Getting power? 50 Amps?

[Charc]

I was just pondering how you guys set-up for gigs or the such, for example some kind of reception or event in ballroom or something. (Okay my examples are terrible. What I mean is, let's say you gotta do something, all rented gear. Where do you plug in your gear? Presumably you won't be using 3-4 20amp circuits. Can you guys go to some kind of panel where they might have some kind of industrial receptacle, for, I don't know, say 60 amps? That's respectable for a small gig, right? Just curious what the custom is for these types of gigs, and getting power for them.

Charlie

[soundman]

If the venue was built for events it should have a company switch (or 6). A company switch is a place for road shows (or one offs) to get power. When refereeing to a company switch it is understood that it’s 3 phase power. Think of it as a big breaker that the show can tie into. The two main ways to tie in are Cam Loks and bare ends. Cam loks are high amperage plugs (up to 400 amps each phase) and bare ends are just that.

If the venue dosn't have a company switch most people head to the kitchen and try and find some high amperage service lines to plug into.

Becasue everyone likes pictures http://www.unionconnector.com/cswitch/gallery.html

[stantonsound]

Depending on the hotel, convention center, event hall, etc... you have no idea what you are going to get. Most hotels have a 60 or 100 amp panel that is mounted on a piece of plywood and has receptacles mounted all around it. They are 2 or 3 phase, and each receptacle is usually a 20amp circuit. they plug in to a plug that often looks like a big clothes dryer plug.

Others will use a twistloc plug system, usually a L620 (or many call it a 2120) system with "dog houses", which have a set of standard 20amp plugs on them.

Few will have actual "lug" power. These are usually available in 200 or 400 amp services. These are not common in smaller venues, but common in large.

Don't forget, it costs money to tap into these. A recent hotel job that I did cost me $450 for a 60 amp service. Lug power at the LasVegas Convention Center is about $1200 per day.

To be flexible, I used to have a 12 channel, 1.2k dimmer rack that was wired to 6 edison plugs. It allowed me to plug them into the three phase systems that I usually get, with one into it's each 20amp circuit. I just sold this on ebay and bought two of the Leprecon ULD dimmer packs.

To be honest, it will be different at each venue.

[zac850]

As was said, usually there is a wonderful panel all ready to be tied into, just need some sort of Power Distro system and your ready to go (well, assuming you or someone else are qualified to do the tie in).

If no company switch, go look for the breaker boxes, figure out what is where, figure out how much is free. Go get the electrical drawings for the space, figure out what panel has enough unused power in it.

I had to do something like this for a show I recently did. The wig and makeup department needed 16kw of power for hair dryers and whatever else wig and makeup people use. We ended up finding an unused panel in the basement of the theater, checked the blue prints, found where it was run to, decided that it was indeed safe, and tied a small sensor rack with non-dim cards into the panel (it happened to be single phase, so we had to switch the sensor rack to single phase). From there we ran one multi cable up to where wig and makeup needed the power.


I've also done shows scrounging 20 amp outlets around, figuring out what is tied to what, taping up extra outlets so no one tries to plug anything else into them........... but that sound be avoided if at all possible.

[stantonsound]

Generator power is really not as expensive of an option as you would think. I have rented the big caterpillar trailer generators for a few shows. To be honest, if you are charged for power at the venue and need to hire an electrician to tap into a panel, it is probably cheaper.

[Van]

Stanton is correct. Sometimes you have to pay a flat rate for a "tie-in". let's say $6-12 / amp < it's sort of a sliding scale> so at times getting a generator < jenny> is a lot cheaper, even if you do have to pay a babysitter. Convention centers, meeting facilities will almost always have as others have stated, Hubbel, Cam-Lok, or L120 plugs availible. If not, Break out the sniffer and start looking for dedicated circuits.

[Charc]

I just wanted to take a moment here to publicly kick myself.
As I mentioned in a previous post I'm in currently reading Gillette's Designing With Light cover-to-cover. The section of the book that explains electrical distribution, company switches, etc. was one page further than my bookmark. Go figure. Maybe I'll read the rest of this book before I post any more?

