Maker Pro
Maker Pro

System for switching circuits of high-wattage devices

D

DJ Craig

Jan 1, 1970
0
Forgive me if I've posted this message in the wrong group. I'm not
really sure where I should post this.

I'm a mobile DJ. I often DJ outside people's houses, or at hotels,
camp grounds, appartment blocks, churches, etc. These places usually
will let you draw about 2000 watts from one of their circuits before
you blow the circuit breaker. My equipment requires between 4000 and
5000 watts. The lighting effects, fog machine, etc, requires about
2000-2500 watts, and the audio equipment requires about 2000-2500
watts. I have about 1000 watts-worth of equipment that *must* remain
on througout the event, such as CD players, mixer, amp and speakers.
It is a nightmare trying to distribute my equipment across multiple
circuits so that I dont blow fuses, which I often do. It is not too
bad if the lights and fog machine turn off during an event, but it is
important that my audio equipment keeps running thoughout an event.

I thought that it may be possible to build a gadget that would hook
into 2 circuits, where i would plug my audio equipment into the
"reliable" plug, and the lighting into the "unreliable" plug. If
either of the two circuits blow, then the box would switch the audio
equipment over to the remaining circuit, and turn off the lighting.
Does such a gadget already exist, or would it be possible, and
practicle to build?

One issue is that if my CD players are turned off, even for an instant,
the music will stop and I have to re-cue the music. So a box that just
uses a relay to switch the circuits may not work. I'm not sure, but
the CD players may not be able to handle the delay caused by the relay.
Especially if the voltage from the circuit that is blowing fades
before it goes right out, creating even more delay and causing the CD
player's condensers to empty. Could it be done with a triac instead?
Would a triac be able to handle the high wattage?

Can anyone think of another solution to my problem? I always try my
best to hook into as many circuits as possible, and distribute my
equipment evenly, but I still have trouble.
 
V

Vidar Løkken

Jan 1, 1970
0
DJ said:
Forgive me if I've posted this message in the wrong group. I'm not
really sure where I should post this.

I'm a mobile DJ. I often DJ outside people's houses, or at hotels,
camp grounds, appartment blocks, churches, etc. These places usually
will let you draw about 2000 watts from one of their circuits before
you blow the circuit breaker. My equipment requires between 4000 and
5000 watts. The lighting effects, fog machine, etc, requires about
2000-2500 watts, and the audio equipment requires about 2000-2500
watts. I have about 1000 watts-worth of equipment that *must* remain
on througout the event, such as CD players, mixer, amp and speakers.
It is a nightmare trying to distribute my equipment across multiple
circuits so that I dont blow fuses, which I often do. It is not too
bad if the lights and fog machine turn off during an event, but it is
important that my audio equipment keeps running thoughout an event.

I thought that it may be possible to build a gadget that would hook
into 2 circuits, where i would plug my audio equipment into the
"reliable" plug, and the lighting into the "unreliable" plug. If
either of the two circuits blow, then the box would switch the audio
equipment over to the remaining circuit, and turn off the lighting.
Does such a gadget already exist, or would it be possible, and
practicle to build?

One issue is that if my CD players are turned off, even for an instant,
the music will stop and I have to re-cue the music. So a box that just
uses a relay to switch the circuits may not work. I'm not sure, but
the CD players may not be able to handle the delay caused by the relay.
Especially if the voltage from the circuit that is blowing fades
before it goes right out, creating even more delay and causing the CD
player's condensers to empty. Could it be done with a triac instead?
Would a triac be able to handle the high wattage?

Can anyone think of another solution to my problem? I always try my
best to hook into as many circuits as possible, and distribute my
equipment evenly, but I still have trouble.

If you where to design anything, I'd suggest ensuring that multiple
outlets was right regarding to hot/neutral, and connect all of them to
the input of a UPS. Some of APC's UPSes accept multiple inputs,but they
weigh above 100kg, and costs accordingly, but provides power for a while...
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
When schematics are shown in posts, I only see meaningless stuff

Set your newsreader to use a monospaced font (Courier)
or cut the text
and paste it into a text editor that uses a monospaced font.

Many folks add a note to the ASCII art specifying this.
 
R

redbelly

Jan 1, 1970
0
JeffM said:
Set your newsreader to use a monospaced font (Courier)
or cut the text
and paste it into a text editor that uses a monospaced font.

Many folks add a note to the ASCII art specifying this.

I think awright's problem is that multiple spaces are being truncated
to single space by some editor used by his newsgroup service. In that
case, switching to a fixed-space font won't solve the problem.

The only solution I can think of is for awright to use a different
service to access newsgroups.

Mark
 
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