Rigging the Spotline Mini
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If you find yourself in the weeds at any point while rigging the machine, give us a call at 401-289-2942 x2, or drop us a line at support@creativeconners.com
Here are a few important tips:
Loading cable is best done as a team. One person will need to have their hands near the moving machine while the other is operating the manual controls. It is the responsibility of all team members to be on the lookout for dangerous situations, and to stop the process if there is ever a risk of injury or damage. It is advised that you set your own protocol of communicating about safety with your team and use it consistently.
Disconnect the winch from the Spikemark network before loading cable, this ensures only a team member touching the winch can control its movement. Remote movement is an unnecessary risk during cable loading.
Drive the winch slowly whenever hands/tools are inside the body of the winch. Always be ready to stop motion. It may be helpful to have a team member standing by to use a Showstopper Remote to initiate an emergency stop.
Manually test drive your Spotline Mini forward by pressing the FWD button and turning the jog wheel clockwise on the onboard Stagehand. You should notice on the Stagehand display that the encoder is counting up. Next, Manually test drive your Spotline Mini in reverse by pressing the REV button and turning the jog wheel clockwise. You should notice on the Stagehand display that the encoder is counting down. If you find that your encoder is not counting in the correct direction, give us a call at 401-289-2942 x2, or drop us a line at support@creativeconners.com.
Before moving on to the actual rigging, let us look at the possible rigging configurations of the Spotline Mini.
At this point in time, the Spotline Mini is not designed to be used as a deck winch to move scenery horizontally on stage. We have a great machine that does this already: the Pushstick Mini. Check out the Pushstick Mini on our website at: https://creativeconners.com/products/pushstick-mini/
If you intend to use a single point with 60 feet of maximum travel on the Spotline Mini drum, follow the steps below:
Grab a spool of 1/8” wire rope.
Run the end of the cable through all of the necessary pulleys and into the hoist. The fleet angle of the cable off the drum cannot exceed 1.5 degrees.
Run the cable through the hole drilled in the drum on the side of the drum that has three holes and on the side of the machine that is closest to the stagehand controller of the Spotline Mini.
Note: in a single point configuration, you will only use one of the two drums on the Spotline Mini - choose whichever drum is most convenient.
Terminate the cable with a NicoPress stop sleeve in the drum - leave a minimal tail in the drum. Terminate the wire rope as per the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Using the onboard controls of the Spotline Mini, slowly move the motor forward by pressing the FWD button and turning the jog wheel clockwise. The cable should begin to wind up onto the drum.
Note: you will want to keep tension on the cable throughout the process and make sure not to pull against the cable keeper. If you pull against the cable keeper, the cross groove detection will engage and the machine will fault.
Ensure that your wire rope is flat against its cable groove when coming out of the termination hole. Excess cable can get caught on the cable keeper.
Ensure that you maintain a minimum of 3 safety wraps on the drum for any lift line.
Decide how much extra travel is needed when the piece of scenery would need to be at its lowest position possible and add those wraps (1 wrap = 15 inches).
Cut the cable from the spool and attach it to your scenery using standard rigging practices.
Once complete, set the limits as explained below.
If two pick points are required, follow the above steps but rig both drums at the same time.
When configured with 3 or 4 pick points, the maximum travel is reduced to 30’. To rig two pints on a single drum you will need to terminate the lifting lines at the end and middle of a single drum. Follow the steps outlined above to rig all required lift lines at the same time.
Once you have finished rigging your Spotline Mini it is time to set your limits. The limits should be used as Overtravel Limits. Overtravel Limits mean that during normal cue control operation, the limits should not be struck. The limits are intended to halt motion if there is a failure. The FWD and REV limits are there to prevent your scenery from getting damaged. The FWD ULT and REV ULT limits are set behind their initial limits to prevent your Spotline Mini or your scenery from getting damaged.
Using the onboard controls on the Spotline Mini, slowly move the piece of scenery to its highest safe position to ensure the cable lays on the drum properly.
Pro Tip: leave a few inches of overhead in case the Ultimate FWD limit does not engage in the exact same place. Remember wire rope can flex and change with temperature and humidity.
With your piece of scenery in its highest safe position, set the Ultimate FWD Limit by following the steps below.
Remove the cover of the rotary limit switch by removing two philips head screws and pulling off the cover.
On the limit switch, you will see a set screw with 4 smaller set screws positioned around the center set screw. The center set screw is the locking screw. Loosen the locking set screw with a flat-head screwdriver.
Caution: You MUST loosen your center set screw first. If you do not loosen the center set screw before adjusting the outside limit screws, you could damage your limit switch. The only way to fix this is by ordering a new limit switch.
The four smaller screws around the outside are used to adjust each of the individual limits’ CAMs. Each adjustment screw has a number and a color next to it, which corresponds to which layer (FWD ULT, FWD, REV, or REV ULT) it adjusts.
The rotary limit has 4 layers, each layer includes a CAM lever and a micro-switch to activate the individual limit.
(Note: When the Spotline Mini is moving in REV the limit stack is rotating Clockwise. The limit stack rotates Counter Clockwise when moving FWD.)
Adjust the limit that you are setting by turning the corresponding set screw until the CAM strikes the switch.
Repeat steps 2.3-2.5 to set your other 3 limits. The steps below explain the location you should jog your machine to when setting each limit.
FWD ULT - Highest safe position.
FWD - Highest position that you would move the hoist to on a daily basis.
REV - Lowest position that you would move the hoist to on a daily basis.
REV ULT - Lowest safe position.
When you finish setting your limits, lock your center set screw to hold your newly adjusted limits. Then reattach the limit cover.
Since pictures are worth 1000 words, check out this slideshow detailing setting limits on the Spotline Mini
Now that your machine is rigged and limits are set, you should run a brake test on the Spotline Mini. The Spotline Mini is equipped with a simple to use brake testing feature. This feature allows you to check the functionality of both the motor side brake and the redundant load side brake independently. It is vital to perform this test on a regular basis. We suggest you test your brakes at the beginning of each production when you set your limits. The onboard controls of the Spotline Mini now allows brake testing to be a very simple process. However, testing brakes can be hazardous without taking proper steps to ensure safety. During a brake test you will release each brake individually to ensure proper brake operation, but the hoist will not release both brakes simultaneously. This ensures that during brake testing, at least one brake will be engaged. However, if one brake is broken and you release the other brake, the load will begin to fall. We at Creative Conners Inc. recommend that when you do brake testing, you lift your load to a safe distance of 6-12 inches off the ground in case of a brake malfunction. Follow the process below when brake testing your Spotline Mini.
Jog your Spotline Mini so that your load (a 50lb sandbag would be a great choice) is 6-12 inches off the ground.
Before you conduct the test, check and see that nobody is working inside the machine or near test load. It may be helpful to have dedicated people stationed to watch both the motor and the load.
On the Spotline Mini control panel, press the Enable button and the Motor button to release the motor brake. You should audibly notice that the motor brake releases.
After you have tested the motor brake, you should test the load brake by pressing the Enable button and then the Load button. You should audibly notice that the load brake releases.
If during the Motor Brake test, the load falls to the ground, the load brake would need maintenance. If during the Load Brake test, the load falls to the ground, the motor brake would need maintenance. If you find that a brake needs maintenance, remove all scenery and do not operate the machine.
Note: If you were to press the Enable, Motor, and Load button at the same time, the safety circuitry will not release both brakes at the same time. It would only release the brake that was pressed first.
If you find yourself needing help with the brake test functionality or experiencing undesirable results, give us a call at 401-289-2942 x2, or drop us a line at support@creativeconners.com