Powering Lights in Remote Areas

Lime

Lime

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What is a good method of power supply for lighting outside in the dark or in remote areas?

Please don't say extension chords or I'll nut punch you :)
 
Much obliged.
 
Small Petrol Genny like caravanners (may their souls burn in eternal damnation) sometimes use: if you intend to do anything for more than a half-day...means you can also do other things like prep food and drinks, run lights for other things etc...
 
Arkady said:
Small Petrol Genny like caravanners (may their souls burn in eternal damnation) sometimes use: if you intend to do anything for more than a half-day...means you can also do other things like prep food and drinks, run lights for other things etc...
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Bad advice.
Petrol generators are very likely to destroy a modern flash head within a few minutes (diesel ones within a few seconds). Don't do it, unless you also include a pure sine wave in the system.
And if you do include a pure sine wave converter you'll need a much bigger petrol genny, and a lot of money, so you'll be better off with a battery powered solution.
 
I've had some grief with those small petrol generators actually... you need to be careful about the amount of power you need (they can be very small those little generators) and certainly make sure you protect your gear against RF and spikes from them...

You don't get the problem so much with the larger stuff...

Obviously its not a problem to run a kettle or a toaster off of them, but be careful with sensitive electronics.
 
I stand corrected... the ones I've actually used are the size of a trailer: I just assumed they're all the same...
 
Arkady said:
I stand corrected... the ones I've actually used are the size of a trailer: I just assumed they're all the same...
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The one you use is probably meant for comms gear and is probably quite well sorted :lol:

The cheap ones from B&Q are not...
 
desantnik said:
I've had some grief with those small petrol generators actually... you need to be careful about the amount of power you need (they can be very small those little generators) and certainly make sure you protect your gear against RF and spikes from them...

You don't get the problem so much with the larger stuff...

Obviously its not a problem to run a kettle or a toaster off of them, but be careful with sensitive electronics.
Click to expand...

I think Garry's advice to avoid petrol gennies, pretty much full stop, is probably sound. Tomas Whitehouse thought long and hard before he got one.

The little ones that caravanners use (God bless 'em ;) ) are only about 500w max and still cost a few hundred quid. Fine for caravan lights and the telly, but the good ones are massive things that weigh a ton and make a noise like a flippin jumbo jet.

The Tronix battery pack seems like a pretty good idea, if you really fancy taking high voltage mains kit outside in the rain :eek: but I think there is a good reason why the serious flash manufacturers - Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta - only make custom outdoor stuff. The good news is it's reasonably affordable and works quite well in a studio environment too.
 
The Tronix Explorer XT SE is owned by a friend of mine, who recommends it highly. Works with any make of flash (edit - check at their site), which would be its real benefit to me.

Other options might be the Alien Bee vagabond, which is shortly to start being imported into the UK (though with many questions about price, compatibility, etc).

Third option is a dedicated manufacturers own custom battery and head system, a la Bowens, Elinchrom and Lencarta. I use the Elinchrom Quadra, which is a fantastic little gun, but costs big bucks. I also hear that the new Calumet Genesis 300b is shortly available, is well priced, and has an elinchrom mount on it.

Finally, some Chinese manufacturers are starting to get the ball rolling on this. See Strobists latest review here...
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/04/test-drive-mystery-meat-400ws-chinese.html
 
Arkady said:
Small Petrol Genny like caravanners (may their souls burn in eternal damnation) sometimes use: if you intend to do anything for more than a half-day...means you can also do other things like prep food and drinks, run lights for other things etc...
Click to expand...

Initially I agree but...

desantnik said:
I've had some grief with those small petrol generators actually... you need to be careful about the amount of power you need (they can be very small those little generators) and certainly make sure you protect your gear against RF and spikes from them...

You don't get the problem so much with the larger stuff...

Obviously its not a problem to run a kettle or a toaster off of them, but be careful with sensitive electronics.
Click to expand...

