Monolight portable power question.

[Kbarredo]

Do you need big batteries made for monolights. I currently own a camping gas generator meant so you can plug in household appliances. Can I just plug monolights into that.

 

[Big Mike]

The experts say that you need 'clean' power for something 'delicate' like a strobe. Not using clean power will supposedly dramatically shorten the life of the gear or just cause a lot of damage etc.

Clean power will have a have a nice sine wave, where 'dirty' power won't. That is why the power packs for portable strobes use a 'Pure Sine Wave' inverter, rather than a cheap inverter.

The usual set up is a DC battery (like a sealed lead acid battery) attached to a pure sine wave inverter. A popular example is the Vagabond II from Alien Bee. They also have a Vagabond Mini, which doesn't have nearly as much capacity, but is small & light enough to attach to a light stand.

I 'made' my own, which is about in the middle of those two. I bought an SLA battery and a Pure Sine Wave inverter, connected them and put them in a small tool bag. It has enough capacity for several hundred flashes (I've never really worn it out) but it is about half the weight of the Vagabond II (still more than twice as heavy as the mini)....so mine is light enough to hang on the bottom of a light stand...but still a bit of a pain to carry around.

 

[Big Mike]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ucts-news-reviews/177686-ghetto-vagabond.html

 

[Dao]

People usually use battery packs.

cons for the gas generator
- Noise
- smell
- handling of gasoline.
- Need to good pure sinewave inverter.
- On location but indoor use (no electrical outlet) need good ventilation. Or have to put it outdoor if possible.



Edit: Again!! how can you type so fast. .. Bigmike!!

 

[Kbarredo]

so do I need inverters if i plug it into a wall outlet or is that just for dc power. Also if I use wireless triggers can monolights short out my camera still

 

[Village Idiot]

My brand of choice:
Innovatronix Incorporated | Explorer XT

They have the Explorer XT and the mini with the XT3 coming out. They still use SLA batteries unlike the Alien Bees Vagabond mini, but the mini and the XT3 are optimized so that you can use multiple bi-voltage strobes like the Elinchrom BXRi's. There's a guy on Photography-on-the.net that's got a thread on the mini he just received Innovatronix gear is also sturdier than the AB gear and doesn't require a bag to hold it together like the Vagabond II does. I went with the Explorer after using both it and the Vagabond II.

 

[Village Idiot]

so do I need inverters if i plug it into a wall outlet or is that just for dc power. Also if I use wireless triggers can monolights short out my camera still

You need inverters for batteries. Wireless triggers will not fry a camera.

 

[Dao]

If the generator can produce a CLEAN, STABLE AC power, then the it should be fine. No need to use an inverter.

Edit: I just found that some generator can generate a clean pure sine wave AC current.
Link

 

[Big Mike]

Honda Generators are top notch, but also rather expensive compared to other brands.

 

[catwalk.hudson]

It is indeed important that output is a pure or clean sine wave, may it be a generator or a portable battery pack. I prefer battery packs over generators. It is difficult for me going on location with a bulky generator and wires or extension cords.

What brand or model of flashes are you using? You can check Tronix Explorer battery packs. I believe the regular XT are on sale. These works with analog and digital flashes. If you are using bi-voltage monolights, then you might want to give Tronix Explorer Mini a try. I saw that review on Photography-on-the-net and seen videos of how fast Tronix Explorer Mini recycles. Recycling time is very important to me and I usually used only around 200 pops. So this battery pack really suits me. I will order one soon

This is a great review as well on the Explorer Mini: PRETTY GIRL SHOOTER: Tronix Explorer Mini Rocks!