200lb Chandelier Installation

[Henry Neill]

Long story short, the company I work for is putting together a custom fixture to hang in a restaurant. It's ENORMOUS. Nearly 4' diameter at its widest, 13' tall, built in 3 sections, and weighs in at just under 200 lbs. I won't be performing the installation myself, but I'm sure I'll be on site to guide the process along, and I definitely need to go into it with a solid game plan and instructions for the installing electrician, it's all happening a bit faster than I'd like it to. But I digress; I've got to find a decorative way to support this thing without violating every rule in the book. The client wants it to look like it's hanging from chains, but it doesn't have to as long as they're visible...I'm thinking a steel cable (perhaps several?) actually support the weight, but even some of the cable I'm looking at seems iffy. The fixture hangs from 3 equal lengths of 600lb-test welded chain, it has yet to be decided whether it will hang from one central point where all the chains meet or 3 separate points (which, despite being aesthetically non-ideal, seems like a significantly better idea to me).

I know I've been pretty vague about a lot of details, but the problem is that I don't have any more/better info to provide so far. Essentially, if anyone with experience hanging "eclectic" (huge, heavy, unwieldy, royal PITA) fixtures has any hot tips, they'd be super welcome. I know about the Aladdin lifts (I've used them a few times) but I know this particular client doesn't have one and wouldn't be willing to install one. I'm getting the best help I can locally, I just want to see if there's any sage wisdom on this forum where "licensed and insured" means "licensed and insured" and not "still hasn't been electrocuted off a ladder."

Many thanks, and if anyone's feeling helpful and has any questions ask away, I'll let you know as much as I do.

 

[zbang]

Long story short, the company I work for is putting together a custom fixture to hang in a restaurant. It's ENORMOUS. Nearly 4' diameter at its widest, 13' tall, built in 3 sections, and weighs in at just under 200 lbs. I won't be performing the installation myself, but I'm sure I'll be on site to guide the process along, and I definitely need to go into it with a solid game plan and instructions for the installing electrician, it's all happening a bit faster than I'd like it to. But I digress; I've got to find a decorative way to support this thing without violating every rule in the book. The client wants it to look like it's hanging from chains, but it doesn't have to as long as they're visible...I'm thinking a steel cable (perhaps several?) actually support the weight, but even some of the cable I'm looking at seems iffy. The fixture hangs from 3 equal lengths of 600lb-test welded chain, it has yet to be decided whether it will hang from one central point where all the chains meet or 3 separate points (which, despite being aesthetically non-ideal, seems like a significantly better idea to me).

Aw, 200 pounds isn't that heavy.... If the client wants chain, I would use 1000# load rated chain (not cheap hardware-store chain); that's just as good as wire rope rated for the same load. Also use separate hang points. Since you're unfamiliar with rigging, you should find someone that is. You might even need a short consult with a structural engineer to find proper places to hang such a load, especially if there will be people under it.

BTW, you can get stainless-steel load-rated chain from rigging or marine suppliers.

 

[PetrosA]

I agree that 200 lbs isn't that bad. When I was still a teenager we hung six 500lb crystal chandeliers in a ballroom.

For two hundred pounds hanging, I would be more concerned about what it's hanging from than the chain you use. I agree with zbang that 1000 lb rated chain should be fine. If your company is the manufacturer, you should probably be talking to an engineer to confirm the materials since you'll need a UL listing for the whole thing.

 

[Henry Neill]

For two hundred pounds hanging, I would be more concerned about what it's hanging from than the chain you use. I agree with zbang that 1000 lb rated chain should be fine. If your company is the manufacturer, you should probably be talking to an engineer to confirm the materials since you'll need a UL listing for the whole thing.

I am that engineer. All of our fixtures are UL listed (well, ETL listed, but same standards), this one is 100% compliant, I just don't have enough information about the space to know where and how they're expecting to hang it. I should be able to go take a look at the space where it'll be hanging in the next few days and hopefully get a chance to talk directly to the contractor/electrician/installers to make sure they know what they're dealing with.

I guess it's really not that huge, but it's the heaviest thing we've ever built.