bit of advice needed if you can help please...

[jamesluke]

I am a musician and have recently bought an amplifier for my band..
The amp is 10000 watt and I have been advised that I may need to put a 16amp plug on this.. I have no problem with that , but a lot of the venues we play do not have a 16 amp socket..so should I just get the 13amp plug tail with a 16 amp socket on which to my mind is just like plugging my amp straight into the wall using a 13 amp plug fitted to amp..or is there more to this than I am assuming.
Thanks for any help and advice you can give me..
Cheers
James

 

[Chri5]

Would I be mad for thinking a venue that allows for a 10k amp should have suitable sockets for the amp?

If the amp requires 16amp then converting it down to a 13 amp plug will simply blow the 13amp fuse in the plug, this could be a fire risk in a public venue and some one woulkd lose there testicles if such a thing happened and was proved to be the owner of the amps fault.

Have you a link for the amp spec or manufactures site?

 

[viewer]

Those figures don't add up. Are you talking about SPL or electrical power input? If electrical, you're looking at 10kW then you need 44A (not 16) I'd suggest getting the details of the amp and contacting the maker (there may be something on Google). Such huge machines often use 3 phase.
Please be careful, not only are you looking at large currents, but some parts may run at very high voltages.

 

[jamesluke]

Those figures don't add up. Are you talking about SPL or electrical power input? If electrical, you're looking at 10kW then you need 44A (not 16) I'd suggest getting the details of the amp and contacting the maker (there may be something on Google). Such huge machines often use 3 phase.
Please be careful, not only are you looking at large currents, but some parts may run at very high voltages.

This is the spec that I got straight from the labgruppen site
Power
Operating voltage, 230 V / 115 V nominal 4) 130-265 V / 65-135 V
Minimum power-up voltage, 230 V / 115 V 171 V / 85 V
Power Average Limiter (PAL) 2) Yes
Soft start / Inrush Current Draw Yes / max. 5 A
Mains connector 230 V CE: 16 A, CEE7; 115 V ETL: 30 A Twist lock
Dimensions W: 483 mm (19”), H: 88 mm (2 U), Overall D: 396 mm (15.6”), Mounting D: 358 mm (14.1”)
Weight 12 kg (26.4 lbs.)
Finish Black painted steel chassis with black painted steel / aluminum front
Approvals CE, ANSI/UL 60065 (ETL), CSA C22.2 NO. 60065, FCC

 

[jamesluke]

Would I be mad for thinking a venue that allows for a 10k amp should have suitable sockets for the amp?

If the amp requires 16amp then converting it down to a 13 amp plug will simply blow the 13amp fuse in the plug, this could be a fire risk in a public venue and some one woulkd lose there **** if such a thing happened and was proved to be the owner of the amps fault.

Have you a link for the amp spec or manufactures site?

you'd be surprised how many venues do not have the correct supplies. I can't turn round and say fit the right supplies or we don't play..its our job and we need to work... was just wondering if there was any way around this problem for the venues that dont have the correct supply.
Looks like we'll have to rethink certain venues I think
Cheers

 

[riveralt]

A lot of european produced electrical goods installation instructions make reference to the 16Amp commando style socket and like this
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...fx9WT4eLDpHR8QOvzI3-CA&sqi=2&ved=0CHcQ8wIwAg#
And the appropriate plug.
Question is will the venues you play at have these in place?

You would need to speak to the manufacturers or check out their instruction set to see what the actual ac power output is - its not 10000w for sure and whether you can connect a 13Amp plug to it.

 

[plugwash]

Can you tell us the exact model of this device so we can actually look at the specs and manual.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Is it a FP 10000Q model?

 

[jamesluke]

Is it a FP 10000Q model?

yes it is the fp10000q model the older model manufactured in 2007
cheers

 

[plugwash]

According to the datasheet prenticeboyofderry posted it's only just over 1500W sustained output into a 4 ohm load not 10000W (i'm guessing the 10000 is a peak figure or something).

My feeling is you will be ok running it off a 13A socket in smaller venues as in smaller venues you are highly unlikely to be running at maximum output power. Larger venues should have proper power distribution available.

 

[Space cat]

Audio amplifier manufacturers just love to play up the output power of their products. This one claims a peak output voltage of 150V per channel and a peak available current of 38A but the stated power outputs don't quite tally. 150V peak driving a four ohm load is 2.8kW rms; which is quite a bit more than the 2.1kW on the data sheet. The output into an 8 ohm load would be 1.4kW which is not far off the claimed 1.3kW.

My suspicion is that the 150V peak output into 4 ohms is sustainable only for brief periods. In amplifier parlance that's music power, not continuous rms power. Even so, four lots of 1.3kW into 8 ohm loads is a lot of output and, according to the first law of thermodynamics, you can't get more power out than you put in!

It uses class D output (pulse width modulation) and its power supply is switch mode too so the efficiency is high but you won't be running it for long at full output on a 16 amp supply. Even at 100% efficiency, which you can't get, 5.6kW would take over 24 amps from a 230V line. I think they're relying on the fact that average music uses only about one third of the continuous power available from a good amplifier (maybe a half for heavy rock or disco) and that the fuse will not be too fast.

Since they're overrunning their own 16 amp plug already, it would not be unreasonable for you to do the same with a 13 amp plug but you'll have to keep the noise down.