Given your description, and the description of the supervison your director is able to provide I would recommend that you do not use this item before it’s inspected by at least the head of the maintenance staff at the school.
Here is the reasons or causes of my concern.
First as JP12687 says, it’s a “
hot patch” you are describing in plugging a
fixture into a
receptacle to see if it works. Is this just one
fixture or potentially many of them or is such an item expected to be frequently used? It’s an
adaptor not a
jumper, a
jumper has both ends the same.
If this is a one time only thing, and the most experienced electrician on staff certifies that your
strain relief for the
stage pin plug is properly installed, and the “ring terminals” are properly crimped on - by way of tugging them at least to see if they pull out, yes use it this once than cut off the
stage pin end and don’t use it a second time. This given most
power strip cords are made of 14/3 SJT
wire which has the rated capacity of 1,800 Watts.
Normally on a
adaptor, you say the male end, than the female end thus and especially given the description of the
whip off a
power strip it is assumed this is a molded
Edison style 15 amp
plug with a female
stage pin connector mounted on it’s opposing end.
Bdesmond, this
crimp depends upon the type of
plug, if using a old style Union
stage pin connector, than this
ring terminal might be correct in style for the
ground, but you need a flag style right angle
terminal for the hot and
neutral. Much less, given 14ga
wire from the
power strip cord, a standard
ring terminal provided with a
stage pin connector will be the wrong size to be using with this size of
conductor. Way too much room in the
crimp terminal to be able to
close down on the
wire correctly.
Beyond this, I think your description is in thinking it’s a
Bates style of
stage pin connector that normally uses ferrules to sleeve the conductors in the set screw holes. Hmm, a
ring terminal in a
Bates plug... could work... possibly, but your
point is correct but only given he is using this or a knock off of this specific brand of
connector. Many other styles of
connector on the market using different systems. Look into Union,
Rosco, Peachtree (sp) amongst others that use ring terminals instead of ferrules.
So here is some questions in “it did not blow up.” Were you to reverse the hot and
neutral, given a
bi-pin lampped
fixture, it won’t blow up, nor even on a screw
base. Your
fixture will even work, but should you touch the shell of the screw
base or
pre-focus base fixture, it instead of being
neutral thus no
shock, will become hot. Should you on this
adaptor reverse
neutral and
ground, it won’t blow up either, should you
plug a
fixture into it, chances are it also won’t blow up, but every piece of metal in your electrical
system will have the
return path from the hot. Should you
plug a
adaptor in with a hot
ground reverse, and up until the
point you
plug a
fixture into it, it won’t blow up either. As long as the inner conductors are not touching, there is no
current flow thus by description, just because it did not “blow up”, does not mean it’s wired correctly. In other words, just because it did not blow up when plugged in without a load attached to it, does not mean it’s wired properly or safe. Never
plug stuff in you are not absolutely sure about.
Thanks in further reading your post Brian, but being inclined to install any
plug when not trained or properly supervised no matter the type is dangerous. By description, and on the whole krhodus, it sounds as if you did everything right and correctly. Don’t get any of us wrong, our interest is in your
safety and out of concern for the lack of instruction you have in this. We absolutely are not trying to make it seem as if a closed club of trained tech people only. I take people just about off the street who last week were flipping burgers and train them in how to properly install
Socapex plugs on a 19 pin
multi-cable. Everyone can install plugs on cable if they have the ability to follow instruction. Short of this, and even on -
line, it’s chancy because we have no way of seeing what you have done in verifying it’s safe.
So also in what you have done, because 14 ga cable is fairly standard for a
power strip as a
wire gauge, it should be more than sufficient for the loading you place on it as long as it’s under 1,800 watts. Were there a way to know that your
circuit breaker powering up this
Edison socket was rated at 15 amps, and in good working condition, one might also assume that given the cable
gauge and
Edison plug on it, most problems with it or the
fixture would trip the
circuit breaker before the cable had a problem with capacity. However many 15 amp receptacles are linked together around a building and powered by a 20 amp or even at times 30 amp
circuit breaker. Hopefully it will trip, given a overload condition, but not always dependant upon the problem. Many things will not cause this
circuit breaker protection to trip.
