Conventional Fixtures Liability for rewiring Par 64s?

[eternalfire1244]

I was hired a few weeks ago at a new theatre in London Ontario that uses very old fixtures that are in various states of disrepair. As I was investigating lamps that appeared to have blown I caused a small electrical fire in one of the par 64s that we had as house lighting. Upon inspection of other pars in the house there are quite a few that are in serious need of rewiring.

I have been asked to rewire all of the pars that need it by the owner of the theatre, but I am unsure if I should be the one to do it strictly out of a liability concern. I know that I can do the job properly and safely, but I am more than a little concerned about my personal liability as well as the legality of me doing so.

has anyone else had this concern come up and what is the best solution.

the theatre in question is the London City Music Theatre it has just this month celebrated it's 1 year anniversary and the operator and staff really don't know how to run a theatre but they are picking it up slowly. The technical side is falling behind the business side though and that is what I am there for. It is my first real theatre job out of school and I am still very unsure of how things are in the "Real World" TM. This foum has been great for me to find ideas of how I can run the tech side of things.

Thanks in advance for the advice

Steve

 

[Chris15]

Under the legal system down here, the employer would assume the liability for works done. Legality is going to be location dependent.

If in doubt have your employer check with their insurance brokers...

Beyond that, cue the stock response on electrics that if you have to ask you aren't competent to do it...

 

[Footer]

What are you looking at doing? Replacing the porcelan and the whip connected to it? Replacing the plug?

If you know how to do it properly and have done it before, you should be fine. It is common practice to change out the porcelan in any fixture regularly. I would still ask that you can do it, there are some places with weird union rules. If you do the work right there should be no issue. If you don't think you can do it right, take them to a lighting supplier to fix for you.

 

[Grog12]

I'm not sure of Canadian law, but Kyle is right, it is common to change out the porcelin and whip on PAR Cans. Please please please don't do what a theatre I used to work at did and cut the whips of the new poercelin and wirenut/buttsplice it to the old whip.

 

[thatactorguy]

In addition to what's been posted, how many PARs are there? I wonder if it wouldn't be less time consuming to just pick up some new PARs? I'm not saying replace all of them, but PARs aren't that expensive, and you would then have some backups once some of the older ones are repaired...

 

[Sayen]

What is there to burn inside a PAR? I'm thinking of all of our cheap PARs, most of which are ADJ brand. There's a metal shell, few wires, and some screws...

If you're really nervous, perhaps ask your supervisor to put the request in writing for you. I don't know the legalities of the law, but if you know what you're doing what others have said above is along the right lines.

 

[thatactorguy]

The wires/porcelin can get hot enough to cause a fire, especially if the porcelin develops a crack. The lamp connectors are no longer as well protected from each other, and a short can develop, causing the fire...

 

[Sayen]

I'm just trying to think of common situations where that would actually lead to a fire - certainly the heat is present, the temperature from a normal lamp alone is above the flashpoint of many materials. Failure inside the light would need to create heat, jump the metal can somehow, and spread to a flammable material nearby.

Not that I'm arguing, just interested in thinking through it.

 

[eternalfire1244]

After going through the PARs that were easily accessable (about 30) I have come across 6 that were in the grid and non operational due to wiring, or in bad need of replacement of the whips (cracked casing and exposed wire). The owner of the theatre is a bit on the cheap side but I intend on replacing the porcelin if I can get the go ahead to buy them. There is an inventory of about 80 Par cans in the air and I am sure I will find more that are in bad need of replacement as they are all about the same age and condition.

I have done a lot of personal projects that involve electricity, so I am sure I can do the work safely though I have never rewired a Par can before. Most of my concern was to do with making sure that I CMA legally.

 

[Footer]

I'm just trying to think of common situations where that would actually lead to a fire - certainly the heat is present, the temperature from a normal lamp alone is above the flashpoint of many materials. Failure inside the light would need to create heat, jump the metal can somehow, and spread to a flammable material nearby.

