# "Electrical" type question for EE's or 480Sparky



## radiorickm (Nov 3, 2011)

I am planning a coupe of photo shoots that will be away from commercial electric power. I would like to power my studio strobes with an inverter.

I am currently running an analysis as to power consumption of the units so I can match it to an inverter.

What I would like to know is this: My strobes are manually controlled, no computer or any thing fancy. Is there any reason that a Modified Sine Wave inverter would not work in this application?

As far as I can tell, it would be mostly charging the photo capacitor. Even If I run the modeling lights, I think MSW would work fine. Any comments??


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 3, 2011)

I just ordered this one after I saw it fire my lighting professor's real studio strobe over 500 times on a single charge plus his charged my phone at the same time.

Paul C. Buff - Vagabond Mini Lithium


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## 480sparky (Nov 3, 2011)

Given the electronics that might me packed into your strobes, a MSW may not work well.  The electronics may be part of the cap charging circuit, as well as modelling light dimming and slave function.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 3, 2011)

480sparky said:


> Given the electronics that might me packed into your strobes, a MSW may not work well.  The electronics may be part of the cap charging circuit, as well as modelling light dimming and slave function.



^^^yup we kept the modeling light off but the Elinchrom strobe itself fired over 500 times on a charge plus my cell phone charging


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## Big Mike (Nov 3, 2011)

How does modified sine wave damage strobes?? - Canon Digital Photography Forums


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 3, 2011)

Of course I may not be using the same strobe as the scope of this thread covers, but I'll post up fairly quick after I put mine through the torture tests. I plan to use it outdoors only. Elinchrom and the inverter is on way to me per the UPS man. My instructor uses his inverters on several brands besides his Elinchroms.

Mike other than maybe generators and such, are there better options for running "AC only" flavor studio strobes remotely?


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## Big Mike (Nov 3, 2011)

It's hard to say if any one option is better than another.

I personally like the idea of the Vagabond mini...it's small, light and gives you a pretty decent battery life.
I made my own, pairing a Pure Sine Wave inverter with a battery and it works great.  It's about half the weight of the Vagabond II, but still quite a bit bigger/heavier than the mini.  

If you need a longer battery life, you can use a larger battery.  A larger battery may also give you less voltage drop, which is important when using these inverters...as too large of a drop will cause the inverter to shut down.  Of course, the larger the battery, the bigger it is and the harder it is to carry around.  I've seen a few people using car batteries (or something that size) on a wheeled cart.  Great if you need to power 4 strobes for 1000 shots...but I still think I'd prefer the VB mini.


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## radiorickm (Nov 3, 2011)

I read the link, and tanks for the information. I ad planned on using a marine battery for the project, so the Amp/hour rating wouldn't have been much of a problem there. I will shop around for a True Sine Wave inverter and continue the project.

Thanks for the quick responces.

Rick


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## Big Mike (Nov 3, 2011)

DC-AC Power Inverters, Power Inverter  Samlex America


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 3, 2011)

Mike, in addition to OP, I want to thank you for the info too. I'll be using the gear heavily in the field.  As a hobbyist/photo student a studio is a little over the top for me.


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