Now normally and why I say to use it once if built and approved by someone with basic electrical knowledge use it, you instead of wanting the cable jumping between the
Edison male and the
stage pin female to be of the largest amperage load rated for the plugs instead of the smallest. Since the
Edison plug is rated for 15 amps, but the
stage pin plug is rated for 20 amps, you than would want a 20 amp rated cable in the
adaptor which is 12AWG. (American
Wire Gauge.) You might look into the
http://www.hstech.org/index.html how to section, there might be some photos there about how to install this
plug to compare what you have done with it. While these photos are often student done and not ideal in how to or examples of what you should be seeing, they will at lest be safe in how it’s done. If you were using a new
connector also, dig out that instruction sheet that came with the
plug, verify you did all it showed in telling you how to
wire the
plug and apply the
strain relief, than present it also to the person inspecting the
plug so they will have reference also given they are not that familiar with a
stage pin plug either. Were something mis-wired, I would still feel more comfortable with it being mis-wired within the
stage pin plug. It’s both more beefy and has a larger body to separate conductors, and given the molded
Edison plug from the
power strip, there is little to no chance of it not being correct and very safe.
So a normal
adaptor will also not be having this six
foot whip from the
power strip in length. While some places use a long
adaptor, it’s much better for the
adaptor to be a say 18" length of cable that is specific to it’s purpose than something that’s also acting as a
jumper. Far too easy to mistake a
adaptor for a
jumper otherwise and not realize this is the case until it’s already up in the
catwalk with you. Keep the
adaptor short and simple. Also by code, it’s a maximum of 30 inch in length that your SJ (hard service junior
jacket) such as found on this
power strip, is allowed to be used in length. After that, it needs to be extra hard service type S (without the J) SOOW would be the best type of this. So given a
stock 6'
whip from this
power strip, it’s against code to use in your theater due to it’s length, but after that as long as the
connector is properly installed, there is not a specific reason not to have such a thing. Instead it’s more a common sense type of thing to have your cable size gauged for the maximum possible loading of the plugs connected to it. Will your
adaptor work? Yes probably as long as the
stage pin connector is properly installed as I surmise in your figuring it out, if not also reading the instructions, might just be. Get it inspected and use it if safe enough for this single purpose, but ensure the
connector is cut off afterwards.
If possible in testing this lighting
fixture, instead of plugging it into a common
receptacle, you might take it to a washroom with a
GFCI receptacle in it, or have this maintenance crew inspector of it also install a
GFCI outlet where you will be checking the lighting
fixture. This will often do a better job of ensuring the
fixture is safe than just a
circuit breaker. A
circuit breaker given appropriate
rating of it, just trips when it senses an overload or at times
current traveling
thru it too fast dependant upon the type. A
Ground Fault Current Interrupter on the other
hand compares the
current load between hot and
neutral and trips when this loading is out of balance in a dangerous way - given it can be fooled at times by things like computers and dimmers. For the most part, on a
fixture test type of thing, first having a
circuit breaker dedicated just to that
circuit, and rated for the maximum loading safe for the plugs and cable, than the
GFCI is ideal in protection.
This is what I use at work and often if there is a problem such as someone forgetting to install the mica
insulation on a S-4
fixture’s lamp
base, the
GFCI will trip well before you know what happened, much less given a dedicated
circuit breaker, that in my case is thermal magnetic in type will also trip. In any case, you now have both over
current protection and a sensing of the
current flow as opposed to just over
current protection of the maximum allowable loading on the often over-sized
circuit breaker.
For my own tester box that sits on my work table, I have all components of it rated for at least 20 amps, with all others rated at 30. I have
power coming into a 30 amp
switch, than going to a thermomagnetic
circuit breaker rated at 20 amps, than going to a
plug fuse that can go down to 5 amps in
current rating - given also that a
circuit breaker and a
fuse will have different trip ratios, it than goes to a high quality
GFCI receptacle. My life at times depends upon this box
tripping if something is wrong. After the
GFCI, the other types of
receptacle I test on the box are wired. Even if I leave a 20 amp
plug fuse in, there is still lots of
circuit protection in many forms of it here. I also have indicator lights to indicate at which
stage the
circuit tripped. I’m on my third
GFCI receptacle in six years now.
GFCI receptacles need especially as a lamp test
receptacle to have their monthly test to them done. This is one
outlet that is used more than any washroom
receptacle thus the necessity of it being tested and infrequently replaced.
Also above with the testers at the shop and my own, you will not all have at least 20 amp switches installed in-line between either
power coming to the box in my own tester, or in the
Leko Land prep area, where 20 amps is all they have in
power available, each of three work stations has a lighted
switch installed of which I’m constantly wandering by the aisle and yelling at everyone in the area “Why’s this on?” This is a constant fight both because at the
current shop, the switches are flipped on by accident or because people are hot patching as described earlier.
