Counterweight systems have two basic methods of guiding the weight arbors.
Wire guides or tracks.
Wire guides used to be exactly that, heavy metal
wire with or without a
turnbuckle to provide tension. The
wire was often kinked or bent. 1/8"
GAC has replaced the solid
wire for any new installations and the solid
wire guides are rarely found today except in very old systems.
Wire guides are perfectly fine if there are only a few
line sets, they are infrequently used, used at low speeds, the
arbor travel is about 30' or less and they are at least 12" apart. In fact, I will be installing a brand new
wire guide
system this summer at a small
stage with only 5 moving
line sets and the remaining battens
dead hung. Another nationally know firm is installing a
wire guide
system in a small college space in the northern part of the state as I write this. If you do a lot of musicals with frequent, high speed changes, if your battens and arbors are closer than 12", if you have experienced arbors
clipping each other as they pass, then you need to replace the
wire guide with "T" or "J" bar guides. If your
system is in need of a lot of maintenance and repair, it might prove economical to replace the
wire guide with
track guided at the same time, but I really can't say without knowing more about your
system.
If you would be so kind as to describe your
system and it's condition, we could offer a
bit more accurate advice. HTH.