Power Consumption Advice Please

[MirageTool]

Hi again everyone,

Could someone please advise if I am ok to power 4 x 300watt Par 56's using a Chauvet PC08 switch bank ?

I am using this for lighting a small local band on stage, I intend to use 10 x powered Led Par 64's to colour was the stage and the 4 par 56's to light the singer possibly with a yellow filter, all 4 cans will be powered through the show so will pos be on for 1.5 hours constantly.

 

Also is a yellow filter the best for lighting the singer or could you suggest another colour that would work better ?

 

Cheers

 

Phil.

[pete LD]

Hi again everyone,

Could

 

I would say no.....

But now there is a question to answer then yes you can do that!

Yellow is a nasty colour, I would use a rose tint or light straw or just open white?

[gyro_gearloose]

Oh I dont know. Sounds like it might.

 

Edited now you've amended your post : 4 x 300W is 1200W total so it should be fine. I wouldn't personally use just yellow to light anyone. You could try a mix of open white, pale pink/blue, or anything you like really. I think the best advice anyone can give is to just get some different coloured gels and have a play with them. Also try lighting from different directions if you can.

[MirageTool]

sorry clicked send before I had finished

Post now edited

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[GridGirl]

I don't know the switch bank in question, but assuming it's rated to 10 amps, then yes, you can power 4 Par56s off it. Watts / volts = amps, so 1200w / 240v = 5A which means you're fine. Personally I wouldn't use a yellow gel to light a singer, if you're not careful with yellow it can do funny things to skin tone and make people look odd. I'd be going for a straw or perhaps something in the L152 kind of look which is more gold than yellow.

[MirageTool]

Cheers for the advice,

 

Can anyone tell me where to get the coloured gels, is there a specialist internet sight I can get most of the colour spectrum from.

 

In the past I have used the cheap filters but when they are left on for a while they seem to burn through making a hole in the filter, I would rather spend a bit more on good quality gels.

 

Cheers

 

Phil.

[Smiley]

All filters will show signs of deterioration when subjected to high temperatures for prolonged periods as you intend. You can reduce this by putting lots of tiny pin pricks all over the gel. Using a dimmer with your 300w pars would be a good idea as you can reduce the power a bit & lamps last longer due to a soft start on the filament. As for gel supply, a web search should come up with suppliers. Go for Rosco or Lee. These are good quality and most suppliers have it in stock.

[Just Some Bloke]

We're all assuming the singer is white. If (s)he is particularly black then a bit of yellow could actually look rather good. But yes, for white skin then stay well clear of yellow and green. White would be better.

 

On the subject of burning holes in gel then the darker the colour, the quicker they'll burn through. If you use straw, pale pink or pale lavender (standard skin-tone colours) you shouldn't have any trouble. Personally, I'd never put holes in gel as the colour will start to get less saturated. Just expect to have to replace the gel every so often. It's not expensive. We have company reps here from both Kave and 10 out of 10 both of whom will be happy to send you a sheet or two of gel.

[JDLX]

The lee website has a complete colour listing as well as suggestions for colour use (somewhere, having problems finding it).

 

What kind of singer is it? Perhaps we could offer some suggestions.

 

http://www.leefilters.com

[MirageTool]

Hi guys,

The singer is white the band does mainly motown covers rock n roll etc, the rest of the band consists of a drummer a lead guitar a bass guitar and a keyboard player who also sings a few songs per set.

 

the keyboard player and lead singer are also in a duo together their website is www.thenewchevrons.piczo.com

If you take a look on the site im sure there is a photo of the band who go under the name of cj gibson and the shagabons.

 

Also the link below is a photo of when I worked with the duo last year, all I had to light them was a few led cans and I dont think they were very well lit at all to be honest.

 

http://s451.photobucket.com/albums/qq232/M...rent=Uttox3.jpg

 

This time I have 10 led cans and 4 par 56's to light the area.

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Phil.

