Workshop/Maint./Unit Triage Setup

Edawg311

Member
For those of you that are in residence at your theatres and those of you that have toured through some decent setups. What have you seen in a workshop that made you say "I like that wish I had that in mine!" I'm currently reworking our triage shop and have added some peg board, a real workbench, and a wall of parts bins. Now what else do I need? I need inspiration on Lighting, tools, tool storage the works basically. I've got tons of shelves and a wire rack setup but now I need the rest. Pics would be great but written descriptions work well also.
 
What, exactly, is a lighting triage shop?
 
I think it would be where you put and fix units that are severely damages or in need of major repairs such as those incurred when a unit is dropped from a 50ft. grid. :grin:
 
What, exactly, is a lighting triage shop?

Like medical triage. Occurs when a major disaster happens and there are a lot of people that are injured with limited medical staff. Make sure one patient is not in danger of dying, and then move onto the next.
 
I think it would be where you put and fix units that are severely damages or in need of major repairs such as those incurred when a unit is dropped from a 50ft. grid. :grin:

You've got more problems than just a broken fixture if someone drops a unit from a 50' grid...someone wasn't doing their job.
 
As Stated above, triage is where damaged units go to get fixed up and repaired. But more specifically, this is the Elx workshop for general maintenance storage of parts, supplies and the likes. So back to the original question at hand...:)
 
In college that usually consisted of a small table on stage, some spare parts, and what tools we could free from the carps.
In high school that usually consists of a small patch on the floor, some parts cannibalized from other dead fixtures, and tools we could free from the LD...

All joking aside, I think an organized drawer system for pieces (maybe clear drawers, or neatly labeled), shelves or sch40 for the broken conventional fixtures to sit/hang on (assuming you have multiple broken fixtures at a time... If you don't, congratulations!) and a large work desk with lots of drawers for tools.
For accessories, such as color scrollers/faders, maybe more shelves?
Organization is the key to efficiency in repairs, label everything!

Oh, and if you have stage pin fixtures, an adaptor that will reach to the desk without difficulty is important, otherwise if you've got the supplies/time/effort, an spg outlet next to the desk could be very useful.
 
Yes, most important thing: the Tester Cable (male Edison, female 2PG, for testing fixtures). Useful too is the Test Light, a 100 watt A lamp in a pigtail socket stuffed into whatever kind of connector your space uses.

I should make one of those... We use a "Test Source Four" which means we drag out another fixture (Normally an ERS, hence the name) we assume is working, but the A lamp sounds much more useful.

Also, after reading the worklight post, make sure you have ample light to see what you're working on!
 
I should make one of those... We use a "Test Source Four" which means we drag out another fixture (Normally an ERS, hence the name) we assume is working, but the A lamp sounds much more useful.

Also, after reading the worklight post, make sure you have ample light to see what you're working on!

I get the little $2 power test lights from walmart, and take the case off. Them i get an old stagepin connector and remove the ground pin. I stick the insides of the test light into the body of the connector with the lamp near the cable hole and connect the positive and negative leads on the light to the pins in the connector and close up the connector. Without the ground pin the connector will plug into a cable either way(saves time and hassle in the dark) and a quick look at the top(side away from the pins) tells if there's power. The only problem I have with it is that it's easy to lose in pockets full of tie light, lamps(new ones in boxes and blown), screwdrivers, wrenches, ect. (the usual troubleshooting stuff).
 
I get the little $2 power test lights from walmart, and take the case off. Them i get an old stagepin connector and remove the ground pin. I stick the insides of the test light into the body of the connector with the lamp near the cable hole and connect the positive and negative leads on the light to the pins in the connector and close up the connector. Without the ground pin the connector will plug into a cable either way(saves time and hassle in the dark) and a quick look at the top(side away from the pins) tells if there's power. The only problem I have with it is that it's easy to lose in pockets full of tie light, lamps(new ones in boxes and blown), screwdrivers, wrenches, ect. (the usual troubleshooting stuff).

Thanks! Out of curiosity, why do you remove the ground pin from the connector? (Does the test light not have a ground wire, or is the ability to flip the connector the main reason?)
 
Gamcheck, people!
 
Thanks! Out of curiosity, why do you remove the ground pin from the connector? (Does the test light not have a ground wire, or is the ability to flip the connector the main reason?)

The test light consists of a lamp with 2 wires to it. The original reason for removing the ground pin was because I used a very old square SP plug that the ground pin had fallen out of.

Gamcheck, people!
A test light costs less than $10, a Gamcheck runs around $150. It's a whole lot more cost effective to be able to build a bunch of test lights so all the electricians can carry one and reserve the Gamcheck for when it's needed(at least in an educational setting where the school would be supplying the Gamchecks).
 
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What's a triage setup?

In reading the above, wheeled where you need it crash cart persay with most parts on it to repair what you have and part numbes listed on the bins to re-order easily, perhaps a test fixture circuit that's breakered and if not fused and GFCI'd local to what's tested?
 
Gamcheck, people!

Educational theater, too poor for lights that work, let alone for "thing that goes beep" to asses why they don't! :p

I love gamcheck, and wish I had one. But I don't, and I bet I have all the pieces for the test lamp described stuffed into drawers in the LX room at school.
 
People. The $150 GAMcheck does less than a $10 DMM. Consider it an EKG for fixtures AND circuits.
 
What's a triage setup?

In reading the above, wheeled where you need it crash cart persay with most parts on it to repair what you have and part numbes listed on the bins to re-order easily, perhaps a test fixture circuit that's breakered and if not fused and GFCI'd local to what's tested?

Ship, you are correct that would be the traditional triage setup and I hadn't really focused on that aspect of it. I think I may have to make one of those. In this case, our triage setup is more of our workshop space in the basement where instruments, cables, etc go to get repaired away from stage. So I'm looking at the workshop space.


Thanks to everyone who has chimed in so far. Once I'm done getting it all setup I'll try to post up pics of how it turned out.:twisted:
 

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