How many safeties on a PAR-bar?

[MarshallPope]

Even though it's not rated, I feel like just having a wrap of gaff or a zip tie would be a hell of a lot better than nothing at all. Sure, there's no guarantee that it would work, but at least it's something.

Like I said, though, it's just something that randomly occurred to me.

 

[Morte615]

I know it's good practice, but is there any code out there (in the US) that governs safties on lights and other equipment that is hung in the air? Of course the ADHJ can decide that they want something, but is there any actual code involved?

 

[avkid]

I know it's good practice, but is there any code out there (in the US) that governs safties on lights and other equipment that is hung in the air? Of course the ADHJ can decide that they want something, but is there any actual code involved?

There may be an NFPA reg somewhere, but the practice is based on liability.

 

[sww1235]

I think that safetying is based on weight, so I would have one on each lamp, and then safeties to the weight of the bar. I probably would drill a hole in the bar and thread a cable through that, so the safety would not slide off.

 

[65535]

I think that safetying is based on weight, so I would have one on each lamp, and then safeties to the weight of the bar. I probably would drill a hole in the bar and thread a cable through that, so the safety would not slide off.

I would probably not drill a hole in a load bearing structure such as the bar. Especially considering the hole size required for a 1/8" cable end with thimble is about 1.25"

 

[derekleffew]

I would probably not drill a hole in a load bearing structure such as the bar. ...

Would the live wires inside have any influence on your decision?

 

[Les]

My take is that clamps are a temporary attachment device, thus require a safety cable. Add to the fact that cast c-clamps are not load rated and can pop apart under the right conditions.

Are safety cables a good idea, even on lights that are bolted to a par bar? Absolutely. But are they as required as if you were using clamps? Not in my opinion.

I almost never see safety cables around fixtures hung from flush-mounted unistrut. In some cases, it's not even possible. Bolts just aren't as likely to come undone.

 

[65535]

Would the live wires inside have any influence on your decision?

Depends are we stateside (120V) or overseas (220V)?



I've never actually used a par-bar, good to know some if not all are pre-wired.

 

[Ric]

Steel PARs or aluminum?

it's alumin i um ( make sure you add the i !!)

 

[Les]

it's alumin i um ( make sure you add the i !!)

"Aluminum" is the American spelling.

I think?

 

[chausman]

"Aluminum" is the American spelling.

I think?

Aluminum is from America, Aluminium is from the UK.

Aluminum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aluminium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

 

[Ric]

Aluminum is from America only, Aluminium is from the rest of the world.

Fixed

not meaning to take this off topic too far, but it is strange that it's the only element that the US has dropped the i out of for 'ium'.

 

[tdeater]

I look for single points of failure that someone could mess up. For me, I am safetying around the single bolt that attaches the clamp, and the clamp itself. Now, if each par is held to the bar with a single bolt that can come out easy, it might need some more safety's.

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Interesting enough, today we rented a bunch of par bars from the borg, and they all came with six safeties.

 

[ack]

My take is that clamps are a temporary attachment device, thus require a safety cable. Add to the fact that cast c-clamps are not load rated and can pop apart under the right conditions.

Are safety cables a good idea, even on lights that are bolted to a par bar? Absolutely. But are they as required as if you were using clamps? Not in my opinion.

I almost never see safety cables around fixtures hung from flush-mounted unistrut. In some cases, it's not even possible. Bolts just aren't as likely to come undone.

I agree with Les and this thinking. Except for the part in the signature about the fire ants.

 

[chadillac802]

I have always used only two safeties for PAR Bars, I safety all individual lights hung with clamps, but since the PARs are bolted to the bar, I see no individual need for the safety. Safeties are to back up the temporary rigging of the lights, the bolts on the PAR bar are permanent. I agree that Murphy's law is always in effect, but I personally think it's overkill to individually safety all the lights on the bar.

 

[Cooperhodges]

Depending on what the cables are rated for, I would go with one on each clamp. The pars are bolted to the PAR bar, so the only possible way anything could fall (given that the pars were tightened correctly) would be for one of the clamps to fail.

 

[Chris15]

I want to tell a story...

I was working a gig on an outdoor stage a year or two ago. I heard a ding in the orchestra while we were in bump in - the band weren't in until the next day. So I went looking and found on the floor both a nut and a washer. That's strange I thought. Looked up to see an instrument hanging from the grid on its safety cable. I guess that's where the nut came from...

Threaded fasteners can and do work loose with vibration. Anything hanging outdoors vibrates. Anything flown with movers on a truss vibrates. Airconditioning makes things vibrate very slightly.

So whatever the number of safety cables it takes, use enough that a bolt working loose doesn't leave a fixture to hang from it's mains cable if something goes wrong...