50 lbs of sand. 1 pair of StudioTech SP30 stands. What now?

[groundLoop]

I picked up a bag of play sand at the local Home Depot last weekend, with the cheerful thought of pouring it into a pair of StudioTech SP30 speaker stands that recently arrived.

The SP30 stands have a 3-inch diameter steel tube, so I sort of thought this product would be a breeze. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the ends of the tube are capped. The caps are steel, and welded in place. StudioTech kindly drilled an ~7/16ths of an inch hole in the top of each cap.

How the heck am I going to get 50 lbs of marginally dry sand into a 7/16th's whole? The process is insane. I've only managed to get a couple of teaspoons of sand in to the stands, using a makeshift milk-jug funnel. Much more sand ended up on the shop floor. The amount of time wasted on this enterprise was simply agonizing.

All of which was highly amusing to my three-and-a-half year old, who is eying the remaining play sand quite seriously. Utterly inane, just the same. 50 lbs of sand through a 7/16th's inch whole? What the heck was StudioTech thinking?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who lacks the patience to fill speaker stands with sand. Are there any tricks? Should I head over to the Powerder Horn and pony up for steel shot (no lead, the kids and all)? Is kitty litter really an option?

-gL

[tank418]

I to have this same speaker stand , take your drill and drill out the hole to 1/2 inch that's what I did

[tank418]

I to have this same speaker stand , take your drill and drill out the hole to 1/2 inch that's what I did you can use a funnel or roll up a newspaper and fill the stands

[groundLoop]

Thanks, Tank.

A mechanically inclined coworker of mine recommended exactly the same thing. I'll probably have to pick up an appropriate drill bit this weekend, and perhaps something to deburr the widened whole.

I forwarded over a similar ranting email to StudioTech customer support. I'll post their reply, if I here back from them. I find it somewhat objectionable that the stands are advertised as sand-fillable, yet this is only practical if you are ready to fire up the drill and clean up piles of metal shavings...

-gL

[debo]

I don't know if I would go buy a bit to gain 1/16 of an inch. The sand should be dry, completely dry not marginally dry. This way the sand will pour much easier.

[groundLoop]

Jeff,

I can see your point. But just how do you completely dry out a bag of sand? Its been raining up here in Vermont for a whole week. I have the bag of sand in a shop in my basement. There is a dehumidifier. Maybe I'll poor the sand out onto a baking sheet or something...?

[curtis]

The play sand I bought from Home Depot was dry...it was even labeled as such...I think.

I had a extra bag, and left it outside. The bags are not complete sealed, and it looks like some moisture did get inside.

I have thought about using cat little before....but the sand is so much cheaper.

[buddhadas]

Curtis,

Doesn't the little cat object?

[groundLoop]

Well, I must admit, this thread is either making me feel dense, or serving simply to illustrate just how dense I am...

My mechanically inclined coworker volunteered some drill bits, so I may try that out next week.

On the topic of cat litter vs sand, his comment was that sand was denser, and would provide better damping...

[curtis]

Curtis,

Doesn't the little cat object?
LOL! :D

On the topic of cat litter vs sand, his comment was that sand was denser, and would provide better damping...
You won't hear an audible difference, but with the cat litter, nothing will live or grow in it.

[tank418]

both of my stands have about 20+ lbs of play sand in them, ever though studiotech said's they are fillable, at one time I just ran the speaker wires down the back side so I could not see the wire, used a black zip tie right under the speaker tray and another at the bottom

[groundLoop]

Well, sorry, the kids kept me pretty occupied over the weekend, so I didn't have an opportunity to try filling the StudioTech speaker stands again. I did receive an email reply from a StudioTech representative, advising:


...I have talked with our warehouse
staff and have gotten some helpful information for you. They think the play sand may be too course/thick to go in easily into the pole opening thru your make-shift funnel. They think that your make-shift funnel opening is too wide and is just allowing the sand to block the pole opening instead of going into the opening to fill it. They had a couple of recommendations:
1. use a finer grain of sand and a regular funnel (where the spout fits into the opening in the pole)
2. sift the sand you have to remove the larger pieces/granules. Then use a regular funnel (where the spout fits into the opening in the pole)

Using a regular funnel that the spout fits into the opening in the pole will allow the sand to enter into the pole better as it isolates the sand stream into the pole at a steady rate.
I hope you find this helpful.

Best Regards,
######
StudioTech, Inc.

Obviously, senses of humor differ dramatically, but a coworker who just read this (1) cracked up laughing, and (2) offered a litany of comments about the appropriateness of speaker-stand manufacturer claims to producing sand-fillable products. For a minute there, he sounded a heck of a lot more like a New Yorker than a Bostonian.

-gL

[davef]

Hi groundloop,

I find the response they gave you unacceptable... Please send an email with your concerns to our account rep Bo, at "bod -at- studiotech.com" Replace the -at- with @. You might even want to show him the response you received.

Let me know if I can be of any additional assistance.

[tank418]

cat litter might work it would smell alot better than sand:D but really use the finest type of sand you can find I got mind from home depot