Using a vehicle as "portable power"?

i dont know if this is a newbie question or whatnot, but i was wondering if it would be safe/possible to use a car/trucks cigerette lighter with a D/C to A/C converter to power a flash... lets say a new ringflash i got... you know, maybe drive out to the desert or somwhere an outlet is not available and use the converter to power the flash, idk if this messes with the "ground" or if there are power discreptences in wattage or whatnot... thanks in advance

You need a true Sine Wave inverter, or you will fry the flash unit! And you would need a very high wattage, so it is likely going to need to clip directly across the battery terminals and not merely be a cigarette lighter plug in! Better to have a real quality AC generator

Wilt wrote in post #5931101
You need a true Sine Wave inverter, or you will fry the flash unit! And you would need a very high wattage, so it is likely going to need to clip directly across the battery terminals and not merely be a cigarette lighter plug in! Better to have a real quality AC generator

haha im glad i ask before i try. wouldnt want to fry a brand new abr

It is possable,but NOT suggested. However if you have a truck, There are generators that can get mounted under the hood. They can be very powerful. Strong enough to run welders! Way more than enough to run some lights. Look for them at 4X4 web stores. Off roaders use them all the time on trail rides.

It is possible, and definitely recommended! It creates all sorts of interesting opportunities.

I do it all the time and have never had a problem. My last shoot that I used them on is here; Barn Glamour - NWS.

I used a pure sine wave inverter (very important) and attached it directly to my car battery. From that we used a 35' heavy duty extension cord to run into the barn, which then powered a 1600ws studio strobe, and a ring flash. I also used a couple Canon 580EX as accent lights. I shot this way for about 2 hours, and used the modeling lights as well. You can either leave the car running, or start it every so often and let it run to keep from draining the battery.

Make sure you get a pure sine wave inverter, and connect directly to the car battery, not a cigarette lighter socket. I would recommend 150W if you are going to run one light, 300W for two lights, or 600W for 3 or 4 lights.

In my motorhome, I have a 1750w inverter, and run two 2400ws packs with about 4 or 5 heads running off that. It worked beautifully all day long.

Very true. That kind of inverter is ok. Dont know why i didnt thing of them also. The PO asked about power point inverters. They are all but never strong enuf. But the ones you are talking about would be fine.

see i ws talking about something like this

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As Wilt indicated, do not connect this setup via the cigarette lighter circuit (as shown in you image above).

The flash will just require too much amperage for the lighter circuit.

Connect it directly across the battery terminals and use some sort of fuse. Position the fuse very near one of the battery terminals, not way down the line in the wiring.

And you will need a "true sine wave" converter of sufficient capacity, not just any generic converter.

You cannot just run into any K-Mart, grab anything they have, and get good results. This is going to be something a bit more than plug and play.

More like, think a lot, carefully design your setup, choose gear carefully, modify gear and car to conform to you needs, then play.

There are several threads here on homebrew inverters to power flash units using stand alone sealed lead acid batteries (SLA). They would work exactly as your intended use, but with the substitution of you car battery in place of the external sealed lead acid battery.

Enjoy! Lon

YOu can buy my portable power made directly for strobes pm me for details.

Here is a good one that will power a couple strobes easily. Its pure sine wave, and connects directly to your battery terminals. 300w Pure Sine Wave Inverter. This is the same one hat was used in the Alien Bee Vegabond system. Its also the one I use, both off my car battery, as well as a 26amp hour gel cell battery. More capacity than the Vegabond for more plashes per charge.

If you want to run 4 or 5 strobes, this one will work well. 700w Pure Sine Wave Inverter