Section 2 PARTY TENT CITY INSTALLATION  TIPS AND TRICKS INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOST PARTY TENT DOME ROOF TENTS.

CLICK HERE TO SEE NUMEROUS DOME TENT PHOTOS. CONTINUE TO CLICK ON THE UPPER RIGHT ARROW TO SEE THE NEXT COME IMAGE. A FEW WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE INSTALLATION PROCEDURE. Many of these photos may be duplicates but hopefully you will get one or two ideas on how to assemble your tent. There is nothing like trial and error. I have tried to mention as many errors that I can to allow you  to make as few errors as possible.. 

 More photos:  http://SurplusCitySales.com/partytentcity/installation.html  
 

Skill Level required to assemble this tent:   4.5 on a 10 scale. I

1. TARPS: Tarps are sold as a cut size. The printed  finished size 'foot print' is always  about 1 to 3% smaller than the cut size. Allow for tarp frame width reduction when using peak hardware .

2. TOOLS NEEDED: Screw driver or big nail, hammer, hack saw,   several step ladder or chair, patience, logical  thinking, a good friend and a cell phone to call Brian 713-467-3025 when you reach the end of your rope. 

3. INVENTORY: Check to see that all of  the boxes in the shipment have arrived including the tarp, the hardware and the bungees. The boxes will be marked 2 of 3 etc.  Some cushioning will be provided in the box to prevent the parts from  poking through the sides of the box. If you are short a connector it will be shipped by the same carrier that was used on the order. It will not be sent by air or priority unless you used that to ship your tent. Order your tent well in advance and  inspect it completely immediately on arrival. Check your diagram to be sure how many fittings are being shipped in your order. Many parts look almost the same.  All fittings have a identifying sticker tag which will match a point on the diagram that will come with your tent.     

4. TARP SIZE: Open the tarp in a large clean flat area. Measure the tarp exactly.
 With a felt tipped pen write the exact size on all the corners of the tarp with arrows pointing the direction of the size. Even If it is  a square tarp use a felt pen to make an arrow and a size so you will  use it correctly in building your tent.  The cut or ordered size can be about 1-3% larger that the finished size. A square tarp will not be exactly square. Tarps made overseas are not  priced as you would for surgical steel. Measure it even if it has a printed size. 99.9% of the time the finished size printed is NOT what you get. The manufacturer will only be in the  ballpark. Your frame needs to be exactly built to the size of your tarp. Your hardware is adjustable down to an fraction of an inch by cutting the pipe and using the expandable space within the connector fitting.

The tarp is not adjustable unless you buy a grommet kit for $9.00. We do NOT open new tarps and measure
them prior to shipping.

5. PIPE: Cutting the pipe is basically a matter of  mathematics but can be done by trial and error.
Cut the pipe to fit the tarp with your tent. Usually you will be cutting most pieces of the pipe.
 
Our $30 pipe vise and  pipe cutter set is a bargain and will save you a lot of time. It will  give you a clean cut that takes very little filing. If you are in Houston I can loan my you a pipe cutter and pipe vise for 5 days with a check deposit. If you buy a pipe cutter and pipe vise, you can return.  What happens is that most people find it such a bargain that they never take me up on it after you use it for a full product refund 
The side edge fittings will have a port where the support leg poles are inserted.

6. BUILDING THE TRUSSES: The triangles are built around the size of the tarp and NOT the other way.     Plan to have the tarp just touch the pipe. When everything looks square and straight tighten all locking bolts.
You must plan for significant wind. 
 

 7. TRUSS SIZES:  
  The size is determine by trial and error as you lay it out on the ground.
Usually all pipe should be cut with the peak exactly in the center so that all of  the lower connections will line up. Assemble all of  your trusses side by side. ALL TRUSSES SHOULD BE IDENTICAL.  After this is done  you can assemble two trusses to make the first section of your tent. Keep several step ladders handy to rest the frame  if  you are short of help.

8.FITTINGS:  All fittings allow the pipe to be seated at different positions. Some fittings do not allow the pipe to go to the end. The fitting pipe may be welded over another pipe. Double check your measurements after you cut your pipe and adjust the pipe with the locking bolts. A little  shorter pipe allows you to move the pipe either way inside the fitting so it lines up identically. An exact cut pipe does not allow you any adjustment room.

 9.  THE FINAL TRUSS  When you are ready to attach the last truss you  will have to be cut the pipe so that the final edge of the  tarp just touches the pipe.  

