Control/Dimming Female Edison to male stage pin question

[yoink52x]

Hello, I am a high school teacher. I am primary a band guy but I am also the theater guy.
My question is about using a female Edison to male stage pin. I know there are other threads on this topic but I have found them difficult to understand.
I recently bought 2 cables like this so I can use some regular lamps in an upcoming production. We have a EDI Bijou light board. Do I need to do anything special on my light board to make sure the light/lamp does not explode (or whatever may happen)? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!
Steve


Edit
Yes they will be 60w A19 type bulbs.
Thank you guys so much! This was a big help as now I will not have to try and figure how to learn new features on my light board.

s

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Just so you know, adapters are properly referred to by their male end first. Not everyone follows this, but I was burned by a rental shop for not knowing this at a young age, so it's stuck with me. By saying a "stagepin to edison", it is implied that it is a MALE stagepin to Female edison.

Anyway, if you bought your stagepin to edison adapters pre-assembled from a reputable source, then I would think they should be wired correctly and with the proper cable. A household lightbulb is functionally no different than a high wattage theatrical lamp. (I know that is oversimplified but I'm just trying to explain things clearly). What kind of dimmers will these be plugged into? Sometimes older dimmers/cheap dimmers cannot properly dim low wattage loads, and thus a ghost load is needed to achieve complete blackouts. What kind of "normal lamps" are we talking about? Just like a table lamp with regular 60 watt A19's?

 

[derekleffew]

...Do I need to do anything special on my light board to make sure the light/lamp does not explode (or whatever may happen)? ...

As long as the luminaire or practical you're plugging in (which I'm guessing has a NEMA 1-15 plug

(aka parallel-blade two-prong) on it, hence the need for the FED) is just an incandescent lamp, and does not contain a transformer, fan, ballast, power supply, or other electronics; the dimmer and fixture and you will be just fine.

... but I was burned by a rental shop for not knowing this at a young age, so it's stuck with me. ...

Precisely the reason I reiterate the point every time I see someone using the terms wrongly. Apologies to those who already know better.

• adapter
• adapter, 3-5
• adapter, 5-3
• adapter, FED
• adapter, MED
• Adapter, Outlet-to-Lampholder
• adaptor

 

[danTt]

Male first might be a "standard" for some people, but I find it much more useful in everyday work to refer to them as "Meds" or "Feds". Granted, this doesn't work when you are trying to adapt from l6-20 to stagepin or similar, but for the most common usage (stagepin to edison) Med and Fed are probably the most common.

 

[derekleffew]

Male first might be a "standard" for some people, ...

As far as I know, the "standard" was started by New York lighting designers (on their shop order s) and lighting shops (now all defunct or under different ownership) dating back to at least the 1950s.

... to adapt from L6-20 to stagepin or similar, ...

250V to 125V ? Big can o' worms. If only you'd said "L5-20 to stage pin."

... but I find it much more useful in everyday work to refer to them as "Meds" or "Feds". ... but for the most common usage (stagepin to edison) Med and Fed are probably the most common.

Interesting that you're in NYC, as I first heard MED and FED not all that long ago (five years maybe?), from New York people. I like it too, that's why I'm trying to perpetuate the nomenclature, even though it breaks the rule.

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Male first might be a "standard" for some people, but I find it much more useful in everyday work to refer to them as "Meds" or "Feds". Granted, this doesn't work when you are trying to adapt from l6-20 to stagepin or similar, but for the most common usage (stagepin to edison) Med and Fed are probably the most common.

PRG and 4Wall both use this standard, so everyone else follows out here.

I typically say the whole thing out, as sometimes people can get easily confused.

The whole thing seems backwards to me though. Typically I am holding a cable and I want to convert that cable to something else, so in my head it should be the female first, as I run the cable from the light to the power source and not the other way around. But that's just me.

 

[BillESC]

This is the first time I've heard the words Meds and Feds. Then again, I've only been at this 40 years.

 

[STEVETERRY]

This is the first time I've heard the words Meds and Feds. Then again, I've only been at this 40 years.

At Production Arts, we used

F Edison Adaptor
M Edison Adaptor
F Twist Adaptor (for L5-20)
M Twist Adaptor
F Twist Adaptor nub out (for old-style non-NEMA 125/250V twistlok
M Twist Adpator nub out

We were always adapting to 2P&G, so that was never part of the description, and the sex of the 2P&G was always opposite of the called-out connector. Med and Fed were not in our shop order vocabulary.

