Cheap alternative to portable power supply?

whimsicalphoto · Oct 19, 2010

I have a large shoot coming up this weekend, and I don't have power lines, so I need a portable alternative for my lighting equipment and fans. Considering the short time period, I won't be able to order anything online and have it here on time without paying extra in over night shipping. And I don't want to have to listen to a loud generator...

I need to supply power to about 600 to 700 watts continuously for about 4-5 hours without any problems. I currently have an inverter that I hook up to my car's battery, but it's annoying to have to open the hood and hook it up and keep my car running to prevent it from killing the battery... and even trying to hook up 400 watts to it makes the lights start flickering after about 20 minutes. I'm not an electrician, so I don't know what's going on.

Description of inverter:
750 watt continuous / 1500 watt peak
Input voltage: 12.8V; output 115V, 60 Hz

Now, the bulbs I'm using for my lighting equipment are 120V each, do you think it's not working right because the output voltage on the inverter is only 115V? Didn't think it would make that much of a difference, and it will keep 245 watts with 120V bulbs going for a couple hours no prob.

I was thinking about getting like 4 car batteries and connecting all of them together, but will they die if they're not connected to my car? Maybe I should get a larger inverter? I've heard of connecting a 1 farad capacitor between the inverter and the battery will help regulate the power, but I don't want to spend the $100 if I don't have to. Haha. Any thoughts???

Mike

SageMark · Oct 19, 2010

Everything you are mentioning screams generator. Rent one at home depot, and place it further away.

Rekd · Oct 19, 2010

Generator is the way to go. They have some very quiet ones. Not recommended for indoor use, but you can put it outside and run a cord indoors.

If it's still too loud you can make a little noise reflector out of plywood, boxes, furniture or anything else to help direct the sound away from your layout.

Mike_E · Oct 20, 2010

That or get an inverter for your car and hope your muffler holds up.

Seriously, you could run it for a while and then shut it off and use the battery for a bit then repeat. (just don't run down the battery too much to start your car

)

Big Mike · Oct 20, 2010

I'd also suggest renting a generator and a 50' or 100' cord so you can place it farther away if needed.

Patrice · Oct 20, 2010

Big Mike said:
I'd also suggest renting a generator and a 50' or 100' cord so you can place it farther away if needed.

Good idea:thumbup:

Be careful of the voltage drop on long extension chords. At 50 to 100 feet of extension chord, on a 15 amp 120 volt circuit, try to use a 12 gauge extension chord.

table1349 · Oct 20, 2010

Keep in mind a good 100' 12 gage 3wire extension cord will run around $65-$100. How much is that overnight shipping?

If it was me, I would probably want to be safe with that run on a generator and use a 10 gage. You are easily talking over $100 then.

Big Mike · Oct 20, 2010

Keep in mind a good 100' 12 gage 3wire extension cord will run around $65-$100. How much is that overnight shipping?

If it was me, I would probably want to be safe with that run on a generator and use a 10 gage. You are easily talking over $100 then.

If they're renting a generator, they can probably rent a power cord too.