@Chuck Reece First thoughts for you: I'd begin with a suitable, metal (Steel or aluminum) enclosure. Within the enclosure, I'd house four fuse mounts, either extractors or open clips. I'd have four appropriate cable grips to secure my four sources of 12/3 S or SO or SOW. The box would have a hinged or bolted cover. All grounds would bond to the box and extend to the cover. My four fuses would be sized to protect the load wiring. Affixed to the exterior of the box cover would be a code acceptable warning label advising "Multiple Sources contained herein". Protect your personnel, dimmers, wiring and loads. I'd be able to get this passed by an AHJ / inspector here in Canada. In "The Donald's" world you may want to wait for a coutryman's notions.
@Amiers When you typed: "and not overload your dimmer" , did you mean your dimmer(s) or your manufacturer's single / common neutral conductor?Excuse my language but bleeping chase strip lights suck.
As you will figure out they share one neutral. You will have to calculate to get it to work properly and not overload your dimmer.
You will need to break out each hot to a dimmer with a neutral from your feed.
It will look nice once it’s together but it’s a pita to setup.
@BillConnerFASTC Be cautious Mr. Bill, someone'll open up the "triplen harmonics" can of worms when you're not looking and I, for one, don't want to go there on this forum. Who's to guarantee all the OP's dimmers won't be sourced from the same phase and won't get turned on simultaneously, even momentarily, in an additive chase? When you cover yourself with the phrase "Depending on load." You're allowing, and covering yourself, for a lot of possibilities.Depending on load, just connect one neutral, since they all go to same buss.
@Chuck Reece Please post:
@Chuck Reece @BillConnerFASTC If all four (4) dimmers are on the same phase, their currents will be additive and easily exceed the rating of any one dimmer. If all four (4) dimmers are sourced from three phases, triplen harmonics may become a factor as evidenced by the wide spread demands for, and acceptance of, double neutrals on "road switches" and feeds to dimmer racks. If we're going to get down to specifics, and I suspect we ought to, it would be good to have more information from @Chuck Reece the original poster and / or the manufacturer / distributor of the specific product. @derekleffew and / or @TJCornish @porkchop and / or @microstar would any of you care to comment?Are there still 6k and 12k dimmers? Haven't seen or considered other than 2.4 k in a long time.
Unfortunately, the data on line doesn't mention any wire size or type, only that its 15 amp max, so guessing it's 14 guage.
https://www.actionlighting.com/search.php?search_query=Belt
PS: if all the lamps are on a shared neutral in the assembly, wtf good does it do to run three to rack?
I've used the Action Lighting belt light several times. As @Amiers said...its a major PITA. @microstar is right about the terminal block, it's the cleanest way I've found to wire it. I usually enclose everything in a junction box for safety as well. He is also right about being VERY careful with your wiring. I had a well-meaning overhire helping me out one day and set him to putting plugs on a belt I'd already done the break out for, when we turned it on, we discovered the hot and neutral were not the same across every plug... let's just say it was a very important lesson well-learned.
This is the page with Action Lighting's accessories for this belt light. https://www.actionlighting.com/5-wire-chasing-belt-light-accessories/ There is also an amperage and max run length calculator near the top of their page.
I generally do the following to create a breakout:
Wire the 5-pin molex connector from the action lighting page to the end of your belt so you have a clean, neat connection.
Use the wire only belt with the receiving molex connector to get offstage/behind scenery.
Insert working end into a junction box to house all of the following connections.
Using a utility knife, split the 5 wires apart with ~1' to work with.
Cut the neutral wire about 6" shorter than the hots, strip the end and secure into a terminal block or 5-conductor Wago.
Insert (4) 14-12AWG wires into the other side of the terminal block or Wago, run them out of the junction box along with the hots.
Close up junction box and wire on your connectors of choice. Ensure you have proper strain relief applied.
If it's used often, make a permanent breakout with a molex connector on the end that you can pop on to whatever run you've installed.
Good luck!
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