Pfft, if it comes to buying new plugs (which I don't yet believe is actually necessary), you can
call it a fundraiser for an electrical upgrade, people will nod and smile, and so on and such forth.
It's hard to justify spending on the money on something that doesn't
actually improve the functionality of the facility or the quality of productions.
It's hard to justify spending on the money on something that doesn't
actually improve the functionality of the facility or the quality of productions.[/QUOTE]
Agreed if there is other more pressing things on the
safety side and nobody but those qualified
wire the plugs given they are gold verses silver terminals. Never seen a Non-NEMA rated at 125/250V with other than gold/gold but on the other
hand I believe most Non-NEMA plugs I have seen are 120/240V so perhaps I'm wrong. I don't have the catalogues or chart at home.
If there is a gold vs. silver
terminal, could wait, if not and really needed to wait, I would normally follow the Hot towards Hook H/H standard as easy to remember and silver/black sharpee the
terminal screws. This for any
connector or other than
bi-pin lamp where it don't matter. It is a
safety thing for
pre-focus and screw based lamps in getting hot/
neutral correct. Also if the
house is
panel mount, changing the plugs wouldn't be a cheap fix, even if
whip,
cord mount receptacles are not cheap either. At this
point if most of the inventory is
Edison, I would stick with
Edison unless
twist lock panel mount for the distribution about the theater in which case eiher L5-15 or L5-20 would be best. This or single
outlet Edison if the same punch hole.
Edison is rated for use in theaters in the US though 20A if your dimmers are such. A Green
Lee punch to go L5-20R if needed if your dimmers are rated for 20A. Perhaps ten year plan in getting done. Concern also that if the dimmers are 20A, could be problematic if receptacles are only 15A.
NEC old wiring code also don't apply to schools so they can do what ever they want and no doubt what don't get brought to their attention in noting will be fine if they don't have to budget to fix.
So perhaps put the upgrade on the five year plan or one by one in getting the fixtures fixed first and perhaps another few fixtures needed to the inventory. Don't think there are any $25.00 Rock and
Roll cans with lamp still being sold on the market - the
PAR 64 came back recently, but one can at least find some fairly cheap still as potentially an option.
Feel kind of bad in me just getting a Century 8"
Fresnel today that while it will need a total rewiring and service
call (rust pot it is inside and wired by 18/3
zip cord with
plug's
ground removed,) once cleaned up and re-wired it's only to be added to the inventory of antiques and unless there is another show wanting antiques, this
fixture will probably never get used again like the rest of my inventory, this until I retire and have more time to do shows say 25 or 30 years from now. By than
LED's,
CFL's and Plazma wil no doubt be the bulk of most
stage lighting and I'll be considered a crumudgen in designing with such fixtures. Already at work, most of the
fixture fabriction I do is with some
LED fixture or belt light or another.
In buying another
fixture I woud probably stick with the E-Bay type used fixtures and even keep to what type is already in the inventory especially part and lamp type wise. No reason to introduce another part or lamp type into your inventory unless say GLA or GLE on a one by one basis for more punch or better
gobo use. Inspect thoroughly and expect you will need to do a lot of work to what ever is bought used. Cheaper to keep to a few lamps than many lamp types on a budget if you stick with types of stuff you already have. Perhaps upgrade the lamps one by one for more punch and less wattage as a cheaper improvement lamp plan for now. Might even go Eiko, PEC or Divine amongst a few cheaper brands for now to sustain the inventory a while for the
line lamps. (Might avoid the cheaper lamps for
RSC and Bayonet dual pin types as the name brands seem to be much better at least for them overall in a quick failure or
base destroying type of way.)
Also, make sure the dimmers are trimmed to 90% so as to save on lamp life. Proably a good investment to get the dimmers looked at and perhaps the board cleaned in that you can loose a light in a show but loosing a
dimmer and light board is really bad - no matter what it is.
Long run cheaper lamps will no doubt cost more in needing to replace lampholders more - watch them pins as evidence as to what the
lampholder also looks like and you might go
thru more lamps than normal, also upgrading to say GLA might not be available yet in the other lamp versions but for five year sustainability of what you have, such concepts might free up some in budget to get what you have healthy. After that sustain it and
build on it and or swap out the plugs much less no doubt cable is getting old also
etc. Sustain for the next few years perhaps as the five year plan and developing that plan very important.
, I thought I'd ask yet another question:
