HMI

[Gregory Sheffer]

I am interested in a 2.5 HMI. My problem is power. Can the plug on a 2.5 hmi be replaced with a standard edison? What are other options for using a big hmi like this without having to have a generator?

Thanks.

[Josh Beadle]

Hire an electrician . . . really. Much cheaper in the long-run

[Clint Lealos]

I'm pretty sure they make just that adapter. Check with a rental house maybe?

[Nathaniel Haban]

The other option would be doing a tie-in to the location's power. This can kill you if you don't know what you're doing. Josh is right; hire an electrician. If a rental house has electrical distro packages for rent, more than likely they'll know local electrics they can refer to you.

[Christopher Mills]

HMI lights of 2.5K power and up dictate more power per circuit than a house's edison sockets should be expected to provide.
Even bridging two circuits is not recommended for the novice.
You should be thinking "rental generator" and "experienced film electrician" (yes, BOTH) to make use of that light.
If you have a studio space, you could have a commercial electrician wire it for safe use of large lights. I would also suggest a film cable distribution package, including drop down boxes and pass through boxes.
there are 1800 watt HMI lights from Arri you can rent that will work on a lot of household circuits... though the strike voltage will trip circuits in marginally wired houses, esp if the light is at the end of a long run of cable..
If you are in an old house with vintage wiring, stick to LED, Kino and under 1.2k size instruments..
I love HMIs, but only use them on projects on which they can be properly deployed and supervised.

If you do in fact have a dedicated studio space with modern wiring.. check into having it wired for some higher power draw instruments...

[Gregory Sheffer]

What about the use of a generator, and converting the HMI plug to a 220 dryer type plug?

[Glen Powell]

Hire a Gaffer / film electrician… it's really your best option. Even if their rates are 'too high' for your production budget; you'll save bucket loads of cash over the alternative of screwing around making changes and then ruining a piece of gear, ruining your location etc.

As for this:

What about the use of a generator, and converting the HMI plug to a 220 dryer type plug?
Does this HMI take 220V?

I know on lower budget shoots that I've done at house locations (where we couldn't afford the genny), the gaffer ordered a tie in distro that plugged into the Stove / Dryer to give us power for the heavier loads. But I'm not going to give any advice except: Hire the right people who know what they are doing.

[Christopher Mills]

As Glen asks.. what voltage does the ballast actually need? What kind of generator are you able to rent.. there are many types that you can not use with an HMI... because they do not produce clean and stable enough power for them to fire up, run with constant freq rate, color temp, footcandle output level, or even stay running at all.
For what I am used to seeing a useable 2.5K HMI instrument and ballast sell for, I could hire a pro with lights, power source tools, and the experience and skills to make me look great without having to even touch the lights!

If you want daylight on a budget, think about FAY lights, if you want BIG lights on a budget , link Barger Baglite with separate 120v circuits for each set of internal bulbs...
If you want big movie infrastructure, hire the resources when you have the shoot..

Even if you know how to tie in (and if it's legal and safe to do it at your location... which it is NOT in a lot of places), you still do not want to be the camera operator and the lamp operator with large lights... its too much work..

[Trevor Meeks]

Or get a 1.2K and save yourself the hassle :)

[Jeff Zueger]

Or you could parallel (2) Honda Eu 2000 gennys (about $1k apiece) with this
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200333654_200333654
The you would need the proper 30a RV male to 60a Bates female cable.

[Michael Notar]

I have a 1200 w HMI as well as a 2500w HMI. A 1200w HMI will pull 14-15A, so you can plug it to a regular house circuit. my 2500w is a little older and needs a little more power than new ones. It and most (but better check) 2500w will run 90-250v, it pulls 40A at 120v or 20A at 240v. So I can wire it to a 30A dryer outlet. Hot Hot Ground, just be sure to get the ground right. I recently ran a 4k with a newer electronic ballast off a 30A 240v outlet. You could make a 2-15A 120v spicer to a 60A 240v bates but its kindof rinky dinky, I would just use a dryer outlet. Or a 50A Range or welding outlet is even better. Otherwise you will need a 4500w-5500w genny dedicated to the light and with extra gas on hand to run a 2.5k.

[Nathaniel Haban]

Or get a 1.2K and save yourself the hassle :)

And this isn't really a terrible option. You could just run two 1.2K's off of different circuits.

[Trevor Meeks]

And this isn't really a terrible option. You could just run two 1.2K's off of different circuits.

Exactly!

