I used to be a DJ, now a carpenter. This set up will work perfectly for a jobsite where power is scarce and you have to run a bunch of saws and compressors.
This video is so important for the DJ that is looking to do the things necessary to separate themselves from the weekend warrior part time jock. I have a similar distribution box sitting in a nema4 enclosure that I have had for decades. Quick story, when I worked for a multi-op hella years ago, I went to a gig at a hotel in San Francisco. I found out during load in that the dropped a female 30 amp 250 volt cable for our usage, and that was the only option.
btw, i think what i meant by "weekend warrior part-time jock" was those that do it as a hobby and are not as professional as they should be. nice tip busta b! always looking out for us dj's. you the man.
I had no idea WTH that thing was because in never plugged into anything other than your standard 110 volt socket. After freaking out, we realized that our booth had one cable that ran from our amp box where everything was housed including a furman power conditioner where we plugged up all the gear, and that single plug was a twist lock 40 amp 3 prong twist lock to 110. Because the venue had a female to male extension that we could use, we were able to perform as planned. Never again! Good tip.
Now see, I built my own gear like this a while ago. It's not that terribly hard. All anyone really needs to do is connect each hot side to the brass lugs of each set of outlets and the common to the neutral or silver lug of the outlets. Building a case for these is easy enough too. All you need is some Masonite paneling or metal if you have the tools for it to build the box itself. From there it's some simple planing.
good video, i need a smaller distro for my dj rig for banquet hall venues that dont have power in certain places or convenient. especially if you have distros that require cams.
I would check with your brother in law, but everything I've read says you cannot use plugs with only 3 poles for this purpose. The older 3 pole plugs lack a ground (i.e. line, line, neutral) which is dangerous (and has been against electrical code since 1996.) The 4 pole plugs (i.e. 125/250V 50amp) include a line, line, neutral, and ground. Without ground this presents a major shock hazard. If you notice the big NEMA twist lock plug on the side of this distro has 4 poles (or 4 prongs.) In those 3-pole straight plug to 4-pole nema twist lock pigtale cables you made, what did you do with the 4th (ground) pole / prong? Wire it to neutral? Leave it disconnected? Very cool video, but I would be afraid to use this configuration anywhere that doesn't have a 4-pole outlet (especially when you are dealing with such larger currents like 30-50amps.) You risk electrocuting yourself, let alone one of your clients.
+DjGiantG The older 30 Amp L shape and 50 Amp Straight Blade 3 prong were more common with major appliances electric dryers, range top/ovens and ARC welders. The neutral connector was bounded to the frame of the appliance as a ground. However this could not be used in wiring of a spider box need to have the separate ground prong. Now days major appliances and 30/50 amp outlets for power distribution have four prong plugs. Even the power distribution boxes I've seen at events often three phase have the separate white and green conductors plus blue if 3 phase.
You are completely correct , I will never use an adapter to run a 4 pole connector to a 3 pole , because it lacks of ground , it is against code and you can be electrocuted , I only use my 50 amp distro if I find the right 4 pole connector , be careful.
good vid.. I have a power werk... custom distro ... I run tri-amp system with 1500watt foger an itech 6000 thats over 30A on those 2 fixtures... i dont use it all the time but... when I use its awsome...i can blast no.worries.. ;)
I barely check my UA-cam alerts now but just happened to see this one. The pigtail cables I got from Lowes. You can get them from Home Depot or Amazon. They are the basic Dryer power cables (3 prong & 4 prong) for 30a & 30a. You can get the ones they sell for dryers or for a electric stove (range) as they are the same 30a & 50a power cables. I just cut wired in the twist lock ends to the bare wire part of the cables.
Great video.... TY so much! I had to use a Chauvet Nimbus last month and had to share circuit with the DJ so I can only utilize one heating element out of the two therefore I couldn't acheive full cloud effect I wanted... what to do when the location only had the standard 3-prong plugs? Do they make adapter(s) to convert any one of the industrial plugs to standard household 3-prong plugs?
I'm going crazy trying to figure how to get from 3 prong 50 amp to 4 prong 30 amp. You show the cord in the video, but I can't find anything like that for sale. I probably could make one from home depot parts, but I don't see any wiring diagrams for such a thing.
