# Red door above the stage?



## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Well, above our stage up on the ceiling, there is a red painted metal door with some wires hooked up to it. I have never been on the roof to see the top, nor have I ever known what the heck it is for. There's now later coming from it or anything.

Was just wondering if anyone has this kind of door on their ceilings and what it is used for.

Thanks : P


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## DaveySimps (Aug 17, 2009)

Without seeing any pictures, I would guess that it is a smoke hatch. The cables go to some type of release mechanism that a firefighter can activate (usually by pulling a handle) to throw the door open, thus helping to allow the built up smoke to vacate the space. 

Most devices that are painted red in a commercial facility are fire type devices. Just like all pipes painted yellow are gas, and blue is potable water. If you could posts pictures, we may know better. Usually smoke hatches are spring loaded to help throw a snow load that may accumulate on them. Although often overlooked, they should be tested regularly as part of a safety inspection. We have ours and our fire curtain inspected whenever Sapsis Rigging does our rigging inspection.

~Dave


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Yeah, I would of guessed it was part of the fire system makes since to, since when the fire curtain is dropped the stage area is completely sealed off. I will try to get a picture some time.

Heh, our fire curtain sure does work. It dropped about 30 times this last year due to faulty wiring before the new light system was installed. (Dont' know if you read about our light system.) 

We have to look at our emergency power transfer cabinet though, it takes about 7 seconds for it to over ride the regular room lights above the stage and to shutdown stage equipment and override the houselights. Its not a huge problem it electrical shorts, but in a fire it could be pretty bad being in the dark for those seconds. But it may have been fixed when the new system was installed.


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## DaveySimps (Aug 17, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> We have to look at our emergency power transfer cabinet though, it takes about 7 seconds for it to over ride the regular room lights above the stage and to shutdown stage equipment and override the houselights. Its not a huge problem it electrical shorts, but in a fire it could be pretty bad being in the dark for those seconds. But it may have been fixed when the new system was installed.



Our space is only about 6 years old, so relatively new gear. We had a fire last winter. Batteries in your back up system started to short and melted, causing the fire. We now have a gas generator and transfer switch as our back up. Our local code says that power has to be out for 30 seconds before the transfer switch engages. Then the geni takes another 30 to start before power is delivered, so your 7 seconds is not bad at all.

Keep in mind these systems are more for power outages so you can evacuate the facility, not necessarily for firefighting. In fact, most times, the power to a facility may be cut while emergency crews fight the fire. This is what happened when out battery back up was on fire. The first thing the fire chief asked me was where the inverter breaker was.

~Dave


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Oh, I thought most places had an instant power back on kind of thing, because in our school, if the power goes out, the schools generator kicks in and we don't even know the power went out, some PCs may turn off though.

Okay, heh, I wont bother with the power thing then.

Really sorry about your backup battery's burning up. That looks bad D:

Our backup systems take emergency power from our schools generator.

Was it the first time your backup system was used?


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## DaveySimps (Aug 17, 2009)

Actually, this happened when the building was on normal grid power. We had had several power outages over the years, and the system behaved normally. In fact, we just had the whole thing inspected not two months prior to the incident. I was just glad I was in the facility to take care of it. (I noticed a funny smell when working on a recording, and investigated it). It was literally the only damage to the building.

~Dave


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Huh, thats weird, how did it happen when the building wasn't even on emergency power?


Yeah, good thing you were. Your whole theatre could of burned down : (


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## DaveySimps (Aug 17, 2009)

The batteries always have a charge in them, and they is constant power monitoring to them with the inverter, so the potential is always there. In this case, the fire inspector determined it was most likely a bad batch of batteries in the lower half of the rack. All it took was one to go, and it spread like cancer since they are all tied together. This was one of the many reasons why we went a generator based system, as opposed to the batteries. Plus, it was cheaper and (since it is natural gas powered) it is an open system that can potentially last for days, as opposed to hours. This was important since we have a back up sump pump tied into it.

~Dave


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Oh, okay : )


If im not mistaken, our schools generator runs on diesel, heh, well, was the best way to provide power for the entire school. 

I was outside near it when it turned on once, was kind of scary xD, Has the exhaust pipe like a truck.


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## tjrobb (Aug 19, 2009)

Here in the states with the NEC we get a max of 10 seconds to switch to emergency power. The trick is that often enough this isn't checked so it can take a while. What this means is that generator builders can spec up to 10 seconds for the geni to get to its rated voltage... and the building is dark for that time. However, they make 5 minute backup ballasts for lights for just this reason. (Now you know why you sometimes don't see e-lights in a building).

The gist of this is that 7 seconds is no biggie here in the US.


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## teqniqal (Aug 25, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> , but in a fire it could be pretty bad being in the dark for those seconds. But it may have been fixed when the new system was installed.


 
You shuld inquire about having photolumenescent paint / marker tape installed around the theatre so people can see when there is a total power outage (you do have battery-backed 'frog-eye' emergency lighting, right?). Look at American Permalight (http://www.americanpermalight.com/) or similar for products that meet the ANSI standards for this type of product. Personally, I prefer the 24-hour rated type.


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## teqniqal (Aug 25, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Yeah, I would of guessed it was part of the fire system makes since to, since when the fire curtain is dropped the stage area is completely sealed off.


 
The Fire Curtain and Smoke Vent(s) should be part of an integrated system that works with the magnetic door releaset, and fire alarm pull stations so that if ANY of the fire detection systems are initated then ALL of the Fire Protection Systems are activated.


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