The hot patching is a very bad thing to do and what I constantly fight people doing at work. The heck is a
hot patch? This is a term for what happens when you
plug a electrical load into a live
circuit. Given a potential for something to draw
current, when you just simply
plug it in, it will tend to do so immediately. This means that those points of a
plug that contact first - at the tip of the
plug will than arc to the other
receptacle in allowing this
current to jump. Lots of
current over a small surface area means even at times sparks of light dependant upon the load but in any case, this means that lots of
current will start flowing as soon as there is contact. Even on
stage pin plugs and industrial rated receptacles, this amount of
current in going instantly “hot” or live will be far too much
current for such a small amount of contact in conducting the electricity. Much less should your finger stray into the
plug that’s being plugged in, you will also get shocked. For this reason, a
switch installed before the
outlet you intend to
plug into will prevent such a arcing that destroys both
plug and
receptacle - given it’s in the off position. For a school’s test
circuit, have the maintenance staff at very least give you a
Switch powered
GFCI receptacle to test fixtures with. This will at very least if not a dedicated
circuit to the maximum loading of the equipment you will test, prevent this
hot patch condition. It should be either a internal pilot light 20 amp
switch, or a dual purpose
GFCI with
switch that has indicator light to show
power on. In using this
switch to turn on the
fixture once the
plug is fully installed, it also ensures that your
hand is not touching the
plug if mis-wired. If mis wired, it’s possible the short will than melt the
plug and injure you while holding it.
Better yet would be to have them
purchase for you some form of
fixture test
outlet that is engineered to
circuit breaker and
outlet for you all this stuff. Beyond me making such things for my work table or
Leko prep area, commercially
ETC,
Altman, Lex, CAE, Motion Labs, SSRC, Union, TMB, and many many other electrical distribution equipment manufacturers can with
ease engineer and manufacturer for your school such equipment for you. Such
fixture test boxes are not much on the market as a pre-bought product but are very easy and fairly cheap to custom order. Beyond the
Edison GFCI, it would also be able to come with the type of
plug and even many types of
plug used. By someone else engineering it, it will also provide liability above a student or maintenance person should it fail. Sorry, I have much too much stuff to do for shows going out to go retail, much less don’t do business on-line. This said, as a ME for a fairly major lighting company with $2Mil for liability for a basic coverage at start, many other large lighting companies can also engineer such a thing perhaps with better or less quality but still have a similar insurance thing beyond what the local supplier often will
cover for. No, Jo-Bob’s garage based lights won’t be the best solution here even if well done. Stick with the major suppliers above that no doubt have even larger liability than my company has, much less has certified electrical engineers working for them that no doubt can engineer and
circuit for test even more than I can in a box granted I did not ask our electronics person to do any
circuit/computer analysis type of things at this
point in making the better yet test box such as also possible for these above companies in having the safest ever test box.
Point is that a
fixture test box is a good thing but have it made for you. Don’t want to even look at what my own boxes wiring looks like as compared to what it looks like now six years later. Let’s just say that while safe, not as nice. Still even these
plug in
fuse sockets are rated for 30 amps as a
design factor in having stuff on it that even commercially is not readily available but a good idea.
So, in closing with this long post, yes, as long as inspected for a proper
crimp,
strain relief and wiring, go ahead and use the
adaptor. You can see problems with “it didn’t explode” as not being a good indicator of what’s safe now. But in the long run, make with supervision a
adaptor that has it’s
wire size rated for the maximum capacity of it’s largest potential
load in if in overload having such a problem contained within a
plug rather than the cable. Given your description of a
power strip cable, it can be assumed it’s 14ga
wire but you might verify a 14/3 on it’s cable
jacket just to be sure. Use commercial grade even
Edison plugs as they are even more safe yet. Remember that you are on
stage, not at home thus economical but home owner grade plugs and receptacles are not an option for your use. Always buy a commercial grade plugs and equipment. If you can’t afford such things, you can’t afford to do what you intend. Sorry we were trying to save money is not a expiation you should have for what you did while visiting someone at the hospital. Should see what even harsher grade of equipment they have to have - given they follow this as not all do.
Still, use this cable for now and strive if this is going to be a constant thing - this adapting to test a
fixture, to have a proper
outlet installed while both
GFCI protected and
switch operated at the place you are testing from. It’s to the school’s best advantage to do so no matter the extra labor. On a test
circuit, there should be little to no reason for using an
adaptor. Just as now, one more component to wonder about.