+Mycole Beeson I couldn't tell you how to make the correct connections with the wires to the plugs. In the video I mentioned how my brother in law is an electrician and he did the electrical work for that part. He did go to Homedepot for all the parts (plugs and cables).
Mycole Beeson for my research I did also I believe when u go from 3 to 4 prong there not grounded but the yellow case is grounded to the chassis. Maybe I'm wrong and if I do please someone correct me .
Mycole Beeson , So I just had this come up on a gig over the weekend and decided to quite a bit more research. I had a tent company deliver a "power distro" or "spiderbox" that had a companion cable with a twist lock 4 pole plug on one end and a 3 pole pre-1996 "dryer" plug on the other. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that those who deliver and use this stuff regularly can even be trusted to do the safe / right thing. Bottom line: You cannot safely go from "3 prong" to "4 prong" So after consulting the NEC / National Electric Code: With the 4 pole plug you have Line (+120V), Line (-120V, or 180 degrees out of phase with the other Line), Neutral, and Ground. The key part being you have a separated Neutral and Ground. With the 3 pole plugs you only have Line, Line, and Ground. With the 3 pole plug the appliance is designed to operate off of 240V and uses the two out of phase "lines" as a hot and neutral with the 3rd pole being a dedicated ground. With only 3 poles you can't separate the two 120V legs. They have to be used together as 240V. Period. Going from 4 to 3 wire you are doing one of the following: bonding ground and Neutral at the adapter or (worst bet yet) using the intended ground as your Neutral with NO ground (I.e. the 4th pole on the plug is left unconnected). Either case is SUPER dangerous as the only "fault path" the electric will have in the event of an equipment malfunction or short circuit will be that single conductor (if it's connected) or worse yet people / water / everything else in the path between the higher voltage and ground. Not to mention if the dryer outlet (thinking residential) is not GFI (which I believe most are not) it will only trip when the current goes grossly over 30 amps. And depending on the fault condition that could be 30 amps at 240V or 120. Yikes!
I dont understand how the tester shows it as wired correctly when the source (the nema 10-30R on your wall) is an ungrounded plug. As I understand it, nema 10 plugs have 2 hots and a neutral, and no ground. Not that Im an expert. Im working to expand my knowledge. Good video BTW.
@@PatrickCSullivan But you arent allowed to bond the neutral and ground anywhere but at the main breaker, right? You arent allowed to bond them in a sub panel, which is basically what this is. Or are power distros an exception to the rule? Like, not technically considered a sub panel?
When you're using the 3 prong dongles, do you bind the neutral and ground together in the twist lock. If you feed the box off a 30 amp 240v supply that can break down into 2 30a (4 15a) 120v circuits. The way this box is set up you are really only utilizing a 20a 240v supply.
+conatuslife but i believe u have to distributed the what you plug almost evenly right ? to make sure one 110 leg is not pulling more than the other leg , am i right ? . i might be wrong .
+HYVBJ JGT they don't have to be balanced though. If you are plugged into a 30A 240V breaker you can pull 30A off leg A and B or 30A off leg A and 0A off Leg B but not 20A off leg A and 40A off leg B just to give you 3 examples.
I’m watching 9 years later and I need one of these 🙏🏾
I used to be a DJ, now a carpenter. This set up will work perfectly for a jobsite where power is scarce and you have to run a bunch of saws and compressors.
This video is so important for the DJ that is looking to do the things necessary to separate themselves from the weekend warrior part time jock. I have a similar distribution box sitting in a nema4 enclosure that I have had for decades. Quick story, when I worked for a multi-op hella years ago, I went to a gig at a hotel in San Francisco. I found out during load in that the dropped a female 30 amp 250 volt cable for our usage, and that was the only option.
btw, i think what i meant by "weekend warrior part-time jock" was those that do it as a hobby and are not as professional as they should be. nice tip busta b! always looking out for us dj's. you the man.
