Power Inverter help

[Mark1]

I am thinking of getting an inverter to run my lights off of the car. I did think of the Vagabond. But I don't think I need it to be battery. I just need the inverter part. No battery, less $$. What I dont know is what rating I need. I cant find the draw that the lights need. But by the chart provided by the inverter websites I think I may need a 600 watt.

Anybody have a better idea of the power needed to run 2 300ws lights?

[FlashZebra]

There are numerous very good threads in this forum on this topic.

Here are links to two, but there are many more.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=285982

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=335650

Enjoy! Lon

[Valucolso]

just remember when getting an inverter, it has to be a PURE sine wave inverter and not a modified sine wave inverter, 600 watts should be enough, but be sure also to just check around, 750 seems to be a pretty common value of inverters right now for not really any additional cost between small differences of wattage.

Modified sine wave inverters can damage flash strobes due to the inconsistency of power being supplied, stay away from them!

Peak wattage is also something you should glance at on these inverters, as most of the power will be drawn all at once to the inverter on recycling.

-Josh

[SkipD]

I am thinking of getting an inverter to run my lights off of the car. I did think of the Vagabond. But I don't think I need it to be battery. I just need the inverter part. No battery, less $$. What I dont know is what rating I need. I cant find the draw that the lights need. But by the chart provided by the inverter websites I think I may need a 600 watt.

Anybody have a better idea of the power needed to run 2 300ws lights?If you don't have a full understanding of the technical stuff involved, I would strongly suggest that you buy a product that is properly designed and built to do the job in the first place instead of cobbling something together.

There are many details that you need to very carefully pay attention to for a project like this. These details include many things like sizing the cables (note I did not say simply "wire" ;)), choice of wiring connection methods, etc.

On the 12VDC side, you're dealing with some rather heavy current levels. You will need to figure out how much current is available (and for how long) from your car's electrical system without damaging it and the battery. Can you run the car at an idle and get enough out of its charging circuitry? Etc. Etc.

[Lotto]

Mark, what strabes you are using? The analog strobe like the AB can tolerate voltage drop, and the Vagabond can handles 1200 ws of Bees connected to it; some digital controlled monolights don't work with inverter at all, some brand can not connect more than 1 strobe at a time.

I am only familiar with the 300W Samlex pure sine wave inverter. It can power my 2 Bees (about 500ws) with no problem. It has build in fuses for the AC and 12V sides, and a set of cable with clips that can be clamped on the battery posts.

I am with Skip with the safety aspects. Although the inverter current draw is lot less than the car's starter, modern car's electronics are very sensitive to voltage spikes, and often there are big fuse circuits that protect against shorts at the battery, blow one of those, then you are stranded. So I recommend to play safe and use a separate battery.

[Mark1]

No "cobbeling" involved. And it is not really a project. Buy it, hook it to the car battery, and plug in the lights, Done! I am not trying to re-invent the Vagabond. I only need part of it for my purposes. I guess in a backwards way I am trying to justify a Vagabond. If just an inverter is not much cheaper I will get the whole thing. But if it is half the price, I will probably get just a inverter.

[epatt250]

also
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=473288