ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

20-30 feet is a long ways down.  If you want that coiling look you don't
want to stretch them too straight.  You end up with a pretty heavy
weight hanging from the outlets.  So make sure the boxes are secured
with heavy duty fasteners.  That includes the actual boxes and cover
plates.  Make sure the electricians know how these will be used in the
end and specify the type of fasteners used to secure both the boxes and
conduit.  You probably also need a simple strain relief system.  There
are manufactured versions or you can put a loop in the cord at the top
and then a heavy duty wire tie attached to the outlet box.  You could
replace one of the outlet face plate screws with an eye bolt.

If the space will be changing out exhibits on some regular basis you
might want to consider having a second set of straight cords. Maybe
black to disappear when the "hi-tech" look is not appropriate.

We drop power in our main gallery. Our grid is at 15 feet and is a light
track with 20 amp circuits for maybe every 16 feet of track. That has
been plenty for both lamps and power, with the drawback being sometimes
you have to turn the lights off to deal with a power issue. We just go
out and buy a big bundle of 12 gauge-3 conductor and bunch of heavy duty
male and female extension cord ends. It's easier to snake just the cord
thru the exhibit and then attach a female end inside the cabinet.

Erich Rose
Exhibit Manager
Austin Children's Museum
201 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701
512-472-2499 x207, fax 512-472-2495
[log in to unmask], www.austinkids.org
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Siegel
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 10:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Flexible power

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
*****

Hello, all:

We are modifying an exhibition area in the 1964 section of our  
building to make it more flexible.  We can't install power in the  
floor so we are planning to make a ceiling mounted grid from which we  
can drop power lines.  We want to avoid rigid conduit, so we are  
looking for a system that will allow us to drop power 20-30 feet on  
flexible cables.  We have seen cables that spiral downward that are  
reasonably attractive, so we are interested to know if anyone has used  
a system like this for making flexible exhibition spaces.

Thanks in advance to the ISEN hive-mind!

Eric

Eric Siegel
Director and Chief Content Officer
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
www.nyscience.org
718.699.0005 x 317
esiegel at nyscience dot org




***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and
the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at
www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft.
To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]

***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]