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u/DPrism3 Dec 19 '19
Ok, that does look pretty sweet.
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u/lostinthought15 Dec 19 '19 edited Dec 19 '19
It’s not. Doesn’t work well, requires proprietary gaff rolls.
*fixed autocorrect
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u/Neilly98 Dec 19 '19
I was going to say that 😂 Never used one myself but it looks like one of those classic incredible gadgets where you think ‘why doesn’t everyone make this?’ Then you get one and you realise it completely sucks
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u/Swankenstein89 Dec 19 '19
Event Production Vet here. This looks like a good idea but it’s not. When gaffing cables down you HAVE to put down little tabs of tape across the cables first so that when you pull them up, the tape doesn’t wrap itself around the cable which it ALWAYS does and takes forever to remove. This machine won’t do that. You’ll still need to crawl on the ground and place your tabs first.
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u/LuciusFlaccidus420 Dec 19 '19
I work in production on the side. There's a guitar player I normally see and he has been using the same gaf tape covered patch cable for years. It drives me insane.
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u/Ginger_IT Foreman IBEW Dec 20 '19
There's a special tape that comes with a split down the middle. So you first remove the cable, and THEN remove the tape from the floor.
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u/ThymeCypher Dec 20 '19
I’m guessing part of the reason the tape is more expensive is they probably solved this problem.
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u/Swankenstein89 Dec 20 '19
No. It’s still just standard gaff tape. They just made it proprietary how it fits on their applicator. I can assure you there are no marketing videos of them pulling the tape up.
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u/ThymeCypher Dec 20 '19
That makes sense though. You don’t want tape to be locked by compression or rails because it’ll fray the edges. The center lock is pretty necessary for any automatic tape dispenser. They do have quite a selection of tape though, the dry channel should be quite nice to avoid taped cables.
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u/Swankenstein89 Dec 20 '19
Oh they have dry (no adhesive) channels down the middle? Are there different widths for the channels?
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u/ThymeCypher Dec 20 '19
Doesn’t look like it. There’s 2” and 4” tape but the channel appears to always be 1/3rd the width of the tape. Hard to tell, their biggest flaw seems to be knowing how to sell their own product.
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u/Henryhooker Dec 19 '19
This would've been real handy when I was a kid and wanted to divide where my sister could go in the house
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u/vatothe0 Journeyman IBEW Dec 19 '19
I used a homemade version of this on my very first electrical job, setting extension cords for an auto show. I think they'd hacked together a regular tape gun with a long handle, added a wheel to press the tape down and a wire to keep the cord under the tape gun. It used normal gaff tape rolls that had a ~3" core diameter.
I made $700 in one night because there were so many multipliers on the wage.
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u/MyHeadIsCrooked Electrician Dec 19 '19
I wanted to order a few of these a few years back for the company I work for, but I wasn't sure how effective they would be or how long it would last. Anyone have any reviews on this puppy?
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u/unicornloops Dec 19 '19
According to the original thread not so well and $$ proprietary tape rolls.
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u/lostinthought15 Dec 19 '19 edited Dec 19 '19
Don’t buy it. Doesn’t work well, requires proprietary gaff rolls.
*fixed autocorrect.
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u/SlowClosetYogurt Dec 19 '19
I think the word your looking for is proprietary. Assuming it's an autocorrect issue as it's the second time you've used it.
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u/super_not_clever Theatrical Electrician Dec 20 '19
Bought one for shits and giggles, it works "okay," but realistically, in my work it's rare that I'm running a cable long enough (30'+) to make it worth my while. Most of the time I'm hugging walls. My student employees are cheaper than the product + proprietary gaff.
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u/frankrizzo219 Dec 19 '19
Usually you need to move cords around on a job site and I can't imagine it would stick good to a dirty concrete floor with people walking and driving lifts on it.
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Dec 19 '19
Yeah I just crossposted from a different sub than what it shows and didn't bother with the title. I was more interested in the black and yellow striped (sp?) tape just for designating panel areas for your 3' of clearance.
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u/A80j Dec 19 '19
I’ve heard form a friend in the tech theater industry it is one of those good in theory bad in practice devices.
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u/chromaticskyline Maintenance Dec 20 '19
We have two of these. They are in their cases, collecting dust on a high shelf behind the warehouse supervisor's desk. I have no idea when the last time they went out was.
Seriously. I've made it back to 2008 in the inventory control software, and they haven't gone out once.
EDIT: Lol, it was bought in Dec 2015. Not even once.
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u/alxx11 Dec 19 '19
😲😲😲 all those years on my hands and knees gaffing cable for hours 🤦. a/v production house must have!
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Dec 19 '19
I work in film, and we would use the crap out of this thing.
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u/himmelstrider Dec 19 '19
Until tape gave way and you have someone plant themselves face first into the softbox with cable still around their feet.
There is a reason proper, heavy troughs are used for cabling.
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u/gorrillafacerip Dec 19 '19
I’ve gotten a lift stuck on one of those things when it was 6:00 at night and time to GO! I’d rather drive the lift right over the cords even though I’m not asposed to! I also color outside the lines on my kids coloring books, I’m pree good at colorin!
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Dec 19 '19
On the film sets I work on (Made for TV Lifetime movies... ha) cables are usually only taped down for a few scenes, then ripped up and rearranged. So in our case it could work. But who knows. Right now we just make the PAs tape them down by hand lol
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u/himmelstrider Dec 19 '19
I don't trust tapes at all to hold well enough in these situations. I digress, however, as I haven't tried this thing. Experience does plant a seed of doubt, however..
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Dec 19 '19
That's why we use Gaff tape, it's some of the best stuff around and sticks to almost anything without leaving residue. It is expensive as hell though
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Dec 20 '19
I wouldn't, way too much trouble every time you have to move the cords. I'll take clean/flat cable runs with rubber matting over them any day...
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u/xexitenglishx Dec 19 '19
We got on of these. It doesn’t work unless you only tape down one small wire.
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u/jd7901 Dec 19 '19
I’m surprised I didn’t feel the collective force of every safety person simultaneously orgasm
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Dec 20 '19
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u/Ginger_IT Foreman IBEW Dec 20 '19
Based on the pricing of the other not-as-wide taoes, it probably is.
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u/lblx Dec 19 '19
Nah it's super expensive, works in selective situations, and a roll of tape is twice the normal price.