Powerhead Clearance Recommendations

When laying out an ETC rigging system, one question that often comes up is, "How close can my powerheads be to a wall or other obstruction?"

Here are some basic guidelines for Prodigy and EXO Prodigy powerheads:

1. Original Prodigy powerheads have a rear panel that swings down.  This gives the installer or field service tech access to the manual release of the motor brake and to the control electronics.  Because they will need to have their head behind the hoist, we recommend a minimum of 16" clearance behind the powerhead, though 24" is preferred.  An absolute minimum of 8" clearance is required for the panel to swing freely.  However, this will make service and commissioning very difficult and is not recommended.
2. The rear side of EXO Prodigy powerheads have only a small grate that needs to be removed to access the manual release for the motor brake.  In addition, the installer will need to have access to connect the data cables to the powerhead.  These cables require a minimum of 6" of clearance, but personally I would prefer 12" at least to keep my wrist straight while trying to screw in the connectors.
3. Side access to the original Prodigy powerhead is mainly required only for changing lift lines.  As this should be a fairly rare occurrence and may require the powerhead to be lowered to the deck anyway, there is no installation guideline other than that they should not touch.  However, if you want to be able to replace a lift line with the hoist in the air, you will need at least 18" of clearance.