[SML] portable dimmer packs

[Jeff Forbes]

On Jan 20, 2015, at 12:00 PM, stagecraft-request at theatrical.net wrote:
> 
> Greetings Smart People (tm),
> 	I have a need for about 12 circuits of portable dimming. They could be 2 six-circuit units, but I THINK I still like the option of 3 four-circuit boxes. In the location where they might have a regular appearance, there are 4 x 20A circuits available. But if they travel, probably only 15A will be found.
> 	At this point, I see three (or four) possibilities:
> 
> 1. NSI/Leviton, 4 circuit 15A ubiquitous pack
> 
> 2. Leprecon ULD  340/360, 4 & 6 circuit boxes (15 or 20A)
> 
> 3. ETC SmartModule 2, 4 & 6 circuit boxes (15 or 20A)
>      or 4. ETC SmartBar 2 - same as above
> 
> Knowing that price will be a very strong determining factor in this decision, and the current theatre has ETC dimmers.....
> 
> Can you help focus my quandary?
> 
> Scott

I use the NSI/Leviton packs and the Leprecon packs quite a bit. The Leprecon is a lot more robust and more expensive, and higher quality. But the problem I've always run into with them is circuit distribution. The NSI packs have a single 20a tail and 4 600w dimmers. You can plug (4) 575w instruments in and run all 5 at once.
The Leprecon packs have two versions. The 15a version runs on one circuit but is limited to 1800w. That means you can plug in (4) 575w instruments but can't run all 4 at once without tripping the breaker on the pack. The 3600w version has two tails which of course means you have to find twice as many dedicated circuits in order to get full usage out of them. If you're going into a room that's short on circuits the NSI packs would probably give you more flexibility. 

J