Hoist controller, still relevant?

[Pivot224]

I have stumbled across this curious item from a house clearance and I simply want to know if it’s still relevant and of any use to someone. 
I believe these were used for the Robbie Williams tour and Bon Jovi pack in 2003 but that was a long time ago! 
 

[Simon Lewis]

Welcome to the Blue Room...

It's a good motor controller and (presuming it's all operational) would work with quite a wide range of lifting motors used in entertainment rigging.

It will have a reasonable second hand value if sold in the appropriate marketplaces.

Seems pretty strange to be found in a house clearance though?!

[Pivot224]

1 hour ago, Simon Lewis said:

Welcome to the Blue Room...

It's a good motor controller and (presuming it's all operational) would work with quite a wide range of lifting motors used in entertainment rigging.

It will have a reasonable second hand value if sold in the appropriate marketplaces.

Seems pretty strange to be found in a house clearance though?!

You’re no wrong, there are lots of things here that are quite strange to find in a house clearance, I’m finding all sorts.
Thanks for your answer, this item will be bypassing the skip I have parked outside. 
 

god knows how to I’m going to test that it’s working . 

[sunray]

Not relevant to the original questions but shouldn't the yellow connectors be FEMALE or at least have flaps?

[Ynot]

3 hours ago, sunray said:

Not relevant to the original questions but shouldn't the yellow connectors be FEMALE or at least have flaps?

Nope - the reds are female as they take the power UP to the motors, the yellows are male (and thus don't need flaps) bring the control power DOWN from the motors.

[sunray]

21 hours ago, Ynot said:

Nope - the reds are female as they take the power UP to the motors, the yellows are male (and thus don't need flaps) bring the control power DOWN from the motors.

Thank you.

The only time I've got involved with such hoists the operator had a hand held controller connected with yellow plugs. I made the assumption this is where such a hand held control unit plugged in, from your reply I take it this box takes the place of the hand held unit.

 

 

EDIT: Males with flaps are available and commonly fitted on vehicles.

Edited April 7, 2023 by sunray

[Ynot]

14 hours ago, sunray said:

Thank you.

The only time I've got involved with such hoists the operator had a hand held controller connected with yellow plugs. I made the assumption this is where such a hand held control unit plugged in, from your reply I take it this box takes the place of the hand held unit.

EDIT: Males with flaps are available and commonly fitted on vehicles.

Multi-way controllers like this are common where multiple motors need to be driven at the same time - eg bringing in a truss or larger bespoke items. Trying to bring in a 4-motor truss using 4 separate hand-held pickles would be a logistical nightmare!! 

And whilst yes you CAN get males with flaps, it's unlikely to find them in most ents situations, particularly indoors...

[sunray]

On 4/8/2023 at 12:20 PM, Ynot said:

Multi-way controllers like this are common where multiple motors need to be driven at the same time - eg bringing in a truss or larger bespoke items. Trying to bring in a 4-motor truss using 4 separate hand-held pickles would be a logistical nightmare!! 

And whilst yes you CAN get males with flaps, it's unlikely to find them in most ents situations, particularly indoors...

Yes that all makes total sense and something that briefly ran through my mind later on. Everyday a school day☺️

Having only done this sort of lifting with manual chainsets I know a little how problematic it can be keeping level/synchronised.

[Simon Lewis]

On 4/7/2023 at 9:30 PM, sunray said:

.....from your reply I take it this box takes the place of the hand held unit.

It does - but there is also a 4 way remote on the right hand side of the case which would plug into one of the multipins.
The simple 'pickles' often used to control a single motor are just an up/down centre off switch either in its own housing or (and often made by enterprising riggers) just a switch built into a 16A 110V Ceeform. Those are quite handy for just setting up a motor or running the chain through when placing it in its flightcase.

Note that the yellow Ceeforms are 4 pin. Originally, these hoists were fitted with 3 pin 110V Ceeforms but this practice fell foul of the reg that requires the earth pin to only be used for that purpose and not be part of switching functions etc.

[sunray]

13 hours ago, Simon Lewis said:

It does - but there is also a 4 way remote on the right hand side of the case which would plug into one of the multipins.
The simple 'pickles' often used to control a single motor are just an up/down centre off switch either in its own housing or (and often made by enterprising riggers) just a switch built into a 16A 110V Ceeform. Those are quite handy for just setting up a motor or running the chain through when placing it in its flightcase.

Note that the yellow Ceeforms are 4 pin. Originally, these hoists were fitted with 3 pin 110V Ceeforms but this practice fell foul of the reg that requires the earth pin to only be used for that purpose and not be part of switching functions etc.

Having viewed the pic on a pc I can now see that, it looks like it has a clone of the switches and th guard/rest

[Ynot]

8 hours ago, sunray said:

Having viewed the pic on a pc I can now see that, it looks like it has a clone of the switches and th guard/rest

Yep - that's precisely what it is/has.

[indyld]

On 4/10/2023 at 12:19 PM, Simon Lewis said:

Note that the yellow Ceeforms are 4 pin. Originally, these hoists were fitted with 3 pin 110V Ceeforms but this practice fell foul of the reg that requires the earth pin to only be used for that purpose and not be part of switching functions etc.

And as a result, the earth pin on many cables/pickles etc. are N/C as the motor looms are often made up with 3 core flex for the control leg.

Looks like a decent 4-way control with the MG breakers, phase order, remotes etc. Wonder if Summit Steel are looking for it? These things don't go out of hire stock easily. It's not a relic by any means - in fact, I maintain much less nicely put together motor controls to this day, along with similar like the Outboard ones.

For testing, if the OP doesn't have access to any Lodestar motors or equivalent suggest just taking it down your local lifting gear hire/inspect company or even stopping by a supplier in the entertainment lighting/rigging business. Just needs running up.

Edited April 12, 2023 by indyld

[James Remo]

Summit got swallowed up by PRG many moons ago, doubt anyone is looking for it… 2008 from hazy memory. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by James Remo

[Pivot224]

On 4/12/2023 at 10:35 PM, indyld said:

And as a result, the earth pin on many cables/pickles etc. are N/C as the motor looms are often made up with 3 core flex for the control leg.

Looks like a decent 4-way control with the MG breakers, phase order, remotes etc. Wonder if Summit Steel are looking for it? These things don't go out of hire stock easily. It's not a relic by any means - in fact, I maintain much less nicely put together motor controls to this day, along with similar like the Outboard ones.

For testing, if the OP doesn't have access to any Lodestar motors or equivalent suggest just taking it down your local lifting gear hire/inspect company or even stopping by a supplier in the entertainment lighting/rigging business. Just needs running up.

I actually phoned up kinesys and they said it sounded like a custom setup that someone had commissioned. 
 

I will try and get it tested to make sure it’s in good working order 
 

[harry-lb]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:12 PM, Pivot224 said:

I have stumbled across this curious item from a house clearance and I simply want to know if it’s still relevant and of any use to someone. 
I believe these were used for the Robbie Williams tour and Bon Jovi pack in 2003 but that was a long time ago! 
 

Hi there,

I'm looking for one of these at the moment. If your looking to sell it can you drop me an email at harry@harrylb.co.uk?

- H