[stantonsound]

Quick story....any mind? Good!
Once upon a time...
I was setting up a pool side Luau for a corporate customer of mine followed by a dance party on the pool deck at the Hilton at Myrtle Beach, SC. I ordered a 100 amp service (it was the biggest they had) for lighting and found 2 open 20 amp circuits for sound. (The band provided sound, we just did the truss and lighting.....the pic is before we raised the truss, the wind was too strong right then to raise the truss just yet)

We couldn't begin set up until 3pm for an 8pm show, so we had little time to set up. I got there, my guys started putting the truss up and hanging lights, and I put my multimeter on the power distro that they had for me. We had a problem, only one phase had power and I was getting 50volts on the ground and 80 volts on the neutral. I asked to talk to the electrician and we went to the panel room. He had it hooked up very wrong, (I still can't figure out what he did), but the electrical room was under the pool side bar and had more than 8" of water on the floor. He said that it was like this everyday, as the room was below sea level. He was hooking up the cable to the breaker on a hot panel with the front cover off as he was standing on a cinder block that was standing on its ends. It was ridiculous and one of the more unsafe things that I have seen.
I don't remember the cost of that service, but I think it was about $300 for 100 amps, but it was not 3 phase.

[Charc]

Originally Posted by stantonsound

Quick story....any mind? Good!
Once upon a time...
I was setting up a pool side Luau for a corporate customer of mine followed by a dance party on the pool deck at the Hilton at Myrtle Beach, SC. I ordered a 100 amp service (it was the biggest they had) for lighting and found 2 open 20 amp circuits for sound. (The band provided sound, we just did the truss and lighting.....the pic is before we raised the truss, the wind was too strong right then to raise the truss just yet)
We couldn't begin set up until 3pm for an 8pm show, so we had little time to set up. I got there, my guys started putting the truss up and hanging lights, and I put my multimeter on the power distro that they had for me. We had a problem, only one phase had power and I was getting 50volts on the ground and 80 volts on the neutral. I asked to talk to the electrician and we went to the panel room. He had it hooked up very wrong, (I still can't figure out what he did), but the electrical room was under the pool side bar and had more than 8" of water on the floor. He said that it was like this everyday, as the room was below sea level. He was hooking up the cable to the breaker on a hot panel with the front cover off as he was standing on a cinder block that was standing on its ends. It was ridiculous and one of the more unsafe things that I have seen.
I don't remember the cost of that service, but I think it was about $300 for 100 amps, but it was not 3 phase.

Should we assume you are the guy in the background with the lei?

On a serious note, am I the only one that absolutely abhors the look of the aluminum/chrome/silver PAR cans? Too shiny. I'd rather matte black any-day. It does look a little better against the aluminum truss. But I still think it looks "cheap". Or, am I just crazy?

Edit:
Another quick question, that 360Q. Is that a 6x16, or 6x22? I asked this question before, but didn't have an accurate picture, just want to double check.

Edit Edit:
Out of curiosity, as it looks like a stormy day, what is the general procedure for rain and lights outside? You just pull the cords real quick and then lower your gear real quick and try and get it to a dry place, or is it okay in the rain, as long as there is no power, or what?

[stantonsound]

This show was September 2004, as the date in July was canceled due to a Hurricane.

Question 1: Fat dude, white shirt, lei on, yup....that's me

Question 2: I love chrome par cans. It isn't rock and roll without them.

Question 3: I believe it was a 6x22. I love using gobos. We had the arches on the building, and a whole bunch of "I'm lovin it" on the pool deck from the truss towers around the pool. There was a red "I'm Lovin It" in the bottom of the pool (note the two leko's with a gold and red gels) I'll post a pic below.

Question 4: It was a little wet. We were using truss mounted dimmer packs. I carry a bunch of the really big zip loc bags (5 gallon?) and put the packs in the bags and hung them under the truss. When I worked big concerts in college (local crew), the techs would power all of the cans, etc... to full before it would start raining and the water would evaporate off. I am not recommending it, but it is what they did. It never really rained, just a sprinkle and overcast.

We used less lighting than was planned due to the wet weather. We didn't use any movers. All told, on the stage we only used:

6 S4 Pars
3 Ellipsoidals
4 Par 64's
8 Par 38's

Then each truss tower had 1 6x12 with a gobo and 2 Par 64's.