10. WHEN TO ATTACH THE TARP. B   Before you attach your tarp check to see that all bolts are snug.  Do NOT exert extra pressure on the bolts as it could strip them. This will make the locking bolt useless because the over tightening of the bolt messes up the threads and the nut has to be retapped.
 The tarp should be snug touching the frame and not stretched. The larger tents should be assembled with one section at a time placing the tarp over the  frame when the frame is completely built and re-measured to be sure that it will meet the pipe exactly the way it should.

11. WIND: You want plenty of help so the wind doesn't grab the tent as a kite until you can get it locked down securely. Ropes can be used to  pull the tarp over the frame. Extra ladders of different sizes  on the work site are always helpful.

 12. COLOR CODING YOUR TENT:  Once you have finished putting your tarp canopy together mark  or color code all your pipe and fittings  with tape or a felt pen  so you can quickly reassemble the tarp the next time you use it. Ex. A goes with A. and BB goes with BB,  1 with 1,  etc.

13. .ATTACHING THE TARP TO THE FRAME: When your frame is  rock solid you can tie ropes to the tarp and slide it over the  frame or hand it over using stepladders. If you have cut your pipe correctly  you should use mostly 6" ball bungees .  Use the 9” ball bungees when the tarp does not touch the pipe.

14.TAKING THE TENT DOWN. When you  are taking  the frame down it can be just as dangerous when you install it. Remove the tarp first and roll it up dry and clean.  Anticipate anything that may occur  when you remove support  leg from a support pole when you are disassembling  the tent.

15.  PIPE LENGTH.  When a customer first gets his tent  the question always comes up on how many of the 10 ft pipe have to be cut. In general most of them  have to be cut. Because no 2 tarps are exactly the same I will NOT be able to tell you how  long to cut the pipe.   
 
16. COLOR CODING YOUR  PIPE Color code and mark all pipe and connectors as soon as you have finished BEFORE you put your tarp on the tent.  I sell a set of  8 rolls of electrical tape  of many different colors for $ 10 .  

17. LOOSE TARPS. . If your tarp is NOT taut and has a loose area where rain water may pocket it  collecting water could bend the pipe and collapse the tent. .  If tarp is NOT taut you will have to refit the tarp to the frame so there is  very little chance of the roof tarp pocketing water.

18. PONDING. :One of the problems you  should really watch out for is a loose roof tarp. If the tarp is  not tight it  will pocket, pond water, collect and store water. If your tarp will be unattended and up for a long time we suggest you  purchase additional trusses so that the opportunity for the tent to pond water will be significantly reduced. We want you to not  have a problems with  accumulating rain. 

Consider color coding your pipe to make setting up your  tent the next time a lot easier.

Color Code Everything. Click here for a photo. We sell 7 rolls of different colors of electrical tape for $ 10.00. 

PART B, DOMES

The below letter was drafted for John who purchased a dome tent using a 40X40 Tarp. The foot print of the tent will be about 26X39 FT. Your tarp if  was a 40x40 would be different. Note that you have a  lot of variables that can be adjusted by changing the pipe length on different segments of the truss. In this case we try to maximize the use of the pipe which requires that you cut the pipe to the size that would be an efficient to use of the 10 ft length. The height of the dome and the width of the dome with the same size tarp can be varied so that you wont have a lot of pipe left over.  You efficiently use the pipe by changing the space between the pipe.

 "John,   You will need 11 trusses  use 6 pieces of pipe each.  The pipe  can only  be purchased in lengths  that are 10ft long. So you will need   66 pieces of pipe( 11x6 ) The large part of the piece cut will be the 76 inches to build the trusses  and the piece that is left over is used between the trusses connecting the trusses together.

The truss sections between the connectors would be about 76 inches. This number will be decided when you  measure your tarp and determine how much top surface you are going to need. It could be that you would need to cut the sections 74" or 78" because of the actual size of the tarp. Assume your tarp was 38 ft or 456 inches. Divide 456 by 6 which would be about 76". Then you would use the cut off 44 inches left over  to connect trusses to trusses. There should be a minimum of wasted pipe.  The last leg of the truss to truss will be a little less than 44 inches due to the size of the tarp. The 44" length makes the tent stronger than if it were 60" which is a 10 ft. (120 " ) pipe cut in half.  At the final countdown the sections 1 and 6 of the truss will be cut so that the tarp just  touches the bottom pipe. 

