Miriam
There have been some good comments but I also think a number of people have confused the issue.
As far as plugging in a sound
system unless it is a very large
system for over 5000 people you don't have to really worry.
If you can
plug your radio, toaster, TV, heater into the
power points at home you are half way there.
At your basic
level there are two main things to worry about.
Electrical Safety
Electrical Load your drawing
1)
Electrical safety
Do a visual check off all your electrical leads, plugs, and sockets before you
plug things in.
Things to look for are:
Main electrical
socket you
plug into : any of the
socket damaged / cracked exposed metal that you don't see normaly or scorch marks on the plastic then you need an electrical contractor to check it is safe and do any repairs. The same with the
power leads on the sound gear and extension leads.
Once again any damage to the plugs, cracks, missing plastic, has the outer
insulation pulled back from the
plug so you can the individual coloured wires inside . Once again if in doubt get a qualified person to fix them.
Also if a piece of equipment starts to smell while you are using turn it off.
Testers as have been mentioned can help check points are working. But another simple tester is a
desk lamp it gives a quick indication of whether the
power is on or off.
2) Electrical Load
Each piece of sound gear you have that plugs into electricity should have a
current rating in amps on it. You add up the total amps for all equipment you are wanting to use on electrical
socket, (
power point) and make sure that doesn't exceed the number of amps
I don't know what the standard is for Israel. Your parents might be able to tell you. Or you could ask the electrician ( electrical contractor) that looks after this side of things at your school. The things you need to ask him is "how much
current can I safely draw from the
power points that we have at school, at home , in businesses" He should be able to tell you this and you should then take the lowest
current rating in amps as the
base figure when working out if all the sound gear can work off the same
plug.
Most of the time you won't draw the maximum
current for that
circuit.
Another thing to remember is don't turn all the sound gear on at the same time. By this I mean if you have a mixing
desk,
amplifier(s), powered monitors
etc. This is because electrical equipment especially amplifiers draw more
current when they first startup then when they have been turned on for a few minutes. If everything is turned on at once you may blow the
circuit breaker for that
circuit. Also to help minimise damage to your loud speakers from loud pops follow this sequence.
Turn on:
1) Mixing
desk
2) CD / tape player
3) Any sound processing equipment.
4) Finally the amplifiers driving the loud speakers
Two and three are interchangable.
Turning the gear off do it in the reverse order - with amplifiers first.
Just in general be aware you are using a different
voltage ie 230 volts compared to the US 110 volts. Also they use 20 amp circuits where yours are more likely to be 10 -16 amps. Also the States have a lot of old systems mixed together with different plugs and
current ratings.
So it pays to check with someone whos has knowledge in your country.
There some people on Control Booth who should not comment about electricity because they either lack knowledge or are suggesting people do things they are not trained for. Then there are others who are very safe when it comes to electricity. The best thing for you to do is find someone near where you live who knows about electricity. It maybe the electronics teacher or electrician who does it for a living. Then get them to mentor you. Remember you should be fine just plugging in the sound gear but when something appears wrong get experienced help. For instance I would expect you to be able to check whether the
power switch on a piece of equipment was on and off. Also using another piece of equipment to check if the
power is on at the
plug. But if you check this and still the equipment doesn't go this is when you need experienced help. For the basics this may be an older sound tech but never open up a piece of electrical equipment your self.
If things get confusing you can PM me and I'll try to
clear it up.