Thank you for very much StrongEntLighting, for responding and providing contact info. Also -- welcome to CB!
Turns out the problem was the
connector. The crack install tech that the vendor had provide the gear tightened down the
strain relief on the individual wires and not on the outer
jacket. The result was the
insulation of all three wires was pierced. That, in combination with a loose
neutral wire that was not seated well resulted in what I can only imagine looked like a lightning storm within the
connector.
I couldn't tell you exactly which
wire shorted onto which other
wire first, but the result was the screw and conductive plates for the
neutral wire became encased in a molten plastic (I can see bubbles that formed in the plastic while it was molten).
We had been having problems the last 18 months with this
followspot tripping a
circuit breaker, which was thought at first to be the result of people plugging into two followspots into the same 20A
circuit. I confirmed with the electrician though that we only had problems with one of the followspots tossing the
breaker -- must've been this one. To say the least, our electrician was less than thrilled and told me that this is why he hates when people attempt wiring up connectors themselves.
I'm willing to bet that I know exactly which of the install techs wired this
connector -- likely the same one who provided us [Male L5-20] to [Male 2P&G] adapters on accident and didn't realize until after he plugged them in and walked away.
I did end up having to open the
power supply up anyway; one of the bolts securing the
ballast to the chassis had rattled loose. With the
nut long gone, I removed the rogue
bolt and closed up the case. Everything else inside the supply seemed fine, the
ballast seemed secure without that
bolt in place as the rest of the bolts were holding tight, and the
fuse passed the
continuity test.
Time to take it back to the
theatre and see how well it survives this next weekend of shows.
