Surge Suppression in Theater?

[gafftaper]

So is it a good idea to put a high quality surge suppressor on my new light console or is it kind of pointless with all the power around the place? I'm thinking about a good tripplite with ethernet supression as well to protect it down the line to the dimmers.

Am I nuts?

What about the audio gear? Can I do anything there? The college is in an area that is very well known for power surges and outages in the winter... lots of tall trees to fall down and blow up transformers.

[Van]

I have my light board, sound board, and computers tied into a triplite 1500w power conditioner/surge suppressor. No such thing as being too safe. We have lousy power in downtown Portland.

[Footer]

Put all the lighting gear AND your ethernet switch on a UPS unit. Not only will it provide great power, but it will also protect you from those power dips. For audio gear, you can not beat furman.

[Chaos is Born]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

Put all the lighting gear AND your ethernet switch on a UPS unit. Not only will it provide great power, but it will also protect you from those power dips. For audio gear, you can not beat furman.

As for overkill on surge protection... our entire building will shut itself down if there is a big enough power fluctuation... takes about 15-20 mins to power back up...

(if you have seen jurassic park... its almost like that system...)

[Charc]

Originally Posted by Chaos is Born

As for overkill on surge protection... our entire building will shut itself down if there is a big enough power fluctuation... takes about 15-20 mins to power back up...
(if you have seen jurassic park... its almost like that system...)

That's the funniest thing ever. I wish I had a picture of that panel to power up the building ago. That panel in Jurassic Park had so many buttons...

Kinda interesting when you think about it, kinda like AI, in that the building has self preservation instincts...

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

So is it a good idea to put a high quality surge suppressor on my new light console or is it kind of pointless with all the power around the place? I'm thinking about a good tripplite with ethernet supression as well to protect it down the line to the dimmers.
Am I nuts?
What about the audio gear? Can I do anything there? The college is in an area that is very well known for power surges and outages in the winter... lots of tall trees to fall down and blow up transformers.

My first response on seeing the title of the thread is YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!!

I also agree that a good UPS is nessecarry for your light console especially if it doesn't have one of its own. Same goes for any sound computer ect you might be using.

[gafftaper]

So how far do you go with the surge suppression?

Is there surge supression built into a dimmer rack? If the answer is no.. and I've got a couple of movers that will be powered from non-dim relay units in the dimmer rack, should I put a suppressor on each of those lines with some little eddison/gsp adapters?

Should I have half a dozen supressors in my catwalks for PSU's and things that don't require PSU's.... I-cue, Right Arm, Rotators, DMX IRIS, Seachangers, Scrollers etc...?

Yeah it's obvious that the computer running the sound effects needs it... but how far do you take this and not be considered insane?

(I'd much rather have my sound effects computer toasted by a surge than a Mac 700 or a Seachanger)

[Grog12]

If the non-dim relay has a breaker on it I wouldn't be as concerned with using a Surge protector.

As for the things with PSU's ect.

Blue Sky Answer: Yes, if its not going into a non dim relay.
Real World Answer: I've never once used a surge supressor on and of the things you've listed unless I was plugging multiple things into the same extension cord.

With our 120v movers we used to run them to a typical wall outlet with a GFCI on it.

This new space of yours...is it just a theatre or is it inside another building? Where does your power come from?

[koncept]

if it is new construction or you can isolate the panels you are converned with they can install a whole panel surge supression system (my rec center just had several installed becuase of lightening and surges blowing alot of equipment out) I would look into something like that if you are having power/surge issues.

i would still run a ups on all sound/light gear (i personally like libert). as mentioned above furman is wonderful...

edit:
small addition, sorry for the spelling mistakes...

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Grog12

If the non-dim relay has a breaker on it I wouldn't be as concerned with using a Surge protector.
As for the things with PSU's ect.
Blue Sky Answer: Yes, if its not going into a non dim relay.
Real World Answer: I've never once used a surge supressor on and of the things you've listed unless I was plugging multiple things into the same extension cord.
With our 120v movers we used to run them to a typical wall outlet with a GFCI on it.
This new space of yours...is it just a theatre or is it inside another building? Where does your power come from?

The theater is attached to another building and the power comes through there first. Then from there I think the actual source is on the other side of campus somewhere. I need to ask about getting surge suppression installed at the panel itself. That makes a lot more sense, who knows it may already be done, I just hadn't thought to ask.