Does Anyone Use A Petrol Generator?

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DaydreamJay

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For location lighting will one of the small Honda 240V generators be powerful enough to run say 3 studio type lights? A 2nd hand generator can be picked up for less than £100, but battery powered set ups are much more than that.

Does anyone use one?
 
It isn't a question of whether or not they have enough power, it's a question of how long your lights would last before they blew up...

With 1 or 2 very expensive exceptions, generators produce very spiky power that will destroy any delicate electronic equipment unless they have an expensive pure sine wave inverter between them and the lights.

That's why most people don't use them, or at least don't use them twice:)
 
Hi Garry, you sell portable battery powered set ups don't you?
 
I live near Lencarta, I might call in when I have saved up :-)

Really am on a tight budget which is why I was looking at generators.
 
The alternative is to build yourself a battery powered solution to run existing lights.

All you need is a car battery of reasonable capacity, and a pure sine inverter. I have one, all safely set up in a spare Lowepro magnum 35 camera bag that works great.
 
barneyrubble said:
The alternative is to build yourself a battery powered solution to run existing lights.

All you need is a car battery of reasonable capacity, and a pure sine inverter. I have one, all safely set up in a spare Lowepro magnum 35 camera bag that works great.
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Would that work out cheaper than these:
http://www.innovatronix.com/news.asp?NewsID=225

How much did it cost you to put it together mate?
 
DaydreamJay said:
Would that work out cheaper than these:
http://www.innovatronix.com/news.asp?NewsID=225

How much did it cost you to put it together mate?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure - depends on which size you are going for I suppose. I have sold my lights now but back when I was using them on it I never ran out of battery. The beauty of this system as opposed to "All in one" packages, is to double the capacity you just buy another battery for £40 :D:D:D

Having said that, you need to ensure its all water resistant etc.

It cost me just over £100 for the inverter, and I think around £40-50 for the battery. I already have the bag.
 
mark1616 said:
I'm also interested in a cheaper system. Barneyrubble, what strobes are you using, what size battery and inverter? How many fires do you get from a charge?

Currently I use my 580EX units but would like more power in the field if possible.
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I was using Alien Bee B800s. Battery is a 20AH car battery - reasonably portable - i got at least 75 froma charge. Didnt really use it over that.

Am thinking of selling it now as havent used it since I sold the lights. Thought I'd keep it for other things, but have not used it once since then.
 
Honda do Sine wave generators, can't remmeber what the model numbers are now (EUxxi I think) but they're suitcase style ones bu tquite bulky. None of the open frame ones are sine wave.
 
Similar, although thats not pure sine and its 24v input. So you would need a 24v battery.
 
Again not pure Sine.

Try something like this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/600w-pure-sin...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3a6165da99

EDIT: please make sure you are happy with what you are doing before buying anything on my say so. Mine has worked fine for me but I couldnt say what you would need etc to get this working. I will check ont he specs of mine when I get home later, but i think mine is similar spec to the one I've posted there.
 
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Awesome. As my location shots are accessible by car I can just stick this on the Jeep and I'm sorted. £89 - where's the catch?
 
:D:D:D:lol::lol:

Just make sure you are happy with the kit you are ordering - in principle it will work. You just need to make sure that it will work for you with your kit. And also, you mention 3 lights, its worth checking with someone which power inverter you will need. I only ever ran 2 - most of the time it was one.
 
mark1616 said:
The catch is when you get carried away, shoot too long and can't start the car ;)
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I'll leave the engine running. Most environmentally unfriendly lighting set up - powered by a 2.8l Turbo Diesel engine :lol:
 
All my guns (Multiblitz) state they should not be used with an unregulated generator, however looking at the manual for the newer Profilux'Plus' it no longer says this :thinking:

But it is just plug in for voltages between 100 to 260 and battery (Propac) using the same inlet so perhaps the onboard regulation is much better than before?

Paul
 
What's the recycle time like with these DIY jobbies?
 
Intriguing thread.
 
Indeed. I was originally looking down the wrong end of a £500 investment on a portable power supply. Maybe there are options.
 
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