Jivemaster Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 I have a Pulsar 18 x 5A dim pack. I want to fit it with connectors for mobile use doing one night stands. What input connector should I use? My first thought was 32A ceeform inlet but then if I am only supplied with single phase the neutral pin limits me to 32A total. Second thought was a soca two chans per phase and a soca lead to a ceeform plug -- Could this comply and be safe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmonk Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 I assume you are talking about using a 32A Three Phase connector in your second paragraph? And im not quite sure what you mean by the third paragraph im afraid. If you are planning on running three Dimmers, Racked up, then I would suggest they are individually fitted with a 32A SinglePhase Plug, then make or buy a small Distro with a 32A ThreePhase Plug to Three 32A SinglePhase Sockets (one per phase) fit box with breakers etc... This would also enable you to either run all your racks off 32A SinglePhase feeds if the venue has them, or the 32A ThreePhase, and if electricity is really sparse (have a 13A to 32A adaptor in your toolbox) then you can carefully connect them to 13A supplies (Carefully, as in watch your loading as you have 13A per rack) Hope this is along the lines of what your looking for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 10, 2004 Author Share Posted April 10, 2004 Its a single dimmer 18 chanels @ 5A if I fit it with a 32A 3ph ceeform inlet then it's fine on 3ph but on single phase the 32A Neutral pin limits me to 32A total current. I was thinking of using a 19 pin soca male as inlet connector, Chans 1 + 2 as Red, 3+4 as Yellow, 5+6 as Blue , and using 18 core to connect to ceeform. --- one lead to a three phase 5 pin. --- another lead to a single phase all Ls together all Ns together all Es together. Would it be easier to fit a 63A 5pin 3phase appliance inlet and make the leads to feed that from various supplies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Frazer Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Theres no point making it complicated. Just put on a 63A 3ph inlet an make up some adaptors. you could even run it off a 13A socket in the need arises. just be sure that the supply has the proper protection device and you don't exceed the maximum load for that supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Console Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Interesting one,I have to agree with Neil.I think you were trying to complicate things, as you have said, have one standard (not soca) input, and the rest are leads to suit. I must admit, most of my work is in venues with only 13A supplies, so I have 6 channel dimmers wired to 13A as it is easier to have lots of single phase dimmers than wire up one large three phase one. This means you can have more lights as the channel to power ratio is larger, ie 3 x 1KW = 3 lost channels for a 6 channel pack verses 15 lost for the Pulsar. All in my humble opinion of course! My question is, if the three phase dimmer is expecting proper 120 degree three phase, how does it react to 3 sets of the same phase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Frazer Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Good point, although most dimmers take their control supply from the red phase and then feed a single phase to each of the dimmer circuits, be it R,Y or B. effectivly they are seperate dimmers within a single box. So connecting to a single phase supply just means that each dimmer circuit gets the same phase. I do this all the time with Digi 6 racks and have no trouble what so ever. If in doubt phone pulsar and ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lampieman Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 I brought a Pulsar Datapack and its the same spec as Jivemasters, came from same deal, I am not however looking to get rid, as I decided to do anything with it it will take time and money also is very inconveniant. I am more leaning towards getting 6ch packs and racking them proper. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Don't Stage Electrics use some kind of 9-pin connector for power input on portable 6-way packs with adaptors for 63A or 32A or 13A single phase or 16A or 32A 3-phase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Frazer Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Almost. They use an 82A connector that is similar in construction to a leci but has 4 pins and is earthed through the shell. They then supply a variety of adaptors as you say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Console Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 ...although most dimmers take their control supply from the red phase and then feed a single phase to each of the dimmer circuits, be it R,Y or B. effectivly they are seperate dimmers within a single box.... I see it all now! I am still trying to get a Betapack2 to behave itself, and there are sync circuits for each of the incoming phases, but I didn't put two and two together that you could run from the same phase but wire for three phase. It's how they work! Blast. Wait one, what if you had three 13A plugs, only plugged one in, would the others have some voltage at the end? Sorry, its been a busy day..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 10, 2004 Author Share Posted April 10, 2004 Thank you all Pulsar do specifically approve this unit for single phase use also three phase star (and delta). I plan to fit a 63A 3ph 5pin appliance inlet and create some leads from single ph connectors. Yes I'm often limited to 13A but several venues I play often have big ceeform. One 300 seat banquetting room has 125A 3ph either side of the stage and anotherat the rear of the table space. I shall use 500W pars mostly so 13a is about 6 anyway or more if I keep the master fader down. Anyone offer me a source of a ammeter reading to 60ish amps mains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 Light Console, Wait one, what if you had three 13A plugs, only plugged one in, would the others have some voltage at the end? From my understanding of three phase it would depend, in theory if you loaded all the phases perfectly equally then isn't the neutral unloaded so hence it would be safe. However this is very unlikely, and if they are unequally loaded then the neutral would be carrying the return so the neutrals of all the 13a plugs would be live (or should that be neutral ). So it would not be safe. However, a friend of mine hired from a company an adaptor that had 2 13a plugs to one 32a socket with lots of clever gubbins to only switch on when the 2 plugs were both plugged in. I don't know quite how it worked but I presume it could do some sort of test to ensure earth was there for each plug, or maybe a pair of relays, anyway I could try and get more information on this if you are interested. Finally, another thing to bear in mind is what fuse the ring main has for the building. Most houses only have a 20 amp ring main, obviously this may be more in a hall depending on where you use it. And you must of course watch out for kettles/tea urns as these can draw a few kw and you don't really want the stage plunged into darkness five minutes before the interval when catering people start making the teas. Anyway I hope this is of use, apologies for the length of the post and please step in and correct me if I have said anything stupid. PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 another thing to bear in mind is what fuse the ring main has for the building. Most houses only have a 20 amp ring main,erm its a 30A fuse for sockets on a ring final circuit ,and isnt a ring main an 11kv circuit for feeding transformers ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 erm its a 30A fuse for socketsIndeed, you are correct, what can I say, its been a long day, however the warning of loading would still be valid for the three 13a plugs, unless you plug some of them into a separately fused one. ring final circuit ,and isnt a ring main an 11kv circuit for feeding transformers If you say so, you learn something new everyday. I had always heard it called a ring main, but I am sure your name for it is more technically correct as opposed to just a slang name for it, a bit like the old bulb or lamp debate. PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Console Posted April 11, 2004 Share Posted April 11, 2004 ...2 13a plugs to one 32a socket with lots of clever gubbins to only switch on when the 2 plugs were both plugged in. I don't know quite how it worked but I presume it could do some sort of test to ensure earth was there for each plug, or maybe a pair of relays, anyway I could try and get more information on this if you are interested....I was interested in making such a unit a few years ago. I assumed that it was possible with two mains relays or contactors, but was put off by the high price. I thought that if you connected the NO outputs together, only the plug that was plugged in would be live, as the coil would only work if that plug was powered. The other plug would remain dead until it was plugged in. ooh my head hurts now! Yippee my 100th post :D and I gain a blue block and Fast Talker :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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