Critical equipment maintenance discussion

[Expoman55]

Hello, My question is this.. we are a house of worship and very fortunate to have terrific AVL systems. My question in this case is particularly around audio. From the board out we have a yami M7 board,( with aux power supply and UPS) Cobranet-> Cobranet: London 800 DSP boxes (mainline and delay) to crown series amps and out to JBL lines and subs)

Recently we had a London 800 die a fast flat death on our delays. Net of the story is send it in for repair, ( fedex bla bla bla fedex back)... Fortunately we can run without delay rings but not without a main if it has tanked..

What do you guys do.. stock a 1 each on a shelf for swap out, is there a company out there that provides an overnight exchange maintenance option etc..

Looking for thoughts on how to handle these critical component issues. All opinions appreciated.. FYI we are not a paid staff we are all volunteers with other jobs and families that complicates this ...

 

[museav]

Recently we had a London 800 die a fast flat death on our delays. Net of the story is send it in for repair, ( fedex bla bla bla fedex back)... Fortunately we can run without delay rings but not without a main if it has tanked..

What do you guys do.. stock a 1 each on a shelf for swap out, is there a company out there that provides an overnight exchange maintenance option etc..

Looking for thoughts on how to handle these critical component issues. All opinions appreciated.. FYI we are not a paid staff we are all volunteers with other jobs and families that complicates this .

I know of few churches that can afford to have redundant units for all devices in a system that could go bad. And having a volunteer staff could definitely impact the situation, especially if they are generally there only when the system is in use.

DSP devices and digital consoles necessitate having to address both the physical device and the related programming. Not only could you have a 'failure' that affects the software without any associated long term hardware issues, but having the physical device repaired or replaced can also result in any programming being lost. Having copies of the current programming can be crucial as unless they also provided the programming, and in some cases even if they did, the manufacturers, dealers, service centers, etc. may take no responsibility for the programming being lost or corrupted.

Having digital mixers on good surge suppressors and a good UPS may not avoid every problem, but my experience is that it can help avoid many of them. So you have a good start there. However, that same concept also extends to DSP units, in fact I've had many DSP devices that were problematic until put on a good UPS, after which there were no more problems. I personally like online or double conversion UPS units for this purpose as they tend to offer more consistent power since they always run off the battery and are not passing through the incoming voltage unless something goes wrong with the battery or inverter.

Another suggestion is to try to develop a relationship with a local company or individual who may be able to provide not only service for some of your more critical devices but to also provide loaner or rental units if needed.

 

[ruinexplorer]

I volunteered at my church for quite a few years. While there was a paid staff member who was in charge of the technical equipment, he was fresh out of college and had little experience maintaining a system. While we had extra gear that we used for special events and overflow services during the extra busy season (Christmas and Easter, plus all of the snow birds who came to town for the winter), that equipment wasn't of the same caliber for direct replacement in time of need. We established an annual maintenance plan with a local shop so that we could schedule the console to be taken out, have routine preventative maintenance service, and re-installed within that week so as to not miss a single service. If we knew that we were having a problem, they would attempt to have replacement parts in stock before receiving the console.

As with any equipment, if you do not have a qualified person on staff who can provide regular preventive maintenance, you should contract with a company who can provide it for you. As a reference on cost of ownership in regards to regular maintenance, I recommend that you refer to my article on preventive maintenance on projectors. The same can be said for all of your equipment.

 

[mstaylor]

To take what ruinexplorer says, a good relationship with a local company that do maintenance is important. It can give you a source to borrow or rent a key piece of equipment to get you through a bad spot.

 

[Call911]

Unless you have the budget to have an extra set of every piece of hardware, make sure you know your local rental house's number. Most systems have many complex components, and if one goes out it's unlikely you'll have an extra.

Sure, if you drop a mic and it breaks, you'll probably have an extra. But do you have an extra DSP laying around if it ever gets fried? Most major equipment is locked away and rackmounted, so the chances of them getting damaged is limited, but it could still happen.

A church I used to work had once had a small fire in their electrical room (after some DIY electric work by a church member....). Sadly, it was the same room that housed all of the amps for the sound system. We lost 6 amps. With some creative patching we were able to work around it (musicians don't need monitors, right?) and made it work for that saturday night service. Called the rental house and they had replacements there in the morning to get installed before the sunday morning service. Saved the day.

Sometimes it's not what you have, but what you know and who you know.