Mark M Gong wrote:
I wouldnt use a generator with the lights unless it's got an inverter.  Those portable gas generators do more harm than good.  Look getting into a Vagabond II from Paul Buff.

Cool. But my question again, I want to be able to run a blowing fan and the one light. Is this possible with 1000 watts?

Legacys 7 wrote:

Cool. But my question again, I want to be able to run a blowing fan and the one light. Is this possible with 1000 watts?

I can't speak for a generator, since I don't have one, but I do have the traveloak and that works.  Depending on your shoot length battery VS generator is an issue.  The problem with the above statment is that pretty much all generators have an inverter, but, not all inverters are true sine wave.  Which itself, is more important for the digital heads then anything.  I believe you would be fine off generator, but I don't know the numbers needed.  Keep in mind that the max load needs to be way over the power consumption of the light otherwise you'll continuously trip the breakers.  having a constent power draw on the generator though will actually HELP with the light as the generator won't idle down between shots.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:

I can't speak for a generator, since I don't have one, but I do have the traveloak and that works.  Depending on your shoot length battery VS generator is an issue.  The problem with the above statment is that pretty much all generators have an inverter, but, not all inverters are true sine wave.  Which itself, is more important for the digital heads then anything.  I believe you would be fine off generator, but I don't know the numbers needed.  Keep in mind that the max load needs to be way over the power consumption of the light otherwise you'll continuously trip the breakers.  having a constent power draw on the generator though will actually HELP with the light as the generator won't idle down between shots.

I should've clarified that I'm aware of the sinewave issues. Honda has a portable unit that the camera store rents out. It's a portable unit. The seller told me over the phone that I might not be able to run both fan and light. This is why I wanted ask some on here who have used them and can tell me from their personal hands on experience.

What's the Traveloak? My goal is to use only 150 watts strobe only. The fan isn't a large power consumer.

Legacys 7 wrote:

I should've clarified that I'm aware of the sinewave issues. Honda has a portable unit that the camera store rents out. It's a portable unit. The seller told me over the phone that I might not be able to run both fan and light. This is why I wanted ask some on here who have used them and can tell me from their personal hands on experience.

What's the Traveloak? My goal is to use only 150 watts strobe only. The fan isn't a large power consumer.

opps, travel pak.  I was commenting not on you, but on the comment about generators not having inverters.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:

opps, travel pak.  I was commenting not on you, but on the comment about generators not having inverters.

No problem. I addressed that clarification part because it'll bypass those issues and answer my question. Nothing personal was taken. You are just trying to help me out.

Is the Travel Pak the little portable battery unit sold at Calumet for the Travelites?

Legacys 7 wrote:

No problem. I addressed that clarification part because it'll bypass those issues and answer my question. Nothing personal was taken. You are just trying to help me out.

Is the Travel Pak the little portable battery unit sold at Calumet for the Travelites?

Yes.  I have the travellite 750 as well and just got the battery for it.  It's fairly decent, I've not had any complaints with it.  In fact I took it out and ran the light at near full power and it held up fairly well.  Now, if you have a genny, I'd personally run that over a battery for recycle times and length of use.  Where are you shooting at and when?

Legacys 7 wrote:
I have a shoot coming up soon. It's on location without plug outlet access. I'll be using monolights. 750 watts. I won't be using the model lights, but only around 150 watts strobe. My goal is to run both the light and a blowing fan. Is it possible to run both units on a 1000 watt generator or other portable power?

My lights are the Travelites.

I'm just bored here, so let's take another look at this issue.

1 - boats have trolling motors and move the big thing around a lake for hours at a time, and I'll be willing to bet that those use a little more power over the long run than some strobe unit.

2 - my car stereo with about 2000 watts can run on my battery for 20-30 min before I get worried, and that has to be pull about as much power as strobes.

3 - I actually have no idea about any of what I said, other than it uses power and runs off of batteries. But lights aren't these magic orbs that just work when plugged into a wall.

4 - the vegabond power pack deal is rated for like 1000 shots at a time or something crazy? So the lights can't use that much power.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:
Now, if you have a genny, I'd personally run that over a battery for recycle times and length of use.  Where are you shooting at and when?

This would be expensive, but if they have a genny and a powerpack deal it wouldn't be a problem to run a battery charger into the battery and then hook up the inverter as well.

Just as long as the charger isn't on high or anything. (I think)

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

This would be expensive, but if they have a genny and a powerpack deal it wouldn't be a problem to run a battery charger into the battery and then hook up the inverter as well.

