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Leveling feet--who's the wise guy...
that decided to screw these things in with an impact wrench? Of four leveling feet, I was only able to successfully free one (from the full recessed position) with a regular screwdriver, and I'm not a wimp. I nearly stripped the screw-head on the other three just trying to get them to move. I ended up having to use the screwdriver sideways (at a perpendicular angle to the screw) using the length of the screwdriver tip along the screw-head slot in order to get enough leverage to loosen the remaining leveling feet. The amount of force required to loosen the feet is absolutely ridiculous. There is no reason it should be this difficult.
To whomever is in charge of the building of these racks, a couple words of advice:
1) Not every IT department has a full set of high-quality tools at their disposal. A regular-sized "IT-grade" screwdriver (which is pictured in the installation book) is definitely NOT enough to do this job.
2) These are pretty tight spaces in which to get a screwdriver. The rack rails are right next to the screw-head for the leveling foot, and it's nearly impossible to get the screwdriver handle AND a hand above the leveling foot without having the screwdriver at an angle, making it very likely that the screw-head will be stripped. At that angle, it is extremely hard (if not impossible) to get adequate leverage. Plus, the unlucky sap doing the dirty work will be cutting up his hands and busting his knuckles on the somewhat sharp edges of the mounting holes of the rack rails.
Please, consider lightening up on the torque used to put the leveling feet in the fully recessed position. The swear jar in the server room can only hold so much. ;)
- No... I was just following the instructions. I didn't even notice there was a nut there (or what it's purpose was, or that it was fixed), because I didn't need to lower the foot further once I finally did get it lowered. Here are the instructions I followed:
- Using a screwdriver, lower the leveling foot until it rests on the floor.
- If you need to lower the foot further, tighten the hex nut clockwise with a 12-mm wrench (see Figure 1-8).
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the remaining leveling feet.
- Ensure that the rack is level.
I looked at #1 and said to myself, "No... I'm doing this correctly. What gives?" (in more and more colorful language as the night progressed). I suppose I sound like an idiot, but looking down at these leveling feet from above, I never even saw the nut... and the directions certainly don't give the impression that you loosen the nut as a first step.
Anyhow, the feet eventually broke free and went down, one way or another. Thanks for the advice! Hopefully it will be more explicit in future manuals for folks like me. :smileywink:
RackSolutions
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Posted March 14th, 2007 18:00
Will Beene
903-453-0835