Ring main advice please

@SUNRAY

Moot point, but back in 09 why did you decide to change the layout of the circuit? What was wrong with the original ring final circuit?

scousespark said:

@SUNRAY

Moot point, but back in 09 why did you decide to change the layout of the circuit? What was wrong with the original ring final circuit?

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It's a ring on the stage area controlled by a sound Guardian, that circuit and 4 more rings are also controlled by E-stops and intruder alarm.
The original installation was done with 2 contactors per circuit, switching each end of the ring. I don't recall how, but I discovered one contactor had failed meaning the ring was only being fed from one end. I replaced with a contactor big enough to switch the whole of the 32A supply then a PIR described it as a ring feeding a ring. Eventually by making some minor changes it became a parallel fed contactor feeding a ring.

I'll have to try to decipher my scribbled notes to remember much more than that.

SUNRAY said:

It's a ring on the stage area controlled by a sound Guardian, .

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Work of the devil. It's not uncommon for them to be triggered by applause, this bringing the whole show to a stop whilst they are reset.

SUNRAY said:

It's a ring on the stage area controlled by a sound Guardian, that circuit and 4 more rings are also controlled by E-stops and intruder alarm.
The original installation was done with 2 contactors per circuit, switching each end of the ring. I don't recall how, but I discovered one contactor had failed meaning the ring was only being fed from one end. I replaced with a contactor big enough to switch the whole of the 32A supply then a PIR described it as a ring feeding a ring. Eventually by making some minor changes it became a parallel fed contactor feeding a ring.

I'll have to try to decipher my scribbled notes to remember much more than that.

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Why did you not just replace the contactor? If you had done that you would not be in your current position. There were and are better solutions open to you.

scousespark said:

Why did you not just replace the contactor? If you had done that you would not be in your current position. There were and are better solutions open to you.

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because the 2 contactors were feeding each end of the ring, ie if one didn't operate [which is possibly what happened] only one end of the ring was being fed.

I'd be interested in better ideas for the situation please.

davelx said:

Work of the devil. It's not uncommon for them to be triggered by applause, this bringing the whole show to a stop whilst they are reset.

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Try telling that to the neighbours being plagued by loud noise night after night.

One I installed, the spec from EHO said 'Cannot be heard at the neighbouring property'. This is a converted barn and the neighbouring property starts only 50m or so from the building however the farmhouse is more like 400m. EHO suggested mounting the microphone near the boundary and setting the level at 50dB.

Standing at the boundary with him I showed him the SPL meter displaying something a decent bit louder than 50dB which happened to be a tractor completely out of site down in the valley.

Eventually we discovered the neighbours real complaint was the sound of the traffic passing his property and not the music as all.

In a hall I did a fair bit of sound work in a lot of years back kept having tipping problems which turned out to be the air from the ventilation system blowing past the microphone but only when the hall was full.