As well you should be. However, contrary to posts 16 and 19, the 130% neutral (double neutral) only applies to portable equipment: https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/why-two-neutral-camlok-inputs.8986/#post-104730 .
Control/Dimming Help w/ Spec'ing Power for New Dimmer Installation
- Thread starterML.Rice
- Start date
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
My point. Even if a high school or small college could amass an inventory of 500 z maybe some rentals - do they have space to hang that many (750 feet of pipe) and to focus and maintain?
But, you wont have to worry about undersized neutrals.
DavidJones
Well-Known Member
If this is a case where you are using a portable rack and they are installing a camlock disconnect or "company switch" I would go ahead and get a 400a three phase panel, you could spec smaller, but the cost difference will is extremely slim. A 400a is a standard size for touring lighting and in a small space will have you covered for future expansion and other portable racks if a tour comes through or a company wants to rent a bunch of moving lights, etc Working in special events I can count the number of places that I have worked where they installed a "big" 60 or 100a service, and I'm still parking a generator in the parking lot outside.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
The cost between 200 and 400 is slim? Just the transformer cost is significant.
Note that the OP mentioned "I'm looking at getting a used Sensor+ touring rack".
DavidJones
Well-Known Member
It might depend on your local power company. Had a 600a 120/208 put into a building(Commercial building; transformer was on a pole and utility owned, upgraded from a useless-to-us Delta service) The cost over a 200a or 400a was negligible. The installation cost was even spread over 1 year of utility bills at 0% interest. If you have to buy the transformer this may change quite a bit, but still, labor is a big portion. I'd rather do it once right than have to do it twice.
Portable counts when once a year I'm going to roll it to the other side of the building and use it there... There will be a 400A service box with cam-lok tie-ins and a company switch.
Malabaristo
Well-Known Member
Technically 90 days is the NEC rule for "temporary", but what Derek was getting at was how you come out of the portable rack. Some venues will have male connectors (stagepin/Soca/whatever) that transition to permanent building wiring for distribution throughout the space. If you're going to do that, then the correct approach is to use a "Road Show Connection Panel" which includes breakers for each circuit fed by those male connectors. The reasoning is that you need to limit the amount of current flowing through the building wiring. At first glance this may seem redundant to the circuit breakers in the dimmer rack, but there's nothing preventing someone from connecting something else... say a 50A or 100A circuit instead of a 20A circuit.
If you're using all portable cable from the dimmers to the lights, then you don't need to worry about this--just when there's a transition from portable to building wire.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I'd like to do it once also but if you're unlikely to ever have more than 100 s4s in this room, why two to three times the power?
DavidJones
Well-Known Member
I don't know how big the space is or what kind of events they have. I may have missed that information earlier in the thread. They can put in whatever seems appropriate. I was just putting it out there that it might be worth weighing a few options. I've been in plenty of theater-ish places that have decided to try something new, have a concert with an outside vendor/pa/lights/tour package, or have a catered event, and a caterer shows up with 10 hotboxes and expects 200A of power.
Could be an issue; could never happen. The initial post did not have a lot of detail. Meh.
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