1st electric upgrade

[Jim Norton]

I volunteer in a small community theater that has a bank of 2 wire edison plug strips mounted above/ on 1st electric ( 7 ckts. total if I remember correctly) pipe is less than 30 ft
would it be better (less expensive ) to install 2 -3 stage pin plug strips across the pipe or install 2-3 12x16 drop boxes mounted above the pipe on the existing hardware used for the old 2 wire plug strips?
SR box would have 7 male pigtails (5 ft. tails) to pick up power and 7 female for lights (6 ft tails???) additional boxes at CS and SL Also will add at least 2 ckts. of non dim edison plugs. any idea (wild ball park figure $$$) as to the cost of the stage pin plug strips for budget purpose. easy enough for me to get prices on the drop box parts.
all other stage light power was recently changed to 3 wire grounded ckts from dimmers to lights . not going to post any pictures of the problems found when removing the old wiring as I have see too many on this site already (old cloth insulation - dried out SO cable - etc. 90% of old wiring was only 2 wire and 90 % of 3 wire cable did not use ground pin. also working on changing all instrument plugs from 2 wire to 3 wire stage pin . thanks for your help

 

[ship]

If help in what you describe a few details to define: Am I correct? Photo's would be helpful. Is this a fly system or a non-movable mounted pipe 1st electric?

You have a 1st electric over the stage with 7x circuits in a channel or outlet boxes for a 30' pipe, either mounted to the pipe or ceiling in boxes by way of conduit. The outlets for them are non-grounded Edison outlets (NEMA 1-15 type.)

You are asking if replacing what you have with a new channel or at least new face plate to it punched for stage pin, or 2-3 stage pin drop boxes would be more useful or cost effective? The Electric wireway has 7x tails in plugging into the SR wall (About 5' away).

If going drop box, it on SR require about a 5' tail for power and 7x female tales for outlet. (CS and SL drop box would require the same (assuming they plug in somewhere?) Would also like to add at least two circuits on non-dim Edison to these drop boxes or strips.

Pricing TBA / TBD in rough once understood & I don't think you understand what is needed for adding extra circuits to your preferred drop boxes yet.

All other stage lighting power was changed to 3-wire grounded circuits... stage pin or Edison?


Initial answers:
Edison is fine for stage, and as long as commercial grade Edison plugs & outlets in use, NEC compliant without a doubt for your type of theater. So if you have some un-grounded outlet channels already in use, I cannot see a reason to switch to stage pin - unless the rest of the theater was switched to stage pin. Cost of changing non-grounded outlets to commercial grade grounded outlets, drilling some and or bonding each directly to channel for ground - by far cheaper than having a new face plate made to the channel you seem to describe, in going stage pin. That also if the channel is deep enough for stage pin in being a raceway and not deep enough.

I highly recommend a certified electrician supervise any work done - if of anything else, they can take their pay rate as a tax deduction 501c3 donation for their hours of supervision and work as an option. Get an electrician in to look at what you have and see if they will take that donation in supervising this project. Not something to take on in theater staff doing.

So the first option would be to replace the outlets of what you have in channel/raceway/outlet boxes, in grounding. If you are already stage pin, it does not make much sense to stage Edison on this bar. Punching a panel, or cutting a new face plate for it would than be cheaper, and can be done in-house or locally if an actual raceway that would fit panel mount stage pin. Or many suppliers including ETC, Altman, LEX (amongst others ) or your local supplier could laser cut a new raceway panel for you.

If working with outlet boxes or WireMold channels, it's not possible in most cases to convert to stage pins. Somewhat a concern about needing 6' jumpers from plug in to fixture assuming a normal 36" whip to fixture also. Is your channel 9' away, or is that the distance needed for drop box locations?

Hope it helps refine as a start to your wishes.

 

[Jim Norton]

some clarification on original post...
all dim ckts. were 2 wire stage pin and changed to 3 wire stage pin - except 1st electric
1st electric has 7 ea edison 2 wire individual wire mold plug strips running the length of the pipe with an outlet every 24 inches on each strip
a 2 wire adapter edison to stage pin is used for each light - some stage pin plugs are ungrounded 3 pin but most are 2 pin
new 3 wire stage pin ckts are supplying power to 1st electric at SR
you mentioned getting a qualified electrician.....I am - city journeyman license for 25+yrs with some volunteer community theater experience on and off for 40 yrs - another volunteer has city license and is instructor for local union classes. He arranged for class to be on site for 1 day and complete all other wiring upgrades to stage lighting system....absolutely amazing how much work was done in 1 day (9am to 3 pm) by 12 people

my thoughts for 1st electric
if we go with a face mount stage pin box at 2-3 locations on the pipe we are limited to the length of cable on the light for hang locations or have to use extension cables - still have to have male tails at SR to pick up power from supply drops

if 3 boxes are installed on pipe with a 5 ft female stage pin tail for each ckt in each box any point on the pipe can be used for a hang position by any ckt - no extension cable needed - unused ckts can easily be tied up to pipe and out of sight lines. Existing hardware used to support plug strips on pipe can / will be used for new boxes will still have male stage pin tails at SR to pick up power .

theater has no fly space but all pipes can be lowered to stage level. somewhat counter balanced / direct pull rope system.....and YES - they are working on getting it inspected - nobody knows when last inspection was.

hope this helps