Genny headroom

In this case, I can only advise what I would do and suggest what my friends should do re their sound system / managing their events. However, the old saying of 'You can drag a horse to water, but you can't make it drink' runs true here. Ok, so the electrics were way over spec'd in this case, but someone else was in charge of the electrics, and got paid to do it professionally. All the rest of us were volunteers,inc the musos, and the event was funded entirely by the sound system owners, with any surplus proceeds going to a  local charity. They were going to do a much larger event , but the council would not let them use any of their land without having it properly fenced-off, expertly managed etc, as you would expect. There were sponsors involved, but the event would not have been a family affair, as the sponsors would have taken over the whole event, and made it into something completely outside their control and remit. The remit being that it must be for local people/families, and affordable. In the end, the event was free to enter, with sales of food, drink and merchandise covering the costs involved. A few hundred people, not 10's of thousands of people, with all the added 'complications' that would involve. The event may get larger in time but, for the moment it is more like a school fete, with added music by local bands.

Yes, I am aware of that but, as I said in a previous post I can only advise the people in charge, who did employ a professional genny hire company to deal with all the electrical needs, completely unbeknown to me, until a couple of days before. My role was merely to turn-up on the day, and help with the stage sound set-up etc.I did ask the questions, as on here, but was informed that everything was fine. The genny was properly earthed with a separate spike driven into the ground near the unit, the equipment used was first rate, inc all the wiring, distros etc. I can only assume that the guy in charge of the genny team was qualified in electrical installation , and mobile applications.

I reckon this 100kva unit had not been used for some time, possibly weeks, and the vapour lock was the result of it being left in the sun for all of that time. They obviously did not take the trouble to make sure that it was fully operational before they delivered it. The two hours included building the staging once the canopy had been inflated, and having to recharge the on-board batteries with the tow vehicle, which had been completely flattened. So, that put the sound crew back by 2 hours, which meant a very rushed, late, start instead of a controlled set-up, with sound check. Only one hour late, but the punters were getting very restless by that time........

Yes, quite correct, thank you. I can only give advice to those who ask me, when I have found out the answers. As you said, I have absolutely no control over the persons running the events. This forum is very good for sound/technical advice, hence my  continued involvement. It appears to be the old, old story of 'don't worry about any of it as it will not happen to us '. Unfortunately, as we all know that it can/ and does happen on occasion when someone gets injured . And, then the s..t hits the fan, and everybody blames everyone else.