Yingwah Productions wrote:
I recently got a solar kit for house backup, lotta blackouts during summer, neighborhood running the AC.

http://www.goalzero.com/p/138/goal-zero … erator-kit
(20% off

One reviewer said power tools blew out the battery, guess it was drawing too many amps at once?

Wondering if the same thing applies to strobes? Do they draw alot of power at once or does it hold the flash charge in the capacitors of the unit itself? Specifically using profoto acute heads with generator pack. Would monolights draw less power?
I'm not all that great with electrical usages and scared to try with expensive equipment.

That sucker is $1,800. Why on Earth would you ever consider using such a device when there are countless other items on the market, specifically designed for work with photography strobes, at a WAY cheaper price. Hell, you can buy FOUR Vagabond Extremes for less than that.

Shot By Adam wrote:

That sucker is $1,800. Why on Earth would you ever consider using such a device when there are countless other items on the market, specifically designed for work with photography strobes, at a WAY cheaper price. Hell, you can buy FOUR Vagabond Extremes for less than that.

I bet it took you much longer to write this than it would have taken you to read the very first sentence, where the OP says he bought as a house generator backup.

OP strobes will be fine. Tools consume much more than strobes do.

Shot By Adam wrote:
That sucker is $1,800. Why on Earth would you ever consider using such a device when there are countless other items on the market, specifically designed for work with photography strobes, at a WAY cheaper price. Hell, you can buy FOUR Vagabond Extremes for less than that.

One, the profoto battery pack is $8,000 so its a potential good compromise on price.
Two, its solar chargable so I can be out in the field almost indefinitely
Three, I can use it for other purposes like powering my fridge or recharge my laptop 20 times
Four, the Vagabond is rated 158.7Wh, the Yeti is rated 1200Wh, so it actually has capacity of 7.5 Vagabonds

The Vagabond is designed for Alienbees, which are all monolights, there's no guarantee it will work with generator pack/ head systems. The highest powered alienbee I see is 640 Ws. Some of the profoto heads range from 4000 - 9000 Ws
What that translates to in terms of power draw I'm not sure of.

Shot By Adam wrote:
That sucker is $1,800. Why on Earth would you ever consider using such a device when there are countless other items on the market, specifically designed for work with photography strobes, at a WAY cheaper price. Hell, you can buy FOUR Vagabond Extremes for less than that.

I would also question the price.     Only 60 watts of panel capacity?
4-8 days charge time (40-80 hours sunlight) to run a fridge for 12 hours?
That capacity is easy to put together

Pure sine wave inverters
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/1000-wa … ter/986463
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/2500-wa … ter/986464
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/automotiv … 1892p.html

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motom … 9930p.html (not sine wave - fridge - power tools)

Solar charge controllers
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 … p;_sacat=0

sample deep cycle battery
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8E4LR6?psc=1

random solar panel kits
http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Solar-Pane … 00B8L8MD2/
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Watt-12V-Mo … 1322049660
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-KIT-20 … 1419849809
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-Watts-100- … 1349063573
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-KIT-20 … 1350191127
http://www.amazon.com/ECO-WORTHY-Stock- … 00FF1KHIY/

strobe power pack
http://www.amazon.com/LP-800x-Portabe-I … 00T9M9YUW/
http://www.amazon.com/LP-450x-External- … 00T9MA10Y/

Yingwah Productions wrote:
Some of the profoto heads range from 4000 - 9000 Ws
What that translates to in terms of power draw I'm not sure of.

Less that 1500 watts.
Any standard wall outlet has a 15 amp fuse or breaker on it - 1650 watts - hit that and it blows. That is why a typical room heater is only 1500 watts.

http://elinchrom.com/powerpacks.html
as an example
Elinchrome RX2400 (120V)  is 30W  when switched on  (BUT with a 940W peak draw when charging up)