Members Tomm Williams Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 Did a large outdoor event a couple of weeks ago on a football field. A/C was about 150' from me across part of the field. Past experience showed that this same area would see considerable foot traffic so I marked the cable with numerous orange cones along it's route.As the event unfolded through the night, those orange cones attracted kids like moths to lightbulbs. Instead of parents keeping the kids away, I actually watched parents "supervising" their kids while they ran around the cones, moved them, threw them at each other, etc........I had one paticular cone that marked the location where I had tied two 10ga. cables together. The cone sat directly upon the connectors to protect them from foot traffic. I watched one 4-5 year old kid remove this cone and start playing with the connectors while his mother was standing there watching!!!! I left the board and hustled over to this kid to stop him from going any further. I explained to his mom that she needed to find somewhere else for him to play.I ask myself, would this woman have permitted her child to play with an active extention cord in her own home? (maybe?) I'm working on a locking box as an answer to this issue as it seems to come up repeatedly. I really thought an average adult could see the potential danger here and do what parents should do. Darwin wasn't wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mkfs9 Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 Very important to minimise all risks and use correct equipment. Insurance is also a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 Never count on the intelligence of others. Stupidity of the masses constantly amazes me. The cones are an attractice nusiance, like owning a swimming pool. You would think having one with a fence around it would be enough, but if some kid climbs the fence when you aren't there, and drowns in your pool, it is still your liability.A lock box might work if you can build one right. My cords have all been made with twistlocks. It won't keep an adult from getting killed if they insist on trying to die, but it is too hard a connection for most kids to get apart easily. As tools evolve, so does stupidity. I don't think anything can be made that keeps people bent on dieing from being successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted June 21, 2013 Author Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 "As tools evolve so does stupidity" that is classic!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 One would think that an orange safety cone would have a universal meaning in the culture, but some people with kids lose IQ points for the duration, I guess.At wedding gigs, it's not just kids you have to watch out for, but drunks and the elderly (and sometimes elderly drunks). We carry some cable mats, but not enough for a 150 foot run. If I knew in advance I'd have to be that far from an outlet, I'd rent a generator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 There are devices designed to surround an Edison to Edison connection, that prevent pull-apart disconnection. One of those per connection, secured with a nylon cable tie, should keep all but the most detemined hands away. After that, lockout/tagout type devices are probably the next step. Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 Cable mats or yellow jackets are not suitable over grass, they will cause a trip hazard because the ends will not remain flat with relative movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 yea, that can be a pain in the ass. I've dug in cables before on many gigs. bike rack fences work. in some cases I just rent my own power if it seems unsafe, too far or too much hassle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toober Posted June 21, 2013 Members Share Posted June 21, 2013 agedhorse wrote: Cable mats or yellow jackets are not suitable over grass, they will cause a trip hazard because the ends will not remain flat with relative movement. I had not thought of that. Good point! What would be good to use on grass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted June 22, 2013 Members Share Posted June 22, 2013 Tomm Williams wrote: I ask myself, would this woman have permitted her child to play with an active extention cord in her own home? (maybe?) there's no qualification exam to have children, and idiots breed at a tremendous pace. it's no wonder the world is full of idiots because they just won't stop having kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted June 22, 2013 Members Share Posted June 22, 2013 I stencil the "electrical caution symbol" on my orange cones:http://www.123rf.com/photo_880332_electrical-hazard-warning-sign-with-symbol.html"That" seems to work: Folks and kids seem to universally give those cones a wide birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted June 22, 2013 Members Share Posted June 22, 2013 agedhorse wrote: Cable mats or yellow jackets are not suitable over grass, they will cause a trip hazard because the ends will not remain flat with relative movement. What is suitable? Get there early in the morning when the sprinklers are just shutting down and stomp your cabling into the pliable ground? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crownman Posted June 22, 2013 Members Share Posted June 22, 2013 Use metal cones and hook em together with an electric fence controller. Those little **** will only touch them once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted June 23, 2013 Members Share Posted June 23, 2013 this worked well. tons of 2 to 7 yo's all over. around 2800 no one touched a thing, and i have had serious issues with this event in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted June 23, 2013 Members Share Posted June 23, 2013 agedhorse wrote: Cable mats or yellow jackets are not suitable over grass, they will cause a trip hazard because the ends will not remain flat with relative movement. I've been thinking about this (while spending most of the day on a skidsteer loader yesterday). For the most part, I use cable covers (Yellow Jackets) in high traffic areas where the ground is fairly firm... basically those places where the ground isn't pliable. But, it comes up over and over that a fire marshall or similar will require I also cover the cables that will likely get promptly stomped into the muddy grass And yes, on soft ground, the joints of the cable covers is a problem... I've been gaff taping the joints to keep them from shifting. An idea I came up with is backing (underlaying) the cable covers with 3/8" plywood. My cable covers are only approx. 10" wide... so a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood would yield 32ft. of underlay. I could pin it down with fencing spikes... drill through the trough of the cable cover and plywood... stagger the joints of the plywood underlayment so those joints are off-set from the cable cover joints. Of-course, the ideal solution is to bury a run of 8" (or so) PVC pipe underground running from the stage to the mix position and fish the snake through the PVC with a rope... but.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted June 24, 2013 Author Members Share Posted June 24, 2013 But this wasn't an issue of the mixer or snake, it was main A/C. There is no closer outlet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted June 24, 2013 Members Share Posted June 24, 2013 What, you don't carry a pair of these? Awesome lightshow too ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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