How can I find out the weight of my console?!

[anu]

Hi everyone,

This may seem like a strange question - but I need to find out the weight of my console. It doesn't need to be perfectly accurate, but a decent figure to the nearest 10kg or so would be good.

I have a Neve 5315 / 24 channel broadcast console and I'm moving out of my current studio. I would ideally like to install it into a 2nd floor room in my new apartment, but need to get a structural engineer to see if the floor joists need strengthening - and he needs to know the weight to calculate this.

All I know is that it is bleedin' heavy... It took five of us to carry it into my current studio (on a ground floor) And that was without the base, and all the modules were taken out!!

I really don't want to sell the desk (and basically end up buying something like a 12 channel Melbourne for the cost of the 24 channels I now have!) BUT I also don't want my new house to fall down...so any help is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Anu

[liuto]

You could try to put each foot of the stand on a bathroom scale one after the other and add the numbers.
Greetings
Hermann

EDIT! Just thought it over again. It's easy if you have two feet only. Here you just have to add the two values. If the board has four feet you have to be careful: if you lift one foot at least one other foot gets risen too, you will get false values. The best would be to take a strong wooden board to "connect" two feet and put the scale under the board. You get two values again, add these, subtract 2 times the weight of the board and you are there. Alternatively you could use two scales on two feet at the same time, you need no board then.

[anu]

thanks liuto - but unfortunately i think it would crush most bathroom scales!

[trumpetadam]

If you have a van that it would fit in take it to a garage that can weigh cars. Weigh the van with it in; then weigh the van with it out. However this does require you to move it out of the studio which may not be ideal.

Or drop it in a swimming pool of a known volume and see how much water it displaces..........


......oh that's how you do density isn't it. Silly me.

[trumpetadam]

.....or maybe volume.....can't quite remember......eureka and good luck to you

[liuto]

Originally Posted by anu

thanks liuto - but unfortunately i think it would crush most bathroom scales!

Oh, I see! If you need a rough number only, that would be o.K. for static calculations you could try to contact the manufacturer. It does not make much of a difference if it weighs 250 or 300kg. If it's 500kg instead, that might be different...
Good luck
Hermann

[bdmctear]

That info should be in the owners manual. If you don't have one, perhaps one of the Neve specialists on GS does?

[anu]

i do have a reference manual but i can't locate the info in there

i'm not sure how much help neve would be now anyway since it was built in 1981

sticking it in a van to weigh it isn't a bad idea - but of course i'd rather avoid moving the beast if i can...

"Or drop it in a swimming pool of a known volume and see how much water it displaces.........."

he he...if only i was keith moon!!

any other ideas?

[Lynn Fuston]

They weigh elephants by putting one scale under each foot. Works for that, should work for you.

Just get scales that will handle that much weight.

[The Byre]

It's about quarter of a ton, with stand, beers and sandwiches.

[PlatinumSamples]

Weigh one of each module and multiply.. then all that's left is the frame.. guestimate it on the high end and you should be covered. I would guess the empty frame wouldn't weigh more than 250 pounds.

Rail

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by PlatinumSamples

Weigh one of each module and multiply.. then all that's left is the frame.. guestimate it on the high end and you should be covered. I would guess the empty frame wouldn't weigh more than 250 pounds.

Rail

I agree.
When moving a console I estimate 50-60 lbs per person needed to move it safely without dollys or other moving aids. You can spread the weight over fewer people but it becomes dicey when footing is irregular and you need to factor in momentary shifts in weight load/tight maneuvers etc. So if no one really had to push the limits of their strength during the frame move you were probably around 250-300 lbs with 5 people. If it was a real effort to get it off the ground then the frame was heavier, probably in the 350-400lb range. This assumes average strength, non professional help.

[soundwizard]

Just pick up the console in one hand and a weight (I recommend at least 25 lbs for this) in the other. It won't be exact, but you can get a rough estimate!

[anu]

thanks everyone - i'll let you know how i get on!

[titaniumpanties]

This question sucks. Did you really need to post this in a forum and look like such a bunghole?

First weigh all of the rocks in your head. Then have someone you love try to hold them all. Then have that person try to lift your console. If your console feels lighter, then good for you, because it probably weighs less than a ton, as opposed to your rocktastic head.

Thank you.