I had no idea WTH that thing was because in never plugged into anything other than your standard 110 volt socket. After freaking out, we realized that our booth had one cable that ran from our amp box where everything was housed including a furman power conditioner where we plugged up all the gear, and that single plug was a twist lock 40 amp 3 prong twist lock to 110. Because the venue had a female to male extension that we could use, we were able to perform as planned. Never again! Good tip.
Oh man! I didn't know they had these. I've been looking for sometime. Thanks for sharing...
DJ buster b .I really miss your video I just came across this one.
Excellent Video, Well Done, Perfect.
Deejay you're the man, Best Wishes.
Now see, I built my own gear like this a while ago. It's not that terribly hard. All anyone really needs to do is connect each hot side to the brass lugs of each set of outlets and the common to the neutral or silver lug of the outlets. Building a case for these is easy enough too. All you need is some Masonite paneling or metal if you have the tools for it to build the box itself. From there it's some simple planing.
DeeJay, i am having some trouble with this cable connection do you have a photo or drawing for the 10-30 to the L14-30 cable connection
thank you
Yep Yep...A Must Have....
Excellent tip!
We got the Power!!!!
thank you Brother i Lurn alots
good video, i need a smaller distro for my dj rig for banquet hall venues that dont have power in certain places or convenient. especially if you have distros that require cams.
Nice Video some people don't no about them breaker boxes
I would check with your brother in law, but everything I've read says you cannot use plugs with only 3 poles for this purpose. The older 3 pole plugs lack a ground (i.e. line, line, neutral) which is dangerous (and has been against electrical code since 1996.) The 4 pole plugs (i.e. 125/250V 50amp) include a line, line, neutral, and ground.
Without ground this presents a major shock hazard.
If you notice the big NEMA twist lock plug on the side of this distro has 4 poles (or 4 prongs.) In those 3-pole straight plug to 4-pole nema twist lock pigtale cables you made, what did you do with the 4th (ground) pole / prong? Wire it to neutral? Leave it disconnected?
Very cool video, but I would be afraid to use this configuration anywhere that doesn't have a 4-pole outlet (especially when you are dealing with such larger currents like 30-50amps.) You risk electrocuting yourself, let alone one of your clients.
+DjGiantG The older 30 Amp L shape and 50 Amp Straight Blade 3 prong were more common with major appliances electric dryers, range top/ovens and ARC welders. The neutral connector was bounded to the frame of the appliance as a ground. However this could not be used in wiring of a spider box need to have the separate ground prong. Now days major appliances and 30/50 amp outlets for power distribution have four prong plugs. Even the power distribution boxes I've seen at events often three phase have the separate white and green conductors plus blue if 3 phase.
You are completely correct , I will never use an adapter to run a 4 pole connector to a 3 pole , because it lacks of ground , it is against code and you can be electrocuted , I only use my 50 amp distro if I find the right 4 pole connector , be careful.
good vid.. I have a power werk... custom distro ... I run tri-amp system with 1500watt foger an itech 6000 thats over 30A on those 2 fixtures... i dont use it all the time but... when I use its awsome...i can blast no.worries.. ;)
Quick question Dj Bust b were can I get a four conductor speaker cable line nutrix wire
great tip Busta.
Thanks mans
Where did you buy your pig tails.
I need some of them to save my equipment .. thanks bro..
I barely check my UA-cam alerts now but just happened to see this one. The pigtail cables I got from Lowes. You can get them from Home Depot or Amazon. They are the basic Dryer power cables (3 prong & 4 prong) for 30a & 30a. You can get the ones they sell for dryers or for a electric stove (range) as they are the same 30a & 50a power cables. I just cut wired in the twist lock ends to the bare wire part of the cables.
Great video I need one of this....
holy shit thats a big wire
Nice info bro, I'm going to look into this...
Great video.... TY so much! I had to use a Chauvet Nimbus last month and had to share circuit with the DJ so I can only utilize one heating element out of the two therefore I couldn't acheive full cloud effect I wanted... what to do when the location only had the standard 3-prong plugs? Do they make adapter(s) to convert any one of the industrial plugs to standard household 3-prong plugs?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
can 10 awg cable be used to energize the distro? 10/4 soow cable
Thanks for the Info!
