Ceiling hung speaker cabinet

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lost1found

Member
Location
Las Vegas NV
I have a question on the requirements for hanging speaker cabinets. At the church I attend they have asked me to replace the supports for the existing speaker cabinets. They are hung as follwed: ane eye bolt attached to the structure, chain down to the cabinet suport frame attached with a clevis. Someone has given them the idea that chain is against code. In my expieiance chain is a typical method of hanging speaker cabints. They hung these speakers originally without permits and are now pulling permits to to get the work inspected. They have hired an engineer to do load calcs on the ceiling to ensure the rated load of the cabinets are acceptable for the building, so thats covered. So I guess my question is, is the chain acceptable with the appropriate hardware? I would hate for them to have to spend money if it is not needed. Any help with this would be much appreciated.
Thanks
 
iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
There may be seismic issues with just straight chain. Depending on the requirements in your area you may have to add something to keep them from swinging in an earthquake
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Unless they are some really heavy speakers/cabinets I would think the chain is plenty strong - it is a question of whether or not the method of attaching to the speaker cabinet and to the structure is strong enough. What kind of speakers do you have that you need structural engineering to determine if ceiling can handle the load?

If this ceiling structure is also the roof structure and you live where there is heavy snow fall it better be strong enough to hold some speakers.
 
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lost1found

Member
Location
Las Vegas NV
Thanks guys,
I spoke with the AHJ here in Las Vegas and they say its good. As long as the engineers load tests reflect that the structure can handle the load and he ads a detail on the drawings showing the means of attachment we are good. Being in Las Vegas NV we dont get much snow (if any) so im sure the stucture can handle the load.
Unless on a fed government job, are siesmic requirements are pretty loose as well.

Thanks again!
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
lost1found said:
Thanks guys,
I spoke with the AHJ here in Las Vegas and they say its good. As long as the engineers load tests reflect that the structure can handle the load and he ads a detail on the drawings showing the means of attachment we are good. Being in Las Vegas NV we dont get much snow (if any) so im sure the stucture can handle the load.
Unless on a fed government job, are siesmic requirements are pretty loose as well.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

My question and point was just how heavy are these speakers? We hang all kinds of stuff from ceilings and usually don't worry about weight unless we know we are hanging something out of the ordinary.
 
L

lost1found

Member
Location
Las Vegas NV
kwired said:
My question and point was just how heavy are these speakers? We hang all kinds of stuff from ceilings and usually don't worry about weight unless we know we are hanging something out of the ordinary.
Click to expand...

The cabinets are about 150 lbs. There are 4 cabinets. So it would be about 600 lbs total.

I agree with you. We hang/mount various equipment from the ceiling or structure all the time with no need of a structral engineer to do load tests. They just want to ensure that the building can handle it, everyone is safe, and want to get it inspected now (little late they have been open a year). After talking with a inspector he has advised if an engineer has signed off on the means of hanging them that it would be fine.
I just didnt know if chain was acceptable. Didnt want them to have to pay additional costs to change the chain. Now after much study it seems that chain is a pretty typical application to hang speakers, (AV equipment). Thanks
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
lost1found said:
The cabinets are about 150 lbs. There are 4 cabinets. So it would be about 600 lbs total.

I agree with you. We hang/mount various equipment from the ceiling or structure all the time with no need of a structral engineer to do load tests. They just want to ensure that the building can handle it, everyone is safe, and want to get it inspected now (little late they have been open a year). After talking with a inspector he has advised if an engineer has signed off on the means of hanging them that it would be fine.
I just didnt know if chain was acceptable. Didnt want them to have to pay additional costs to change the chain. Now after much study it seems that chain is a pretty typical application to hang speakers, (AV equipment). Thanks
Click to expand...

Very possible the roof finish is heavier than 600 lbs. It is also spread out over a large area and is not all supported by one point. Likely same with your speakers. - I guess I am just baffled that someone thinks a structural engineer needs consulted to hang a 150 pound item from a roof framing system, that is not much weight at all compared to what the structure likely can support. Now if you were to hand an individual 600 pound item maybe you should at least think about it some, still probably quite capable of supporting it but may need a way to distribute the load over more than one framing member.

I still think a bigger issue is making sure the hardware or method of attaching hardware is secure enough that something doesn't end up falling down, and not so much concern as to whether the framing can support it.
 
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