I built my own inverter/ battery pack to power two 500 Joule Bowens studio monoblocks. You will need at least a "3000 Watt peak power, PURE SINE WAVE inverter". Preferably with a built in cooling fan. Each 500 Joule flash unit momentarily draws 4 to 5 Amps at 240 volts at the start of a recycle charge. which is a momentary approx 2000 watt draw. The current then drops to zero over the two second recycle time as the flash capacitors charge up. Your inverter is way too small which is why it burned out. For batteries I use two 12Volt 22 AH Yuasa motability/golf cart sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries,. these give the best output for their size with a two second flash recycle time.. If weight carrying is an issue I use just one battery which will give me 650 full power pops on one flash head. If weight carrying isn't an issue I use both batteries connected in parallel, giving me 12 V but twice the capacity. Which is 1300 full power pops for one 500 Joule head or 650 full power pops with two 500 Joule heads. To increase capacity just add more batteries in parallel. The inverter can be had for about $120 on E Bay and the batteries are about $90 a pair. The inverter is fitted with a single plug 240 Volt output. I use an extension lead fitted with a weatherproof twin plug outlet. The flash head mains leads then plug into the weatherproof twin outlet. Also the extension lead is fitted with an in line RCD safety cut off. The whole unit cost me about $250 to make. 1300 full power pops on location! Reliable and safe.
If weight is not a big issue, and you need to power a lot more devices for a longer period of time - you might consider a marine deep cycle battery and a bigger inveter. Cold probably fit in a cooler and attached to a dolly.
So in the end you decided to go buy the Vagabond mini? I'm confused, I followed to the blog post and at the end it says your rig died after 5 shots with 2 640WS lights being shot at once.
if its 35A btry he can fire 160W light about 800 times. i've also made it for Goddox 160W light with a 12A btry & its fine enough for me it gives me 250 shots easily
Hi Alex. Thanks for your video. Loved it very much. But i wonder. Didn't you have problems with heat building up in the power converter when using your diy powerpack. grtz Martin
I am trying to build something similar to this to use with 2 1000w dynamite packs with 2 heads per pack. My requirements are not about recycle time as I shoot with an 8x10 camera so by the time I shoot again it's been over 30 seconds. Since I suck at understanding electricity I was wondering if you could tell me if I need to get a 1500w sine inverter or will a 500w or 300w inverter will do to power my packs and heads consistently. I seem to be under the impression that the high wattage inverter will give you a faster recycling time, than a 300w inverter, but since I don't care about recycling time, would a 300-500w sine inverter do the trick?
Thank you so much for showing this. Another thing I would like to know. Are there any legal registrations in creating something like this to use outside studio in NYC?
About how much did this DIY cost? I'm looking to build my own because I obviously can't afford a $1000-$4000 portable battery pack. If anyone can answer this, that would be super helpful!
a. Goddox 160W light costs around 40$, b. 1000 watts Inverter (12V to 220V) about 15$ c. 17A dry btry 20$ ( you can fire a 160W light about 430 times in one charge) d. charger for btry about 2-3$
This DIY solution is ok for a few uses only. 7 seconds to recharge studio flashes when the battery is full charged but what about the duration after 20 or 50 shots ? Pb batteries are not designed to support this kind of load, unfortunately !
I've posted a youtube.com video on my channel on how to diy an extension cord for the godox pb-960 battery pack for under $25. This extension cord uses an oem godox 15 feet cord, the video can be found here: ua-cam.com/video/yjAAXJWUnCM/v-deo.html
p4big13 Thats because you would have to be a complete idiot if you cant figure it out from this video.. If you cant figure it out from the instructions he gave you then you shouldn't build one....
I built my own inverter/ battery pack to power two 500 Joule Bowens studio monoblocks.
You will need at least a "3000 Watt peak power, PURE SINE WAVE inverter". Preferably with a built in cooling fan. Each 500 Joule flash unit momentarily draws 4 to 5 Amps at 240 volts at the start of a recycle charge. which is a momentary approx 2000 watt draw. The current then drops to zero over the two second recycle time as the flash capacitors charge up. Your inverter is way too small which is why it burned out.
For batteries I use two 12Volt 22 AH Yuasa motability/golf cart sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries,. these give the best output for their size with a two second flash recycle time..
