DIY Vagabound Powerpack

[rsmith6621ab]

I have searched the net over and over for a list of items needed to build my own Vagabound style power pack..

If anyone here has the list of supply's I would be thankful....I live a few block from a store that sells this type of supplys.

Thanks again

[danir.photography]

Samlex 12V pure sine wave inverter (150w or 300w depending)
Powersonic PSH-12180FR battery (high rate 12V 21AH) (1 or 2. If two wire in parallel, not in series)
BatteryMinder BM12v117 charger/conditioner/maintainer

Better and cheaper!

[majs]

Someone else from a different forum made a homemade one but if I recall he spent about the same amount to build it himself.

[epatt250]

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

[Lotto]

My setup:

Inverter: Samlex 300W
Battery: 35 AH
Wiring: 10 gauge wires (the Samlex comes with 12g wires, which was tested OK), inline 40A fuse to protect short at the battery. I added a quick disconnect coupler for easy swap of batteries.
Charger: $20 off brand trickle charger.
Case: battery box with straps.

I already had the battery, box, and wiring. If calculate everything in, total about $240.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2795302067_0cfef82ebc.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2796149266_bca70a66e4.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2795577678_5ac00148ef.jpg

[Blackey Cole]

I wonder what I would need to power my Speedotron 405 pack? I have a 45wt Solar setup that could be used to extend the use of the battery by charging it as we go if the sun is out.

[Tony Yeung]

Seeing as how Vagabonds are selling for 200-250 I wouldn't even make one. Plus it will look ghetto.

[Titus213]

My setup:

Inverter: Samlex 300W
Battery: 35 AH
Wiring: 10 gauge wires (the Samlex comes with 12g wires, which was tested OK), inline 40A fuse to protect short at the battery. I added a quick disconnect coupler for easy swap of batteries.
Charger: $20 off brand trickle charger.
Case: battery box with straps.

I already had the battery, box, and wiring. If calculate everything in, total about $240.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2795302067_0cfef82ebc.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2796149266_bca70a66e4.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2795577678_5ac00148ef.jpg

Now that's a good looking DIY job, congrats. How does it work and what does it weigh? And lastely, do yo find it cost effective with Vagabonds going for $300? I know there is a certain value/pride in building your own.

[danir.photography]

Seeing as how Vagabonds are selling for 200-250 I wouldn't even make one. Plus it will look ghetto.
LOL!!

The attraction for me (who gives a damn how it looks!) lies in performance. For the same amount of money ($250) I can assemble a unit that that recycles faster (300w v. 150w), and lasts longer with more strobes (42 amp hours versus 9 amp hours).

Most people can appreciate the difference.

[Lotto]

Even though I like DIY stuffs, I would not have built one myself if I didn't have the batteries for free. The price and performance of the Vagabond is hard to beat.

I was going to build 2 power packs for $300 and learn how inverters work in the process, but I have not find the need for the second pack yet. For transporting (or to make it look better), I could put the whole pack into a backpack or large flexible food cooler.

The pack weights 25 lbs (the battery is 20). The few times that I took it to my friends' houses, I found that it's easier to move the pack than looking for wall plugs behind furnitures. For performance with my AB strobes, the B800 alone would fire and recycle as it is plug into AC. With both the B400 and the B800 together at full power, it recycle just a tick under 2 seconds. The only time that I test the battery, I was popping both strobes at full power, stopped at 250 because I got bored.

So to me, it's not worth to build a portable pack to the exact spec as the Vagabond, but with DIY, we can use a bigger inverter or batteries with higher capacity.

[Titus213]

Very nice and a good set of specs it appears.

The part about finding available outlets in a home is right on. You know there is AC power but you have to move too much furniture to get to it. I like the idea a lot and will have to investigate the Vagabond when I get back into action here.

[Iahcon]

Nice setup Lotto! Thanks for sharing.

[Blackey Cole]

Why not use two 6vt cart batteries which are lighter than 12vt car batteries or a RV battery that is designed to be charged abd drained repeatedly. I still would like to know what size inverter I would need for my 405 Speedotron pack. And why does it have to be a true sine wave inverter, I understand the need for them with electronics but I never used one for my laptop or tvs. I understand these are better made but why are they required over your run of the mill inverters.

[Lotto]

Two 6v batteries in series would work too. The one I use is the deep cycle SLA for that kind of application. The Vagabond use a 20 AH battery I think, and they claim it can fire a 300 ws strobe over 1000 times, so you don't need the capacity and want to save weight, a smaller battery is an option.

The laptops use their own inverter to convert AC to DC, no pure sine wave inverter is needed.

I don't know enough about the Speedotron pack, but for the analog strobes like the AB, they can handle the voltage drop after the initial firing, so I could connect 1000 ws worth of strobe to the 300W inverter, they still work well, just take longer to fully recycle.

I read over at FM forum that a guy was running a 1200ws pack and head off the Vagabond, maybe check out FM's lighting section.