Raising/lowering multiple lights via pulleys

[smurfin'herb]

ok so i have 4 daystars ac's in a straight line on a mover, but they are all connected with rigid ducting making them all stable so that they dont move around as the light mover rolls on track. i didnt think of this ahead of time, but trying to raise 4 daystars that are tacked together via metal ducting is a PITA!!! So does anyone have any simple pulley designs that they have seen or personally used that could be applied to my situation? not finding much info on this.. thx.

 

[Pseudo]

connect all 4 with some aluminum angle and you can then use 2 pulleys, it could also be done with individual pulleys but would be a pita to set up and you would need 8 pulleys and possibly a small winch to operate

 

[yamaha_1fan]

You are going to want to seperate the ropes for each hood.

I have 3 hoods in each row. I didnt use pulleys, just 2 eyelets on top of each hood. But I ran the rope from the 1st hood through the eyelets of the 2nd and 3rd hood. Hood #2 went through hood #3's eyelets. So when it was all said and done, I had six ropes (2 for each hood) going through the last eyelet and it was a bitch to pull up. I have since changed it by having one cleat for each hood and can easily adjust each hood.

 

[Guest]

I would use cable and get a ratchet winch from harbor freight for $20 and then use pulleys. The system would cost $40-50 total and support 1000 lbs. Then all you have to do is crank it. I know its over kill but I think if I were building a large room I would go ahead with it. You can get a 120v version that's push button for 129 or a dual geared crank with a 4:1 ratio for $25.

I did a similar system years ago for removing the fiberglass roof from a Jeep and storing it on the ceiling out of the way.

I found the cable, u-clamps and all the pulleys at local hardware store and the winch at harbor freight.

 

[headiez247]

ok so i have 4 daystars ac's in a straight line on a mover, but they are all connected with rigid ducting making them all stable

On a light rail 3.5? Do you have a pic of your lights we could see?

I thought 3 1k's were the max you could fit on one with the add-a-lamp extension and a little tweaking.

 

[bobs your uncle]

If your down for a little DYI you could build a two point hoister like the bike hoist in the link, just longer. bike hoist

The pic is from the link

I built one for four lights - in-line, with ridged ducting just like your set up, minus the light mover. Actually, the light mover might pose some problems, it's hard for me to visualize your set up without pics but the hoist works perfect for me.

There's also the Harken Hoister http://www.hoister.com/ Two or four point self locking hoisters with block and tackle for one handed lifting. Just installed the four point hoister for a setup where the lights are in a L pattern. Works flawlessly, way better than the two point one I cobbled together, it also cost 4 times as much!

 

[yamaha_1fan]

My math tells me the mover moves one inch every 2.5 seconds

6 foot rail has a cyle time of 6 minutes w/o delay

That being said and from memory of my light mover, its not moving very fast. Its not like the lights are going to be flopping around. You could just use flexible ducting

If easy, try taking one or two pieces off to see how the light moves w/o any ducting

 

[woot]

Raise and Lower Shop Lights with Pulleys

Raise and Lower Shop Lights with Pulleys

[youtubeif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7x4Ot2To_A[/youtubeif]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7x4Ot2To_A

 

[yerboyblue]

You are going to want to hook the lights and track system to a 2x4, then use the pulleys/ratchets in between the 2x4 and where you connect the 2x4 to the ceiling. You will lose several inches. Pretty much like what uncle bob had in his picture, I would lay my 2x4 flat though, unless the system is so heavy that the board would buckle a little and the track wouldn't move.