Surge Protection for Moving Heads

[Gamerlink1]

Hello glad to be apart of the CB Forum!

I have a quick question that i hope someone can answer easily. We have around 18 Moving head fixtures that we will be working with this year and i'm wondering if we need to plug these into some type of surge protector to protect against the worst.

Thanks,
Cody

 

[TimMiller]

No do not plug these into surge protectors. Most movers have built in surge protection (MOV's across the power lines internally). Next reason is that most surge protectors are not designed for heavy electrical loads that moving lights require. Moving lights pull a lot of currant when they strike the lamp. A lot of commercial buildings have transient surge protection on the electrical panels and I have installed it on some custom built distros. They are not cheap at all.

 

[Gamerlink1]

Ok thank you,

So how do we go about not running extension cords all over the venue? Some outlets are over 50ft away...

Thanks,
Cody

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Ok thank you,

So how do we go about not running extension cords all over the venue? Some outlets are over 50ft away...

Thanks,
Cody

You can use extension cords, just make sure they are properly rated stuff. (NO LAMP CORD!)

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Ok thank you,

So how do we go about not running extension cords all over the venue? Some outlets are over 50ft away...

Thanks,
Cody

Assuming you had the proper dimming rack you could get non-dimmed or on/off relay modules. Moving lights should never be powered from a dimmer.

Honestly, 50 feet really isn't that far.

 

[STEVETERRY]

No do not plug these into surge protectors. Most movers have built in surge protection (MOV's across the power lines internally). Next reason is that most surge protectors are not designed for heavy electrical loads that moving lights require. Moving lights pull a lot of currant when they strike the lamp. A lot of commercial buildings have transient surge protection on the electrical panels and I have installed it on some custom built distros. They are not cheap at all.

Sad to say, but one of the reasons many surge protection systems are very expensive is the high percentage of snake oil mixed into the product.

I recall a pitch we had from a surge protection company to add feeder, branch circuit, and data link protection to a large Sensor installation for a theme park in a lightning-prone location.

Doing the ROI calculation, the client could have completely replaced the entire dimming system three times before getting to the cost of the surge protection system

Caveat Emptor!

ST

 

[Gamerlink1]

Ok thanks everyone!

 

[WooferHound]

Radio Shack MOVs
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062574