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Author Topic: sandbags on speaker stands  (Read 3540 times)

Weogo Reed

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sandbags on speaker stands
« on: April 22, 2021, 07:32:46 PM »

Hi Folks,

    Indoors, with 60# speakers at 7' height up on a solid concrete stage I've been using one 20# bag.
These are speakers out of the way of foot traffic. 
Outdoors, with the 7' stands I've used two 20# bags.

    For an upcoming outdoor event, with the same 60# speakers but up at 10',
am planning on two circular 25# bags per stand.
These will be away from foot traffic.
There might be a light breeze blowing, but real wind isn't likely.
(Stands are rated at 100Kg 220#.)

    How much sandbag weight do you put on tripod speaker stands?

Thanks and good health,  Weogo
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Riley Casey

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2021, 09:40:01 PM »

After finding USS stands starting to slip with a sandbag at the base of the vertical tube hanging from the flat bar arms I started using a bag wrapped around the tube at  each of the rubber feet. Three per stand but it made them very reliable and resistant to people kicking of tripping on the legs.

doug johnson2

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2021, 09:45:03 PM »

I use two bags filled with 35 lbs of lead on the leg braces of my stands.  Never an issue with approximately 90 lbs speakers at 6 ft or light trees at 10.

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Dave Garoutte

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2021, 12:07:02 PM »

I use two bags filled with 35 lbs of lead on the leg braces of my stands.  Never an issue with approximately 90 lbs speakers at 6 ft or light trees at 10.
Whenever possible, if I have to go high, I also try to strap the upright to something solid.
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boburtz

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2021, 01:15:47 PM »

I use two bags filled with 35 lbs of lead on the leg braces of my stands.  Never an issue with approximately 90 lbs speakers at 6 ft or light trees at 10.
I have found that the flat bar leg braces on Ultimate brand stands (ts90b) are fixed to the legs via a press fit, and I have had them pull out, which means catastrophic stand failure. Ultimate has been very good about replacements (I have never had this happen while the stand was deployed, thankfully), but I cannot speak as to whether they would replace a broken speaker or worse. I doubt it. I no longer use the fat bar as weight support. I recall reading somewhere afterward on a piece of Ultimate literature that the bars should not be used to support weight.

Brian Jojade

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2021, 01:30:01 PM »

I've never used sandbags on stands.  Tripod stands on their own are fairly stable. The amount of additional weight needed to make an impactful difference to prevent tipping would be significant.

Indoors I don't see any benefit of using sandbags.  Outdoors, what I do is drive fenceposts into the ground and strap the stands to that.
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Brian Jojade

Weogo Reed

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2021, 11:43:34 PM »

Riley,

    Yep, I've seen the same type stands sag with weights on the horizontal bars.

    Doug, thanks for the height and weight notes.

    Dave, there's a good chance the stands will be anchored to rebar pins driven in
 the ground behind a 4' concrete wall, that will be behind the speakers.

    Bob "I recall reading somewhere afterward on a piece of Ultimate literature that
the bars should not be used to support weight."  Thanks for this, some
lighter fill speakers will be up on US stands.

    Brian, I hope you never hit underground power or sprinkler hosess or wires!
Sandbags can damp sway if a wind gust gets speakers moving.
I have to do what the university safety offer says  -  we we are on good terms and
I want to keep things that way    : -)

    Does anybody know of printed industry standards along these lines?

Thanks and good health,  Weogo
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Kevin Maxwell

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2021, 10:27:25 AM »

I went to a car show back in 2015 and I didn’t take any pictures of the cars. There were always people in the way of getting a good picture of the cars. I just took a picture of the base of a stand that had a banner between 2 stands. If I did it right that picture is attached here. It seems to be filled with water. This looks like a really good idea to weigh the stand down. I am not thrilled with the water part of it.

Many years ago I was doing an outdoor event (Relay for Life) and we had a 3 speaker cluster on stands splayed to get the coverage we wanted. And a small gust of wind came along and blew the speakers down. We had basically made a sail. They were in a place where there weren’t people so no one got hurt. I have since been very careful of speakers on stands. 
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Mal Brown

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2021, 11:37:59 AM »

I do (or did...) a lot of outdoors events with high wind. Kite surfing derbies and the like.   I use concrete slugs with eye bolts cast in.  Probably 50lbs per slug.  1 slug per pole.  I have a number of lengths of non stretch rope with carabiners at each end.   I take a few round around the pole at the ' collar' and hang the slug just off the ground.   I've only had 1 K10 come down.  Pole and everything got taken out when 9 sections of fencing went airborne after the promoter loaded it down with sponsor banners and 0 wind relief... knucklehead.  Thankfully nobody got hit by any of it...

K10 came down on grass and needed 1 port tube glued back on inside as it popped off a flange cast into the face.  Easy enough.  a few feet different and it would have been side walk with a much different ending I suspect...
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Dave Pluke

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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2021, 03:17:32 PM »


    For an upcoming outdoor event, with the same 60# speakers but up at 10',
am planning on two circular 25# bags per stand.
These will be away from foot traffic.
There might be a light breeze blowing, but real wind isn't likely.
(Stands are rated at 100Kg 220#.)


Murphy is chuckling at "real wind isn't likely"  ;) .

The math gets complicated and depends on the surface area of your speakers, but you have a moment arm the length of 10' minus the height of the tripod coupling. That can get surprisingly forceful with a small breeze on a 60# speaker.

I would second the motion for concrete slugs with cast-in eye bolts for tie downs over sand bags.

Dave
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Re: sandbags on speaker stands
« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2021, 03:17:32 PM »


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