If weight carrying is an issue I use just one battery which will give me 650 full power pops on one flash head. If weight carrying isn't an issue I use both batteries connected in parallel, giving me 12 V but twice the capacity. Which is 1300 full power pops for one 500 Joule head or 650 full power pops with two 500 Joule heads. To increase capacity just add more batteries in parallel. The inverter can be had for about $120 on E Bay and the batteries are about $90 a pair.
The inverter is fitted with a single plug 240 Volt output. I use an extension lead fitted with a weatherproof twin plug outlet. The flash head mains leads then plug into the weatherproof twin outlet. Also the extension lead is fitted with an in line RCD safety cut off.
The whole unit cost me about $250 to make.
1300 full power pops on location! Reliable and safe.
May i ask why only pure sine what will happen if i used modified?
my oh my, technology has really advanced in 11 years. this setup is insane compared to what's available now lol
If weight is not a big issue, and you need to power a lot more devices for a longer period of time - you might consider a marine deep cycle battery and a bigger inveter. Cold probably fit in a cooler and attached to a dolly.
Have you figured out if you will need an exhaust port in the bag yet?
I used a 500ws continuous inverter for a 800ws strobe. It took 15 sec recycle time. Do i need a bigger inverter? How big?
What is your lights power. can i use for elinchrome frx 400
IVe had this same setup for many years. works great with any light that can be run off of 110V I use with up to 7 sunpak 611 flashes with AC adapters
So in the end you decided to go buy the Vagabond mini? I'm confused, I followed to the blog post and at the end it says your rig died after 5 shots with 2 640WS lights being shot at once.
many thanks. Just 1 question. Can i use a couple of GodoxSk300 lights as continues light?
How often can you trigger a single flash before the battery is empty?
if its 35A btry he can fire 160W light about 800 times.
i've also made it for Goddox 160W light with a 12A btry & its fine enough for me it gives me 250 shots easily
U left out those wires.. What's the name of them exactly or they came with the inverter or battery and what's the exact name for the charger
Hi excellent tutorial, I have a question the 300w inverter can with three 300w heads
Hi Alex. Thanks for your video. Loved it very much. But i wonder. Didn't you have problems with heat building up in the power converter when using your diy powerpack. grtz Martin
I am trying to build something similar to this to use with 2 1000w dynamite packs with 2 heads per pack. My requirements are not about recycle time as I shoot with an 8x10 camera so by the time I shoot again it's been over 30 seconds. Since I suck at understanding electricity I was wondering if you could tell me if I need to get a 1500w sine inverter or will a 500w or 300w inverter will do to power my packs and heads consistently. I seem to be under the impression that the high wattage inverter will give you a faster recycling time, than a 300w inverter, but since I don't care about recycling time, would a 300-500w sine inverter do the trick?
hi, what recycle time at full power please 1 strobe?
Depends on what the strobe power... On mine it was several seconds, unfortunately I do not remember now:-(
Thank you so much for showing this. Another thing I would like to know. Are there any legal registrations in creating something like this to use outside studio in NYC?
Thank you Alex for this video. I would like to see more like this or if you make any modifications.
Great tutorial. Thank you very much.
André from Canada
How many flash with 300w
About how much did this DIY cost? I'm looking to build my own because I obviously can't afford a $1000-$4000 portable battery pack. If anyone can answer this, that would be super helpful!
You can get a vagabond for like $400 and a mini for like $250 I think... They dont have to be thousands.
a. Goddox 160W light costs around 40$,
b. 1000 watts Inverter (12V to 220V) about 15$
c. 17A dry btry 20$ ( you can fire a 160W light about 430 times in one charge)
d. charger for btry about 2-3$
This DIY solution is ok for a few uses only. 7 seconds to recharge studio flashes when the battery is full charged but what about the duration after 20 or 50 shots ? Pb batteries are not designed to support this kind of load, unfortunately !
wow! that's portable :)
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I've posted a youtube.com video on my channel on how to diy an extension cord for the godox pb-960 battery pack for under $25. This extension cord uses an oem godox 15 feet cord, the video can be found here: ua-cam.com/video/yjAAXJWUnCM/v-deo.html
you did not really show how you build it
p4big13 Thats because you would have to be a complete idiot if you cant figure it out from this video.. If you cant figure it out from the instructions he gave you then you shouldn't build one....
REd goes to positive, black goes to negative... connect the colors together and you have it built. Pretty self explanatory when you see it.
I would spend the $250