Archive for the ‘marquee electrics’ Category

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Merry Christmas and thank you

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

Merry Christmas and thank you to all of our old and new customers and especially to anyone who takes 2 minutes out of their day to come here and read the ramblings of an old ex-marquee-erector.

Our Christmas opening hours are: well, essentially we’re closed! This Friday 21st Dec is our last day (don’t expect our usual immaculate customer service in the afternoon <hic>) and we’ll be opening again on Wednesday 2nd January.

If you have any issues that you need some urgent advice on then send us an email and I’ll do my best to fight through the pounding headache of a hangover and the pounding ears of toddlers playing with the packaging of expensive toys to answer.

If you haven’t received the circular then Essential Supplies are running some PAT testing and Marquee electrics courses next year, speak to Lauren if you’re interested.

Let’s all hope for a successful and marquee-covered 2013

Thanks for reading all year

Spencer

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Marquee electrics

Monday, October 8th, 2012

Electrics for a marquee are generally straight forward affairs, especially the way that we now wire up lighting. Everything is supplied with 16amp blue plugs and sockets that just daisy-chain around the marquee.

We would usually run all of the electrics around the marquee and then run the power supply lead across to the house.  A 13amp RCD adapter should always be used to plug in to a house, as standard this will then be wired up to a 16amp blue socket ready to connect to the plug coming from the marquee. But what if you’ve run all of the leads around the marquee the wrong way round and end up with a 16amp socket towards the house rather than a 16amp blue plug?

Do you:

  • a – cut down all of the leads in the marquee and pain-stakingly attach them all back up again the correct way round
  • or b – the much quicker and easier method of just taking off that 16amp socket and swap if for a plug so it all connects up easily?

You must must must always do a. Just take the time and run the leads the right way round. No matter how pressed for time you may be do not ever start swapping sockets for plugs. Louise (have fun on maternity leave) from Essential Supplies refers to them as widow-makers because they are just so dangerous. If you think about what happens when the lead is plugged in if anyone were to unplug a join it would be the plug that’s live, ie those large metal prongs sticking out would be like open live wires.

As I say electrics and lighting in marquees are very easy, safe and straight-forward as long as you don’t start taking anything apart. Just keep it simple.

Our demo marquee is up for sale on eBay: ex-demo DIY Marquee

There probably won’t be a blog next week as we’ll be down setting up at The Showmans Show.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you next week at the show

Spencer

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Marquee lighting & electrical courses

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Putting up marquees is easy. Putting up our lighting packages is easy. Planning the lighting and electrical requirements for a large marquee event is not so easy.

As a marquee hire company gets bigger naturally the events you cover become larger and more sophisticated, with that in mind you might want to consider going on one of Essential Supplies lighting or electrical courses:

Essential Supplies in conjunction with our Hire depot ES Lighting Hire will be running a range of training courses in January and February. The courses will be in PAT testing, marquee electrics and marquee lighting. They are specifically tailored to suit those working within the events industry.

The PAT Testing course will run on the 17th, 18th, 30th and 31st of January, the marquee electrics course will be the 9th and 10th of February and the marquee lighting course the 22nd and 23rd of February. The courses shall be held at the premises of our hire department in Hook, Hampshire.

For more details contact Louise at Essential Supplies, please mention our name then we might get some more pasties at The Showmans Show next year!

Thanks for reading

Spencer

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Marquee PAT testing with Essential Supplies

Monday, March 28th, 2011

So our friends over at Essential Supplies are running some PAT testing courses again, for those unaware every electrical item in the marquee industry should be PAT tested at least every 12 months. To be honest PAT testing is a bit of a dull job but it’s necessary! Here’s what they have to say:

After the success of our 2009 & 2010 PAT Testing Courses we have arranged some dates for 2011. We will be holding them on 4th/5th/27th and 28th April.  The location will be confirmed when we have numbers, but will be in the Basingstoke area.picture1.gif

THE COURSE

The aim of our one day ‘practical’ workshop is to obtain an understanding of why PAT Testing is necessary and be able to demonstrate safely and accurately all aspects of electrical testing necessary to perform PAT tests on your own or other peoples electrical equipment.

The course is designed for those within the events industry, although the testing techniques learnt can be used in any industry. You will be shown how to PAT test a wide range of our products from extension leads to metal light fittings and from simple distribution boards to power tools. There will be a maximum of four delegates per day, to ensure you get the most out of the course.

If you have already purchased a PAT tester you are welcome to bring it along to ensure that you get the best from it. Alternatively we will give you advice on testers to buy.

Price £230.00 per delegate (+ VAT)

Course fees include:

The official IET guide: code of practise for in service inspection and testing of electrical equipment. This is a complete reference for you.

Training at customer’s site shall be subject to extra transport costs.

