Control/Dimming Dumb Cabling Mistakes

[gafftaper]

In my lovely brand new theater. I have discovered that when they wired the stage pin sockets into the raceways they paid no attention to which way is up. So sometimes the you plug in with the double pin end up and sometimes it's down. There is a fourth spot for the screw that holds the socket in place, which makes it really difficult to see which way the plug is oriented without leaning down and getting your face right in it. So Every plug you have to guess which way to plug it in and I'm always guessing wrong. I just sent a message to the theater consultant to find out if this is a mistake that was covered in the specs for the project or if I just have to live with it.

 

[derekleffew]

...if this is a mistake that was covered in the specs for the project or if I just have to live with it.

I bet it wasn't specified, but you don't have to live with it either. LOTO the rack(s), figure out which way the majority are, and invert the others yourself.

As an aside, were the raceways manufactured by Strand or a third party? Are outlets next to each other really opposite? Are all the numeric indicators right side up?

A quicker fix, decide which is "down" (I'd use the single hot pin) and draw an arrow with white paint pen on the raceway next to the female flush mount receptacle.

Another aside, there's no standard that indicates which way a duplex Edison outlet is supposed to go. This has been discussed and debated at length at Mike Holt's Forum. For 2P&G, ETC's standard seems to be "hot down", and there's some validity to this: If a plug isn't inserted completely, and a metal object falls onto the pins, it only contacts the neutral.

 

[gafftaper]

As an aside, were the raceways manufactured by Strand or a third party? Are outlets next to each other really opposite? Are all the numeric indicators right side up?

A quicker fix, decide which is "down" (I'd use the single hot pin) and draw an arrow with white paint pen on the raceway next to the female flush mount receptacle.

I think the raceways are strand but were shipped partially assembled and finished on site by a local company Van used to work for.

I love the arrow idea. That sounds like the perfect job for a student in need of extra credit.