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Power help?


davilbac

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Theatre lighting in the UK often uses 15A plugs like this

http://cpc.farnell.com/productimages/standard/en_GB/42262280.jpg

I am not sure why, back in the 1950's this used to be the standard plug used in house electrics so maybe it is a hangover from them.

The advantage now is that it stops people plugging normal things into dimmer outlets, which could damage the dimmer and the thing you plugged in.

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The advantage now is that it stops people plugging normal things into dimmer outlets

And there are no fuses in inconvenient places. If you go back far enough, lighting also used 5A fuses for sub-kilowatt lanterns. This was a PITA as you needed bucket loads of 15 - 5 adaptors.
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If you go back far enough, lighting also used 5A fuses for sub-kilowatt lanterns. This was a PITA as you needed bucket loads of 15 - 5 adaptors.

 

5A plugs you mean. Indeed my school was kitted out with a mixture of 5A and 15A sockets on the installed circuits. And the lanterns had a mixture of 5A and 15A plugs.

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The idea behind schools limiting lantern power through use of only 5A made sense back in the day to reduce hazard levels. Greg of R&G (now MDR) in the Forest of Dean must have kitted out hundreds of school theatre rigs right across the UK with nothing but 5A kit. I suspect that it was once a D of E specification or recommendation.
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Yeah, I was handed a couple of lanterns at the weekend that had come out of a school. Still with 5amp plugs on them. They're relatively recent models (Selecon Acclaim) but presumably had been added to an existing installation. There's probably a "chicken and egg" scenario where new installations still have 5amp outlets available because that's what's on the lantern stock.
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Yeah, I was handed a couple of lanterns at the weekend that had come out of a school. Still with 5amp plugs on them. They're relatively recent models (Selecon Acclaim) but presumably had been added to an existing installation. There's probably a "chicken and egg" scenario where new installations still have 5amp outlets available because that's what's on the lantern stock.

 

The problem is usually that old installations with 5A plugs only have 5A wiring so you can't just change the plugs and sockets.

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"Stage lighting" covers a multitude of sins.... You might find various flavours of "IEC" connector, 15A, 16A and Powercon in use, and possibly American 110V two pin (perhaps a bit naughty) and Wieland mains patch leads...

 

...in the UK - the original poster does not say where he is from so it could be anywhere in the world, which makes the possibilites somewhat wider.

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