Members stratotastic Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 We're playing this place on Saturday night for the first time and have heard that the place has pretty bad wiring. Supposedly most of the sound guys that go in there plug directly into the wall box (below) for clean power. Does anybody have any experience doing this and know what we would need? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MJastrzebski Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 If you have to ask this question, DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING NEAR THAT BOX! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 If you have to ask this question, DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING NEAR THAT BOX! ^^^^ What he said !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Thanks, I appreciate the concern. I know electricity is dangerous and can kill you. Does anybody know how to plug into this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MJastrzebski Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Nobody is going to answer your question. Just too much liability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 You would have better luck posting this in the live sound forum. That being said I doubt anyone will try and talk you through it. I believe you would need a distro and a licensed electrician Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Okay thanks. I got it. I will leave it alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wardjames Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Just seeing that reminds me of the time I was trying to change the fuse in my tube amp and accidently touched a capacitator. NOT FUN! I imagine that wall is like the tube amp times 1000. That's when I realized since I know nothing about electricity its better to let pros handle these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Austincowbell Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 they key is to soak your hands with water before going near the box. Water serves as an insulator and will protect you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 When i was young I owned a insulation company and had to jump direct into these boxes every day. Its not hard , but you have to know what you are doing. Mods suggestion of getting a electrician is a good one. He can fix you up with a way to do it and be safe. Its somthing you can do yourself , but its not somthing you can do without some training and the proper set up to hook in. and yes I did make sparks fly a couple of times hookin in direct. Never got bit doing it though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Yeah, we're not gonna {censored} with it. The sound guy we're using doesn't know about this type of setup so I was just trying to get info for him if it wasn't too difficult to pull off. We'll just run a few extension extra cords from the pizza shop next door if needed, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members n9ne Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 You would have better luck posting this in the live sound forum. That being said I doubt anyone will try and talk you through it. I believe you would need a distro and a licensed electrician This. Personally, I know almost nothing about electricity. However, one of my old bands used to run everything off a distro, and I know enough to know this much: if you don't understand a distro, what it does, and how to build one yourself, then you have no business messing with this stuff. Sure, you might get lucky and achieve the result you're hoping for....but you're far more likely to either kill/injure yourself, fry your entire P.A., and/or burn down the building. Is this gig important enough to justify hiring a qualified electrician to hook it up? If not, then don't worry about it, and just plug into whatever is available (From the sound of it, it appears bands have had power-related issues in the past, and I'm sure the club knows about the problem.... but apparently they don't think it's important enough to do anything about it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 they key is to soak your hands with water before going near the box. Water serves as an insulator and will protect you. And make sure you ground yourself by holding onto a nearby metal pipe or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 And make sure you ground yourself by holding onto a nearby metal pipe or something. Yeah. I'll hold a metal tank full of gas in my other hand just to be safe, and since my hands will be full, I'll hook up the wires with my teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Yeah. I'll hold a metal tank full of gas in my other hand just to be safe, and since my hands will be full, I'll hook up the wires with my teeth. Just don't mix the gas and the water. That could be dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnMCA72 Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 If you know one thing about electricity, it should be this: The phone number of a licensed electrician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RupertB Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 I don't play places with {censored}ty wiring or bad ground. I've been smacked in the mouth with 120v one too many times. I keep a ground checker in my bag and check every new venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goosefartfan Posted May 9, 2011 Members Share Posted May 9, 2011 I don't play places with {censored}ty wiring or bad ground. I keep a ground checker in my bag and check every new venue. helluva good idea. BTW, isn't the electricity the responsibility of the club??????? Why should you have to pay for an electrician to wire up his place so that bands can play there??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2011 We plugged into the regular outlets and everything was fine. Much to do about nothing. And we rocked a house packed with young hotties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members karlw Posted May 9, 2011 Members Share Posted May 9, 2011 We plugged into the regular outlets and everything was fine. Much to do about nothing. And we rocked a house packed with young hotties. Now you're talking! When I toured regularly in the mid '90s, we tied in hot to distro boxes on a fairly routine basis. We had the tools and experience to do so, and we were ready for any problems. Two-man team (me and our systems guy) and one of the two was always ready with a 2x4 to knock the other guy away from the box if anything went wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RupertB Posted May 10, 2011 Members Share Posted May 10, 2011 helluva good idea. BTW, isn't the electricity the responsibility of the club??????? Why should you have to pay for an electrician to wire up his place so that bands can play there??? Yes, it is the venue's responsibility. I wouldn't think of paying an electrician to fix a place's wiring any more than I'd pay to fix their plumbing. How some of these places get their C.O. is beyond me. Improper wiring isn't just a buzzy PITA, it is dangerous. I've only found bad ground wiring in a couple of places. In both instances, we were able to run an extension cord to an area of the venue that had properly wired receptacles (the last time, that was in the kitchen ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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