, but get the manufacturer's figure or weigh it yourself! Big mirrorballs don't hang from ceiling tiles!

[Wingwalker]

David Fitch Services is your mirrorball king. If anyone should know it will be him.

[dbuckley]

Jivemaster, on 30 November 2011 - 05:21 PM, said:

First check the weight of the ball, some big balls get heavy ...

Yeah, I totally missed the dimension of the MB when posting...

[synlights]

back thinking about this one guys ... ball weighs 55kg

question ... what about something like this http://www.screwfix....ic-hoist/49927# ??

question 2 when power to the hoast is killed would the ball drop?

im obviously thinking about using this in conjunction with overrated safety cord but cant have the ball drop (and test the safety) every time the powers killed

This post has been edited by synlights: 29 January 2012 - 08:42 AM

[GridGirl]

I've always found that kind of hoist to be quite noisy and not particularly fast, but if that doesn't bother you then it should work for you. It won't drop when the power is killed - it'll have a clutch arrangement to prevent that happening.

[synlights]

GridGirl, on 29 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

I've always found that kind of hoist to be quite noisy and not particularly fast, but if that doesn't bother you then it should work for you. It won't drop when the power is killed - it'll have a clutch arrangement to prevent that happening.

awesome thanks... anyone recommend safety cable ... was just going to get drastically over rated steal wire


cheers

[racingsnake]

synlights, on 30 November 2011 - 07:48 AM, said:

hi guys,

I'm looking for a reasonably priced safe option for rigging an electric hoast 9m up with a 1m mirrorball hanging from it.. don't require the mirrorball to rotate just go up and down maybe 3meters

have 0 experience with hoasts etc so any help would be welcomed

Well, depending on your budget, how fast you want it to move, and if its gonna be rigged above the audience, I would look at using a CM prostar, 136kg model, nice and small, and you can get them that are fast movers I.e faster than 4m/m

Or you could just use a nice little pulley and rope arrangement...

[GridGirl]

synlights, on 29 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

GridGirl, on 29 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

I've always found that kind of hoist to be quite noisy and not particularly fast, but if that doesn't bother you then it should work for you. It won't drop when the power is killed - it'll have a clutch arrangement to prevent that happening.

awesome thanks... anyone recommend safety cable ... was just going to get drastically over rated steal wire


cheers

Rope Assemblies will make up custom steels for you - probably the easiest way to go about it.

[Wuddy]

...and just check that you can get the MB into the venue, a 1Mtr MB even on its side will not fit through a 926mm door :-)

[Seano]

synlights, on 29 January 2012 - 08:41 AM, said:

question ... what about something like this http://www.screwfix....ic-hoist/49927#

Yuk. It might work for you but its very much the cheap and nasty option. You should bear in mind that you'd be using it very much against the manufacturers instructions - their literature will say you shouldn't use it to suspend a load, and that people shouldn't be underneath a suspended load. That isn't necessarily a show-stopper, but you do need to risk assess accordingly.

Actually, the same would apply to the CM Prostar recommended further up the thread, but that's a *much* preferable option imo. If you can power it, the three phase version is much smoother and quieter than single phase.

Quote

im obviously thinking about using this in conjunction with overrated safety cord but cant have the ball drop (and test the safety) every time the powers killed

How do you propose to manage that? A steel 'safety' with 3m of slack in it would be pretty much a waste of time.