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ClintonMagus Inner circle Southwestern Southeast 3997 Posts |
A friend of mine has two sons who have a small DJ business. They just ordered and received some 10"-square Global Truss brand lighting truss, and they asked me to help them get it set up last night. Knowing that Global is known as one of the best (if not THE best) truss manufacturers, I was sort of surprised when it took an unusual amount of effort to get the sections to fit together. One problem was that one of the endmost crossmembers on one section appeared to have been damaged in shipment, pulling the two corners together slightly. However, fitting the UNDAMAGED sections end-to-end also required some effort to get them together so that the pins would slide into the connectors. Some of these pins were also fairly difficult to insert, requiring a mallet to seat to the point where the locking pins could be inserted. (We realized that the holes on either side of the connectors were of different diameters to accommodate the tapered pins.) We didn't want to force anything, in case we might be doing something incorrectly. There were no instructions with the truss.
My question (not having a lot of experience with lighting truss - is this normal? This stuff seems to be made to pretty exacting tolerances, so should undamaged truss sections usually require a certain amount of effort to assemble, or should they slide together and pin with ease? Thanks for your help...
Things are more like they are today than they've ever been before...
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PCoreyB Regular user 139 Posts |
I use global truss and yes I have to tap in the pins with a mallet. You're right about the holes being different sizes so you do have to make sure its the right direction. I guess it has to be pretty tight otherwise it could sag when weighed down with equipment. I think all is normal with yours except perhaps the part that may have been damaged in shipping.
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Kevin Ridgeway V.I.P. Indianapolis, IN & Phoenix, AZ 1832 Posts |
We have been dealers for and personally used Global Truss for years. Indeed the holes in the conical connectors are tapered as are the pins. After aligning the conical connectors correctly, use a mallet to tap in the pins just far enough to see the entire hole for the R-clip. Be careful not to hammer the pin in to far as you are hammering a steel pin into aluminum. One side note is when connecting two sticks together, have the holes on the pins at the 12 & 6 o'clock positions. This will keep you from raking your hand across the R-clip. When using base plates to stand the truss up 'Easter Island' style, align the holes on the pins at 3 & 6 o'clock. This will allow much easier access of the holes for the R-clips.
The truss and connectors are tight fitting on purpose. Global is decent truss...but Tomcat & Thomas are much better. But for the price you can't beat Global, as long as you are not going beyond the weight rating of the truss & your rigging. Kevin
Living Illusions
Ridgeway & Johnson Entertainment Inc Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson aka Lady Houdini The World's Premier Female Escape Artist www.LadyHoudini.com www.livingillusions.com |
ClintonMagus Inner circle Southwestern Southeast 3997 Posts |
I don't think my post was completely clear. His concern was that the ends of the truss don't seem to line up as perfectly with one another as he thought they should. The offset is not large (except on the damaged piece), but the sections must be pulled together with pressure so that the pins can be driven in. He wanted to make sure that this was the norm, and not something that might damage the truss itself.
Things are more like they are today than they've ever been before...
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Kevin Ridgeway V.I.P. Indianapolis, IN & Phoenix, AZ 1832 Posts |
That is the norm...while the truss is laying on the ground, pull the far ends towards the direction of the pin that your trying to drive in. Use the mallet and strike the pin not just straight down, but at a slight angle. If the pin is leaning to the left, hit the pin at the top left driving down towards the right. Hope fully that makes sense.
Hopefully that makes sense and helps. Kevin
Living Illusions
Ridgeway & Johnson Entertainment Inc Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson aka Lady Houdini The World's Premier Female Escape Artist www.LadyHoudini.com www.livingillusions.com |
ClintonMagus Inner circle Southwestern Southeast 3997 Posts |
Everything worked out fine. I passed along all your information, and they also called the dealer. They got a partial refund on the bent section, and were able to bend it back into usable shape. They set up everything at our pole vault facility the other night, got the lights going, cranked up the music, and JAMMED!!!
Things are more like they are today than they've ever been before...
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chleby New user 52 Posts |
That is definitely normal as it seems you have figured out. I find it helps to pull the sections together with a ratchet strap if they don't line up perfect. This also makes it very easy to get the pins in as well.
Lighting Designer- Dan Sperry MAGIC SHOW Times Scare NYC
Lighting Designer- Dan Sperry Spring 2011 |
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