C is for Christmas
Don’t let this
happen to you!
‘Twas the night before
Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Because someone burned down the house...’
C is for Christmas. C is also for Churches and
Caution. For A/V systems it’s fire season. Every
piece of equipment in the A/V closet is being
dusted off and put into use. In the last 10 days,
two of CareySound’s church families have already
had mishaps. The following are a few of the most
common problems we find during the holidays:
- Extension Cords - Use extension cords with great care. Make sure that they are the proper size for the job at hand. Not all cables will handle large loads Particularly if they are long. Never use a cord that is too long for the job. Those nice coils of unused cable build up heat and can melt. Also make sure that they have a third ground lug. Do not use cords with broken or missing grounds. Watch where you place those cables to make sure they are not steeped on or cause a trip hazard. And make sure to throughly inspect cables for signs of wear.
- Electrical Outlets - Even circuit breakers can fail. Do not overload your wall outlets. Most are only rated for 15 amps TOTAL and almost always there is more than one outlet per circuit. Just because there is an open hole doesn’t mean there is adequate power.
- Lights - Even if you don’t overload your electrical outlets lights can cause problems. They can put off massive amount of heat and can cause fires. A light doesn’t have to be in direct contact to cause a problem. Just being too close to another object can cause fires.
- Inexperienced Operators - In addition to becoming more complex, modern audio systems are also growing more powerful. That new capacity needs to be respected and controlled by trained personnel. It’s very easy for audio feedback to do damage to your eardrums and sustained feedback and excessive loudness can cause loudspeaker overloads and in extreme cases fire.
It doesn’t take a
soundman to tell this poor speaker was driven
beyond reason.
Somebody had to hear this speaker screaming for
help
before it flamed out. This speaker was screaming
for an intervention.
Please fire your deaf sound man before you burn
down the sanctuary.
Remember -
Only REAL SoundMen can Prevent Speaker
Fires.
So please use care this Christmas season. We want
everyone to have a safe holiday.
This has been a public service announcement from
your friends at CareySound.