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Thread: Electrical Help Please!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    39

    Default Electrical Help Please!

    Right now for our show we are using 5 - 750 watt strobes. We really like to use the blinder effect and that definitely means that you cannot put more than one on a 20amp breaker. We usually have to tie in using either bare wire or cams.

    My questions are:

    1. Are we missing something? Is there some other way to run these lights or do you pretty much have to do it the way we are. We are using a 200 amp distro and use it for are whole lighting rig. Sorry if this is a stupid question my forte is programming rather than electrical....I only know enough to make it work.

    2. I really want to use more powerful strobe such as the Martin Atomic 3000. They run on 220 volts. Right now we are running single phase and wired up for 110. Is there a way that we can use some sort of a step converter to make this work?

    Any advice will be extremely helpful. Our show is getting bigger and is commonly too powerful for some venues we play at. We are in that zone of playing a lot of gigs but the venues are not always large and ready for us; recently we had to have a work site generator rented. I just want to make sure we aren't overlooking something we could do to make this a less painful process.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    39

    Default

    Okay, so I somehow finally stumbled across some info. I think I need a new power distro that is 100 amp 3 phase to 120/208v edison. I wonder if you can only select 120 or 208 for all outlets or for each pair. If anyone has some info on how to get one of these at the cheapest price that would be great. Or if you have any other suggestions I'm all ears.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Bedfordshire, UK
    Posts
    603

    Default

    Hey there Mikey.

    Just FYI, the Martin atomic strobe is 'auto ranging' so will work on any voltage (single phase) from 100v-240v.

    Should mean you don't need to do anything too dodgy power supply wise to upgrade your strobes.

    If you really need to save on your power consumption, try looking at LED blinders/strobes. There's some pretty good ones around now... admittedly, not as good at the Atomic, but they won't be sucking any where near as much electrikery as an Atomic either )

    By the way, each Atomic is best run off it's own breaker... over here we use 16A breaker for each strobe (as we run on 240v) so that would mean (if I've got my maths right) that you'd need something like a 32A breaker for each strobe...

    Admittedly, the Atomics are dimmable, but I really don't see the need for anything this powerful in any venue under 1000 capacity... And I'd have hoped you should have a decent power hook-up in venues that size )

    Hope that's helpful, but it's early in the day here (and I've not had my second cup of tea yet) so it might not be...
    If in doubt... Give it a clout?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    39

    Default

    Thanks for the help Wookie. I saw that the Martin Atomic had an auto ranging power supply, but I also read that if you use under 205v you have to install a different bulb. I did just buy 4 really bright LED panels that can be used for some blinding/strobing effects and save on power.

    As far as the Martin Atomic not being necessary in a smaller venue.....I agree. However, when I went and watched Ghostland Observatory at a venue that holds around 2000 people I talked to the guys from Lightwave International and they said they were using over 40 watts of laser haha. My point being, if you have the power and the fixture the crowd will like the added insanity......keeping safety in mind of course. And yes, every venue we have been to that holds over 1000 has had the drops to accomodate our power needs.

    Back to the science of electricity of which I know very little. I read that 120v and 208v are highly related in many applications and that it is commonly used in households. Supposedly if you hook up to 3 phase power with 2 hots, a neutral and a ground you receive single phase. I read somewhere that if you simply wire in some breakers using only the 2 hots and ground it is something like partial phase 208v......I don't know it's all over my head. If you can confirm that you have heard something like this it would be nice. I could then have my electrician wire our distro a little differently and run each atomic on a smaller breaker.

    I really do appreciate your help.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    89

    Default

    For 3-phase power, you usually have three hots (phases A, B, C), a neutral, and a ground (5 wires). In the US, 120V is the nominal line-to-neutral voltage and 208V is the nominal line-to-line voltage. 3-phase distros can have 120V or 208V output because those voltages are available from the building power system. Most of the time you'd have a bunch of 120V outlets, possibly some 208V outlets, and maybe some 5-wire outlets to feed downstream distros (spider boxes). The 120V and 208V outlets would definitely have different plugs on them if its a commercial (UL listed) distro. I'm not sure about what lights have universal voltage input, but its getting pretty common for audio amplifiers. Since the amps are constant power devices, a higher voltage feed to the amp means less current draw, which means smaller wires are required and you can get more amplifier power for each breaker.

    Motion Labs makes really good distros.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    39

    Default

    Yep you are right it is 5 wires for 3 phase. We are running single phase with 4 wires. So I guess the solution needs to be a 3 phase 5 wire distro that then has some outlets with 120 and some with 208. We are not using a commercial distro we are using one that was built by a certified electrician in our area.

    The only lights we want to run on voltage higher than 120 is the strobes and Martin Atomics have an autoranging power supply that will automatically adjust. If you use less than 205v though you have to install the other bulb that Martin sells.

    Thanks for your help.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    8

    Default

    im new here
    just have a look and get some knowledge..

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