How large of a generator for "remote" gigs??

[Pfhuck]

Greetings!! Merry Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc everyone!!

I've been contemplating getting a gasoline powered generator for our band to use at "remote" gigs. This generator would be used at places like public parks, parking lots, interstate rest areas, and other places without a convenient source of AC power.

From poking around on the internet and at local stores, I've been overwhelmed by the number of choices and options. If anyone could offer any practical advice I would really appreciate it!!

What I'm most concerned about is the power consumption of the gear needed for such an endeavor. How many WATTS would be needed for:
(2) - 100 WATT guitar amplifiers with 4x12 cabinets
(1) - 300 WATT bass amplifier with 4x10 cabinet
(1) - Vocal PA (200ish WATTS) with a small mixer

I'm assuming that you could add up the maximum power consumption (in WATTS) of all the gear that will be in use, and buy a generator that will accommodate the power requirements with a little headroom left over?? Is it really that easy??

Any brand of generator to look for?? Any "gotchas!" to consider??

I'm also concerned (not too much) about the legalities of setting something like this up "on the run." Any good advice/insight about that??

Thanks for any advice y'all could give here!!

Thanks much,
Pfhuck

[Remoteness]

The quick answer is, add up all the wattage you already have; leave room for future expansion then add at least 25% more for good measure.

You should also consider building a blimp with the proper ventalation for the sucker since it's going to be pretty loud.

You should have a distro panel for the stage Edisons with plenty of feeder cable so you can place the genie far enough away from the performance area.

[ClickTrackAudio]

When we built our truck, one of our concerns was being able to have good power whether it be in a field or a stadium.

We have our own on board generator: one of the quiet ONAN series:

ONAN Quiet Genny

Although we always prefer having house power, the ability to be self powered has gotten us out of some jams and, if noise and vibration is an issue, then I would definitely take a look at this series of genset.

Cheers
Click.

[dementedchord]

becareful in adding up the useage... check the back for power consumption... a 100 wt guitar head uses way more than 100wts for instance ...

[Barnabas]

Try hooking up all of your band equipment to a single 20-amp circuit breaker. Crank everything up to the max and play hard and loud. If the breaker holds, then you need a generator rated at 2400 watts or higher.

20 amps at 120 volts = 2400 watts.

If the breaker trips, split everything into two 20-amp circuit breakers. Crank it up louder than you usually do and see if the breakers trip. If the breakers hold, then you need a 4800 watt or higher generator.

Get a generator with a decent size gas tank. My 5000-watt Generac generator can go about 9 hours on a tank full.

One tip I learned the hard way;
Stop the generator by turning off the gas valve and letting it run out of gas. This keeps the gas from gumming up the carburetor when you are not using it.

[Remoteness]

...Or you can clamp an amp probe and see how many amps your drawing the convert it to watts or KVA with some math.

[Barnabas]

Or get a Kill-A-Watt meter (made by P3 International), which sell on line for about $20. It measures power (watts), current (amps), voltage, line frequency and more. It can handle a load up to 15 amps or 1875 watts.