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How many watt generator?

bassbully

bassbully

Endorsed by The PHALEX CORN BASS..mmm...corn!
Sep 7, 2006
12,760
6,556
Blimp City USA
#1
Need some help. My band has a gig coming up where we are to play for an Community event in the town's new park. This is a call back after we did a gig for them last year so we want it to go well. There is no electric in this park at all. The event staff want's to rent a generator for us and we need to know how many watts would it take?

We will have 2 small PA's to run 4 main cabs and 2-3 monitors and 3 mics, both heads are around 600 watts, 2 guitar combo's both about 30-50 watts. My 250 watt bass combo. The keys go thru the board and drummer will be un-miced...maybe kick?

The event staff has a 5000 watt generator that I feel is enough. Don't you need to provide twice the power go of the power going out?? They said it will run a long time (hours) on a tank of gas but we are only playing 1.5 hrs. Any help? Thanks.
 
#5
Look at the power consumption on the back of your gear. For instance, my 700watt bass rig draws 1200 watts of current (or so it says). Add all the rest of the gear to the equation and you should still be fine and under 5000 watts but wouldn't hurt to double check. As for fuel consumption on a 5000 watt generator, during the last hurricane down here (14 days without power) I was getting about 6-8 hours (IIRC, YMMV) out of a tank.
 
#6
Rebop said:
Look at the power consumption on the back of your gear. For instance, my 700watt bass rig draws 1200 watts of current (or so it says). Add all the rest of the gear to the equation and you should still be fine and under 5000 watts but wouldn't hurt to double check. As for fuel consumption on a 5000 watt generator, during the last hurricane down here (14 days without power) I was getting about 6-8 hours (IIRC, YMMV) out of a tank.
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Thanks guys! Making a call would'nt hurt thats for sure. The guy told me he has a 6 way spliter that plugs into a 220v line in the generator and will feed 6- 110v lines to the stage.
 
#8
I've played on generator power a lot. I think 5KW sounds sufficient. One thing I'd do if I was you is to bring along a 5' or 6' long ground rod and a sledge hammer.. Generator power is pretty noisy, and a good ground will be your friend.
 
#10
Bring a volt meter and be very, very, very mindful of voltage regulation (or the lack thereof) with generators. It's one thing to rent a 100+kW trailer with proper distro designed for show power, but you're being asked to run audio equipment on something designed to power a tv, hair dryer and a bug zapper.

I don't mean to make mountains out of molehills but this is about safety, for the band and the gear. I've seen backyard/motorhome generators swing from 90 to 135 volts and I've been on stages where players lost gear because of it. So bring surge protectors and ask the event planner some specific questions about the generator such as: does the distro box have circuit breakers? Does the generator have an adjustable voltage regulator? And, as Phalax mentioned, will it be tied to an actual earth ground? Will the generator be dedicated to the band only or will it power lights, signs, and snow-cone machines as well? But most importantly, will the client assume responsibility should the generator directly or indirectly lead to equipment damage or injury? You'd be surprised how many event planners when confronted with these questions end up renting the proper generator.
 
#13
testing1two said:
Bring a volt meter and be very, very, very mindful of voltage regulation (or the lack thereof) with generators. It's one thing to rent a 100+kW trailer with proper distro designed for show power, but you're being asked to run audio equipment on something designed to power a tv, hair dryer and a bug zapper.

I don't mean to make mountains out of molehills but this is about safety, for the band and the gear. I've seen backyard/motorhome generators swing from 90 to 135 volts and I've been on stages where players lost gear because of it. So bring surge protectors and ask the event planner some specific questions about the generator such as: does the distro box have circuit breakers? Does the generator have an adjustable voltage regulator? And, as Phalax mentioned, will it be tied to an actual earth ground? Will the generator be dedicated to the band only or will it power lights, signs, and snow-cone machines as well? But most importantly, will the client assume responsibility should the generator directly or indirectly lead to equipment damage or injury? You'd be surprised how many event planners when confronted with these questions end up renting the proper generator.
Click to expand...

Thanks, they are more than willing to rent whatever we need. The event staffs son has the 5000 watt generator himself and offered it to save on cost etc. I guess i should just tell them to rent the proper generator and that we will need a ground and regulator. thanks.
 

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