ST

 

[derekleffew]

"Saying it all out" is great, until someone gets lazy, either speaking or listening.
Or confused: "I need a Male break-out to connect this socapex to the dimmer rack."
"Dude, you need professional help."

... as I run the cable from the light to the power source and not the other way around. ...

Funny, I was taught to run from the power source to the instrument, leaving excess cable slack nearer the fixture (with exceptions, of course). Likely the power source won't have to move, but the luminaire might.
MALE End FIRST follows the normal flow of (DC) electricity.
This is not unlike how protocol converter s are specified: What the console speaks TO what the dimmers can understand. DMX-to-analog. Male XLR5, female Cinch-Jones.

... Med and Fed were not in our shop order vocabulary. [1975-1998, RIP]

So, perhaps it's a more recent development in the NYC event lighting scene?
.

 

[SteveB]

Never heard the term Med or Fed, 38 years in the NYC area lighting business. Other then the NY Post referring to the FBI.

But then I don't do a huge number of rentals, as Victor or Rochem does, as well am in the middle of Brooklyn, a third world country in the heart of the city.

We are more likely to see 2 pole breaker panels with car battery charger clamps as tie in's.

Is there an acronym for that ?

 

[rochem]

I just looked through a few of my old equipment lists from PRG to see what they used. Their system lists Male Stage Pin to Female Edison (FEDs) as "20A-2P&G M - EDISON F ADPTR" and Male Edison to Female Stage Pin (MED) as "EDISON M - 20A-2P&G F ADPTR". Also, it looks like they follow the male-first convention for all other adapters and twofers, including Cam, L6-20, XLR5/3, and so on. It's interesting to note that in the Cable department in Secaucus, the wire frame bins for these adapters are (or at least used to be - I haven't been back there in a while) labeled "MED" and "FED". So the shop guys are clearly using those terms to refer to their gear.

As for the term MED and FED, I've been told it was a New York idea. Every stagehand I've worked with in New York has at least known what the terms mean, even if they weren't very familiar terms. However, I learned to avoid the term in LA when I discovered that very few people knew what it meant. I've only done a very small amount of work on the west coast, so my experiences could be atypical, but this seems to follow what I've heard about the origin of the terms.

 

[techieman33]

I'm in the same boat with everyone else, I've never heard MED or FED. I've always said the whole thing unless when asking a coworker for one in the mail theater I work at. In that case I'll ask for a red one or blue one depending on which way I need to go.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Is there an acronym for that ?

Yeah

"film shoot on location"

 

[meatpopsicle]

Yeah

"film shoot on location"

Hahaha. Too true though we are trying to get away from tie ins usin battery clamps. A new type of Trico to replace the old styler would be great.

Ive used the term m.eds and f.eds at 4wall and PRG as well. We all knew what it meant. And while getting packages for stuff at CNBC...

Glad the twist lock has, mostly, gotten wrung out of the 120v side of stuff. Too many adapters back in the day.

 

[danTt]

As far as I know, the "standard" was started by New York lighting designers (on their shop order s) and lighting shops (now all defunct or under different ownership) dating back to at least the 1950s.

Not sure where it started, just know it makes sense and should become common usage anywhere it isn't. It removes all questions from the statement. Perhaps we should start adding Mist and Fist to the vocubulary as well, for GPC->Twistlock

250V to 125V ? Big can o' worms. If only you'd said "L5-20 to stage pin."

From L6-20 to Stagepin for me means from an l6-20 plug on the fixture to a GPC plug on the cable. I know this may go against your convention, but I'm not talking about the adaptor itself here, I'm talking about the connectors I'm trying to attach to each other (see why the whole connector "shortcuts" get complicated? Almost all movers these days self switch between 208 and 120, and people regularlly take fixtures with l6-20 plugs and connect them to 120v gpc (or edison) breakouts. We can argue about the "legality" of that for quite a while, but it's something that I would definately consider safe and a common practice. going the other way (stagepin plug on unit, plugging into a l6-20 208v breakout) is a bit more questionable for sure.

 

[TimMiller]

Hahaha. Too true though we are trying to get away from tie ins usin battery clamps. A new type of Trico to replace the old styler would be great.

Trico's were one of my favorite tie in accessories in my tub of tricks though only used when absolutely necessary. We need a wiki article on them. Trico Test Clamps - J Custom Supply, Inc.

 

[Chris15]

We need a wiki article on them.

Thanks for volunteering to write it

 

[gafftapegreenia]

We need a wiki article on them.

There is a Wiki entry (for both Trico and Tweco), but no collaborative article.