Not that I'm arguing, just interested in thinking through it.

Odds are the light will stop working before you get a fire..... I think the intention here is to get the lights working again before it gets worse. I find a lamp base needs to be replaced after 3 or 4 lamps go through the fixture. Usually the lamp bases are the same price as a new lamp so its not too terrible of a thing to do.

 

[Studio]

Unless you have an electricians license I wouldn't do it. Changing a plug is one thing rewiring the majority of the fixtures sounds like a job for a profesional.

 

[Grog12]

Unless you have an electricians license I wouldn't do it. Changing a plug is one thing rewiring the majority of the fixtures sounds like a job for a profesional.

This is one instance where I would actually disagree wtih statement.

When you rewire a PAR can all you're actually doing is taking a plug off the whip connected directly to the porcelin.

When you change out the porcelin, all that you do is remove the plug loosen the strain relief on the back of the fixture, pull out the old whip and poreclin, thread the new whip back through tighten the strain relief and put the plug back on.

Now the first time you do this should you have supervision? ABSOLUTLEY

 

[Footer]

Unless you have an electricians license I wouldn't do it. Changing a plug is one thing rewiring the majority of the fixtures sounds like a job for a profesional.

This repair is entertainment electrician 101. If he has done it before, he can do it again. The attitude that only a licensed electrician can do lowe level electrical work is how you end up with circumstance like the McCormick Place in Chicago. IA hands hang the lights, IBEW guys plug them in, and IA hands focus the light. Its the stupidest setup I have ever seen.

 

[ship]

Or if the can has a thermoplastic cable whip, remove that whip, use the long whip off the new porcelain with ground wire inside a #0 fiberglass sleeve same as you would on a Leko.
Same strain relief. I'm also assuming its aluminum rock and roll cans were are talking about.

Some tips:
If there is a porcelain barrier strip in use in the can going between whip and lamp base, remove it - often the cause of failure. Instead a high temperature rated butt splice would be preferable once wrapped with a few layers of fiberglass electrical tape. This assuming you were keeping the whip and only replacing the porcelain and its whip on a DJ can. Better off as the above replacing the whole whip and ground and using the fiberglass sleeving over it.

Have a look at your strain relief, often they will be a PG-11 size and the rubber part of the strain relief due to age and heat will fail requiring replacement. You need that rubber grommet between wire and the little plastic fingers on the strain relief or the fingers will cut into the wire. Also a good idea for where the wire passes thru the strain relief to wrap it in a few layers of fiberglass electrical tape. This will prevent the strain relief even with rubber grommet from cutting into the wire and prevent too tight of a flex of the wire at the strain relief - often a source of the fiberglass or conductors failing.

In general a socket in good condition should be able to lift a lamp and the lamp won't fall even with a slight bounce. Lamp not able to be lifted by the socket, it's trash in not making good contact. Lamp welded to the socket both are trash.

Check your grounds. If rivited often they come loose, if screwed they also get loose. Often its not necessary to replace a loose rivet, it can often be hit with a hammer to tighten it.

Best bases are Osram - they have a aluminum cage around the porcelain which helps prevent them breaking. What ever base you get make sure its the right one for the wattage of lamp used. There are bases out there say for cheaper DJ lights that are not rated for 1Kw lamps.

Wide head rivets and rivet washers will be useful in many cases where the aluminum can's holes have opened up some.

Finally, most parts to a PAR can are fairly standardized parts. You need a new yoke clutch, most alternate brands should fit your fixture etc. where parts go. Forget if it's the Kupo or Moonlight website that has an exploded pictorial of a PAR can. I have often found it useful to print that page and circle the part I'm looking for so as to ensure I get what I need. I'm not aware of anyone else that has such a diagram of all the parts that go into a can but as I said it's mostly standardized parts.

 

[church]

An interesting question which is more complex than it appears.

