Building Cable, lengths?

[druma159]

Hey Guys,
So have been given the go ahead to build some new cable for our theater. We are set on our short runs, but I was wondering if anybody had any advice on figuring out the longest run of cable that you might need for a space. There are a few 150 footers, but they always seem to end up coiled up some where. I want to try and get the most bang for my buck. I have about 200 feet to play with. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ptero]

The longest cables we have these days are 50'. At the cost of a few connectors and a bit of labor, we long ago cut down the 75' and 100' lengths we had. Typically a 100' would become a 50' and 2 at 25'. Any breakdown could make sense depending... Anything longer than 50' in our context is rarely needed plus becomes somewhat harder and more time consuming to handle.

edit: I was assuming/thinking about stage cable here. But it would apply to other kinds as well as Nelson suggested below.

Longer just leads to.... issues.

 

[Nelson]

What kind of cables are you building? Power? Microphone? DMX?

Generally, I don't build cables more than about 50'. That way, they are easier to handle. And if you need longer cables, usually you can just connect them together. Of course, you wouldn't want too many connections between cables, but I don't mind hooking two cables together or sometimes three at the most, again depending on what kind of cable we are talking about.

12/3 power cables just get too heavy to handle comfortably much beyond 50'. I also don't like cables too long in case they get tangled up for some reason. Shorter cables are of course much easier to untangle!

Nearly all the microphone cables I use are 25'. Power cords are 25-50', depending on where I'm using them. But that's what works best in my venue, it all depends on where you hang mics/instruments and where your receptacles are.

Edit: Didn't see @ptero 's post. I also often take 100' of cable and make one 50' and two 25' cables out of it, whether its power or microphone. Those seem to be nice lengths to use.

 

[techieman33]

We have 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 50 lengths for 12/3 cable.

 

[Edrick]

I go up to 100'

 

[mstaylor]

I used to build 100 footers when most everything I did was temperary. Now we have maybe two 50 footers, everything else is 25 or shorter. The only common usage for long cables for us is lights on the floor or booms. In the air everything is short jumpers.

 

[shiben]

I go up to 100'

So do I. It really stinks to only have 50' cables when you need to make a 300' run. Also, if your picking things to a catwalk or batten and the height is larger than 50', you have to have a cable plugged in the middle, which is just more work than its worth... Really all depends on what your venue is like and how often you need to do things. One venue I worked at had 250' cables because they had built them to run to alternate follow spot positions, and that run was 225'. Go figure.

 

[JD]

Outside of control cables, feeders, or com lines, 50 feet is a practical cut off point. Much longer and they get hard to wrap and store.

 

[Nelson]

I have a lot of 5' stage pin cables besides the 25 and 50' cables. It seems like the fixtures are always about three feet shy of reaching the outlets, so nearly every fixture on our catwalk is connected to a 5' extension.

 

[xander]

Depends soo much on the details. What kind of cable; feeder, multi, 12/3 SO, data, etc.? What kind of venue; self producing or roadhouse? Size of venue; 50 seat blackbox, 500 seat LORT, 10' ceiling, or 80' fly loft, etc.? Infrastructure; are all circuits homeruns, semi-permanent soco/drop box runs, hardwired raceways? Typical use; do you use floor mounts a lot and don't have floor pockets, or do have a poorly engineered permanently wired system where you frequently have to reroute circuits, etc.?

My $.02
-Tim

 

[MPowers]

First you get a lot of veeeery small diameter steel wires and start to twist them into a thread and then ........ OH! Wait! You weren't talking about rigging! Never Mind!!

 

[Edrick]

You know what's real fun to wrap, 5-Wire feeder cable for Camlock either 2/0 or 4/0.

 

[techieman33]

You know what's real fun to wrap, 5-Wire feeder cable for Camlock either 2/0 or 4/0.

That's why you coil it directly into the trunk.

 

[shiben]

That's why you coil it directly into the trunk.

And anyone who says otherwise has not done it.

 

[TimMiller]

And anyone who says otherwise has not done it.

It is also appreciated if you figure 8 it in and not try to force coil it.

 

[shiben]

It is also appreciated if you figure 8 it in and not try to force coil it.

Had a dude the other day get rankled I figure 8 coiled one into a trunk... was really rather confused. He wanted it wrapped the "normal" way, whatever that is. Probably reverse wrapped. Dont know why one would do that.

 

[techieman33]

It is also appreciated if you figure 8 it in and not try to force coil it.

All depends on whose feeder it is, just like any other cable everyone likes theirs coiled their own way.

 

[erosing]

More points for asking before you do it. I like it figure-8'd, some of the places I work coils are the norm.

50', 25', 15', 10', 5', and 1' lengths. 1-50', 5-25', 4-15', 9-10', 12-5', 15-1' for every 400' of cable is what was worked out.

As to how to figure out what you need, ask the stagehands what they always seem short on. Some venues it's long, others short, in venues that jump from 10' to 25' cables, it's usually a middle ground that they wish for. But it all depends on the venue, the stagehands' methodology, and the designer.

 

[mstaylor]

Had a dude the other day get rankled I figure 8 coiled one into a trunk... was really rather confused. He wanted it wrapped the "normal" way, whatever that is. Probably reverse wrapped. Dont know why one would do that.

I figure 8 when they ask, straight wrap or over/under when they ask. I work national acts regularly and I would say figure 8 is at most one in ten. Now it happens allthe time when they dump their cases at dimmer world but in the cases, not so much.

 

[Brandofhawk]

I'd figure it out by looking at what is normally in use and where runs seem to be long. Might be tedious... but if you see a lot of 10's used to jump 5' foot distances, best to make some 5's. Opposite is true also, where you see multiple 5's to meet a 25' distance, best to make some 25's.

When I cable, I always try to get the shortest amount of cable which will make the distance from circuit to c-clamp while following all pipes/corners and not jumping distances.
Though I've worked in spaces where they don't particularly care for that rule, I always make a point of it because it will allow for the least amount of resistance in cable due to shortest length while also remaining safe for anyone going up in the dark, and still should allow for full rotation of instrument so long as the tail from the light is long enough (usually is).