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[John Fiorello]

I always pull snakes tails first. I line the connectors up in a row, dress the leads, and put a plastic bag over the whole works. I then wrap it with electrical or gaffer's tape.  I've been known to lay the gaffer's tape along the length of the cable, and then mold it around the bag, using two pieces if one doesn't give a good enough overlap. 

Yeah, we were able to do that with a smaller snake we had, I'm wondering if we'll be able to do that with the larger snake.

We did look at a stage box with a multipin out, but the price of the box (whirlwind, I think) and the multipin cable was more than double the cost of a patch panel with a cut end.


I'll know more tomorrow when we price out the extra pipes and find exact locations of the conduit.

Thanks for all your feedback!


JF

[EmilBarnabas]

All good points.

I always pull snakes tails first. I line the connectors up in a row, dress the leads, and put a plastic bag over the whole works. I then wrap it with electrical or gaffer's tape.  I've been known to lay the gaffer's tape along the length of the cable, and then mold it around the bag, using two pieces if one doesn't give a good enough overlap.  Do this right and the head of the snake is not that much larger around than the cable itself.

The bag is a big help if you need to use cable snot to get the works through tight places. I've never hurt a cable following these practices, and I've had some really tough pulls. The worst pulls for me have been through a floor where there were built-up trusses made up out of heavy wire, and other cables still in place

This is how I do it.

[Tim Padrick]

Here's an idea:order a custom snake that has multipin connectors (i.e., MASS) on each end.

That's an extra $2000 minimum.  In an install, that's not a wise expenditure.

[Jonathan Johnson]

Here's an idea:order a custom snake that has multipin connectors (i.e., MASS) on each end.

That's an extra $2000 minimum.  In an install, that's not a wise expenditure.

But Mr. Fiorello, in his first post, indicated that the difference of a few thousand wasn't a big deal:

I'm ok with a difference in price of a few thousand, cause soldering those 300+ joints doesn't sound very appealing Also, there will be a bit of a price difference to go analog because conduit sizes will need to change, and there are some funky paths that the architects took to fit our building setup.

You say it's not a wise expenditure on an install... is that because it's likely to be connected exactly once in the next 20 years?

Maybe. But if five years down the road they decide to add a stage box with splitters to support a separate stage mixer, or they want to split it at the FOH end to support a separate recording console, having multipin connectors may save a bit of time and money at that point. Also, when the fan end of the snake gets abused and begins to fail, you'll be able to quickly replace it. Or maybe you want to switch from a fanout to a patch panel. Consider it an investment in flexibility, if not an investment in convenience.

[Arnold B. Krueger]

That's an extra $2000 minimum.  In an install, that's not a wise expenditure.


You say it's not a wise expenditure on an install... is that because it's likely to be connected exactly once in the next 20 years?

That is one reason.

Maybe. But if five years down the road they decide to add a stage box with splitters to support a separate stage mixer,

No change would seem to be indicated since the snake is from stage to mixing location and the splitters come before the snake.

or they want to split it at the FOH end to support a separate recording console,

Depending where the console is placed, that would mean a lot more wiring anyhow.

having multipin connectors may save a bit of time and money at that point.

So far I haven't seen any such scenario.

Also, when the fan end of the snake gets abused and begins to fail, you'll be able to quickly replace it.

The connector is usually at the box end, no?

Repairing the fan end of a snake is painfully easy. Its like a mic cable. Repairing the box end isn't much harder. I've done both kinds of repairs to a snake that was abused by a touring youth band.

None of the 3 snakes we use for FOH at church have ever required any repairs at all after 5-10 year's use.  I've seen many people who say that a snake installed in a non-portable church like the OP has typically sees very easy service.

Or maybe you want to switch from a fanout to a patch panel.

Umm patch panel with the same connector as the snake?  Sounds like a very expensive custom or semi-custom item. IME most patch panels are hard wired. If you already have a snake in place, it would appear that the first move in a patch panel install would be a giant snip.

Yes there are such things, but buying one based purely on speculation seems questionable.

http://www.radialeng.com/rcs/snakes_50-10.htm

Consider it an investment in flexibility, if not an investment in convenience.

Just on random speculation?

[ProSoundWeb Community]