Wiring on T-Bar light stands

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Ron

Ron

DJ Extraordinaire
Jun 14, 2011
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Charleston, South Carolina
www.rcbaudio.com
I recently just got a new T-Bar light stand and will be moving light to it this week. It seems I always have trouble with the unsightly power cords and DMX cables. Granted it is usually dark, and with the lights shining at people, they generally do not notice the number of power cables and such running between the lights. But I still want them to look as neat as possible. Anyone have any suggestions or even better pictures of how they run the power, dmx, etc... for their lights on a T-Bar setup?

Thanks in Advance.
Ron
 
Ron said:
I recently just got a new T-Bar light stand and will be moving light to it this week. It seems I always have trouble with the unsightly power cords and DMX cables. Granted it is usually dark, and with the lights shining at people, they generally do not notice the number of power cables and such running between the lights. But I still want them to look as neat as possible. Anyone have any suggestions or even better pictures of how they run the power, dmx, etc... for their lights on a T-Bar setup?



Thanks in Advance.
Ron
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Black/dark Velcro straps and don't wrap the cords/cables around the poles. Run them parallel in the back of the poles, either horizontally or vertically. If you "roll" your cables properly when you store them they will lay/drop straight without kinks. This makes them easy to manage.
 
Ditto on what Canute said. We keep everything tied back to the point where you would swear our lights are wireless.
 
jokerswild said:
Daisey chainable EIC power cables will reduce the number of power cables that run down from the lights. I just purchased some for my lights.
Click to expand...
On the back of some fixtures there may be a female IEC outlet jack/extension. Problem is that you cannot plug a regular three prong jack in it. If you have a converter that can change the IEC female to a regular three prong female, then you will be able to plug a regular three prong plug in it and thus reduce the need for additional outlets. I just made some of my own (Pigtail)see link below, cost me less than $5.00 each. You can buy an adapter like this. http://www.amazon.com/prong-Plug-Adapter-5-15R-60320-C14/dp/B004OC579E/ref=pd_sbs_e_3 or like this Pigtail http://www.sfcable.com/P7PA-01.html?c=monitor-poweradapter-cords
Another option is to replace the power cord of the second unit with an IEC Female to IEC Male and you won't need an adapter.
 
We run a power cord for each individual light, but that's because of the lighting controller we use. This way we control which lights are on and which aren't.
 
Here's how I do mine. I like those little mini-bungie cords. I run all 7 of my power cords down the stand and one DMX cable running up the stand, all held in place with bungie cords. I also use the clamps as a means of holding the cables snug and tight.

The finished product looks like this.

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ahoustondj said:
On the back of some fixtures there may be a female IEC outlet jack/extension. Problem is that you cannot plug a regular three prong jack in it. If you have a converter that can change the IEC female to a regular three prong female, then you will be able to plug a regular three prong plug in it and thus reduce the need for additional outlets. I just made some of my own (Pigtail)see link below, cost me less than $5.00 each. You can buy an adapter like this. http://www.amazon.com/prong-Plug-Adapter-5-15R-60320-C14/dp/B004OC579E/ref=pd_sbs_e_3 or like this Pigtail http://www.sfcable.com/P7PA-01.html?c=monitor-poweradapter-cords
Another option is to replace the power cord of the second unit with an IEC Female to IEC Male and you won't need an adapter.
Click to expand...

You can with one or more of these:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wi...r-Cable-102526159-i1166806.gc?esid=daisey+iec

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Canute's velcro straps work great and look great.
If you are thinking about a permanent solution, and do not plan to remove the lights between gigs
use black zip ties (wire ties)
 
Alot of great ideas here already, but depending on your install, you could do something like this. This was a t-bar that I created for a simple show. 4 Pars & 4 pins running on a simple chaser controller.

IMG_1464.jpg


For running power to my lighting on a bar, I run them all down to the base using 6' extension cords. They all plug into a power strip. I then just wrap the base with a velvet-looking material to clean everything up. All cords then get wrapped with black stage tape or velcro stripping and run on the backside of the pole.

This is a photo illustrating my base wrap. Almost 100% of the time this is actually behind the booth, so it's not really seen by anyone unless they come around, but I still like things neat and all cords/wiring/electrical hidden away.

da934bb1.jpg

I like Joker's daisy-chain IEC option too for cleaning up the power cords between lights.
 
that is sufficient if it is minimal from the front at a wedding with the lights on, once its dark they could hang free and no one will see it. Sort of like a Polar Bear in a Snow Storm. Most cosmetic detail is our own comfort zone and mostly not even noticed by clients. Im anal about making my stands etc appear as J Mac says wireless to the naked eye.
 
Going off of what JT said, for me it's a pride issue. My rig is a reflection of me and I want it looking as good as possible.
 
Black electrical tape is your friend ;)
 
If you plan on using the same lights on the same stand, in the same configuration, then you can make your own IEC cables to custom length. I have already done so on mine.
 
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