What load (in watts of lighting) can a 32amps industrial socket bear ?
- Thread starterstonehedge99
- Start date
Seven. (If in a 220V, 230V, 240V land.)
stonehedge99
Active Member
JD
Well-Known Member
7860 watts. If you use a de-rate factor, the continuous load would be 6144 watts.
Amiers
Renting to Corporate One Fixture at a Time.
I used the same method but round up so 10
stonehedge99
Active Member
stonehedge99
Active Member
What ??? From 6 now its 'rounded off' and that lands us where, at 10 ???. And this is in humour or is that a serious post.
JChenault
Well-Known Member
So now I am really confused. ( probably because I don't understand standard practice in other parts of the world )
I could be wrong about what I am about to say, so someone please feel free to correct me.
If you have an industrial connector that provides three phase power - I would expect that it would have more than three pins. Three phase means that you have three hot legs. Some motors are designed to work from just three phases ( with no neutral in the connector) but my expectation is that you would have a ground connection in any kind of plug.
If you have three pins. One is hot, one is neutral, and one is ground. - I would say that you have a max of 7,680 watts of power. ( 32 * 240 ).
If you have three pins, each of which is hot - you don't really have anything you could use for lighting as there is no neutral.
OP if you let us know where in the world you are it would help immensely.
For myself, living in Australia, a 32 amp plug invariably refers to a 5-pin connector with 3 phases, neutral and earth. 415 volts between phases, 240 volt phase to neutral. Standard practice is to connect a 12x10A dimmer rack to such a socket, knowing that you can't load it up fully and run it continuously. Maximum load would be 9 of the 12 outputs fully loaded (3 per phase).
There are the odd sockets that exist that are only 4-pin, eliminating the neutral. This is fine for some industrial machinery, but not appropriate for lighting use.
For myself, living in Australia, a 32 amp plug invariably refers to a 5-pin connector with 3 phases, neutral and earth. 415 volts between phases, 240 volt phase to neutral. Standard practice is to connect a 12x10A dimmer rack to such a socket, knowing that you can't load it up fully and run it continuously. Maximum load would be 9 of the 12 outputs fully loaded (3 per phase).
There are the odd sockets that exist that are only 4-pin, eliminating the neutral. This is fine for some industrial machinery, but not appropriate for lighting use.
I know where the OP is in the world, and let's just say that while the voltage is the same as ours, the electrical standards have a fair way to go to meet ours.
I too would expect 5 pins for a 3 phase connector that's useful in our industry.
When dealing with "how much load can I pull" questions, one must ALWAYS round DOWN. Rounding up trips breakers...
I too would expect 5 pins for a 3 phase connector that's useful in our industry.
When dealing with "how much load can I pull" questions, one must ALWAYS round DOWN. Rounding up trips breakers...
stonehedge99
Active Member
I had clearly mentioned 240v ac in post [HASHTAG]#4[/HASHTAG] itself on this thread.
Floobydust
Member
In the US, a common circuit would be a 30 amp, three phase circuit, usually with a 5 pin plug (L21-30).
After wiring one dimmer into each leg of 120v, I could put three PAR64s on each leg but it would be 85 percent of breaker capacity.
I would then change the dimmer curve for those dimmers to max out at 90 percent, bringing me a comfy feeling about overloading.
So I end up with nine of the 1000w PAR64 lights to use for the show (three per leg).
After wiring one dimmer into each leg of 120v, I could put three PAR64s on each leg but it would be 85 percent of breaker capacity.
I would then change the dimmer curve for those dimmers to max out at 90 percent, bringing me a comfy feeling about overloading.
So I end up with nine of the 1000w PAR64 lights to use for the show (three per leg).
Last edited by a moderator:
In the absence of useful details about 3 phase or otherwise, the best answer we can give is this:
On each phase, you can run 7 1000w lamps if you are not running them continuously for more than 3 hours.
If you are running them conitnuously, or are using 120v PAR64 lamps in series, then you can connect 6 per phase.
If you truly have a 3 phase connection with neutral, this means you can run 18 or 21 lamps maximum from the outlet.
You should be aware of what the size of the incoming supply to DB box you mentioned is, if you are planning to load more than one socket, but the whole box only has say a 50A supply, then the main breaker will trip long before you reach the maximum loading on 2 outlets...
On each phase, you can run 7 1000w lamps if you are not running them continuously for more than 3 hours.
If you are running them conitnuously, or are using 120v PAR64 lamps in series, then you can connect 6 per phase.
If you truly have a 3 phase connection with neutral, this means you can run 18 or 21 lamps maximum from the outlet.
You should be aware of what the size of the incoming supply to DB box you mentioned is, if you are planning to load more than one socket, but the whole box only has say a 50A supply, then the main breaker will trip long before you reach the maximum loading on 2 outlets...
JD
Well-Known Member
If this thread were a program, the program would hang on post [HASHTAG]#8[/HASHTAG].
We know that HHHNG cannot be supplied on three pins.
Options are HNG (safe, but one phase leg)
HHN (unsafe, but two phase legs)
HHH (Three phases but totally useless without a neutral. Not to mention unsafe)
HHG (ahhh.. won't even go there.)
We know that HHHNG cannot be supplied on three pins.
Options are HNG (safe, but one phase leg)
HHN (unsafe, but two phase legs)
HHH (Three phases but totally useless without a neutral. Not to mention unsafe)
HHG (ahhh.. won't even go there.)
stonehedge99
Active Member
The distro box input from the power generation van is 64amps. I know this because the power van capacity is 60kv. And they bring their leads and connect it to a 10sqmm 5 core wire lead which has the other end as a 64amps power socket. This 64amps power socket then plugs into the rear of the distro. Then there are 6 nos of 32 amp sockets on the front of the distro to draw power from. Im assuming those are 5 pin sockets now because all my wiring which im sure of is 5 core cable. The plugs which hook into the 6 sockets have 4sqmm 5 core cable leading out of the plug. So i assume the sockets are all 5 pin
?The distro has 3 led type indicators, RGB or RGY one for each phase. Then there's a rotary switch to choose the phase. He said even if one phase of power failed. By rotating the rotary switch we could still run all the outlets from the available 2 phase.
Now that ive explained in detail to the best i could, how many 1000w pars can i put on each 32a socket ?
