Maintain and troubleshoot event equipment
What the exam tests
This domain covers preventive maintenance schedules, inspection, cleaning, spare parts, safe isolation, systematic troubleshooting, and documentation for lighting, audio, and AV equipment.
Core rules
- Separate preventive maintenance from corrective repair; schedule both.
- Inspect before and after each event: plugs, strain relief, connectors, fan filters, firmware, and rigging hardware.
- Isolate before opening equipment; never troubleshoot live unless the procedure requires it and you are authorized.
- Use a systematic method: confirm the symptom, isolate the section, test, replace or repair, then verify.
- Use the half-split method to divide the signal or power path and test the midpoint.
- Record the fault, cause, action, parts, and date; this builds history for recurring faults.
- Keep critical spares: fuses, lamps, cables, connectors, and adapters.
Worked example
A speaker produces no sound. You confirm the channel is unmuted, check the source at the mixer with headphones, test the cable with a continuity check, and substitute a known-good speaker cable. Reasoning: the half-split method moves from source to output; testing the cable at the midpoint separates a mixer fault from a speaker fault without replacing parts at random.
Traps that cost marks
- Swapping parts without isolating the fault.
- Working inside equipment while it is energized.
- Ignoring intermittent faults because the unit "works now."
- Failing to record the repair, so the fault repeats.
- Using a continuity test on a live circuit.
Key points
- Schedule preventive and corrective maintenance.
- Isolate before opening any equipment.
- Use half-split troubleshooting from source to output.
- Verify the repair under real operating conditions.
- Document fault, cause, action, and parts used.