Plugging into 400 Volt socket

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1415622607' post='2602013']
Yes, but 'unusual' and 'generally' suggest that it's not really a moot point . . . . as the existence of this thread attests.
[/quote]

Exactly. you never know with pubs.

Culd have been done by the landlord himself, or a customer who 'knows about these things'

Once did a gig outside a rugby club where the lawnmower type trip we use kept tripping. Turned out the landlord had connected a cable for us - to the outside security lighting. "You dont need an earth for them, so its perfectly safe" he said.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1415622978' post='2602019']


That makes sense, but do the regulations require that sockets/conduit containing three phases have such warning labels? After all, it's not exactly 'normal use' for someone to open up a socket so if the normal users of such sockets cannot be exposed to three phases by simply plugging in a standard plug why bother with warning labels at all. After all, by definition, it's only qualified electricians who can be expected to properly understand what such labels actually mean in practice.
[/quote]
To the letter then it should if it contains 400v or has more than one supply inside, the 400v sticker is just confusing for joe public and doesn't really explain fully to any electricians working on the system, on the other hand you would not have room for an essay on a socket outlet, damned if you do damned if you dont?

The normal label if it was because the sockets nearby where on a second phase would be "Pottential 400v between socket outlets in this area" probably with a symbol of two arrows pointing at each other > < or one on each pointing at the other socket. In large installations the electrical engineer will insist on which phase each ring main is on to avoid that yet keep the load for the entire building divided equally. Of course a month later the jukebox engineer turns up and drills a hole through the wall to get at the nearest socket and you are back where you started!

[iiipopes]

In the USA, we have a different wiring scheme, but this anecdote is still applicable: We played a gig that the owner had remodeled a stage. I could see that two consecutive mains sockets were wired on the same circuit, and I didn't think about plugging in. Well, when I got close to a microphone, there was a blue spark, a momentary dimming of the lights, and I was shocked by electricity jumping from the mike to me to my guitar. I took out my polarity checker, and the socket had been wired backwards. The hot and neutral had been reversed, so between the microphone and my guitar was a double voltage potential with no ground - earth. As I approached the microphone, I supplied the ground, and ZAP! Now, before I plug in anywhere, I check the socket with my "five-dollar life insurance policy" polarity checker, to make sure everything is of the proper polarity and properly grounded - earthed in UK terminology.

Moral of the story: as advised above, and thank you for calling your electrician, to make sure the mains wiring is proper and safe. Your bandmates, friends and family all appreciate you are still around for the next gig.

[stingrayPete1977]

A plug tester should be in all our kit bags really

Just bought a spare one for less than £4 off ebay as I keep losing my work one then 'borrowing' my gig bag one!

Edited November 12, 2014 by stingrayPete1977

[Phil Starr]

Beware farms, most farmers will turn their hands to anything and are often quite skilled but their assessment of risk can be a bit close to the wire and it doesn't surprise that someone wired their own single phase socket off the 3-phase supply. We've also had problems, though in our case lack of a decent earth at the end of 100m of wiring. We had to establish our own earth and create a common earth point for the power supply and the metal trailer we set up on!