new option for portable power?

dangin

i just came across this bad boy and was thinking that it might make a great portable power source for my strobes. i'm no electric whiz and have heard some stories about people trying to use portable power sources with their strobes with less than desireable results. anyone's thoughts on this?

http://www.duracellpower.com/powerpacks/powerpack-600.asp

dangin

jlw wrote:

At about $130 (per Amazon) it might be an interesting alternative to lugging a generator. However, I notice from the spec sheet that it weighs 58 lbs!... so, not exactly ultraportable.

no. it's heavier than most strobe battery packs for sure. but this may provide a heckuva lot more power as well. double duty as a power source to charge your AA and camera batteries as well as jump start your car.

ziggy53

What you need to power studio electronic flash units is called a "pure sine wave" inverter.

Since these Duracell units don't say what they are I believe they are probably "modified sine wave" inverters, which will "not" safely power most studio flash units or other delicate electronics for that matter.

The Alien Bee "Vagabond" portable power supplies do use a "pure sine wave" inverter technology and are safe to use.

http://www.alienbees.com/VIIsystem.html

Trust me, I burned up a TV/VCR unit trying to power it using a "modified sine wave" inverter. There is no way I would trust a cheap inverter on my monolights.

(I don't own Alien Bee anything but they have done their homework.)

An inverter that might work safely, but I have not tested:

http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/30pusiwa12vd.html

Yes, you would still need a deep discharge battery to run the inverter, but splitting the weight might be a good idea.

dangin

ziggy, i believe you're right; the duracell unit puts out a modified sine wave. according to the spec sheet:

AC output power (max. continuous) 480 W
AC output power (5 min) 600 W
AC output surge capacity (peak) 960 W
AC output voltage (nominal) 120 V
AC output frequency 60 Hz
AC output waveform Modified sine wave
Inverter no-load current < 0.20 amps (battery drain with no load on inverter)
Inverter low-battery alarm 11.0 V
Inverter low-battery shutdown 10.5 V

so it sounds like a no go for the strobes.

Shane422

Here is a review of another option for a portable power source that is also a sine wave converter.
http://www.studiolighting.net/roduct-review-innovatronix-tronix-explorer-xt/

They actually have two versions that are $250 and $350

ziggy53

Shane422 wrote:

Here is a review of another option for a portable power source that is also a sine wave converter.
http://www.studiolighting.net/roduct-review-innovatronix-tronix-explorer-xt/

They actually have two versions that are $250 and $350

Thanks Shane. Here is their home page:

http://www.innovatronix.com/

ziggy53

Note that all of these portable power units "may" have problems with modern digital studio electronic flash units. The reason is that studio flash units are normally designed for line voltage from household outlets. Normal house current can tolerate short periods of very high draw, something that some studio type flash "require" for proper operation.

The portable power units are not designed to handle these high current surges and will only provide a more regulated power output.

The results of using a high drain on a regulated power supply can be a momentary drop in voltage and that can cause the flash unit to reset instead of charge, meaning the flash unit never charges.

Be sure to contact your flash manufacturer before purchasing a portable power supply to determine suitability of your units.

rwells

I have, and use the Vegabond power units. They are top notch. Very portable, and the new ones, Vegabond II, are 3 times as fast as the original ones. Yep, you can power 2 strobes with one Vegabond II unit and still have faster recycle times than if you used one of the original units, one for each light.

Sold the original ones and replaced with the newer units.


Get it, you won't be sorry