To sign up…

call: 0800 0432 123

sales@essentialsupplies.co.uk

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Marquee electrical leads

Monday, January 24th, 2011

As readers of the marquee forum will already know there’s been some debate about the type of electrical leads we should be using in the marquee industry.

Essential Supplies kindly forward this article to me recently which discusses several marquee related issues but the main bit of interest for me was this:

“The [arctic] cable can often be seen supplying caravans or used at live musical events, it can even be purchased from DIY shops in the form of a ready made extension reel with BS 1363 13 A accessories for use at 230 V 1Ø. As can be seen from Table 7B of BS 7540, the cable was not designed for and is not suitable for these purposes.”

My understanding of this is that despite their wide spread use arctic cables shouldn’t really be used for temporary installations in marquees. Instead we should be using HO7 RNF cable instead (much more expensive).

In my eyes that doesn’t mean we should replace all of the arctic cable we currently use but when it comes to ordering new/replacements we should then go over to HO7.  Like everything on here this is just my opinion and it’s a judgement call for you to make yourself, I just think it’s worth highlighting to people.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

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PAT testing in marquees

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

As I posted a little while ago if you’ve got electrical equipment (anything with a plug) then it should be PAT tested annually. This is from Louise at Essential Supplies:

——————————o—————————————-

After the success of our 2009 PAT Testing Courses we have arranged some dates for 2010. They will be held in March, we have availability on the 2nd and 10th of March and limited availability on the 9th March. The location will be confirmed when we have numbers, but will be in the Basingstoke area.picture1.gif

THE COURSE

The aim of our one day ‘practical’ workshop is to obtain an understanding of why PAT Testing is necessary and be able to demonstrate safely and accurately all aspects of electrical testing necessary to perform PAT tests on your own or other peoples electrical equipment.

The course is designed for those within the events industry, although the testing techniques learnt can be used in any industry. You will be shown how to PAT test a wide range of our products from extension leads to metal light fittings and from simple distribution boards to power tools. There will be a maximum of four delegates per day, to ensure you get the most out of the course.

If you have already purchased a PAT tester you are welcome to bring it along to ensure that you get the best from it. Alternatively we will give you advice on testers to buy.


Price £220.00 per delegate (+ VAT)

Course fees include:

The official IET guide: code of practise for in service inspection and testing of electrical equipment. This is a complete reference for you.

Training at customer’s site shall be subject to extra transport costs.

To sign up…

call: 0800 0432 123

sales@essentialsupplies.co.uk

———————-o————————

I’m not making any money from this recommendation (although a pint at the showmans show wouldn’t go amiss Louise..) and I’d like to point out that others can offer PAT testing training but it’s a lot easier if you’re on a marquee orientated course with like minded marquee people (we’re an odd bunch after all). As I pointed out before it could turn in to a lucrative winter sideline for those quieter months.

Thanks for reading

Spencer.

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Marquee electrics need PAT testing annually

Monday, January 25th, 2010

If you’re hiring out electrical marquee equipment (anything with a plug on -including extension leads) then it should be PAT (portable appliance test) tested at least every year. It doesn’t cost much, an electrician would normally charge around £3-6 per item (which can add up if you’ve got a lot of equipment). They then label it up as tested and a retest date in a year (or less if recommended).

For all those small businesses out there that struggle a bit during the winter, why not take a PAT testing course (£160-£250), buy a PAT tester and set yourself up a sideline for the winter?

It’s very easy work, once you get a contract with a company you can normally rely on going back the following year and doing it again so it’s just building up a list of contracts. You can target fellow marquee companies but remember – every company should be doing this every year but most don’t. Just target your local companies pointing out that this is a requirement if they didn’t already know and away you go, a nice winter sideline. You don’t need to be a fully qualified electrician to do this just take the 1 or 2 day course.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

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Problems with power to a marquee

Friday, September 18th, 2009

At some point in your marquee erecting career you’ll have a problem with the power supply, generally shown by a lack of available light, lack of music or lack of tea facilities.

What to do?

Golden rule: Start at the power source and work your way to the marquee.

There’s no point dismantling a chandelier looking for a fault only to find the extension lead powering it has accidentally been turned off in the house. Trust me I know as I’ve done it several times (an intelligent person would learn..)

If you’re getting your power from a house using RCD adapter plugs (if you’re not then you should be) then they have little red tabs in the top saying they’re working. No red tab means it’s either tripped (reset it) or there’s no power (house has a power cut) or the fuse has gone (replace it).

Next step is to follow the extension lead across to the marquee – you’re checking to see if it’s been cut through or damaged by a lawn mower/hedge cutter/etc.

Once you get to the marquee end of the extension lead disconnect it from whatever’s plugged in and test it with something you know works (you might need a separate 16amp plug to 13amp socket adapter for this step). Ideally this would be a 13amp socket tester but failing that a radio or hoover. Nothing too valuable in case there’s actually problems with the power supply! If you get power at the socket but not the other end then swap the extension lead.

