P.A.T testing disco equipment

[miner69er]

hi everyone
i have to pat test some disco equipment tomorrow, amps lighting etc. any general advice or things to look for on this type of stuff ? . never been asked to do disco equipment before

 

[rocker]

A lot of the older style portable disco lighting uses an 8 pin + pole plug, I think it's called a bulgin plug. These can be wired in really weird ways, sometimes the central pole is a permanent line, some of the outer pins returns and one of them a possible earth, some use the centre pole as an earth, and some don't have any earth at all. I haven't ever tested one and the more I think about it, the more I wonder how you'd do it. Probably look inside the plug and try and determine if there's any CPCs from there.

 

[Knobhead]

Some modern stuff is WiFi. Checking the mains leads is about all you can do other than a visual on the equipment.

 

[nickblake]

Love it rocker your right the good old bulgin plugs brill center pin should be the earth and pin 123456 are the switched lives and pin 7 is the neutral pin 8 one in the middle is the earth ,biggest problem you have with them is the fact the cable clamps are either broken or missing if theis is the case its a fail im affraid ,most of the gear should be straight forward earth bond IR but if you have any intelligent lighting ? DMX style always test as if its IT equipment as they can contain Processors that can be damages ,check all the leads with a fine tooth comb because the wear and tear on them is quite hard , even speaker cables should be in a good condition as some of the bigger amps use a + and - 120 V PSU so you can get 230 volts DC on heavy load ( set fire to a few speaker cables in my Roadie days )
just basically treat as any other appliance

 

[russty]

Just make sure that you flash test everything!!

 

[Liberator]

Just make sure that you flash test everything!!

Lol, bloody hell don't forget your gauntlets and fire extinguisher, probably want the all red one

also came across a new plug recently: scopadex (think that's what it was called, lol) 19-pin during a quote.. Will be fun making an adaptor for that one - generally used in lighting rigs.

 

[miner69er]

thanks everyone. and yes there was DMX lighting, thanks for the warning about that stuff! thankfully all but three extension leads good. why would you think it's O.K to run an extension lead with a one inch (25mm for those living in the now...) piece of primary insulation missing. oh well life would be boring if all tests were good.