I'm going crazy trying to figure how to get from 3 prong 50 amp to 4 prong 30 amp. You show the cord in the video, but I can't find anything like that for sale. I probably could make one from home depot parts, but I don't see any wiring diagrams for such a thing.
+Mycole Beeson I have this exact Spider Box.
+Mycole Beeson I couldn't tell you how to make the correct connections with the wires to the plugs. In the video I mentioned how my brother in law is an electrician and he did the electrical work for that part. He did go to Homedepot for all the parts (plugs and cables).
+Mycole Beeson i highly recommend you ask an certified electrician to build you a cable . dont mess with 220v if you dont know what u are doing.
Mycole Beeson for my research I did also I believe when u go from 3 to 4 prong there not grounded but the yellow case is grounded to the chassis. Maybe I'm wrong and if I do please someone correct me .
Mycole Beeson ,
So I just had this come up on a gig over the weekend and decided to quite a bit more research.
I had a tent company deliver a "power distro" or "spiderbox" that had a companion cable with a twist lock 4 pole plug on one end and a 3 pole pre-1996 "dryer" plug on the other. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that those who deliver and use this stuff regularly can even be trusted to do the safe / right thing.
Bottom line: You cannot safely go from "3 prong" to "4 prong"
So after consulting the NEC / National Electric Code: With the 4 pole plug you have Line (+120V), Line (-120V, or 180 degrees out of phase with the other Line), Neutral, and Ground. The key part being you have a separated Neutral and Ground. With the 3 pole plugs you only have Line, Line, and Ground. With the 3 pole plug the appliance is designed to operate off of 240V and uses the two out of phase "lines" as a hot and neutral with the 3rd pole being a dedicated ground.
With only 3 poles you can't separate the two 120V legs. They have to be used together as 240V. Period.
Going from 4 to 3 wire you are doing one of the following: bonding ground and Neutral at the adapter or (worst bet yet) using the intended ground as your Neutral with NO ground (I.e. the 4th pole on the plug is left unconnected).
Either case is SUPER dangerous as the only "fault path" the electric will have in the event of an equipment malfunction or short circuit will be that single conductor (if it's connected) or worse yet people / water / everything else in the path between the higher voltage and ground.
Not to mention if the dryer outlet (thinking residential) is not GFI (which I believe most are not) it will only trip when the current goes grossly over 30 amps. And depending on the fault condition that could be 30 amps at 240V or 120. Yikes!
I dont understand how the tester shows it as wired correctly when the source (the nema 10-30R on your wall) is an ungrounded plug. As I understand it, nema 10 plugs have 2 hots and a neutral, and no ground. Not that Im an expert. Im working to expand my knowledge. Good video BTW.
everything always has a ground. in cases like that they just bond the neutral and ground together.
@@PatrickCSullivan But you arent allowed to bond the neutral and ground anywhere but at the main breaker, right? You arent allowed to bond them in a sub panel, which is basically what this is. Or are power distros an exception to the rule? Like, not technically considered a sub panel?
The question is where do you plug this into?
Nice video bato
Your 4 prong cables are illegal - you can’t have a 50 amp plug reduced down to 30A without the protection of a 30 amp breaker.
As long as the cabels can take the heat from the amps should be alright ? Or what would happend asking for a friend
thank you it is bery helfull
If you just planning to use 16 or 20 amps why need a box on the first place? Just connect to a reg plug or 2 lol
When you're using the 3 prong dongles, do you bind the neutral and ground together in the twist lock. If you feed the box off a 30 amp 240v supply that can break down into 2 30a (4 15a) 120v circuits. The way this box is set up you are really only utilizing a 20a 240v supply.
+conatuslife but i believe u have to distributed the what you plug almost evenly right ? to make sure one 110 leg is not pulling more than the other leg , am i right ? . i might be wrong .
Yes each leg can't exceed the rated amperage of the breaker it is connected to or it will trip.
+conatuslife thanks for ur reply , i appreciate.
+HYVBJ JGT they don't have to be balanced though. If you are plugged into a 30A 240V breaker you can pull 30A off leg A and B or 30A off leg A and 0A off Leg B but not 20A off leg A and 40A off leg B just to give you 3 examples.