benweblight Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 hi, im thinking about getting a patch panel for my dimmers does anyone on here know of or is someone who does thease? how much is the cost likely to be on top of materials? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.T.S Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 What patch? IEC, 15A, 16A? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benweblight Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 iec probably Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben.suffolk Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I made my own 19" rack mount IEC one using the MSB parts that CPC sell. (Made by penn fabrication). Basically you end with 40 IEC sockets in 4U of space. I then made one with 40 IEC plugs on it to connect to my lighting points and use IEC extension cables (which are much cheaper in Farnell than CPC) to patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Is this for installed dimmers or a touring rack?Powercon is good for touring racks as the leads don't fall out or get accidentally pulled out, also you can use standard 19" universal panels to make the patch, rather than punching lots of holes for IECs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 What about those things that Avo use? Something like Weyland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 They are Wieland ST17/2 connectors that Avo use, we also have some custom patches which we have manufactured which use them. However no one sells them in this country really. We ended up dealing direct with manufacturer but there is a minimum order quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benweblight Posted February 21, 2005 Author Share Posted February 21, 2005 a touring rack probably, im not familiar with that connector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Andolite do a range of patch panels that use the weiland connectors. I think you'll find the weiland more compact than the powercons, and possibly cheaper? I've personally not had problems with weilands falling out in transit, although I've only ever used them in touring racks where the patch was at the top of the rack - all-be-it a rack that would get tipped for transit. Would be interested to hear someone elses opinion of that (perhaps you need a tight fitting flight case lid to hold them in. Something else you may want to look into, If you ever go down the route of ACL bars, some people run them on 120V, so with a suitbable patch panel and dimmers you can use bridging plugs to pull either 120V or 240V. Sounds a bit wierd and scarey if you've not done it before but I know few people that do it in Rock and Roll. Again if you interested there's bound to be someone out there with more experience you can talk to. T.D. P.S. I don't know anyone using IEC's for patches (although I think I saw some in college once). Dont' IEC's usually have a 6amp rating. I know some do so you might want to check. Kettle leads use special versions of IEC's with a little knockout to limit what can be plugged in with their leads. Oh and (hopping on my horse) avoid 15A if you can, they're not clever, they're barely legal and their time really is nigh.... honestly.... it is. Please. (T.D. hides behind his crucifix) - sorry all you lovies out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Tovey Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 iirc, IECs are rated at 10A - if it was 6A then many kettles wouldn't be able to use them! You're the wrong way round with the kettle leads. The plugs with the notches (used for kettles and lanterns) are hot IECs - so called as they have a higher temperature rating and thus can be used with equipment that runs hot. Hot IEC plugs will mate with any female IEC inlet. However cold IEC plugs (without the notch) won't mate with a hot IEC socket (so you can't use a computer power lead in your kettle). 15A might not be the best choice for a patch panel (particularly a touring one), but the comment that they're 'barely legal' is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 IECs come in a range of ratings, and they're not keyed, watch out, some are 6a, some 10a and I'd swear I've seen a 16a. Wieland patches are nice and small, and rated at 16a. The cables are by far the most difficult to source or make though. They are only two pole connectors, so you can't make jumper cables straight out of the patch, which can be a pain in the... Powercons look like a good option too, 20amp rated. Extremely unlikely to depatch themselves during transit. One quite large downside is that they are quite large, by patch standards, and I imagine to be able to undo the locking 'thingy' easily would need a fair bit of space between rows of the patch. I've not seen powercons used as densely as in a patch, so I don't know for sure. Powercons can't be joined lead to lead without a coupler either. :) As has been mentioned, 110v series splits can be useful for patching in ACLs. Edit - Having just read the end of the other post, (its just my opinion, but..) don't even think about using 15a or 16a for a patch on a touring rack out to multicores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Whichever connectors you decide to use, consider if you will need to hot-patch or not. Hotpatching referring to connecting up the patch panel when it has AC running thru it. At a nearby sound/lighting tertiary place I took a look at recently, they have 20A dimmers, with a Powercon patch, but if they hotpatch they take out the dimmer's breaker and possibly the plug/socket. Otherwise a neat and tidy system. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 For a touring rack, go for the weiland as 1st choice, 10A IEC (if that suits your dimmers) second. If you use Powercon, I don't think you'll get the density and they are quite expensive. That said, I've never priced weilands. On the "Hot Patch" question, I'd assumed it was called this to differentiate it from "Soft Patch"; a few years ago ALL patching was done at the dimmers, so only one word was needed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 On the "Hot Patch" question, I'd assumed it was called this to differentiate it from "Soft Patch"; a few years ago ALL patching was done at the dimmers, so only one word was needed!<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I've always heard it as "Hard patch" I.e plugs and sockets physically at the dimmers, and "Soft patch" at the console.David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The Andolite units use the larger ST18/3 connector which is a three pole connector which takes up a little more space. As mentioned above getting hold of the parts is quite difficult. I would highly recommend the Wieland connectors in either format, they are durablem, reliable and compact. We have had no problems with any of the racks with them on. We also have IEC patches on some of our 6 & 12 way racks, and for this number of channels the size of the connector isn't really a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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