Ontario has two apprenticeships acts that define when an electrician or other licenced journeyman is required to perform certain skilled work - redoing the internal wiring in a PAR can is not one of those situations. However the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations requires that the employer must determine that the person who is going to perform the work is competent to do the work.

It sounds as if you are an employee of this theatre therefore your supervisor has to decide if you have the required knowledge skills and experience to perform the work without risk of injury to yourself, risk of property damage and/or risk of injury to anyone else and so that the completed work meets the applicable codes. You did not mention what qualifications/training you have that provide this background.

Note if the internal wiring meets the existing code but is just damaged you can replace it; if it does not meet the current code requirements then when you replace it you must make it meet code and then you are required to have the fixtures pass a field evaluation before you re-instal them.

The Ontario Electrical code does not specifically address the wiring for a PAR can - however an experienced person can figure out from the code what you should do.

PM me if you want to ask any questions

 

[eternalfire1244]

I would like to send out a thank you to everyone for their help with this question. I have been quite busy as of late as just a few days ago the electrical inspector came in and had some words with the owner of the theatre because of the setup of a lot of things (Permanent lighting fixtures and remotely operated cameras using extension cords -the bright orange ones- to supply them with power....). Luckily I hadn't done any of that work so I was in the clear with my boss.

It does look like I am going to be the one wiring the PARs and doing a lot of other electrical repairs that need to be done to make the inspector happy.

now if I could only figure out why my brand new ETC SF 2496 is getting all buggy during performances........

 

[mstaylor]

Rewiring PARs is a simple thing to do and if you are competant to do one or two then the rest is no big deal. The only reason to farm it out is scope of work. If the poster has the knowledge and time to do the work, I don't see a problem. Now if you are going to have to put in permanent wiring for the projectors, then that is a whole different story. At that point, you could be getting into conduits and pulling wire, this is the work of a professional.

 

[gcpsoundlight]

I know that in australia, in all states except queensland, you can work on electrical devices AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT HARD WIRED, AND ARE TESTED AND TAGGED PEFORE USE.
I've seen some pretty crummy Par's in theatres, mainly from being squashed into road cases. Mostly they just get replaced.

 

[Chris15]

I know that in australia, in all states except queensland, you can work on electrical devices AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT HARD WIRED, AND ARE TESTED AND TAGGED PEFORE USE.

I'm sorry but it's not that simple. There is a lot of misunderstanding about AS/NZS 3760:2003 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment. Clause 1.1.2 specifically states that the standard does not apply to electrical equipment at a height of 2.5m or greater where there is not reasonable chance of a person touching the equipment and a simultaneous path to ground. I would contend that adjusting lights on a bar via a ladder that is non conductive meets this definition... And we all know that metallic ladders are not approved for use near electricity. (You should also be using fibreglass scaffold).

One could also argue based on the definition in 1.4.8 that lighting instruments are fixed equipment;

Equipment which is fastened to a support, secured in position or otherwise, due to its size or mass, located in a specific location

and moving back to clause 1.2.3 is not normally considered to represent a hazard sufficient to warrant routine inspection and testing, provided that the cord is not flexed in normal use or in a hostile environment, etc. So for PAR cans used as house lights, there would be no need to T&T them...

The other factor is that all inspection and testing regimes are a result of risk assessments determining the need and frequency...

So yes after a repair an inspection and test is required, but it's a much more complex process than many people realise.

Note also that to perform repairs (and T&T), one must be a "competent person"

A Competent Person is one who the Responsible Person [owner or employer]ensures has the necessary practical and theoretical skills acquired through training, qualification, experience or a combination of these, to correctly undertake the tasks prescribed by this standard

Clear as mud?

 

[AdamBair]

As long as you are wiring in line with electrical code, you should be fine. Watch out for asbestos wiring covering in older lights. I wouldn't call HAZMAT, but I would suggest wearing a good dust mask/respirator if the old wire is covered in anything other then rubber or plastic.