Silence Was Not Golden

[phil w 0]

Last Saturday one of my scanners kept powering off during a gig. This had never happened before, i kept my eye on it and eventually thought nothing more of it. About 30 mins later, hey presto, all my sound goes off and the upshot was that the fuse had gone on my extention reel. We got it going again pretty quickly as i had back up extentions but it was later suggested that it happeed because i didnt unreel all the cable on the extention reel and the heat had conducted itself to the point where the fuse had blown. I have set the thing up the same way for the past 8 months without problems so why now. I have added more equipment i suppose, but wondered has anyone encountered this before as i havnt and to be honest it scared the [EDIT] :poo: out of me for 5 mins and blew my confidence for a good hour after.

 

Edited July 13, 2007 by Dukesy

[Corabar Steve 0]

Last Saturday one of my scanners kept powering off during a gig. This had never happened before, i kept my eye on it and eventually thought nothing more of it. About 30 mins later, hey presto, all my sound goes off and the upshot was that the fuse had gone on my extention reel. We got it going again pretty quickly as i had back up extentions but it was later suggested that it happeed because i didnt unreel all the cable on the extention reel and the heat had conducted itself to the point where the fuse had blown. I have set the thing up the same way for the past 8 months without problems so why now. I have added more equipment i suppose, but wondered has anyone encountered this before as i havnt and to be honest it scared the [EDIT] :poo: out of me for 5 mins and blew my confidence for a good hour after.

Yep, I inadvertantly took out all the power to the disco & band at a bike rally many moons ago.

 

Didn't realise it was the only power to the stage & the band had also plugged into our 6 way. Always fully unreeled since.

[andyw 0]

most reels have 2 power ratings 1 for wound and 1 for unwound.the 1 we carry is 990 w wound and 3520w unwound.always best to unwind it will give you more power

Edited July 13, 2007 by andyw

[spinner 0]

Extension reels usually have power information printed on them.

 

It's always reduced substantially when fully wound.

[Mattaious 0]

most reels have 2 power ratings 1 for wound and 1 for unwound.the 1 we carry is 990 w wound and 3520w unwound.always best to unwind it will give you more power

 

Your right there,

 

Ive had this happen to my (when dj'ing and when gardening!)

 

Dont use them on the disco side anymore (havent for ages)

 

Usually it is when its half unwound, i used to have the problem more when using the smoke machines.

 

let us know how you get on

[superstardeejay 0]

It's unlikely the fuse blew due to extension reel overheating..unless the cable was damaged or melted. More likely your weird scanner fault blew it...possibly due to an intermittent connection..tell us what sort it is! And keep an eye on it, maybe give it its own supply until you're sure it wont all go down again.

 

 

[rictic 0]

fully unwound always i had a cable melt itself together using a wallpaper steamer.it was wound right up nearly. produces a coil effect when its wound or summat i was told.

[Andy Westcott 0]

Overheating of a wound lead occurs simply because it is unable to dissipate the heat.

Any wire will warm up when current passes through it, and the heat developed is related to the thickness of the wire and the current flowing - more current = more heat, thicker wire = less heat.

 

A fully unwound cable has a lot of surface area and air flow around it to ensure adequate cooling, but wound up, each heating-up coil is sitting either under or over, and more than likely next to, another heating-up coil which just adds up.

 

Superstar is spot-on; Ensure the dodgy scanner has a low rated fuse (3 amps) in its plug so that if this is where the problem is, that will blow first and hopefully won't take out the rest of the gear.

 

If you are finding an extension lead is warming up, get another of thicker wire.

[otronics 0]

Usually best to unwind your extensions leads fully.

 

I remember many years ago, *someone* in my family was using a hoover or something with an extension fully wound and it melted!

 

Needless to say, the lead went straight in the bin after it had cooled down.

[bluejools 0]

Usually best to unwind your extensions leads fully.

 

I remember many years ago, *someone* in my family was using a hoover or something with an extension fully wound and it melted!

 

Needless to say, the lead went straight in the bin after it had cooled down.

 

 

You'll even find that on current cylinder hoovers with the cable coiled inside. Try running one for a couple of mins and then uncoiling the cable to feel how hot it is!!!

 

Should always uncoil a mains lead when using it - just good practice.

[Cheezy 0]

The hoover cables will get warm as they are in close proximity to the motor (1000W+) these produce a large amount of heat! :snow:

 

Cheezy

Nightsounds