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Plug the power plug, Multiple socket with connected plugs.
There are many things I have great respect for: my parents, those in our military, and pastors. Add to that list our dear friend Mr. Electricity. If you're old enough, you may have learned about electricity on School House Rock. If you have no idea what I am talking about, it's on YouTube.
Electricity has revolutionized our society; its what makes our modern life possible. The last time the power went out, I walked into the next room and flipped a light switch out of habit only to be let down instantly by the current predicament. (Side note confession, I have my cable modem and router on a backup system so I can stay connected during an outage.) Bottom line, we require power to function as a society these days.
Most church techs are not certified electricians, yet we have to work with electricity on a daily basis. While most of our electrical interactions won't seriously harm us, a good jolt still isn't fun. I was reminded of this the other day when I was repairing an extension cord. An oblivious co-worker accidentally plugged in the opposite end of the cord. He said he couldn't see my skeleton like they show in the movies/cartoons, but that jolt was enough to make me sit down for a minute until my adrenaline wore off.
I am not a licensed electrician; I want that to be clear up front. Like you, I am a tech that has learned the hard way and has had to fix his mistakes. Here are a few things I have learned that I hope can help you.
Know enough to stop being dangerous.
You don't need to go to college for five years to be a tech. However you should always be learning. The three basics of electricity you need to know are: Voltage, Amps, and Ohms. I was taught to remember this by thinking of another trade: plumbing. Voltage is the equivalent to the water pressure, current is the flow rate (amps), and ohms or resistance is the pipe size. (I also learned about audio gain structure as compared to plumbing, which is funny since water is our arch nemesis in the technology world --- that and electromagnetic pulses, but I digress.)
When you plug your phone in to charge at night, you're plugging that into a 120v outlet. That is the “standard” voltage for the United States and Canada. Now if you take your handy dandy volt meter to the outlets at church or in your home you may see a fluctuation down to as low as 110v. This is “normal” and is caused by the resistance in the wiring.
Check out the back of a power supply from the sound board at your church, and it may say it functions at between 88 – 264 volts. This makes it universal across the world (most of Europe works off 220v power.) Even with newer power supplies being able to handle such drastic fluctuations I always test an outlet before plugging in a new piece of uber-expensive gear.
There are lots of tutorials on YouTube to show you how to test voltage safely if you're unfamiliar with it. But use common sense because there are also a few stupid people who posted videos of how not use them.
Know basic electrical and fire codes.
I often run across serious code violations while working with churches. Most are caused by someone with a heart for serving that didn't know any better. Sadly that doesn't make it right. Remember, as techs our work, ---work that is seen and unseen has to be done correctly. (dramatic pause) Lives depend on it.
Drop Ceilings
I'm sure you have them somewhere in your church. They provide a great place to stash unsightly wires for a clean- and professional-looking install. However, you may be in violation of a building/fire code. A few weeks ago a church asked me to come look at the projectors they were considering replacing in their youth space. Initially, I thought this was going to be an easy task. They already had beautifully rigged supports for the projectors, and signal cabling had already been run. They really just needed brighter projectors to battle the additional lighting they added.
I set up the ladder, moved the ceiling tile out of the way, and got smacked on the head with a bright orange extension cord. Unfortunately, I immediately had to back down the ladder, call the pastor up from his office and explain why I couldn't continue until an electrician came out to install an outlet.
Fire code sees an extension cord as a temporary use cable and thus cannot be used as an “installed” power cord. There is also the issue of plenum vs non-plenum ceilings. In a plenum ceiling the air returns are not sealed. If there was a fire, the smoke and toxins would travel quickly around the building. A plenum-rated cable is coated in flame retardant material. Teflon, I think.
An extension cord laying over a drop tile may never have an issue, but it could happen. While no one ever wins playing the “what if” game, it's just safer if your wire is run through steel conduit as code requires.
After helping another church recover from the effects of an electrical fire, I have become much more attune to the situation. If the fire department can prove the source of the fire as a code violation, like an extension cord in the ceiling, insurance can be much harder to claim. This is why spending the money upfront for an electrician is wise.
Going back to my friends with the youth room projector, it turns out in order to be code-compliant the electrician had to run the power for the projectors to an outlet that passed through the ceiling tiles themselves. The code doesn't even allow for the projector power cord to run above the ceiling. The funny part is, the NEC (National Electricians Code) does allow for an outlet to be placed above the drop ceiling, however it is only to be used for temporary power items like tools or a light.
Electricity can be an unseen danger of our job. Take the steps needed to make sure you don't end up injured (or worse) by making a mistake. Once while I was on a tour, I witnessed a guy wire a generator wrong, It blew every light fixture in the house. Thank God no one was hurt.
Next time you're at the hardware store, make sure you pick up a circuit tester/detector. These tools are vital for letting you know if an outlet or line has current before you start working on it.
Lastly, when in doubt, call a professional.