If you have power then the next step (assuming it’s lighting) is to take the dimmer out -bypass it by connecting the chandeliers straight on to the extension lead. If the chandeliers work then you’ve got a problem with the dimmer (if overloaded they can melt inside which is fatal for them. Remember maximum two 5-arm chandeliers per dimmer). If the chandeliers still don’t work then you’ve got a problem with one or both of the chandeliers. Take them down and test them individually to see where the fault lies.

Problems with power happen quite regularly, generally it’s nuisance tripping (a bulb blowing) that means resetting the RCD adapter or even the trip inside the house. We test the chandeliers last as they’re furthest from the house and can mean taking down all the linings. It won’t be an early day.

Whilst talking about power it’s worth mentioning that most catering equipment isn’t electrically tested regularly enough so often trips an RCD. If it keeps tripping don’t be tempted to remove the RCD, it’s there to protect people. If there’s faulty equipment it should not be used.

Bottom line:  Always have a 13amp socket tester, a 16amp plug to 13amp socket adapter, a few fuses and a small screwdriver in your van. A torch wouldn’t go a miss either :)

An early blog this week as I’m away next week. Yes, yes more holidays than Santa. I’d point out that we’re having another baby in November when all hell will break loose so we’re going away while we can!

Thanks for reading

Spencer

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Marquee site visits/surveys

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

When you go out to see a customer as well as creating a good impression you obviously need to take a good look at where the marquee’s going.

Ask the customer if there are any underground cables or pipes you should be aware of -if so have them clearly indicated on a diagram. If there aren’t any it’s worth mentioning at the bottom of your quote “you have indicated there are no underground pipes or cables to avoid when erecting the marquee”.

As well as under the marquee you need to look above. Are there any overhead power lines you need to worry about? Generally this is more likely when you’re putting a marquee up in a field rather than a garden but it should be taken seriously as this article from the BBC shows. Now don’t let stories such as this scare you, especially if you’re starting up a marquee hire business. It’s generally only on larger marquees and when you’re swinging 15ft+ poles around that you should be concerned but I’d always recommend contact EDF energy if there’s an overhead power cable nearby just to be sure.

If you’re getting a bit concerned about the things you need to think of when you’re on a site visit (remember you’ve also got to sell a marquee and come up with suggested plans!) then don’t worry – it becomes second nature after a while and it’s worth having a checklist just to make sure. If I can find them I’ll post our  old marquee site visit sheets up here to give you ideas.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

I’m away for the next 2 weeks so the factory will probably be more efficient but there won’t be any blog posts until I’m back, sorry.

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Marquees: Who provides the power?

Monday, July 13th, 2009

In marquee hire there are a few common problems you face – one is the question of who provides the power? I’m not thinking of your lighting (as obviously you’ve got to run that power supply) but what happens when the DJ turns round and says where’s his power? Or the catererer, or the bar..

Mal at Premier Party Tent faced exactly this issue recently and to be honest it is a little tricky. You can’t be expected to wire up the marquee like a factory with sockets anywhere required but at the same time most customers would expect the marquee man/lady to sort everything out.

So, what’s the solution?

My suggestion is to sort it out in advance. When you take the booking ask the customer if there are going to be any other power requirements, if so how much power do they need? You then charge a set amount per extension lead.

If you leave it until you’re on site it could look like you’re trying to subtly get the bill up a bit (this never ends well) or you may feel obliged to provide them for free (unless it’s in exchange for tea or food this isn’t so good either).

There’s a few things to note about power:

  • One extension lead can take up to 3KW of power, this is normally enough for a DJ or bar but rarely for caterers. Tea Urns are 3KW each and often they’ll have 2 of those plus ovens etc so consider a generator or getting an electrician to connect a large supply across for large events.
  • You shouldn’t be running more than 3 or 4 extension leads from a house, any more and consider a generator or an electrician. Also when running several power leads plug them in to different areas of a house so they’re on different circuits.
  • A long extension lead from Wickes etc is quite cheap but long term you really want to be using blue arctic cable leads with 16amp connectors. The connectors are splashproof so you can leave them outside as long as they’re not on the ground and you just daisy chain leads together – terminate the lead with a 4-way standard 13amp socket adapter for the bar/DJ and plug in to the house using a 13 amp plug with an RCD to a 16amp connector.
  • If you don’t have RCD’s built in to your leads buy some adapters for them, these protect anyone if a cable’s cut through. These really are a must in the marquee hire industry.

If you’ve got the right kit then running power to a marquee is easy though not hugely lucrative. If you’re scratching round getting different extension leads and trying to weatherproof a normal 13am reel extension lead then it can be a bit of a nightmare.

Ask your customer their power needs in advance and charge for your work.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

PS the marquee and some red, green and honeybeige once used carpet is on eBay (there’ll be more carpet to follow).

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