Wedding Ceremony Power Recommendations

[doncolga]

Hi everybody,

Need your recommendations ASAP. My BFM rig will be setup inside the hall for the reception. For the ceremony is way out on a lawn. I have two Electovoice ZLX15 powered speakers, one small mixer, one wireless receiver. The closest AC power is at least 100 feet away. Should I run extension cords that far or should I rent a quiet generator? I also considered purchasing a small, battery powered power station. Do you all think that something like this power that gear for about one hour?

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-PPRH ... B00BR1TO80

EDIT: I may have just answered my own question; I've also dug out two 100 foot speaker cables and I have some older Peavey speakers and a powered mixer I could use instead. I figure I should be able to daisy chain two speakers to my powered mixer and run it that way. The length of the speaker cables should put me closer to AC power.

I do have a ceremony on a beach in July however. Do ya'll think the above power station would run the powered mixer and a stage piano for about one hour?

Thanks!

Donny

[DJPhatman]

If it were me, and it is safe to do so, I'd run an extension cord. 100' with 12 or 14 gauge should be fine.

I don't think that B&D Power Station would hold up very long, as the EV's pull at idle is not listed.

Skip the mixer. Set the system up, connect the mics up directly, set the levels and you're done.

[Bruce Weldy]

You won't be sucking much juice in that situation, but I'd still go with a 12 gauge cord. When I've had to run my full system that far away, I've required that 10 gauge be provided.

[bitSmasher]

That power station is a bit feeble, only having a 17Ah battery...
You could DIY similar, with a SLA bigger battery (ie, 50-80Ah), and use a 4-500w inverter
This could power a small PA for many hours, and might be worth investing in if you're doing weddings and other announcement-only functions in remote locations

[Grant Bunter]

The other option you have Donny is a compromise.
Use a max 50 foot extension lead, cut and re terminate your 100 foot lead into 2 x 50 foot leads, and use your wireless mikes on your powered mixer outside.

The only downside to setting up a separate system is packing down in a hurry if the wedding moves from outside to suddenly inside, but that's not usually a problem if the wedding party ducks off for photo's, so you could put on a short nice playlist while you pull down outside if that's an issue...

[doncolga]

Thanks guys for the fast and thoughtful responses. I was able to measure distances on Google Maps, so that's handy. It's actually 150 ft (that's being generous) from power to where I'd prefer the powered mixer to be. Then another 100 feet to the preferred location for the first speaker, then about 40 feet to the next location. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

If it were me, and it is safe to do so

That's the operative question. Using long extension cords outdoors is a safety hazard, because the nearest ground connection is at the service entrance, which is the length of the cords plus the length of the wire from the outlets used to the service entrance distant. In the event of a fault leakage current takes the proverbial shortest path to ground, which could be through one's body and damp shoes to the spot where they're standing.

The right way to do it is to have a breaker box with ground rod installed where the gear is to be set up. You don't need a separate drop, it can be wired to the existing service, but what's critical is having both breakers and grounding at the point of use. If the venue does this on a regular basis they should have this installed. They may balk at the cost, but they'll make it up quickly, and it's a lot less expensive than having to defend a lawsuit should someone be electrocuted, one that they'd lose due to negligence.

Even if you have a generator it needs to be grounded to a proper ground rod.

You won't be sucking much juice in that situation, but I'd still go with a 12 gauge cord. When I've had to run my full system that far away, I've required that 10 gauge be provided.

+1. Gauge requirements are based on current draw and cable length.

[doncolga]

Wedding ceremony and reception went great. For the ceremony, I used my old EV passive boxes instead of the powered boxes. I went short on the power cables and long on the speaker cables. I was 200 feet away from the pastor and the Audio Technica wireless lapel worked flawlessly and sounded fantastic. I daisy chained the two EV's, first one at 100 feet and the second one another 100 feet. Sounded really weird from where I was but at the congregation it was perfect. Lots of good comments.