Cable tray over side doors, that won't snag on curtains?

[Javik]

This is a gymnatorium question. There is very limited space on the stage with two side doors leading to stairways that go down a few steps to the gym floor.

In the past there has been a desire to get power cords and mic cables off the floor to prevent tripping on a darkened stage during a show, so a 2x4 was bolted to the wall above both doors, and nails used as hangers to suspend cables over the doorway.

Unfortunately the back stage curtains (cyclorama, etc) sometimes get snagged on the nails. When people pull on the curtains to move them, they are trying to yank the curtain free, which results in rips in the fabric seven feet off the ground that are just about impossible to repair in a manner that doesn't look tacky.

If we take down the board and the nails to prevent snagging, then we're back to cables on the floor, in front of the side entry doors, and people possibly tripping on them in the dark during a show.

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A secondary problem is that kids tend to hang on and abuse just about any exposed object in a gymnatorium, and since the stage front is open to the gym, there's no way to keep people off the stage. So if I were to put up some sort of professional snag-free cable raceway or trough for cables over the door, it's almost guaranteed that someone is going to use it as a chin-up bar and end up "accidentally" bending or breaking it. (It just fell off the wall one day. Oddly, nobody knows why, or saw what happened..)

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I suppose a temporary-use solution is a raised plastic cable channel / protector on the floor in front of the doors, which we can put away when we don't need it:

Rubber Cable Protectors | RPS | Heavy Duty

It's not the best option, but with so little control over how the space is used, it may be the least complicated answer.

 

[Molinero]

Some possible solutions, dependent on budget (and bearing in mind that I can't visualize your space and don't know what kind of materials your walls and deck are made of):

1. Purchase a multi-channel snake and hardwire it in place on the wall using electrical conduit that's high enough off the deck that you'd need a ladder to reach it.

2. If you have a wooden stage floor, perhaps cut a trough around the outside and fashion removable plates to cover it (you'd probably need to be able to cut about an inch deep just to accommodate cables and plugs).

3. Build out a door frame using heavy lumber (2x6, for example) with a channel cut across the top of the frame. Lag screw it to the studs or block wall behind.

4. Install screw anchors above the door frame and put in a few eye-screws only when you're in production. Less likely to snag than screws or nails, and you can tie the cables in place. You could, if you are as compulsive an over-builder as I am, install a series of them around the opening so you can secure the cables all the way around the doorway.

Hope this helps!

M

 

[kiwitechgirl]

Attach a piece of PVC pipe over the door and run cables through it? It won't be able to be used as a chin-up bar or anything like that - the only disadvantage would be that you have to run cables through it as they go in. Should stop the snagging problem...

 

[techieman33]

No reason you couldn't cut a slot in the top of the pvc so you could just drop the cables in it instead of having to run them through it. You could secure a piece of 2x cut at an angle on either side to secure to the wall to help the curtains travel around it as well. A cable trough would be my first preference though, and if your doing it I would go deeper than an inch, at least 3" deep and 6" wide. If your going to do it you might as well make it big enough to fit anything you would be running through it now with plenty of room for future growth.

 

[venuetech]

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4" ABS with a plywood slope on top of that so they cannot jump up and grab the pipe

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[len]

They also make wire trays designed to be cable troughs for old buildings. I don't know who makes them but they're out there. One could cover them with hard plastic to minimize curtain snagging. As for keeping little hands off, elevate them another couple feet.

Edit, found this one, but I'm sure there's more. M.E.2 Cable Tray System - Straight Sections

 

[Javik]

Thank you for the suggestions.

It looks like the simplest and least expensive route is heavy-duty white shelf hangers with a small 1.5" PVC pipe bolted to the front-edge screw hole, and mount the shelf hangers an annoyingly high height (9 ft or so) out of easy reach, so that an 8-ft ladder is needed to reach the raceway.

The white shelf hangers would be spaced about 2-3 feet apart from front to back along the entire wall, with no board across the top so students can't throw things up there to collect in the trough.

Cords can be looped up across the top of the shelf hangers, and run any distance along the length. The PVC pipe is just a cheap smooth end-stop to keep wires from falling off the front of the shelf hangers when people pull on them, and would also act as a bumper keep the curtain from snagging on the hangers.

I've used this bracket elsewhere. 500 lb load rating so no kid hanging on it will break it:

Menards: 10 1/2" X 7.5" Bracket White, Brk1012Pl - $4.99

http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...-bracket-white-brk1012pl/p-1464377-c-9752.htm