[musht]

Try and get your PAR 56s high and to the front or at least side, perhaps even a warm and cool pairing if they`re switchable.

 

Backlight, makes the act stand out from the background, you already have the moonflowers for a bit of beam action, LED PARs could give you a bit of the R`n`R bars of pars look at back facing out to audience, possibly bit of diffusion gel on the front, colour wash on your backdrop as well from floor and light enough to load on same stands as `56s for some front colour fill.

 

Look for a theatre lighting suppliers rather than disco suppliers for gel, it comes in sheets rather than little precut bits and costs a lot less.

 

Sure somone here can suggest someone local to you in Staffordshire that stocks Lee or Rosco and could give you a swatchbook.

[MirageTool]

Thanks for all the replies guys,

The next gig is tomorrow so I will post a couple of photos of the outcome.

 

I wont have the gels by then so I guess I will use the 10 x Led cans and hopefully get by, I recon I will put 4 on the back/uplighting and then 4 spread over the whole band to light them and then the other 2 on the singer set either on white or another nice soft colour ie rose, thats if I can set the cans to that using rgb values............. 255, 204, 204 or something like that.

 

I will have to play.

 

Cheers again

 

Phil

[bjkered]

I don't know the switch bank in question, but assuming it's rated to 10 amps, then yes, you can power 4 Par56s off it. Watts / volts = amps, so 1200w / 240v = 5A which means you're fine. Personally I wouldn't use a yellow gel to light a singer, if you're not careful with yellow it can do funny things to skin tone and make people look odd. I'd be going for a straw or perhaps something in the L152 kind of look which is more gold than yellow.

 

 

I have to Be pedantict about this, but if people dont read the specificaton on the Switch bank then I do not know how any one can say "YES" to running 1200W through it . This does not include the LED pars which will have some current draw . Again you need to know that if, you are putting the LED through the switch bank. You have not said if they are going through the Switch Bank.

 

Find out the specs of the bank and then the maths and configuration of Lamps will make the decision for you

[MirageTool]

Hi Bjkered

Here are the specifications I have found on the net for the switch bank

 

Description

PC-08

FEATURES

# 8 switches, 15 amps

# All switches independently controlled and grounded

# 1 rack space

SPECIFICATIONS

# Output (110V): 15A (1,650W)per channel, 15A (1,650W) max.

# Output (230V): 10A (2,300W) per channel, 10A (2,300W) max.

# Power: 110V/230V

 

What confuses me is that these specs state that the unit output on 230v is 2,300w per channel and also 2,300w max which I take to be max output over the whole unit of 8 channels.

 

breaking this down to be under 300w per channel, 2300 / 8 = 287.5 but because im only using 4 of the 8 channels does that mean I can run 2300 / 4 = 575 on each of the 4 channels or am I being totally stupid ?

 

 

I will not be powering the led cans from this unit it will be only for the 4 par 56's

 

 

I really do appreciate your help guys, sorry for being a pain........

 

Phil

[paulears]

It's a very confused spec on this product.

* 19' rack mount power distributor

* Features: 8 illuminated switches, 8 IEC outlets on the rear and a 13amp resetable circuit breaker

* 8 IEC Plugs included

* Max Load: 15amps (1700 watts)

* Power Input: 240V 50Hz

Plenty wrong with this spec. 15 Amp maximum load isn't 1700Watts?

It can't have a 15A max load if it has a 13A breaker.

 

However, from the pictures, you can work out much of this for yourself. Collecting all the specs from the many identical units on the market, the IECs appear to be 10A sockets. The switches are also very similar to standard 10A designs. The conclusion is that the unit is limited to a total of just over 3KW by virtue of the "resettable breaker", you can then use the available output channels subject to the maximum the connectors can take, so just over 2K. It seems designed to switch much lighter loads - so 8 PAR56s aren't going to be a problem. There's nothing much to these things really, apart from convenience. You could make something similar from bits from B&Q, but it would cost more than these just for the parts.