This is quite true. Generators come in all shapes, sizes, horsepowers and qualities.
Picking one that is going to safely provide power to flash lighting isn't an easy venture. As Garry has mentioned, A pure sine wave inverter is critical and many cheaper gennies will not specify what kind of inverter they have.

Also the problem with many lighting manufacturers is they don't specify how much power the light needs to draw in order to fire at full power. I think electrical engineers refer to this as an 'inrush current', I'm unsure of the exact mechanics and terminolgy, doubly more so as I had a native Finnish engineer explain it to me.

I've now sold Big Mike (my 2400 watt gas gennie) and am saving for a much more substantial one. Like a Honda 3500 watt :)

The problem with Mike was that he couldn't satisfy the inrush current of anything more than a 600ws head, he was a cheapie at 200€. He could run my 1000 watt smoke machine just fine, or a pair of D-lite 2's or a single 600ws head without issue.

The fact was that if I wanted to run a few lights he kept on tripping, an early warning sign that if you continue usage then your going to damage a capacitor, then need to replace it or worse.

There were no fires, glass shattering blow outs or deaths though. Mike did me proud for quite a few shoots, but sadly he had to go :(

HoppyUK said:
I think Garry's advice to avoid petrol gennies, pretty much full stop, is probably sound. Tomas Whitehouse thought long and hard before he got one.
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Indeed mate, and due to the lack of literature I thought that the 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' attitude was the only way of gaining some experience with them. I'm happy I did as I know much more now and most importantly, I know what I need to get a job done.

To power 2-3 600ws lights, I'll be needing at least a 3.4 to 6kw instead :)

Honda do a great example for about £1200 with a pure sine wave inverter.

Avoiding them at all costs is a little extreme but it's 99.9% certain that most shooters just don't need that kind of solution.
Using AC generators is quite a popular method in the states, Joel Grimes, Dave Hill and Martin Prihoda are just a few who swear by them, but these guys do a ton of location based shoots and have invested some serious dough in their gennies.

1200 knicker is roughly the price of 3 Innovatronix batteries, giving you power all day long and on pennies of petrol.
When this kind of advantage is a priority, then look into the world of gennies.

If it's not, get yourself a battery solution ;)

HoppyUK said:
The little ones that caravanners use (God bless 'em ;) ) are only about 500w max and still cost a few hundred quid. Fine for caravan lights and the telly, but the good ones are massive things that weigh a ton and make a noise like a flippin jumbo jet.
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The noise really isn't bad at all, the video compression in many behind the scenes videos makes it so much worse than it actually is.

It's only the same as a car engine in all honesty. At least for one that runs ok.

I never once had to shout at any models nor did they have to raise their voices to be heard.

Bottom line is that it's a heavy duty solution to lighting with multiple light sources over extended periods in heavy duty conditions.
 
Maybe I over-simplified it a bit...
'Some petrol gennies can be used safely with some flash heads' might be a better answer.
Just as petrol gennies can power an old TV set but not a modern one, an electric oven but not a microwave, they may be OK with basic flash heads such as the AB-400/800/1600 (popular in the U.S.) they are not OK with modern ones.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Maybe I over-simplified it a bit...
'Some petrol gennies can be used safely with some flash heads' might be a better answer.
Just as petrol gennies can power an old TV set but not a modern one, an electric oven but not a microwave, they may be OK with basic flash heads such as the AB-400/800/1600 (popular in the U.S.) they are not OK with modern ones.
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Well, your right, it's not the most advisable option and there is very little info we can look upon to make the safest and most successful decisions.

Interesting with Alien Bee's gear, they can accept the 'sawtooth' wave as opposed to a sine wave. Apparently Elinchrom D-lite 2's and 4's are the same :shrug:
 
FWIW, I've used pretty basic petrol gennies with Elinchrom lights without any problems what so ever. Could be just me though :shrug:
However I now use the battery Ranger RX, as the noise of the genny used to drive me nuts :bang:
 
Get a long extention cable............there somebody had to say it :bonk:
 
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