Theatre issue : Just about anything plugged into the 16amps trips the supply

[LukeD]

And the theatre claim its not their issue !

Ok..This is what Ive been told

1.Small production. Lighting etc etc all hired from a respected company who test better than most .

2. The production electrician has played around with different options to see if there could be a issue with rented gear .

3. Rental company sent out their guy who tried a few set ups and tested and all was fine "His end" but the supply would trip now and then.

4. Basic testing shows Earth leak ON supply . But , Theatre dispute this and have asked for a "Domestic electrician" to pop around and do a report.

5. The requirement for a "Domestic electrician " is a bit odd ! Secondly , I dont know what the regs are about a business having to test their supplies before handing over to an Events company etc ???? . Would it be a case of it has to be done and signed off before each "hand over "



I aint touching it with a barge pole .The chances of them claiming a 3 rd party has caused a issue and them wanting to take legal action is too scary !

 

[pc1966]

Sounds a bit like a N-E fault somewhere, or some Muppet has swapped N & E at the socket.

If needed get a basic 2-3kW heater on a 16A plug, IR test it and then try it. If it trips then the supply is clearly faulty!

 

[brianmoooore]

Trips the supply? What trips?

 

[pc1966]

Trips the supply? What trips?

Good question!

I had assumed an RCD/RCBO but that might not be quite right.

 

[davesparks]

I aint touching it with a barge pole.

I'm sure you probably can't answer here but I'm curious which theatre and which prod LX it might be.

90% of my work is west end theatres so feel free to send it my way if you don't want it.

 

[davesparks]

4. Basic testing shows Earth leak ON supply . But , Theatre dispute this and have asked for a "Domestic electrician" to pop around and do a report.

5. The requirement for a "Domestic electrician " is a bit odd ! Secondly , I dont know what the regs are about a business having to test their supplies before handing over to an Events company etc ???? . Would it be a case of it has to be done and signed off before each "hand over "

The request for a domestic electrician is probably just the theatre management's way of describing an electrician in the sense we understand it rather than a stage lighting technician.

In theory the theatre will have the production power supplies, including dimmers etc, tested on a regular basis and keep them maintained in working order.
And the production would inspect and test their rig to BS7909 and sign that off, having it re-tested as required on longer running productions.

In reality anything can happen.

 

[LukeD]

I'm sure you probably can't answer here but I'm curious which theatre and which prod LX it might be.

90% of my work is west end theatres so feel free to send it my way if you don't want it.

Chatting to her now !

Good question!

I had assumed an RCD/RCBO but that might not be quite right.

RCD/RCBO .

 

[brianmoooore]

RCD/RCBO .

Almost certainly an earth - neutral fault then.

 

[Arundel/Lx]

And the theatre claim its not their issue !

Ok..This is what Ive been told

1.Small production. Lighting etc etc all hired from a respected company who test better than most .

2. The production electrician has played around with different options to see if there could be a issue with rented gear .

3. Rental company sent out their guy who tried a few set ups and tested and all was fine "His end" but the supply would trip now and then.

4. Basic testing shows Earth leak ON supply . But , Theatre dispute this and have asked for a "Domestic electrician" to pop around and do a report.

5. The requirement for a "Domestic electrician " is a bit odd ! Secondly , I dont know what the regs are about a business having to test their supplies before handing over to an Events company etc ???? . Would it be a case of it has to be done and signed off before each "hand over "



I aint touching it with a barge pole .The chances of them claiming a 3 rd party has caused a issue and them wanting to take legal action is too scary !

Are the lx units DMX? If so they almost certainly have mains input filter caps which, if there’s enough of them will cause an earth leakage trip via the RCD. A number of venues have a selectable RCD to cater for high leakage units. While each unit may not have much leakage, a large number obviously add up.