Can anyone tell me if there is a problem running two seperate generators for power amps, one for each side of the stage? I had an emergency situation happen once that required me to run two smaller generators to get enough power for an event when the large generator I had reserved went down prior to being delivered to me. I used a generator for stage left and front of house power and used the other one for stage right power. I used a isolation transformer on the XLR line from front of house to the stage right amps. Fortunately this was a DJ gig so there was no band and no backline. A third generator was used for the lighting and fog machines. This was on top of a concrete parking deck. I did not tie the grounds together and there was no place to get an earth ground unless we ran a line three stories down and across the street. There were no ground loops and nobody got shocked but I was concerned even though I had called an electrical engineer friend of mine for advice. Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
Running one generator for each side of a PA system???????
- Thread starter Eric Cagle
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Re: Running one generator for each side of a PA system???????
Grounding the generators together is important. There may be other concerns depending on the circumstances, but this is the big one.
Grounding the generators together is important. There may be other concerns depending on the circumstances, but this is the big one.
Re: Running one generator for each side of a PA system???????
How should that be done? Are we talking a strap to each chassis or a tie in to the "green" wire at the outlets?
Grounding the generators together is important. There may be other concerns depending on the circumstances, but this is the big one.
How should that be done? Are we talking a strap to each chassis or a tie in to the "green" wire at the outlets?
Re: Running one generator for each side of a PA system???????
For small generators like EU3000s a #10 ground wire between the chassis grounding screws would be adequate, as that could carry the entire possible fault current of the system. You could use a male to male plug cable with only the ground pins attached, however this may be less transparent to an inspector than using the grounding screws.
The main objective is to make sure that any voltage potentials between systems are conducted over your safety ground bond, rather than the pin-1 bond of your audio gear.
I think this depends on the size of the generators we're talking about.How should that be done? Are we talking a strap to each chassis or a tie in to the "green" wire at the outlets?
For small generators like EU3000s a #10 ground wire between the chassis grounding screws would be adequate, as that could carry the entire possible fault current of the system. You could use a male to male plug cable with only the ground pins attached, however this may be less transparent to an inspector than using the grounding screws.
The main objective is to make sure that any voltage potentials between systems are conducted over your safety ground bond, rather than the pin-1 bond of your audio gear.
Re: Running one generator for each side of a PA system???????
Seems to me Eric you could use a T adaptor on the Green feeder cables if you are using camlocks... Great to see you on here!
Seems to me Eric you could use a T adaptor on the Green feeder cables if you are using camlocks... Great to see you on here!