Portable Power Supply

[Dan Blanchett]

I'm looking for recommendations for quiet, efficient onset power supply to run lights, video village (LCD, MBP), etc, when no outlet power supply is available. Some products I came across were the Honda generators and newer fuel cell options from Jadoo (http://jadoopower.com).

Looking for advice on what is practical and not too expensive.

[Kevin Lang]

Dont know anything about the Jadoo.... But the honda genny's rock I have 2 of them.

[Dan Blanchett]

Dont know anything about the Jadoo.... But the honda genny's rock I have 2 of them.

Klang, which models have you used and how long do they last? Is it feasible to use the smaller EU Series of generators (like the 43lb EU2000i) for lights?

Thanks

[Kevin Lang]

The EU2000i is exactly what I have they make a Parallel Cable to run two for higher wattage, I have not tried this I mainly use it for a location trailer to charge batts., run int. lights in the trailer and power up my mac. I have used it with a 1k HMI and it performed flawlessly it is very quiet and with usually run all day on a tank of gas.

[jbeale]

Is the fuel cell option a real product at this time? What's the power output, and how much does it cost?

By the way, is there any interest in a 2kw AC generator that would be not absolutely quiet, but much quieter than the traditional gas put-put type, that would run on propane? If so, how much would you pay?

[Dan Blanchett]

KLang-- thanks for the feedback. That's what I was hoping for.

Jbeale-- You can check Jadoo's web site (see link above). I think it's around $999 and up. There's a review written here on DV.com: LINK (http://www.dv.com/reviews/reviews_item.php?articleId=192203383)

Noise is important to me, and it seems like the Hondas are pretty stealthy. Don't know what your unit would go for, but you can always throw it on ebay and roll the dice...

[Jonathan L. Bowen]

We have three Honda generators, they work great. We have two of the small 2,000 watt ones, they are alright, a bit less reliable but they work fine. The big one is 6,500 watts, it's awesome, it runs pretty quiet and you just twist a switch to turn it on, no pulling cords or anything like that. It's about 200 pounds I think, though, it's a monster. I love having the generators, though, more than 100 amps of total power is nice to be able to pull out on smaller shoots. For us the notion of needing more power than that is pretty silly, I mean you can run a lot off that, a few 2Ks off the big generator, a 1.2Kw HMI no problem, and a 1K plus a 650 on each of the smaller ones, that's a lot of light output. We don't use 10Ks, can't see any reason we'd need something like that honestly. If we did, we'd rent a big generator for the shoot but that kind of stuff is above the budgets we're working with for now.

[Dan Blanchett]

The larger 6500 would be nice, but you're right, it's a monster. A pair of 2000 watt units are probably sufficient for my needs.

[Eileen Ryan]

The larger 6500 would be nice, but you're right, it's a monster. A pair of 2000 watt units are probably sufficient for my needs.

It depends on the Honda 6500. Last year Honda introduced the EU6500is which is half the size of the older ES6500 and and half as load. Because it uses their new inverter technology it doesn't require a crystal governer to shoot flicker free with older HMI magnetic ballasts. There is a rental house here in the Boston area (Dedham I think) that modifies it with a step down transformer so that it gives you 7500 Watts in a single 120V circuit. I have run a 5k and a 4k HMI Par off their system. They claim it will even run 6k HMIs, but I have never had the opportunity to try it. It is a pretty sweet system. As long as you plug everything in through their transformer/distro you don't have to worry about balancing your load because the transformer does it automaticly. The transformer also enables you to pack alot more lights on the modified generator. We used it on a low budget indie feature this last fall. On one night set up in the woods we were running a 2.5kw, a 1200, and a 800 Par, two Parabeam 400s and a Kino Wall-o-Lite - which is all the light we needed and it was a pretty big night shot. On a night exterior down town we used it to power a 6000W Mole Six Light that lit up the deep background. If anyone is interested I can probably get the name of the company off the call sheet which I still have.

Eileen Ryan, NE Spark

[Eileen Ryan]

If anyone is interested I can probably get the name of the company off the call sheet which I still have.

The name of the company is ScreenLight & Grip and they are in Dedham MA just outside Boston.

By chance there is a discussion on CML about the same system. Here is the link:

http://ls.cinematography.net/read/messages?id=148263

- Eileen Ryan, NE Spark