• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How powerful generator is needed for this PA system

K

krneki

Aug 8, 2014
3
0
45
#1
We're going to have an open-air gig where we'll have to use electrical generator to power up our system. Here's the list of equipment we plan to use:
- 2x EV ZLX12P
- 1x FBT MAXX10SA
- notebook with MIDI controller (source of music)
- 2 or 5 channel mixer
- lightmaxx cls-3

I was wondering how powerful electrical generator should we get in order to make sure there won't be any problems? Where's the bottom end line in specifications? Could we actually damage the equipment if generator wouldn't output enough power?
 
#3
In the Portland market a 60 KVA Whisper Watt on a trailer is $100 a day. The a Whisper watt is stable and it isn't so much about the power as it is the stability of the current. That is my min spec for ANY generator gig. If there isn't enough dough to cover $100 in overhead, I'm not doing the gig. Period. I also require that whoever it is that rents the gennie, gets the trading to know how to set it up.

We recently did an event out in a mountain top clearing. Amazing site in Western WA looking down on the Columbia River plain and the river itself. The guy who rented had no idea how to do anything except turn it on... Bad... It came up defaulting to 50hz rather than 60. My a Presonus board, Macbook and Qsc stuff powered up. JBL PRX's (monitors) would not. My GK MB Fusion was happy. Guitarists Peavy Classic 30 and Rivera amps were not happy though they ran.

We figured it out, brought everything down, unplugged and got the gennie to 60 hz and everything was happy as a lark... Extra 15 minutes... Nothing burned and according to my tech, the guitarists got lucky with their amps because they didn't run long, if they had output transformers could have been at risk...

Yeah, you can damage gear with a gennie. You really want something good and someone who knows how it should be setup.

That 60 KVA unit has 2 or 4 20 amp circuits and a pair of 50 amp circuits. I needed a single 20 for that setting.

IMO - do not think in terms of how little, think in terms if what is the best, cleanest power I can get...
 
#5
Maybe I could get Honda EU10i and EU20i, so I was thinking to power up 1x FBT MAXX10SA with EU10i and everything else with EU20i (2x EV ZLX12P, notebook and mixer). Lights are optional. Do you think that could work? Could there be any grounding issues?

In fact I could even power notebook and mixer with 12V to 230V inverter from accumulators. In that case, it would look like this:
EU10i: 1x FBT MAXX10SA
EU20i: 2x EV ZLX12P
1000 W 12-230V inverter from acc: notebook and mixer

What do you think guys? Is that combination rock-solid?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back