# Custom patch panels



## BillESC (Aug 23, 2006)

I thought I'd share a few pics of two custom panels my shop just produced.








These will be used in one of our mobile rigs.


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## Eboy87 (Aug 23, 2006)

They look nice, now I need to make one for my amp rack. One question, in the second pic, are the blue and white connectors Powercons?


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## avkid (Aug 23, 2006)

Eboy87 said:


> One question, in the second pic, are the blue and white connectors Powercons?



Yes, they are Powercons.

You see all the Powercon connectors at:http://www.neutrik.com/content/Products/products_group.asp?level2id=204_54471


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## inspector_gizmo (Aug 23, 2006)

I'm Curious as to what you did to somewhat safeguard the connections on the rear of the powercons. Did you use insulated fastons or heatshrink or some other meathod. I have been really wanting to use powercons but I want to make sure the connections are safe from wandering fingers. The wiring and panels look great, I hope they serve you well. 

Thanks in advance.


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## BillESC (Aug 23, 2006)

We use 3M Lug tape from the Powercon's body wrapped past the stripped portion of the 12/3 cable. It creates a very nice insulated jacket.


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## Eboy87 (Aug 24, 2006)

Do you have a pic of the rear of the powercons to show how you did the connections? I was looking at doing something like this for the amp rack.


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## BillESC (Aug 24, 2006)

Sorry, I don't have a pic. We use Sta-cons and then solder them in place.


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## soundman (Aug 24, 2006)

I had not seen powercon connectors till 2 weeks ago on a load cell rig, is this a new product or something that has been under my rader?


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## BillESC (Aug 24, 2006)

They've been available for a couple of years at least. Nice connector.


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## soundman (Aug 24, 2006)

Before I go out and make some adapters other than beign lookable what advantage does powercon offer? Say over the standered IEC end.


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## soundlight (Aug 24, 2006)

They lock like a speakon and don't come disconnected unless you pull back the little latch and release them. So you don't have to worry about things coming unplugged because of a loose connector.


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## BillESC (Aug 24, 2006)

soundman said:


> Before I go out and make some adapters other than beign lookable what advantage does powercon offer? Say over the standered IEC end.



They are rated for 20 amps whereas 'most' IEC connectors are rated for 10 amps (heavy duty IEC's can be found for 15 amps but cost around $ 18.00 each.)

Powercons are under $ 8.00


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## Foxinabox10 (Aug 24, 2006)

soundlight said:


> They lock like a speakon and don't come disconnected unless you pull back the little latch and release them. So you don't have to worry about things coming unplugged because of a loose connector.



For that reason alone I wish every plug in the world was powercon.


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## Eboy87 (Aug 24, 2006)

Foxinabox10 said:


> For that reason alone I wish every plug in the world was powercon.



Amen to that


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## Chris15 (Aug 25, 2006)

But last time I checked, powercons have ZERO breaking ability. You MUST turn off the power before disconnecting them. For that reason, I believe under many electrical codes, they are not permissible except in special applications.


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## mbenonis (Aug 25, 2006)

Can you define "breaking ability" please? I take it that it means one can easily break the electrical connection in the vent of an emergency?


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## Footer (Aug 25, 2006)

mbenonis said:


> Can you define "breaking ability" please? I take it that it means one can easily break the electrical connection in the vent of an emergency?



Basicly it means that if the connection has power going to it you should not use the connection. Because these connection twist in you have a very good chance of producing a nice arc. If there is a hungry load on the end of the line you have a really good change of producing a very large arc. So with these connections you have to connect everything, flip your mains, and not disonnect untill the mains are off.


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## koncept (Aug 25, 2006)

isn't that how it is with stuff like cams too and several othere connectors. I was under the impression no connection should be broken under load...


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## Chaos is Born (Aug 25, 2006)

In the perfect world no connection should be broken while under load... but things don't alway work that way in the real world.


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## Chris15 (Aug 25, 2006)

> Note: The PowerCon® is a connector without breaking capacity, i.e. the PowerCon® should not be connected or disconnected under load or live!


Taken straight from Neutrik.

I get the impression that most mains connectors are designed to minimise the time it takes to extinguish the arc. The powercons don't, so they are going to get nice healthy arcs and all the problems of disconnecting under load rather quickly.


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## avkid (Aug 26, 2006)

They lock, preventing accidental disconnects(for the most part)


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