Baptistry Mic

[Jeff92k7]

Originally Posted by pjdaoust

Is there any reason why you can't use a wireless mic in place of the wired mic that the pastor is afraid to touch ?

If you read a few posts back, you'll see what we ended up doing.... We just made the existing mic into a wireless one by getting a special cable to plug it into a beltpack.

It would not be feasible to use a stand in front of our baptistry. There is a removable choir loft in front of the baptistry and the risers around the front edge of the baptistry do not have enough surface area for a tripod stand. A weighted base stand would fit except for the fact that the choir is in the way. (silly choir). Besides, aesthetics are just as important as sound quality and our existing mic now has no link to a 110v circuit or any ground path.

You can see our auditorium here.

[Jeff92k7]

So did anyone else read the latest TFWM that said the final report was realeased? It said that the sound system was properly installed and grounded and the fault was in a baptistry heater that shorted and sent an approximate 80v charge into the water.

Proper maintenance of equipment is very important. Especially with any equipment anywhere near water.

I'd like to see this final report directly. Where can I find it?

[Jeff92k7]

Originally Posted by Dave Wettlaufer

I'd like to see this final report directly. Where can I find it?

I would too. All I have seen was the article in the magazine. I would like to read the actual report rather than an article about the report about the event.

[Nathan J]

I'm pretty sure I read a similar article but I don't get TWFM so I'm not sure wher it was -- probably online. I'm looking but haven't come across it yet.

Jeff, do you know who the author was?

[jklein]

Originally Posted by ngjones

I'm pretty sure I read a similar article but I don't get TWFM so I'm not sure wher it was -- probably online. I'm looking but haven't come across it yet.

Jeff, do you know who the author was?

This month's (free) Worship Facilities magazine had an article in it, and a future issue of Church Production (sister pub) will also have it.

The sound system was installed properly, however, the baptistry heater assembly was not. It was a homemade job and was likely damaged by being left on when the tank was empty. Ended up putting ~80vac into the water, so when the Pastor grabbed the mic, the properly grounded sound system became the complete path to ground. Unfortunately, the AC wall outlet used for the heater assembly wasn't a GFCI type, so nothing tripped (not enough current to trip the breaker apparently).

Here's a few links to some discussions over on Mike Holt's Code Forum that had some discussion on it by one of the four electrical guys doing the investigation:
http://www.mikeholt.com/codeforum/ul...;f=13;t=000802
http://www.mikeholt.com/codeforum/ul...;f=13;t=000766

Jeff K

[Jeff92k7]

Originally Posted by jklein

This month's (free) Worship Facilities magazine had an article in it, and a future issue of Church Production (sister pub) will also have it.

Oops. I guess I listed the wrong magazine. I guess that's why I couldn't find a link to the article on the TFWM website.

[Mark Finley]

my first thought after hearing this was to think about the burden and blame the church's Audio director must have taken in the last few months. If I was him, I would have been so torn up on the inside I don't know how I would have managed.

Don't most electrical codes require that receptacles powering something like a water pump or heater be a GFCI? Maybe I'm mistaken...

I was surprised that the drain in the baptismal didn't ground the 80V right away, before the pastor completed the circuit by touching the microphone. Unless of course it was a smaller baptistry without a drain.

[jklein]

Originally Posted by Mr.Lightman

Don't most electrical codes require that receptacles powering something like a water pump or heater be a GFCI? Maybe I'm mistaken...

I was surprised that the drain in the baptismal didn't ground the 80V right away, before the pastor completed the circuit by touching the microphone. Unless of course it was a smaller baptistry without a drain.

From what I read on the NEC Forum's website links I posted, the NEC isn't very clear on baptistry requirements. Add to that the fact that the wiring was 1960's era with no ground wire (the copper water supply pipe was commonly used in those days), all the other piping to the tub was PVC, the tub was fiberglass, and the heater assembly was a hardware store DIY job hung over the side of the tank, and there as sooo many ways this was not the audio director's fault (although, yeah, the possibility would have been killing me, too...).

Also, think about all the stuff in many of our own churches that's grandfather claused because requirements went into effect after our work was done. As long as we're careful we don't do any more major work, we avoid the requirement (and cost) to upgrade. Makes ya' think, what are we really saving, huh?

Jeff K.

Here's what I did.
We just bought a new "lapel MIC" for our Pastor, so I took his old Audio Technica wireless "lapel MIC", put the battery pack inside a ziploc bag, and then put THAT into a small manilla envelope, tucking the flap inside. Then I clipped the MIC on the outside top and duct-taped the envelope to the wall inside the baptistry. It's a little "MacGyver-esque", but it got the job done. It was away from the water, the Pastor didn't have to worry about it, it was hidden from view, and because the MIC is omni-directional, it picked up just fine. I had to run the fader up a little higher than the others, but no biggie.

[Creonus]

Ohhh, duck tape to the wall. That's probably better than what I did -- duck-tape to the back of their necks. Fortunately, the fellows aren't too hairly back there. Next time, I'll use gaffer tape instead.