Cable wrapping machine bad for cables?

[Terry C Nelson]

Hi everyone. So i came across this video of a socapex cable being wrapped and i though to myself isn't that bad for the cable to wrap it like that? to me that seems to be just as bad as wrapping it around your elbow.

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Any thoughts?

 

[tdrga]

Hi everyone. So i came across this video of a socapex cable being wrapped and i though to myself isn't that bad for the cable to wrap it like that? to me that seems to be just as bad as wrapping it around your elbow.

The cable is pulled in a straight line onto the machine, so it is essentially the reverse action of when it came off of the original spool. Wrapping cables over elbow tends to put a twist in the cable.

For large rental shops, this is the most cost-effective way to coil hundreds of big cables that they deal with every day. Any wear and tear from the cable machine is minimal compared to what the cable endures on the road. It also helps cut down on workplace injuries from pulling large cables all day.

-Todd

 

[Footer]

However... because it is spooled on top of itself instead of coiled it is nearly impossible to uncoil it in the field neatly. Instead you end up just coiling it again! I HATE these machines!

 

[danTt]

However... because it is spooled on top of itself instead of coiled it is nearly impossible to uncoil it in the field neatly. Instead you end up just coiling it again! I HATE these machines!

It works pretty well if you unroll the cable as you go rather than try to uncoil it. Obviously easier with stagepin than soca, but I've gotten pretty good at either rolling soca along the floor or bouncing it in my hands. Definately easier than the uncoil/recoil trick.

 

[derekleffew]

... and i though to myself isn't that bad for the cable to wrap it like that? to me that seems to be just as bad as wrapping it around your elbow. ...

1. The machine coils to about a 30" diameter; your elbow to wrist, 15"-18".
2. The machine makes a circle (okay, a square with rounded corners with the machine above); your elbow and wrist introduce 180° bends in the cable.
3. There's no mechanical difference between using the machine, and making a coil on the floor. I challenge anyone to coil a 50' or longer 12/14 Socapex around his/her elbow.
4. If cable coilers were bad for cable, would 4Wall, PRG, Upstaging, Bandit, and so forth use them? The only real drawback is that only one cable can be coiled at a time. (While the other nineteen hands watch.)

As for how it spools out, rolling the coil is the way to go (unless it's been over/undered--let's not get into that debate here). For demonstration porpoises, take a roll of toilet paper. Unroll some normally. Now pull the end off the side of the tube and notice all the twists you've introduced. You may or may not have to untwist all of those before deploying the cable.

 

[techieman33]

4. If cable coilers were bad for cable, would 4Wall, PRG, Upstaging, Bandit, and so forth use them? The only real drawback is that only one cable can be coiled at a time. (While the other nineteen hands watch.)

Yes, they probably sat down and figured out that it's cheaper to replace a piece of soco at (example: 9 years as opposed to 10 years) than it is to pay someone to coil them by hand. And as tdrga pointed out cable coming out of big shops like that take a lot of abuse on the road. Any damage the coiler does is probably negligible compared to getting coiled differently every day, twisted and untwisted, jumped on, run over, and a dozen other ways that cable gets abused while on tour. http://www.controlbooth.com/members/tdrga.12114/

 

[JD]

I'd like to know, Who on earth wraps Soca on their elbow? and what their arms look like :shock: ???

 

[BobHealey]

I'd like to know, Who on earth wraps Soca on their elbow? and what their arms look like :shock: ???

At strike, I've been tempted to let the volunteers who insist on elbow wrapping every cable they can see attempt the 30' socas. Half my strike time is spent stopping elbow wraps, half spent pulling gear down, and half moving people from congregating under the pipe i just cleared access to get at with the genie.

 

[themuzicman]

Having spent countless hours of my life in a few different shops coiling cable on machines, I will say it is the only cost-effective, and easy on your crew way to coil cables. That being said, if you actually care about coiling them you can coil them so they don't get all screwed when they are uncoiled. That being said, the shops don't often pay the people coiling enough to care about the end result, or they don't ever have to uncoil them so they don't know the struggle.

That being said, if you go to a full service shop that also bundles your cable for you, you'll notice that the cable is coiled properly from the machines because the same guys coiling are the same guys bundling the cables and they do have to deal with poorly coiled stuff.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

However... because it is spooled on top of itself instead of coiled it is nearly impossible to uncoil it in the field neatly. Instead you end up just coiling it again! I HATE these machines!

Not to mention the mess all that jute makes

The worst is cable fresh from the manufacturer. I don't know how they coil, but trying uncoil a 100' fresh in its zip ties is a real test.


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[DuckJordan]

Using the same style machine but instead of the posts running horizontally they run vertically.

 

[Footer]

Not to mention the mess all that jute makes

The worst is cable fresh from the manufacturer. I don't know how they coil, but trying uncoil a 100' fresh in its zip ties is a real test.


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At least jute is better then saran wrap.

 

[TheaterEd]

The worst is cable fresh from the manufacturer. I don't know how they coil, but trying uncoil a 100' fresh in its zip ties is a real test.

I just take them up to the catwalk and lower them down and re-wrap them a couple of times. I find that if I don't assert dominance over the new cables, that my students don't stand a chance at over-undering them.

 

[Roger L. Lattin]

Un-coiling machine wrapped cable can be a PITA, pull the end from the center of the bundle works many times. If you can't the only way is to stretch it out as far as you can