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Generator party! Should we be afraid?

1

1Drop

Jul 31, 2009
169
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#1
We got asked to play a Yurt warming party out in the woods. Everything will be powered from a gas generator. Not being an electrician I'm not privy to what size Genny the host should get. Do I just add up the wattage of every piece of gear we will use and make sure we have a couple thousand watts to spare?
Any other things to consider? Thanks folks!
 
#3
Household genny is fine... if you have 2 or 3. One for the band, one for the PA, one for the lights. Maybe a friend has one you can borrow to have as a backup, or maybe you could rent one from an equipment yard for the weekend. Or better yet, let the host know your needs and let THEM rent one!
 
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#4
The hostess is renting one from an equipment place. I'm just trying to help her decide which one. Maybe I'll call the rental place and get their suggestion. I'm thinking 10k watt but like i said, i'm just guessing..
 
#5
Make sure the generator is an inverter-based design, otherwise the power may be very noisey. If you have a power regulator, use it. At least use some quality surge protection.

Add up your band's total wattage and add 30% -- that will be plenty unless you're running all the amps at full power. And add in whatever other electrical stuff the hostess may bring.

And don't let the gas tank reach empty while everything is running.
 
#8
It's real and it's a power conditioner. But it's essentially a surge protector with a little noise filter. Put in 130 volts and it will put out 130 volts. Same with 105 volts.

A real power regulator will accept high and low voltages but put out a constant 120 volts. Unfortunately, it will cost six or seven times what your unit cost.
 
#9
I did a recent gig on a Honda Inverter eu3000i - I had no idea that we were on a generator until we were done... It worked great and held up a pretty decent FOH as well as our back line. The sound co had a Soundcraft Expression board that they trusted to it ... Needless to say I was surprised but I would certainly use one of those again. The fellow told me they got basically a stable 20 amp circuit off it with headroom to spare. For larger shows they use two... Lighting was all CFL and Led so not much draw there of course. FOH was 2 18's and 2 top boxes per side, 4 front line 15 and a horn wedges plus a monster drum monitor. Modest backline of Deluxe Reverb, old 15 watt Premier amp for the harp guy and my 150 watt Music Man. Before that gig, I spec'ed the Whisper Watt multi quip. Diesel genny on a trailer. Now I'm watching out for a used eu3000i...
 

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