Now as for this question of better for lamps in not being hot patched, or in this case
switch, yes it’s better to have a
dimmer run up the
current to a cold
filament over a period of time if not pre-warmed with a low
voltage current in the dimmed
circuit already. For a test
circuit, unless working with something that is more prone to
shock problems in going from cold to maximum output, this will not be much of a problem, and in fact will help because it’s easier to determine than those lamps that are ready to blow and will thus blow now when going instantly to full, than having to replace the lamp once in the
grid and it’s last microns of
filament finally broke. In this finding the bad lamps way, such a
shock to the
filament is good. For other equipment such as things with low
voltage, given the
filament is smaller, often installing an in-line
dimmer can be beneficial. Our
cyc lights for instance when drawing a full 20 amps of
current are better off instead of directly plugged in, on a
dimmer to pre-warm the large 1Kw lamps. On a
PAR 64, it’s
filament is a little more rugged. All a question of the
filament type also. For the most part a
switch won’t hurt but if you find it frequently blows lamps, install a
dimmer rated for the load between
power and lamp to run the
power up a little slower. On the other
hand with low
voltage lamps, while running the
power up slowly will often help with cold lamps, leaving them at a low
voltage unless a
stage and studio type of low
voltage lamp, much less if electronic or arc source in
fixture, dimming the lamp in running it up to full and especially in lingering between off and full can be more dangerous to the equipment and lamp than going on and off. Do the
switch and if necessary the
dimmer next. First the
switch in this test
circuit.
As for the director not being sure, it if there is no other staff tech person, I would recommend him doing some more studying if this is what he is supervising. I can
send him a list if he would like, otherwise night school in lighting might be useful. One of my constant fears or pet peeves is when students are not given proper instruction by a school
system in allowing for it. You know I might not have a teaching certificate, but I can instruct as it were at times just about anyone slightly above the idiot
level as long as they are not a student. Lots of
stage hands out there without certificates in teaching that are just as good and constantly looking for work. Given supervision as otherwise necessitated by the lack of teaching certificate, hiring someone that knows what they are doing will solve many of these problems or questions for less money than finding one of the few teachers out there that both have credentials and had more than a basic stagecraft class in training at a school that at best spent a few weeks on electrics or rigging as a subject instead of just mentioning it. Short of training, it is the responsibility of all instructors to educate themselves with all they supervise. Just as a pro tech person is constantly learning, a teacher in tech should have no less the effort.
Hope it helps. Should there be more specific questions or if you can post a photo of what’s done we I expect will all be interested in the
connector you installed, but due to it only being a photo and at very least hard to determine if the
strain relief for it is installed properly, you will still need on-site eyes to verify such a thing.
Probably going to be a late night for me on Friday - as salary staff, this is a bad thing. While I had a crew of eight people building 32A/5-Pin Cee Form type cable for me last night, in people varying in experience from someone off the street to someone that is a seasoned tour person that is safe in his own respects even if he does not
build cable for a living. Got 21 out of 30 of these cables done last night. In the end, it was a young pup with say two rock tours under his belt against me the ME as it were for the shop with me giving him a few minutes of head start. Still kicked his little
butt on two cables we raced on. As said, I do this stuff for a living. While carpenter and designer by training, lots of study and six years of doing just cable building, wiring, lamp buying and
conventional fixture repair has honed my skills in them some given it’s now my living. The young pup while he has been assigned to me of late as “my little wiring bitch” sorry for the offense but his title in practice given I after college went directly to a Local #2 shop for nine months, the young pup never had a chance in reality. Offered him
power tools for stuff like the
strain relief, but he was more used to
hand tools. Much less even if the Euro Crap cable type, it was still a certain finesse with getting the
wire or
strain relief insert to do what I wanted he could not match. Plus I had six other people hoping he would win. Had to disappoint.
In any case, 12 more Cee Form five pin cables to make, and two L6-30 plugged follow spot cables to make in addition to a few other things. Really it’s the marking of the cable that takes the most time, but still, it’s probably going to be a late night. I can make with a trained assistant 80
stage pin cables in a normal day given both me and my assistant are constantly getting calls and questions. For the most part, still most can’t touch that. Of note is that while I don’t mind the Cee Form style, a
ferrule is defiantly needed to prevent in a way much similar to a
ferrule on a
stage pin Bates style
plug, the screw from twisting it’s way into cutting conductors, much less a bad equal pressure in general. Too bad given a 10ga cable, such a
ferrule won’t fit. Instead we had to do a special pinch/fold technique to
ferrule the conductors. Lots of little techniques to
pick up with wiring beyond even the is it safe type of question. For instance given the ring terminals on this
plug, I would assume it’s as Brian described a normal instead of flag
ring terminal, even the type of
crimp tool used is an important factor. Lots of detail about displacing material as opposed to just crushing the
connector but it and the
wire within still occupying the same amount of space. After a few thousand cables fixed, it is the little things that while fixing the stuff you have time to consider. While in many ways I did not have much instruction in lots of stuff including my first
fixture fixed, I would not wish it upon others to go it alone. Thus also the long posts and me answering questions as it were as opposed to doing other things with my time. Pass it on is a rule, I got some good instruction, for me it’s pay back.