Gaff it?

[Charc]

Okay, I'm curious what the actual breakdown of users is on the StagePin and Gaff issue. It seems that the consensus here is not gaffing, just splitting. I was just reflecting upon an experience six weeks ago regarding this issue, and it brought it to the front of my mind.

Do you gaff all, or most, StagePin connections?

Edit: By the way, I clicked the wrong button on my vote, I do not gaff my connections together, and messed up the poll settings, hey, it's neigh 4AM.

[cdub260]

I rarely gaff tape my connectors. With my cables up for months at a time, the adhesive residue just adds one more headache to my maintenance routine. I do, however either tie or zip tie the end of a cable to the pipe on both sides of the connection. The exception is a fixture plugging into a cable. If a connector feels loose, I spread the pins.

[Serendipity]

No gaff, pin splitting.
But, I will gaff if asked. At one show recently, the ME insisted on gaffing connections for any break-out tails running up the booms, so I did. (Although I used a pin splitter in addition on a couple that were unbearably loose...)
The one thing I do involving tape and connectors, is use a colored spike on the stage pin connector to assist deck transitions, if someone unfamiliar with lighting has to place floor mounts and run cable, color coding tends to work better than explaining that the 10' cable goes to dim 87 and the 5' cable goes to dim 86.

The question I have, is does splitting the pins have an electrical purpose aside from making the connectors fit tighter?

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by Serendipity

No gaff, pin splitting.
But, I will gaff if asked. At one show recently, the ME insisted on gaffing connections for any break-out tails running up the booms, so I did. (Although I used a pin splitter in addition on a couple that were unbearably loose...)
The one thing I do involving tape and connectors, is use a colored spike on the stage pin connector to assist deck transitions, if someone unfamiliar with lighting has to place floor mounts and run cable, color coding tends to work better than explaining that the 10' cable goes to dim 87 and the 5' cable goes to dim 86.

The question I have, is does splitting the pins have an electrical purpose aside from making the connectors fit tighter?

If I used booms, I too would gaff my connections, but as I don't use them its not an issue.

Color coding is also good for trained techs. It takes thought out of the equation by giving the tech a simple visual aid: Blue to Blue, Yellow to Yellow. Its nice and simple. I like simple.

As for the purpose of splitting pins, making a better connection is the purpose of splitting them. Having the connectors hold together better is merely a fringe benefit.

[Serendipity]

Originally Posted by cdub260

I do, however either tie or zip tie the end of a cable to the pipe on both sides of the connection.

You zip tie cables? Really? That seems like it'd be very difficult to remove and change things around in a pinch, while tie line is reusable... Don't get me wrong, I adore zip ties, but they aren't what I'd use with cable.
(Then again, you also do way more permanent installs, and they'd be better for that.)

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by Serendipity

You zip tie cables? Really? That seems like it'd be very difficult to remove and change things around in a pinch, while tie line is reusable... Don't get me wrong, I adore zip ties, but they aren't what I'd use with cable.
(Then again, you also do way more permanent installs, and they'd be better for that.)

As far as removing zip ties goes, a good pair of dykes works pretty well for cutting them. That having been said, I will not use zip ties on temporary DMX runs. DMX cables are far more vulnerable to damage than power cables, and it's very easy to cinch a zip tie tight enough to damage the DMX lines.

[Serendipity]

Originally Posted by cdub260

As far as removing zip ties goes, a good pair of dykes works pretty well for cutting them. That having been said, I will not use zip ties on temporary DMX runs. DMX cables are far more vulnerable to damage than power cables, and it's very easy to cinch a zip tie tight enough to damage the DMX lines.

I know they're easy to remove (my itsy bitsy leatherman micra cuts through them without any hassle whatsoever) but it would seem that tie line can stay with the cable and be reused, while zip ties are a one-time offer, and have to be reattached to the cable every time.
Just more of my spare change. ;]

[David Ashton]

I use releasable zip ties for all these types of situations, are they not available in the US?

[Sony]

Pin Splitting is always preferable to Gaffing...Pin Splitting helps the connector get better contacts and helps prevent Arcing. Gaffing does niether of those things.

[quarterfront]

Occasionally I'll gaff if a cable is in a hard to reach place and there's a likelihood of it getting yanked on. Like, say, under the stage and running past a place where there's a lot of crew traffic during tech week - little insurance to keep me from having to go spelunking more than necessary. Or when there's a cable connection in a line running from an electric down to the deck I might do a tie and a piece of gaff.

But generally, no.

More broadly, the longer I do this the more I'm convinced that young technicians should not be allowed to use gaff tape until they're mature enough to use it minimally. I can't begin to describe how annoying it is to go up to the cats and find that some techie felt a need to tape every plug. Or to go backstage and find that somebody has dressed a piece of 12/2 SJO to the back of a flat with 1/3 of a roll of gaff but (surprise surprise surprise) it's come unstuck and there's gaff stuck to itself all over the place that has to be removed before I can re-dress it using a piece of tieline and a drywall screw into the flat frame. Or to find that somebody decided to dress a bundle of cable to my backstage uni-strut running light raceway with wraps of gafftape every 2'-0".

I mean, the bottom line with gaff tape is that every piece you put on something is going to have to come off at strike. Oh, and it's $13/roll. It's great for a lot of stuff, but when people start using it to do jobs that they should have done with tieline.... Grrrrrr....

When my kids were 3 years old we didn't let them play with magic markers. Same deal....