Why are rigging inspections important?
- Thread starteregilson1
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Crisp image
Well-Known Member
But in all seriousness that is quite a 
That's gonna take more than duct tape and bailing wire.
Gum….lots of gum.
Crisp image
Well-Known Member
Maybe some cable ties too
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
Bondo. Sand it, primer it black. Good to go.
theatricalmatt
Well-Known Member
Malabaristo
Well-Known Member
I really want to see a time-lapse of this happening. Like... it would have to have turned some of the time, right? If it was completely seized up, then it wouldn't have cut a neat ring off like that. Does it just catch enough to rotate a little once you cut all the way through one section? Or, is it a ratchet-like effect where it spins when going down but seizes when going up? Or, (most frightening) did someone manually turn it once in a while when it got harder to pull? This demands a time machine.
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
This frame of mind is still so prevalent in many places. I worked a venue on the house crew where multiple line sets had "rough spots" as the staff called them, followed by "but it's just a little bit. Pull through carefully and you're good." I spent 6 months arguing in favor of a full inspection and then had to walk away when the Parks Department supervisor decided it wasn't necessary. Hello Whittier Center Theater homies! Hope you're all well!
JonCarter
Well-Known Member
" I worked a venue on the house crew where multiple line sets had "rough spots" as the staff called them, followed by 'but it's just a little bit. Pull through carefully and you're good.' "
WhatRigger, rather than ask someone else to come and inspect, why didn't you just climb up to the grid and watch the head block, loft blocks and lines as one of your crew moved the offending line set through the "rough spots"? Maybe you'd find something you could just fix easily, or get or make a part and then fix easily. Seems like too many people nowadays complain about problems instead of just going and fixing them.
WhatRigger, rather than ask someone else to come and inspect, why didn't you just climb up to the grid and watch the head block, loft blocks and lines as one of your crew moved the offending line set through the "rough spots"? Maybe you'd find something you could just fix easily, or get or make a part and then fix easily. Seems like too many people nowadays complain about problems instead of just going and fixing them.
If you touch it, you own it. At least until someone else "touches it".
I'll do some audio fixing but I won't tell anyone. Things like repairing the connector to the intercom biscuit on the fly rail so they can hear the SM... Halleluja, it's a miracle! Stuff that makes my show happen, I'll try to fix so it works next month, too.
But counterweight systems? Uh... seems kind of promiscuous; we need some kind of relationship established before putting hands or wrench to the theater's intimate bits. Electrical, hyraulics and automation get the same consideration.
MPowers
Well-Known Member
A few years ago, actually a LOT of years ago, I was inspecting a system that had a couple of line sets that had rough spots where the set felt like something was dragging. They said it had been that way as long as they could remember, but it seemed to be getting a little worse. That was part of the reason they called me in for an (long overdue) inspection. I pulled both line sets through and past the rough, tight spots. I couldn’t hear any rubbing, squeaking or other telltale noises. Usually, a problem with a single shieve will repeat every time the trouble spot comes around. A problem with the grooves the purchase line runs through is a completely different feel. A problem like a birds nest in one of the lift lines was my first thought as it only happened once in the line set travel, but it didn’t feel like that. I was stumped! Then I noticed the two line sets were adjacent to each other and the rough spots were in the same location in the travel of each set. That was a major clue. A quick look at the “T” track about 20’ under the loading rail revealed the problem. A section of track had come loose from the wall and become slightly twisted. It appeared as though a couple of the original anchor holes had been drilled twice, right next to each other and the wrong hole had been poorly filled with grout. Over time the grout failed and the anchor bolts pulled loose. I don’t know what actually caused the twist itself. They wound up doing a major renovation the next year and replaced the entire system.
MPowers
Well-Known Member
I wish I knew the conditions this block was used in. Was this a grand drape that was always used guillotine style or what??? To saw through a shieve like this requires a LOT of repetitions and a lift line under a VERY heavy load. Under even extreme conditions, a failure like this takes a considerable length of time. I would venture to guess several YEARS! Even with the obvious lack of even a halfway skilled rigger running this line set, it would seem that even a total F#*%*# could feel/hear/sense “something” wrong! THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE of WHY regular, annual Rigging Inspections are an absolute necessity.
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Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
I concur with Tim's stance here, to this extent:
I'm fine with "go up and look at it in the problem spot", and nowadays, you can even *shoot video without any prep*.
Just don't try to actually fix it; you do *not* have accidental death and dismemberment liability coverage.
Why do you think professional rigging consultants cost so much?
MPowers
Well-Known Member
I don’t charge THAT much!!!
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
@JonCarter
Because at the time, 23 years ago, (1999? 1998? I remember I was listening to a lot of Fear Factory, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer was my favorite TV show) I wasn't yet skilled or qualified to make repairs or the majority of adjustments to a counterweight system. I would have been guessing as to whether or not I got it right.
*Knowing my limits and not being ego driven enough to exceed them is a legitimate course of action.
*Asking for actual, qualified, third party professionals is a completely legitimate course of action. It's why those entities exist.
*Walking away from an unsafe situation, or even a perception of an unsafe situation, especially after calls to fix the problem are declined/ignored, is a legitimate course of action. This has been echoed by many people here in this forum alone, and a majority of them are smarter and more skilled than me.
"Make a part" myself, to fix a problem on a designed system? No. Not then. Not now. Not ever. No. There's no way to go through the proper process of testing and knowing that a home made fix won't have a ripple effect through the entire system. So, again, no.
If you're suggesting that I would just rather complain than try to fix something- well, try again. And thanks for playing. I stand by my actions in this situation, no problem.
Those of you in need of a rigging inspection out there in the world (or maybe just the U.S.), a great place to start for your 3rd party inspection is found through the homies at USITT. I wish this would have been a thing back at the time frame I reference here.
Rigging Safety Initiative
MPowers
Well-Known Member
Excellent answer!
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