Lighting Plugs

[GlasgowPSB]

My theatre society recently purchased lights, some of which are normal british plugs and others are the 3 pins.
The lights will only be used when we are in venues that have no lighting so we think it will be best to change them all to british plugs, however I think this would then cause problems with lighting boards.

(although we do not yet have a lighting board and it is unlikely one will be purchased at this point)

I was thinking however that we could invest in extension plugs that use remote controls to switch on and off.

I wanted to know how I would go about changing the plugs to normal british plugs and if I would be able to make the conversion myself with no prior knowledge.

Thanks.

 

[shiben]

My theatre society recently purchased lights, some of which are normal british plugs and others are the 3 pins.
The lights will only be used when we are in venues that have no lighting so we think it will be best to change them all to british plugs, however I think this would then cause problems with lighting boards.

(although we do not yet have a lighting board and it is unlikely one will be purchased at this point)

I was thinking however that we could invest in extension plugs that use remote controls to switch on and off.

I wanted to know how I would go about changing the plugs to normal british plugs and if I would be able to make the conversion myself with no prior knowledge.

Thanks.

The normal british plugs would probably be fine for you guys to use, and I dont have a great reason why it might be a bad thing for a lighting board... Changing them you would need to learn how to assemble a plug, which would be fairly simple, although someone ought to show you how to do it.

 

[Anvilx]

The common plug in the UK, BS-1363, has a built in fuse, which you don´t want if you are going to be using the lights with dimmers. I believe the standard in the UK for theater applications is the BS-546. So what I would do is pick a non fused plug, for you probably the BS-546 is the best option, because I would imagine it is the most prevalent, then build a male BS-1363 to female BS-546 adapter per every light. Also when you say 3 pin do you mean stagepin or europlug or BS-546 or something else.

So now can anyone give me one reason why you don't want a fused plug system?

 

[DuckJordan]

The common plug in the UK, BS-1363, has a built in fuse, which you don´t want if you are going to be using the lights with dimmers. I believe the standard in the UK for theater applications is the BS-546. So what I would do is pick a non fused plug, for you probably the BS-546 is the best option, because I would imagine it is the most prevalent, then build a male BS-1363 to female BS-546 adapter per every light. Also when you say 3 pin do you mean stagepin or europlug or BS-546 or something else.

So now can anyone give me one reason why you don't want a fused plug system?

Fuses don't like chopped up sinewave of frequencies that are emitted from the dimmer packs?

 

[dcollins]

Fuses don't like chopped up sinewave of frequencies that are emitted from the dimmer packs?

I don't see any reason why they would have a problem with that as long as they're simple fuses and not something electronic. I do suspect that all those silly harmonics that I always hear about might have something to do with it though.

 

[Chris15]

Err the BS plug is 3 pin...
But I'd guess you're instead referring to IEC 60309, aka Ceeform, which would be a blue plug with 3 round pins inside, one thicker than the others.

You may have interface issues to a future dimmer, but that can always be solved with a couple of adapter cables...

The reason one wouldn't want a fused plug is that when it's up on a truss and it blows mid show, a fuse or breaker at the dimmer rack is just a little easier to rectify, beyond that there is no good reason I see to not use them.

Aren't there regulatory issues with not using IEC60309s in industrial commercial settings? I vaguely recall a discussion with someone who lived in the UK for awhile about that after I made comment on his lights having 60309s...

 

[kiwitechgirl]

Anvilx is right - most lighting gear in the UK is on the BS546 plug, commonly known as a 15-amp plug,

as opposed to the 13-amp plug (the BS 1363)

.

The 15-amp plug won't cause any problems with the lighting desk; you appear to have missed out the idea of a dimmer pack which goes between the desk and the lights (and is driven by DMX). Most dimmer packs in the UK are built to work with 15-amp plugs, so what you've got is what you actually need. Even if you're in venues with no lighting, you're much better off to have a dimmer pack or two which is driven by the lighting board, and have the standard plug on your lanterns, rather than faff around with switched extensions. Also, if you stick with what is in common usage, it's much easier when you want to hire in extra gear for a show, as it will work with what you have.

Some gear does run on 16-amp plugs

but in my experience it tends to be gear which needs non-dimmer power (moving lights etc). You may find you need adapters periodically - if you want to plug domestic gear into a dimme (fairy lights, or a normal lightbulb you want to control from the desk) but they're not hard to make up as you need them.

 

[Anvilx]

The reason one wouldn't want a fused plug is that when it's up on a truss and it blows mid show, a fuse or breaker at the dimmer rack is just a little easier to rectify, beyond that there is no good reason I see to not use them.

Precisely, if every plug has a fuse the entire system becomes incredibly complicated incredibly quickly, making it a real pain to troubleshoot.

Fuses don't like chopped up sine wave of frequencies that are emitted from the dimmer packs?

Duck, I don't think fuses would be bothered by the chopped waveform, fuses are to protect against over current not irregular current.
Now, if you wanted to detect irregular current you would compare the RMS value over time, correct me if I'm wrong.