inverter for car

I have read you need a inverter that is sine wave?
I asked a electrician that I work with about this and he says no need as long as your inverter has more wattage capacity than your lighting.
I have a 240 watt inverter and would like to use from my vehicle for my strobes.
But I am afraid to try this just yet.

Can anybody shed some light on this??

Any help would be appreciated!

I have a 300 watt inverter it is not sine but a modified square wave. They work well with fluorescent or incandescent lights and with switching chargers such as the one for the camera. The only problems would be with transformers such as the dongle types and some motors. The reason transformers do not work so well is because it is not true sine. The transformer appears as a short during the rapid transition from on to off etc. Resistive type loads will work fine (light bulbs). Hope this helps

What is it that you wish to power with an inverter?

Some studio strobes, such as the AlienBees line, require a clean sine wave AC power source to function properly. This is because of the design of the circuitry in the AB units. According to the AB factory, you can damage their units by powering them with square-wave or "modified sine wave" inverters.

I have a opus set, 1 strobe and 1 model light.
The opus website doesn't give much info!

Sgt. wrote in post #3756111
I have a opus set, 1 strobe and 1 model light.
The opus website doesn't give much info!

Before using any power source other than standard commercial power, I think it would be a good idea to contact the manufacturer for their advice.

Ok the official reply from Opus:

I talked to a couple of people and they suggest you don't power the lights from your car.There is enough power to do so but we don't know if anything would happen to the lights.

NICE !
I am gonna try it anyway with my fill light Its only about 69 bucks to replace.
Not a real expensive kit but for now gets the job done.

Sgt. wrote in post #3765841
Ok the official reply from Opus:

I talked to a couple of people and they suggest you don't power the lights from your car.There is enough power to do so but we don't know if anything would happen to the lights.

NICE !
I am gonna try it anyway with my fill light Its only about 69 bucks to replace.
Not a real expensive kit but for now gets the job done.

I would strongly advise that you get a "pure sine wave" inverter before you try using flash units with one.