Re: PA System Power - Overloading Circuits
The amount of stress and effort to locate an extra circuit before the show starts is way less than scrambling when the only circuit you found trips mid show.
Brian, it's not like I'm deploying systems that run on one circuit. If there's no 'real power' available I take every circuit within 100 feet of the stage, usually around 5-6 circuits. Believe me, I've spent hours locating power trying to get these shows to go on. And my contract states my power requirements and the maximum distance from stage, so if those requirements cannot be met, the client pays accordingly. 8)~
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Silas, how do you do that? With what tools?
I have a few cables with the last 6" to the female connector broken out so I can put an amprobe on it but I don't put them in place for a show cause they are way out of code.
That is essentially exactly what I do for some circuits. I have some 1' long 10/3 SOOW adapters with about 4" of wire broken out so I can grab the hot with the amprobe. There are off-the-shelf things like this made out of hard plastic, I forgot what they're called. Crown Itech HDs report line voltage over the network, also, so during bass hits and the like I can monitor how much line voltage sags. If I'm seeing more than a few volts pull down during peaks, I know the power is soft and likely to trip on that circuit, and I try to shuffle things around accordingly.
Another easy test is when running my conventional front wash, just put it at 100% for a while, and if nothing trips, it's good to go. During the show it doesn't usually exceed 50%.
