How Many Ws am I putting out?

I am currently using the Novatron 240 kit. The power pack says it is 240 Ws. When I have three heads hooked up, am I splitting that 240 up between the three, or is that 240 per head?

Another question. The flash heads say they have a 1000 Ws flash tube, I am assuming that is how much they will handle, and not what they actually put out since they are getting power from the 240 Ws power pack.

The pack can supply only so much energy, if you plug in more than one head, the energy is shared. So if you have three flash heads plugged into a Novatron 240 Ws pack each head will receive 80Ws.

The 1000 Ws is the maximum the flash head can handle without it being damaged.

Novatron makes packs that dispense more energy than 1000 Ws.

Enjoy! Lon

The

Thanks Lon.

That really puts things into perspective for me on my quest for new lighting. Even the AB400's would be a big improvement.

Chris,

You already own the 240 kit. You can do a lot with it.

It has potential to provide three distinct light sources. That is an attribute that one flash unit can never provide.

Sure a pile of several new monolights would be better, but you have three utilitarian light sources at you disposal now, and no cash out of your pocket.

Just because your set is not perfect does not mean that it cannot be adequate.

Enjoy! Lon

You have a point there Lon, but I am limited to the amount of modifiers available for the flash heads.
I am planning on buying three monolights that will be more versatile when it comes to modifiers.

I have softboxes on them now, but they are duct tapped to them.

They do make speed rings for Novatrons. You can also get more powerful powerpacks or additional powerpacks if you need more umph. From time-to-time the various auction sites have bare bulb Novatrons if you want to go that route. Dang! Now I'm giving away all my secrets for inexpensive flash.

Hi Chris,
Jim is right. Have you considered the novatron monolights? They aren't expensive and are built really well. I have a 300 and 500 watt set and really like them.
This way anything you buy, such as grids and such, can be used on all your lights. Put a slave on your 240 pack and use that set as Background, hair or accents. This way you can build slowly and also use what you already have.
I have photoflex softboxes and like them. Quite a range of modifiers available. Plus I can mix and match different boxes and not worry about color balance as they are matched. Sorry, a small merge from your other thread. Good luck.
Sparky

These are the flash heads I have, the 2100-c. I have looked for a speedring to go on these, but I have not found one. I don't even know how you would attach a speedring to these. The head, is all one pc.

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I just found this one, but I don't know how to attach it to that head. There is no place to screw it on. Do I need to take out the flash tube, modeling bulb, and totally take this thing apart?

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Hi Chris,
I have an older Photoflex Speed ring in my hand right now, model #sc-8004d. I don't need it and got it by mistake a long while back. Doesn't fit my monolights so it's no good to me. If you want it I'll give it to you if you pay postage. Just collecting dust here.
Sparky

Looking on the Photoflex site, that ring is not listed as fitting my heads.
Also, like I said, I don't know how you would even attach a speedring to these heads.

I guess I can take one of these apart, and see whats inside. I seriously doubt there will be anything to atach a speedring to in there though.

Sorry, forgot to add, that is the one. If it's like my set up should slide the head through from the front. Should be a flat J shaped bracket that slides over the reflector to hold it tight. Just guessing though.
Sparky

Hang on Chris, don't take anything apart yet! I have the instructions for the one I have. Let me scan them maybe that will help

Keep in mind that Ws is only measuring the amount of power they're consuming, not how much light they're actually putting out. Lumen-seconds is a much more appropriate measure...

Here you go Chris hope this helps.

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