A reminder

maltingsaudio

Did a four band show on saturday, a combination of my equipment and the clubs equipment. I know mine is all regularly checked and tested as is the clubs but at the end of the first bands sound check they complained of getting shocks through the mics. Quick investigation found that they had plugged in their own extension which when I tested it with my mains tester which  proved the their extension had an earth fault. Binned it and all was good.

For the price of a packet of strings please buy one and use it!

 

gusman2x

Yeah our rehearsal room is terrible for this.

ICBM

Many years ago I was doing sound for a local band, and about halfway through the set, all the amps on one side of the stage cut out. Their guitarist nonchalantly walked over to the extension cable, kicked it, and everything came back on again.

Having seen that he knew what was the cause, I realised it must have been faulty for some time. At the set break I removed the extension lead and cut the plug off… they weren't too happy about that until I asked whether they liked the idea of being in the news for dying by electrocution on stage.

In the event it wasn't *really* that dangerous - just a loose connection, which was easily fixed - and the plug refitted, but also done properly this time… but their attitude to it made me wonder how dim some people can be, when they had no idea whether it was a serious fault or not.

Strat_a_tat_tat

ICBM said:

… but their attitude to it made me wonder how dim some people can be, when they had no idea whether it was a serious fault or not.

It's just Darwinian natural selection doing its thing.

midlifecrisis

ive been guilty of that sort of behavior in the past. There is much ignorance and there seems to be not much clear information for those of those who dont fully understand the magic of this electrickery thing. perhaps it would be useful if the experts among the forum could put together some safety tips/advice regarding what testing equipment and how to use it in these situations. i know it might be regarded as common sense but a lot of it isnt.

thecolourbox

midlifecrisis said:

ive been guilty of that sort of behavior in the past. There is much ignorance and there seems to be not much clear information for those of those who dont fully understand the magic of this electrickery thing. perhaps it would be useful if the experts among the forum could put together some safety tips/advice regarding what testing equipment and how to use it in these situations. i know it might be regarded as common sense but a lot of it isnt.

I know what you mean but if your amps all go off and kicking an extension lead fixes it, then surely everybody should be aware that the extension lead is not good?

EricTheWeary

I was thinking about this Discussion last night. I went to the rehearsal rooms last night for the first time in ages and one of the other bands were borrowing an extension lead from the guy behind the desk. Inches of exposed insulated wire,  very dodgy looking. Made me wonder how hot on electrical safety they are there