A selection of some of the connectors we use on jobs like The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo to distribute power and data around the site.
The popular Socapex connector is one that just fitted the bill at some point in the past and became a standard within the industry, but it's what I would refer to as a grandfathered connector. One that might not be chosen these days because it has a few shortcomings that are tolerated. The main one is the lack of anti-tracking barriers that means they are very susceptible to internal tracking and arcing when they get wet. Something that happens a lot on exposed outdoor events. They also have an ungrounded metal shell with phase conductors in its vicinity, which means care has to be taken handling them if any water gets involved.
They also have an aluminium threaded locking system that tends to get scuffed up over time and it's important to make sure they have all been screwed together completely before powering the rig, as some casual stage crew don't fully understand the importance of a full solid connection. (The pins can arc and burn damaging both connectors.)
Ceeform connectors are one of my favourite outdoor connectors for general power distribution. They're cheap, rugged and have a very high tolerance to water ingress due to the use of pillars, barriers and stand-offs that reduce the risk of a carbon tracking path forming when water enters and then dries out again slowly.
They do a good job of sealing against most water ingress and grip the cable firmly. Some versions have a simple spring/wedge contact system and latch for both halves of the connector that allow very fast termination. They're available in single phase and three phase 16A, 32A, 63A, 125A and higher versions, although the higher current ones require a lot of force to mate and separate. there's also a colour code and keying system for different voltage versions.
The powercon are a nice connector but have to be used with a full understanding of their limitations like any other connector. They offer an easy way to distribute power between low current equipment in a compact form.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of RU-vid's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
23 авг 2018