Just as long as the charger isn't on high or anything. (I think)

Though you can plug the charger into a genny and then the light into the battery, if you have a genertor on site that can handle the load, then it's best to go off of that.  you'll get faster recycle times and won't put undo wear and tear on the battery.  Now, as an alternitive, if your generator can't handle the load, then running off the battery being charged is an OPTION, though I wouldn't recommend it unless you really had to.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:
the honda unit btw is considered by most to be the go to for generators.  as long as your wattage of fan + light doesn't go over the max of the genny you should be fine.  But, since you haven't said what the draw on the fan is, there is no way really of knowing.

The seller at the store told me that it isn't possible to run them both. Options renting wise is to rent two Honda units.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:

Yes.  I have the travellite 750 as well and just got the battery for it.  It's fairly decent, I've not had any complaints with it.  In fact I took it out and ran the light at near full power and it held up fairly well.  Now, if you have a genny, I'd personally run that over a battery for recycle times and length of use.  Where are you shooting at and when?

about two weeks.

Legacys 7 wrote:
I have a shoot coming up soon. It's on location without plug outlet access. I'll be using monolights. 750 watts. I won't be using the model lights, but only around 150 watts strobe. My goal is to run both the light and a blowing fan. Is it possible to run both units on a 1000 watt generator or other portable power?

My lights are the Travelites.

Excellent questions. I am dealing with that issue right now. I have consulted an expert in million dollar RV's with 30 years experience in power. He is like all engineers, he doesn't have enough information. I am personally driving down to Portland with my goodies and let him configure everything for now and future use.

I just got a lesson for instance in Batteries. Not all batteries are created equal, some of them are smarter than the first generation PC's for instance.  Just trivia because I didn't know that before a few days ago.

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

I'm just bored here, so let's take another look at this issue.

1 - boats have trolling motors and move the big thing around a lake for hours at a time, and I'll be willing to bet that those use a little more power over the long run than some strobe unit.

2 - my car stereo with about 2000 watts can run on my battery for 20-30 min before I get worried, and that has to be pull about as much power as strobes.

3 - I actually have no idea about any of what I said, other than it uses power and runs off of batteries. But lights aren't these magic orbs that just work when plugged into a wall.

4 - the vegabond power pack deal is rated for like 1000 shots at a time or something crazy? So the lights can't use that much power.

You are missing a key element here. Alternator. The boat and car stereo run off both battery and alternator. Alternator and battery keep each other alive.

Patrickth wrote:

Excellent questions. I am dealing with that issue right now. I have consulted an expert in million dollar RV's with 30 years experience in power. He is like all engineers, he doesn't have enough information. I am personally driving down to Portland with my goodies and let him configure everything for now and future use.

I just got a lesson for instance in Batteries. Not all batteries are created equal, some of them are smarter than the first generation PC's for instance.  Just trivia because I didn't know that before a few days ago.

This is true. This also applies to monolights and powerpacks.

DMan65 wrote:
Know anyone with a gas powered leaf blower? You should be able to use one of those in place of the fan.

This is true. I hadn't thought about that. But I need something that isn't loud. I need for the model to be able to hear me.

Legacys 7 wrote:

You are missing a key element here. Alternator. The boat and car stereo run off both battery and alternator. Alternator and battery keep each other alive.

I don't think he was talking about a gas engine boat. I have an electric trolling motor and it uses a specific deep cycle battery. No alternator anywhere on board at all.

Legacys 7 wrote:

The seller at the store told me that it isn't possible to run them both. Options renting wise is to rent two Honda units.

Then that solves that question.  Where are you renting from, calumet on bryant? Didn't know they rented generators.

How long is your shoot and where at?

LightLab Studios wrote:
I've done 2 location shoots recently with an EU3000is Honda generator. It powered my 2400 watt pack with no problems and it's fairly quiet (for a generator). I also rented a 1000 watt unit to power my laptop and 2 high velocity fans. Now, that generator was very quiet. Rental cost was $45 for 3000 watt and $30 for 1000 watt. These are both inverter type and true sinewave generators.

I would think the 2000 watt version would power your lights and fan no problem.

My high velocity fans required about 250 watts starting power and 120 watts once spinning. House fans would require less wattage, probably by about 1/3 to 1/2.

Most def. helpful. The fan that I'll be using is from the camera store. It's a fan that you see on set for fashion shoots. My shooting distance is going to vary so I need something that will have enough wind. What is the price for the 3000 unit. And is it easy to port. I need something easy to port in my car.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:

Then that solves that question.  Where are you renting from, calumet on bryant? Didn't know they rented generators.

How long is your shoot and where at?

No Pro Camera. Shoot will be 1 to 2. And maybe less. Shoot is 1 hour from San Francisco, outside.

Legacys 7 wrote:

No Pro Camera. Shoot will be 1 to 2. And maybe less. Shoot is 1 hour from San Francisco, outside.

