Conventional Fixtures Electro Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

re: Electro-Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

This type of connector strip, with its Unistrut-type (but not compatible) mounting for fixtures?
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From this thread: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/2084-electro-controls.html. Yes, the 6"Fresnel is hung upside down.:(

See also: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/8734-alternative-c-clamp.html and http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/2004-electronic-control-lighting-equipment.html.
 
re: Electro-Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

I remember those lovely Electro-Controls raceways. In all of their asbestos wired glory, last summer I ripped some out of a black box. That's not to say you should assume yours having asbestos wiring in them though.

I never did enjoy hanging fixtures from them, especially when we still at Electro-Controls Parallipspheres floating around yet, because they were heavy, bulky fixtures, and I simply never had enough trust in the structural integrity of those hang positions. Tossing fresnels on them was never too bad, but it simply wasn't as versatile as Sch40 pipe because the only way to hang the fixture was directly below the raceway.
 
re: Electro-Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

ahsviper said:
...If I could get the measurements on the raceway does anyone know of anywhere i could get replacements? ...
Click to expand...
As was suggested in at least one of the threads I referenced, take one of the "nuts" to a metal shop and have them duplicate as many as you need. It's not a complicated piece of hardware, so shouldn't be that expensive.
 
re: Electro-Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

That's why we are here. Now be sure you don't wander off, now that you've had your question answered. Stick around and you'll be amazed at what else you can learn.
 
re: Electro Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

What you have is a "Channel Mount" manufactured by Electro Controls Co in Salt Lake in the 70s. Combination wiring channel and light fixture support. I hinstalled hundreds of feet of this back in those days. Usually tweist locks but sometimes pin or Edison connectors on them. Top has U bolts that you fixed hang from chain or over a pipe batten. Like unistrut but not compatable with Unistrut inserts. The inserts are machined aluminum with a 3/8 thread in the center for the locking bolt. You slide the wide side into the channel first, then tilt up and slide the narrow one in till it drops down and locks. I think EC was bought out. Don't know if inserts are still available. If your high school has a technical or trade school section go to the machine metal working instructor and they can make them for you. Or any machinist shop could make them. You must use exactly the right length bolt with these or the fixture will not lock up snugly and can swivil.

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re: Electro Controls "Channel Mount" connector strips

I know the EC clips all too well. I always called them Jesus clips because that's what it made you say when you try to hang a light with them. I have worked in eight different local theatres with this type wire duct. In all but two they used the clips to hang pipes and used standard C-clamps. Four are still in use currently. We went to a local machine shop to reproduce them.
 
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I agree with Derek -- what's not to like? I worked for the manufacturer and made/sold 1000's of feet of Channel Mount from the '70s to the '90s. It was another of inventor Ariel Davis' great product ideas, and the only one that was still being sold decades after he was out of the picture, and even 10 years after Strand bought the company. Come to think of it, Channel Mount had more than 40 years of product life. It was an extruded aluminum raceway and fixture mounting system combined. The mounting clip concept (NOT compatible with Unistrut) was intended to keep the batten costs very low by eliminating both the pipe and the C-clamps. This was entirely in line with Davis' stated objective: "... quality stage lighting equipment at a price that every drama group, school, church, and theater in America can afford" (from 1963 catalog). In practice this worked well enough for small or fixed installations, but for pro installs the company also made single and double-pipe hanging hardware which used the same mounting clips for attachment. Davis was very big on extruded aluminum designs (used in most of his lights and dimmers); as I recall aluminum was cheap and plentiful after WWII.

I've also had replacement mounting clips made at a local machine shop. As for wire insulation, I don't believe asbestos was ever used inside the raceway, just on the fixture tails until the mid-'70s.
 
The EC Channel Mount was a good thing as long as you used pipe from the bottom to hang your lights. Using just the clips on lights was terrible.
 
I'm so glad that when Jay O. Glerum and Associates designed my university's space back in the 70's they specified the double-batten configuration.
 
looking for ec channel mount inserts

Looking for some of the aluminum inserts for the old style Electro Controls Channel Mount strips. The ones that clip into the top or bottom to hold fixtures and have a 3/8" threaded hole in the center. Or at least one that I can give a machinest to make copies from.
John in Charlotte area
 
Hello all,
My organisation just moved into a venue that uses these raceways the have a channel underneath similar to uni strut for their electrics. I need to find and purchase some inserts so I can hang all my lights from it. I am told these raceways were popular in the 60's.
I have attached a picture of one such insert.

Thanks in advance!
Joe
 

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In Canada, any electrical wholesaler and / or Home Depot will carry 'strut nuts'. Usually they're stocked with springs on the rear to provide a bit of tension to hold them in place until they're secured. If you're using standard bolts, of the size used in C-clamps, you're looking for 1/2" - 13 nuts. Take a sample bolt with you when shopping. Wherever you find strut nuts you ought to be able to source flat washers and lock washers as well.
Be sure not to purchase bolts that are too long as they'll bottom out without tightly gripping your fixture's mounting yoke.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
 
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