Current requirements on Alien B400

[smoke665]

After a call to Paul Buff, I'm more confused then before. According to their tech, the working amps for a B400 should be between 6 and 8 amps each, but could peak to 16 amps if shooting at full power. Then they said I could run both with generator or an invertor of at least a 1000 watts.(10 amps)????? I've always ran 2 of them on 15 amp circuit, and never had an issue.

Anyone have any experience running lights on either an inverter or generator? Frankly I was thing 6-8 amps total for both.

 

[smoke665]

Just found buried in specifications. The "average draw", is 8 amps.

 

[benhasajeep]

Most generators have a peak specification. So, a 1,000 watt gen may have a surge of say 1,250. But you have to watch. Some list the surge as their power output. The small quiet Hondas are that way. Their 1,000w is only actually a 900w continious genset. Their 2,000w is only a 1,600w continious!

 

[davidharmier60]

If it will do what you need I heartily recommend a Honda generator.
We have an old loud 5000 watt that does what we need. But one of those little Hondas just whispers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[smoke665]

If it will do what you need I heartily recommend a Honda generator.
We have an old loud 5000 watt that does what we need. But one of those little Hondas just whispers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I've got a 3500 watt generator, that would power them, but I was looking at a the addition of an under hood 2000 watt inverter. Battery draw wouldn't be much, until they cycled and could always idle the engine if need be.

 

[tirediron]

I find that VERY hard to believe. I've run two 1600 w/s Speedo packs off of a single outlet; in fact I've run two of them off of a single battery inverter once in a moment of crisis with no breakers tripping. Not sure where PCB is in terms of digital, but a lot of the newer lights need a pure sine-wave power supply to function, so if you buy an under-hood inverter (d'ya think that new truck of yours could support it? ) or a genset, make sure it has pure sine-wave output.

 

[smoke665]

I find that VERY hard to believe. I've run two 1600 w/s Speedo packs off of a single outlet; in fact I've run two of them off of a single battery inverter once in a moment of crisis with no breakers tripping. Not sure where PCB is in terms of digital, but a lot of the newer lights need a pure sine-wave power supply to function, so if you buy an under-hood inverter (d'ya think that new truck of yours could support it? ) or a genset, make sure it has pure sine-wave output.

As do I, their techs were very vague about things, but I found the 8 amp rating buried in their literature. Nothing on the lights. I would think the 8 amp would only be during powering up, and only if you were shooting at full power.

Actually the truck came with an inverter, but I think its only about 300 watts.

 

[Gary A.]

I saw some solar powered generators on the internet. They were quite expensive, but may have an appeal to you and your needs. I don’t remember any of the specs.

 

[smoke665]

@Gary A. maybe if we were going off grid. LOL I'm just looking at rigging something for temporary service when I shoot outside (where power not available) and want to use my strobes instead of speedlights.