[Gaston Fazio]

Get an Arri M18 with the reflector kit. You can plug it in a 20A house outlet ( dishwasher, etc..)
It trows light like a mother****er.

[Ale Houston]

We own two M18 and one M40 and in over 20 years we've been doing this, we've never seen an HMI as versatile as this.. super fast ignition and a really great practical and lightweight ballast... and Arri is really serious when they describe the product as the equivalent of at least a 3.2Kw Arrimax.. and the best part.. plug it on any house outlet without any fancy electrical work.. (but still, do hire an electrician, for your safety and because it wll save you a great amount of time, even in a small to midsize production..


Get an Arri M18 with the reflector kit. You can plug it in a 20A house outlet ( dishwasher, etc..)
It trows light like a mother****er.

[Ale Houston]

When the Arrimax 1800 first came out there was a lot of discussion on these boards (http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?55400-Daylight-Source-Question) regarding whether the Arri M18 can operate off a standard wall outlet. With an Apparent Power of 2250VA, it will draw 19.5 amps at 115V and will always trip the common 15amp house circuit and will trip a 20 Amp circuit if there is something else, like a computer or light, on the same circuit. Where you can't always know what else is on the same circuit, or even if it is a 20 or 15 Amp circuit, it is risky to plug the Baby Max into the wall.

According to the previous thread the M18 was really designed for 230V markets like the European Union where its’ Apparent Power of 2250KVA fits comfortably in a 230V/16A circuit. In 120V markets like the US, to operate the M18 on wall outlets requires a number of precautions according to the previous thread.

Peter Berger


We live in a 220V country and so far had no troubles with the M18.. though I still recommend to always have an electrician/gaffer at hand.. not really a good idea to go blind folded to manage lights.. trust the pros...

[Iain Philpott]

In the UK we can run 2.5 Arri or Filmgear HMI's off a 13amp 240v household circuit. The rental houses supply 13amp jumpers to allow you to plug into a normal 13A wall socket. I am quite happy running three in a house. We identify the separate circuits. So usually one off the kitchen, one off the ring main downstairs and one off the ring main upstairs. Most UK households have between 60 and 100A feeds so it's absolutely fine running three. Though not sure how this pans out in the States!

[Jon Chema]

I am interested in a 2.5 HMI. My problem is power. Can the plug on a 2.5 hmi be replaced with a standard edison? What are other options for using a big hmi like this without having to have a generator?

Thanks.

If you have a Bates to Edison adapter you could power it but it would be pushing the circuit as its right at the threshold of tripping the breaker. I would opt to go with an Arri M18 or buy a Honda 6500w Generator with 30amp bates circuit to be safe.

[chad vachter]

There's a guy called guy holt.... I think , thatsnhis name .. forgive me guy holt .. if im mistaken ...back east , I think that is the master of what your asking , he rigs small Gennys and step down transformers. S you can plug a 30 amp 220v dryer plug ,and step transform it down to 50 amps of 110 , enough to safely strike and run your 2.5 k Hmi

[Michael Panfeld]

I'll second that. Guy's company is called ScreenLight & Grip. I have their step-down transformer and a Honda EU6500. The stepdown is great for inside work or shots tht are within a 100-200 feet of a dryer/stove plug. Their 60A stepdown is heavy, about 150 lbs, so buying it also involves a substantial shipping cost. You also will probably want some distro cable and a few pigtails with some of the common 240v plug types. There may be one for rent in your area. (Mine are and I am in the DC area). THe transformer also pairs nicely with the EU6500, for when you are shooting out in the field.

I beieve they are now making a 100A stepdown transformer. That can plug into either a 50A 240v stove plug or into the Honda 10K genny.

Note that, while the stepdowns from Guy are basically foolproof, you should still hire a gaffer and definitely don't try to use one anywhere near water.

[Stephen Pruitt]

You certainly can run a 2.5K off a dryer outlet. We've adapted our 2.5K (which requires 120V) to run ONLY on dryer outlets (either 30 or 40 amps). Heck, we've run our 6K HMI (220 volts) off of dryer outlets, as well. Easy breezy.

It is also possible to run a 2.5K HMI (120 volts) off of two different 15 amp 120V circuits, but they MUST be on the same phase. An engineer friend of mine is making me a box that does this phase checking before you flip a switch to turn on the current to the HMI.

Stephen

[Chad Bonanno]

Get an Arri M18 with the reflector kit. You can plug it in a 20A house outlet ( dishwasher, etc..)
It trows light like a mother****er.

+1 ! ! !