Oh.  Yeah, I might suggest looking into the generators for that, if you can get one to handle both it would probably be less hassle on your part.  Be careful, I've heard that you need permits for generators and all that, and if you're using a generator you can't really do anything run and gun.  Check out your permit requirements for where you are shooting at or risk getting stopped without them

Legacys 7 wrote:

No Pro Camera. Shoot will be 1 to 2. And maybe less. Shoot is 1 hour from San Francisco, outside.

Take it up to Livermore and get those big ass fans from Boeing going for you. Hell,. I bet you could plug into the power grid too.   Just kidding.

PARDUE PHOTOGRAPHIC wrote:

Oh.  Yeah, I might suggest looking into the generators for that, if you can get one to handle both it would probably be less hassle on your part.  Be careful, I've heard that you need permits for generators and all that, and if you're using a generator you can't really do anything run and gun.  Check out your permit requirements for where you are shooting at or risk getting stopped without them

I already got that part covered. The owner gave me permission to shoot on his property. A property release form was signed.

Patrickth wrote:

Take it up to Livermore and get those big ass fans from Boeing going for you. Hell,. I bet you could plug into the power grid too.   Just kidding.

Lol.

Luis Solorzano wrote:
Use a generator for anything but your lights.  The generaor does not put out true sine waves, which is what stobes need.  Generators put out a mixture of sine and cosine waves, so go ahead and ruin those travelites. 

I would buy the Vagabond systme from www.alienbees.com

I run 2 AB800's with them for more than 1.5 hours and have no problem, but I do not turn on the modeling lamps.  Plus if you need more power have a spare 12 volt battery and you can shoot for hours.  The inverter in the Vagabond system does put out true sine waves so it not an issue to your lights.  If you have a nearby car the vagabond system comes with a cig. adapter so you can shoot all day if you need in this situation.

Sorry Charlie, the Honda 1000 unit is a clean sine wave unit. I've done my homework. Sine wave isn't my question or issue. It's having enough power to run more than one item. I do have a power inverter. 1000 watts. I just never used it.

Luis Solorzano wrote:
Use a generator for anything but your lights.  The generaor does not put out true sine waves, which is what stobes need.  Generators put out a mixture of sine and cosine waves, so go ahead and ruin those travelites.

The Honda EU series puts out a true sine wave. I checked with both Profoto and Honda and got the thumbs up. It was safe to run my digital D4 Profoto power pack at full power (2400 watts).

You will always get better performance from a generator than a battery, but the downside of the generator is weight and noise. A tankful of gas would run my pack all day and probably outlast 25 batteries for my 600 watt battery pack.

The EU3000is is a heavy unit at 135 lbs and pricey at $1800 new. I rented for $45/day.

Look at the 2000 watt unit. It might meet your needs. I don't know the weight, but would guess it's 60-70 lbs, which as not as heavy as it might sound. Bring a handcart and extension cords. I shoot with assistants. They do the heavy lifting.

Legacys 7 wrote:

Sorry Charlie, the Honda 1000 unit is a clean sine wave unit. I've done my homework. Sine wave isn't my question or issue. It's having enough power to run more than one item. I do have a power inverter. 1000 watts. I just never used it.

Math - do - the math - its in the math

LightLab Studios wrote:

The Honda EU series puts out a true sine wave. I checked with both Profoto and Honda and got the thumbs up. It was safe to run my digital D4 Profoto power pack at full power (2400 watts).

You will always get better performance from a generator than a battery, but the downside of the generator is weight and noise. A tankful of gas would run my pack all day and probably outlast 25 batteries for my 600 watt battery pack.

The EU3000is is a heavy unit at 135 lbs and pricey at $1800 new. I rented for $45/day.

Look at the 2000 watt unit. It might meet your needs. I don't know the weight, but would guess it's 60-70 lbs, which as not as heavy as it might sound. Bring a handcart and extension cords. I shoot with assistants. They do the heavy lifting.

I'll check into the 2000 watt. But I will rent two 1000 units because they don't carry the 2000 units.

Luis Solorzano wrote:

Math - do - the math - its in the math

The math issues has been answered already. The seller told me that it won't work. I posted that above^ The issue here for me is affordable. Since I'm renting, I'm limited.  I can purchase a battery unit but it won't be enough 'math' to run both fan and light. So what I'll end up doing is renting two 1000 generator units from the store.

Legacys 7 wrote:
You are missing a key element here. Alternator. The boat and car stereo run off both battery and alternator. Alternator and battery keep each other alive.

nope because the power would be off in the boat while trolling, and I'm stupid with my car sometimes and leave it off.

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

nope because the power would be off in the boat while trolling, and I'm stupid with my car sometimes and leave it off.

I see.