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[Nate Zifra]

Had an all day festival run with a Honda 3000 inverter genny.  Never had an issue with these before. This particular festival was all DJ/Hip Hop artists. Plenty of rig for the gig, only covering a city block. While I've read about how much compressed tracks can push load, I didn't think it would be enough to overload the Honda.  I was wrong. First indicator was that some powered speakers cut out. Saw the overload light on the genny.  Reduced sub volume and appeared to be ok. Had a band come on, no issues at all (expected as the output from the band is dynamic). Thought we were in the clear until one of the later DJ's cranked his master. The drop was enough to reset the X32 rack. Had to lower levels again, put a harder compression (limiter) on the DJ channel, and also on the sub output, and made it through.  Host wanted more volume, but there was nothing I could do without overloading the genny, which I let them know.

Now, it is possible there was an issue with the generator (the host rented it from Home Depot), but from now on I will be specing the next level up for these type of events.

[Dave Garoutte]

3000 watts isn't that much, only 25 amps or so.  Adequate for a band, but NO head room.
Depending on your rig, 30-40 amps isn't unusual for a DJ.

[Brian Adams]

I agree. It doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with the generator, just that it was too small.

[Dave Guilford]

3000w is BARELY enough for band.

You’d really want to get into a diesel whisper generator for street parties.  Rent them for $200-500 depending on size.  You’ll never worry about power again.

[Bob Stone]

Either a slightly bigger generator or a second one. What all is in your rig?

I'd also run a UPS on all the signal path equipment (mixer, dsp, outboard, etc.) so you don't have to wait for reboot if something does go out.

[Tim McCulloch]

3000w is BARELY enough for band.

You’d really want to get into a diesel whisper generator for street parties.  Rent them for $200-500 depending on size.  You’ll never worry about power again.

I've said this before - if it runs on gasoline it ain't a "real" generator.  If you and a buddy can lift it into the back of a pickup,  it ain't a real genny.

Not being a dick, it's what this job requires.

Props to you, Dave, for pointing out this is not a huge expense relative to the benefit received.

[Bob Stone]

I've said this before - if it runs on gasoline it ain't a "real" generator.  If you and a buddy can lift it into the back of a pickup,  it ain't a real genny.

Not being a dick, it's what this job requires.

Props to you, Dave, for pointing out this is not a huge expense relative to the benefit received.

Two speakers on sticks with a mixer will happily run on a eu2000 all day long. They're definitely real genny's, just make sure it's sized appropriately. But knowing this forum, unless you're bringing in a big Danley rig running on a 20kw trailered genny, you aren't worthy.

[Luke Geis]

I am curious to know what speakers and the number of them in all you had in order to help you see the math in why you were short on power.

Most all powered speakers have their max wattage listed on them. Usually around 600 watts for most 2000 watt powered speakers ( some around 2.5 amps or 300 watts ). You can see how if you are getting close to full output where all that power went. If you have two mains, two subs and four monitors in total, you have an easy 2,400 to about 4,800 watts of power draw at full tilt boogie. If you read the fine print, most Genie's are only rated for around 75% of their rated current. So a 3000 watt Genie can provide 3000 watts for shorts bursts, but it will only provide 75% of its available power 100% of the time. That means the 3000-watt genie is only going to reliably provide around 2,250 watts of power. After that much draw, you are on borrowed time. The Honda EU3000 is rated for 2,800 watts continuous which is really good. So you can see how after you factor in the current needs of the Mixer, the band and other peripherals, you can easily breach 2,400 watts of current demand.

Tell us a little more about what you had going on.

[Tim McCulloch]

Two speakers on sticks with a mixer will happily run on a eu2000 all day long. They're definitely real genny's, just make sure it's sized appropriately. But knowing this forum, unless you're bringing in a big Danley rig running on a 20kw trailered genny, you aren't worthy.

I wasn't suggesting smaller gigs need a big diesel.

"...it's what this job requires. "

[Craig Leerman]

I just did a speech outdoors. At the rally I used 4 small inverter generators. 1 for FOH, 1 for PA left, 1 for PA right and 1 as a spare.   I could really run the system off of a single generator but I would rather have headroom so I bring 3 and a spare. If I need monitors I run them off the FOH generator.

I use the Yamaha powered ones from Costco

https://www.costco.com/A-iPower-1600W-Running--2000W-Peak-Gasoline-Powered-Inverter-Generator.product.100343958.html

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