Stage pin connector

A stage pin connector, often called 2P&G, is the North American theatrical branch circuit connector: two flat blades and a ground pin, rated 20 amps at 125 volts. It exists because solid pins conduct heat and tolerate being connected and disconnected thousands of times, where a household plug does not.

It sits in a rig alongside several other connectors that are not interchangeable and are worth telling apart. Edison is the ordinary household plug, used for practicals, laptops, chargers and house circuits; it is not locking, so it falls out when a cable is stepped on. PowerCon is a locking appliance connector common on LED fixtures and powered loudspeakers, notable because several fixtures can be linked from one circuit through it. Twist-lock connectors cover the rest, and the pairing that catches people is the 20 amp 125 volt version and the 20 amp 250 volt version, which look similar and are not compatible — plugging a 120 volt fixture into a 208 volt circuit destroys it immediately.

Stage pin has its own failure mode worth knowing. The pins spread with use, the contact loosens, and a loose contact heats. A connector that is warm to the touch after a show is a connector to pull out of service, and splaying the pins back is a recognised maintenance step rather than a bodge.

Event lighting — owned inventory, our own crew, and a site survey before anything is specified.

• Socapex A 19-pin multicable carrying six 20-amp circuits in one jacket — six hots, six neutrals, six grounds, and one pin left over.
• Power distro The portable box that takes one large feed and breaks it into protected circuits — the thing between a building’s power and every piece of equipment on the show.
• Load calculation Working out what the rig actually draws before anybody orders a service — where the common mistake is treating a 20-amp circuit as 20 amps.