Sorry for the small book.
On Saturday i did a small outdoor blue-grass event for a regional company i work for all the time. I pick up the gear from them i need and head to the cemetery the event is in. Its raining when i get there so I wait it out and start unloading and setting up about 1245, sound check is not until 3 so no problem.
I call the Certified Electrician from the regional company to wire the generator (as their insurance requires) and he comes and hooks it up, gives the all clear and says the powers live and good to go, and he leaves.
I get everything up, lines checked, power run for the backline that has not shown up yet, but we lose power. I unplug everything from the distro reset the breaker on the generator and grab my meter to check it, 130v at an outlet on the distro so i drop the voltage a little and test again. I don’t think any more of it, at that time the backline shows up and starts plugin in and then it starts pouring rain. I kill the power and get everything I can tarped and mic’s and mains down and the console in the trailer.
Again I wait for the rain to pass and by the time it does, its 4:15pm we are way passed sound check and the promoter is there saying the show will go on, i let the company that hired me know.
We clean up the water on stage and change out the power blocks to dry ones, we start up the generator and start sending power to everything and we have NOTHING at the furman for the digital snake, no speakers no subs and only 1 guitar amp on the backline. I start to try and figure out why, and pick up a power block some of the backline is plugged into and i get shocked, one of those good ones that makes you wonder if this job is really worth it.
I than turn off the breakers on the distro, and go with my meter to look at the generator and i have 280v on one phase and 68v on another and 118v on another and they are all fluctuating.
Then i realize that the neutral and ground are not hooked up in the generator! I quickly shut off the generator and call the owner of the company. I take pictures to prove it, then fix the issue only to find out the only thing that still works is the Allen & heath qu16 and d-snake and 2 of the Meyers wedges. We have no mains and no other monitors, I have 2 of my zlx 12p in the trailer I throw on polls and use the 2 Meyer wedges on stage.
So in the end the audience & promoter were at least satisfied, but the 1st band was upset and let everyone know because they only had 2 monitors and it took a while to get everything sorted out, the backline guy says he’s going to sue for some of his blown gear. I have a blown furman (but it saved my console and snake) 4 PRX 618xlf that won’t even power on, and the regional company has 2 JBL SRX 715 and 4 Meyer UM-1p with the same problem.
I think their insurance is going to cover it all, if not I will try with mine, but it still made for a long wet day.
Then it rained during tear down.
End of the story is, make sure you have insurance and check the electrical even if someone hire's a “Certified Electrician” for you.
What would you have done differently?
On Saturday i did a small outdoor blue-grass event for a regional company i work for all the time. I pick up the gear from them i need and head to the cemetery the event is in. Its raining when i get there so I wait it out and start unloading and setting up about 1245, sound check is not until 3 so no problem.
I call the Certified Electrician from the regional company to wire the generator (as their insurance requires) and he comes and hooks it up, gives the all clear and says the powers live and good to go, and he leaves.
I get everything up, lines checked, power run for the backline that has not shown up yet, but we lose power. I unplug everything from the distro reset the breaker on the generator and grab my meter to check it, 130v at an outlet on the distro so i drop the voltage a little and test again. I don’t think any more of it, at that time the backline shows up and starts plugin in and then it starts pouring rain. I kill the power and get everything I can tarped and mic’s and mains down and the console in the trailer.
Again I wait for the rain to pass and by the time it does, its 4:15pm we are way passed sound check and the promoter is there saying the show will go on, i let the company that hired me know.
We clean up the water on stage and change out the power blocks to dry ones, we start up the generator and start sending power to everything and we have NOTHING at the furman for the digital snake, no speakers no subs and only 1 guitar amp on the backline. I start to try and figure out why, and pick up a power block some of the backline is plugged into and i get shocked, one of those good ones that makes you wonder if this job is really worth it.
I than turn off the breakers on the distro, and go with my meter to look at the generator and i have 280v on one phase and 68v on another and 118v on another and they are all fluctuating.
Then i realize that the neutral and ground are not hooked up in the generator! I quickly shut off the generator and call the owner of the company. I take pictures to prove it, then fix the issue only to find out the only thing that still works is the Allen & heath qu16 and d-snake and 2 of the Meyers wedges. We have no mains and no other monitors, I have 2 of my zlx 12p in the trailer I throw on polls and use the 2 Meyer wedges on stage.
So in the end the audience & promoter were at least satisfied, but the 1st band was upset and let everyone know because they only had 2 monitors and it took a while to get everything sorted out, the backline guy says he’s going to sue for some of his blown gear. I have a blown furman (but it saved my console and snake) 4 PRX 618xlf that won’t even power on, and the regional company has 2 JBL SRX 715 and 4 Meyer UM-1p with the same problem.
I think their insurance is going to cover it all, if not I will try with mine, but it still made for a long wet day.
Then it rained during tear down.
End of the story is, make sure you have insurance and check the electrical even if someone hire's a “Certified Electrician” for you.
What would you have done differently?
