How important is power cable lenght ?

[Red Planet]

Oh and Bob you sshould start building these things. I have seen your work and it is splended.

 

[slyjoe]

Care to explain how more insulation = less resistance????

 

[R Baer]

A MODERN BAND should have a power distribution system. This does not need to be complex.

You can build a power BOX with a rolling ATA type case that for the USA consists of: A 4 wire 6 ga cord of adequate length to get to a Venue's power supply.

That will give you 50 amps at 240-250 Volts and it should feed a standard house type circuit breaker panel with at least 8 - 20 amp breakers....BOB

This is great, provided the venue has a way for you to tap into this much power. The chance of walking into your local gig and hooking this up would be pretty slim. You're talking about needing a 50A, 240v receptacle (highly unlikely) or tapping directly into the main breaker panel (again, highly unlikely and highly dangerous). It is a great idea though, and ranks right up there with "free beer for the band" on my gig wish list!

 

[fdeck]

I think someone needs to mention that the cord should be long enough to reach the outlet.

 

[Jazzdogg]

But of course all you have to do to cure all the ills that befall your AC supply between where it starts and where it ends up is to use a $200 eight foot power cord between the wall outlet and your amp.

It will work even better if you replace that wall outlet with one of these:
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Any cables capability is affected by both gauge and length.

Now, that's funny!

 

[JustDavid]

The more insulation around each conductor the less resistance as well.

???

 

[TrooperFarva]

The thickness of the the cord doesn't really matter, it is the gauge of the cable and hence the size of the copper conductors inside that does. You can have a lot of insulation on a cable with high gauge wire inside. The gauge should be listed on the outside of the cable. Probably 14AWG or 12AWG. There is voltage drop over long distances. Like someone mentioned earlier. Just get yourself some good quality 12AWG extension cords and you should be fine.

?

The OP is in Europe. AWG is American Wire Gauge, Europe doesn't use it. Instead, they use cross sectional area, in metric. The standard unit is square mm.

1.5mm is about 16AWG, as someone else said, good for about 10A.

 

[fdeck]

A MODERN BAND should have a power distribution system. This does not need to be complex.

This would be great if every band had a real electrician for a bass player. I would be pretty apprehensive about plugging into some band's plywood box with half a dozen duplex outlets, ground prongs broken off in them, and an orange cord with some black, white, and green showing here and there.

 

[Jazzdogg]

This would be great if every band had a real electrician for a bass player. I would be pretty apprehensive about plugging into some band's plywood box with half a dozen duplex outlets, ground prongs broken off in them, and an orange cord with some black, white, and green showing here and there.

When I was in the hotel business, I would get the occasional call from the hotel's chief engineer, asking me to "get a load of this $h!t!!!" when someone arrived at one of our venues with a non-compliant box and asked for access to a 480v panel; when we said, "No," the offender's level of indignation was usually inversely proportional to their qualifications and skill level. Imagine that!

 

[Red Planet]

Well lets see it's not the amount of insulation actually, it is the amount of space between each conductor. The more insulation the greater the space.

 

[fdeck]

Well lets see it's not the amount of insulation actually, it is the amount of space between each conductor. The more insulation the greater the space.

And this is related to resistance how? Are you thinking of capacitance?

 

[JansenW]

Here's a conversion chart from AWG (American Wire Gauge) to metric...

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/awg-wire-gauge-d_731.html

 

[rbonner]

This would be great if every band had a real electrician for a bass player. I would be pretty apprehensive about plugging into some band's plywood box with half a dozen duplex outlets, ground prongs broken off in them, and an orange cord with some black, white, and green showing here and there.

LOL, yeah I don't even worry about those things, get me a screwdriver... If I show up I just pull out 100% Kline Tools. Too big for the belt on the tool caddy these days so I have to carry it.

Regular guys would probably get blowed up...

BOB

 

[Munjibunga]

Length only matters if you're using some crap cable.

Well, no. With long power cable runs, you want to make sure the cable is heavy enough for your current draw. Smaller gauges present a higher resistance to the current, resulting in a voltage drop in the cable. As Bill alluded, the resistance in the cable generates heat, which is a loss of power. I made the mistake of running my PA off a 100-foot, 3X16 extension cord once (it's all that was available at the venue). No bueno. I now have some 3X12 cords that are more suitable for the high current draw of the PA amps. Generally speaking, thicker is better.

 

[Jim C]

Standard practice for a touring PA company in a questionable hall is to tie into panel, set up, and "test the mains" i.e. play some program material up plenty loud with stage lights blazing while checking voltage drop and current draw. A problem becomes apparent qucikly.

For the average musician, a simple rule is to use the appropraite gauge extension cord ofr the required length; buy a decent digital meter with a spare set of lead; cut off the probe ends and attach a standard wall plug; play your instruments loud while watching voltage.

There will be a variety of different opinions but I would think 110 VAC to be the minimum safe voltage and 125 the max in the US.