Assemble your first 2 trusses as a group on the ground and then raising it up where you will attached each piece of pipe one at a time. You will need ladders to lean the structure on and another ladder to climb up to the top to install the pipe and the connecters to the structure.

The excess pieces of  the last truss can be used  for the inside on the SH  sign holders  to double up for a future end cap enclosure piece. These  inside pipe lengths give you something to tie the end of the  tarp to as you wrap it around the  end of the tarp.   

The sign holders will slide on the outside truss sections.  One eye bolt can be removed for easier wrapping the  tarp around the last truss.
 A 40X40 TARP is  NOT EXACT AND is  ALWAYS  SMALLER THAN THE posted cut size. Once you measure it use a felt pen to  draw dimensional sizes with arrows  for proper future use. This is very important.  You don’t want to be trying to figure why the tarp no longer fits if you connect the wrong side of the tarp to the  frame.  The  truss sections from connector to connector can be adjusted after measuring the tarp on arrival and the distance between  trusses can be decided at that time for economical use of the pipe. 

As more trusses are added after you build your first truss  the structure  will want to pancake. Therefore…… drive stopping stakes into the ground at the maximum distance  that you want your  skid pipe  (bottom row of pipe resting on the ground ) to stop at which will be on row 1 and 7 of the  frame. This will prevent the truss from squatting.  

 If you can not drive a hold back stopping stake in the ground position a very heavy object should be place on the ground next to the pipe at the prescribed distance.  Mark the ground.  The dome  will move silently wider and wider and you will wonder why your frame is pointing downhill. The last truss and the first truss should be parallel. Use several people to push the frame back to the  preferred position.

 When you have finished everything color code your pipe and connectors for easier future use.  This will also help to be sure that all pipe is seated for a sturdy assembly. Call me with any questions.

 Brian Nelson  713-467-3025."

PART C DOMES    Additional Dome installation information.  The outside trusses will measure differently than  the inner trusses because  the connector allows the pipe to go all the way to the end. To adjust for this you have to back up your pipe before tightening your locking bolt to be sure that your squares are rectangles with square corners.

 Once you have the two trusses assembled together on the ground you can raise  it up stabilizing its position by allowing  the bottom row of fittings and pipe to butt up against the stopping stakes driven into the ground.  If you don't do this the frame will want to squat  or spread out and flatten. Your dome will be sloping downhill and you will wonder what you did wrong. If you purchased hardware and tarps to enclose the half circle end of the tent with pie shaped tarp pieces be sure you install the SH Sign Holder double FCA's on the outside 6 lengths of pipes with the extra pipe holder on the inside with the eyebolts facing toward the ground so it does not poke through the  tarp if you point them toward the  outside.

 Next you can insert the pipes going from truss to truss.  Then you can assemble  the truss only  on a very flat surface  and tighten the locking bolts that hold the  pipe going from connector to connector. By using ladders or another person you can fit the arched truss to connect with the  truss to truss pipes that are sticking out from the already installed section.  If you have ordered  the optional valance fitting the FLb's and the FTb's  for one side remember to install  these on your trusses.  These fittings will slide up and down on your truss frame and allow you to easily tighten the tarp without having to re-cut the pipe. When you continue to build more and more completed squares on the dome frame always measure to see that you squares are the same size at the adjoining square. If they are not  you may need to use a rubber mallet ( which we sell)  to get them to the size they need to be and then tightening the locking bolt so they don't move back to the wrong size that they were before you adjusted them. 

 Sections within the truss may be different sizes because you may want your foot print to be wider or narrower or taller or shorter.  Changing  of one  size requires that you change other sizes because the overall length must still meet the size of the tarp which is a fixed distance.   

The pipe between the last two trusses may be shorter or longer to allow you to have your tarp fit the frame exactly. If you are enclosing the entire structure tent you have to remember to allow for the wrap over area to fasten the tarp to the sign-holder hardware.   Because there are so many different kinds of things that you may want to do or that appear to be going wrong  I encourage you to call me when you have a problem. I will only be able to speak to one  leader of the tent assembly crew. He can call me initially after taking a complete inventory of the parts,  reading all available information and studying the the diagrams.

If you purchased a dome tent and have  any installation  tips and tricks please send them to me.  I can post them here  to help others. . Send them to  bnelson@partytentcity.com . Thanks.  Brian Nelson