Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I realize the Vagabond Mini hasn't shipped yet, but I am real curious to see if it will work with a Dynalite Uni 400jr monolight. I also use the Dynalite 500 and 1000w/s pack. I found that the Vagabond II would not power any of my Dynalite gear.

I would like to buy one of these units but I'd like to know it works on some of my other gear. Versatility/compatibility is is the key.

Thanks.

If the VII didn't work, do not expect the VMINI to do so. We do not have much testing done with other products at the moment.

Well that is a shame. Imagine all the units you could sell if they powered other products. I bought one of the Innovatronix units years ago. OK product - not as compact as the Vagabond units. It broke a few years ago, couldn't find anyone in the US to work on it. Would cost way too much to send back to the Philippines for repair so the unit is now a $300 doorstop.

Cool thing about your product is that I know where I can get it fixed if I break it. However - I wish it had more compatibility. Seems like the thing would sell like crazy if it worked with a wide range of power packs. Instead of moving x,xxx numbers of units.. you might likely sell xxx,xxx numbers of units. Just my two cents.

Given that all (any of) these units are is a battery and an inverter there is no reason why they wouldn't power anything at all that was within their specification range.

Note that by "their specification range" I include factors such as maximum current draw, both peak and sustained as well as voltage drop and constant current Vs constant voltage mode.

What the real issue is is that I am not aware of ANY inverter manufacturer that advertises their complete specifications so you don't really know what you are buying.

On the other hand, you also cannot expect the inverter manufacturers to buy one of every single electrical powered product on the planet to test their inverter
with.

IMHO, It's fair for PCB to say, "Here is my inverter, I guarantee it will work with xxx PCB products(s), and if it works with any other product, good luck to you".

Note that PCB appears to recognise that there are a number of Elinchrom users that use VB-1 / VB-2 and want to use VB-M inverters and so he does test his inverters with some Elinchrom products. In this case I think it is a case that PCB has identified a LARGE group of people who use a COMMON product and so it makes sense to market to those people too.

My $AU 0.02

AB.

Vagabond II powers Dynalite packs up to 2000WS just fine. Done it dozens of times.

I believe the Uni 400 uses a high voltage 12V to 300V speedcycler rather than an actual 12V input (same with Genesis and Photogenic "battery operated lights".

From Dynalite:
"When combined with the optional Dynalite Jackrabbit II Battery Pack, the Uni 400 is a true location lighting source, providing up to 140 full power (320 watt/seconds) pops."

Can't say if Vagabond Mini will power UNI's 120V ac input or not . . . I would think it would but have no idea of what charging circuitry they use for AC input.

Thanks Paul (Luap) I appreciate your help. That is cool to hear about the Vagabond II powering the Dynalites. I tried using the Vagabond II to power a Dynalite 500 and a Dynalite 1000 power pack. Unfortunately (for whatever reason) it would not work when I tried it with a friend's Vagabond. These were Dynalite packs that were about nine years old - bought them brand new in 2000 (not the latest Dynalite packs) Don't know if that matters?

I would like to have some of your Alien Bee's and a couple of the of the new Vagabond Mini's. I really like your 60 day Absolute Satisfaction Guarantee. Not that I want to return the gear - when I buy something I tend to want to keep it! :D But if it doesn't work... wellllll ;)

One of the neat things that Innovatronix does/did was test their inverters with dozens of Power packs and publish if they were compatible with their inverter on their website.
http://www.innovatronix.com/compatib.asp It is a pretty comprehensive list.

I initially liked the product (but it had some big flaws). There was a radio interference issue with the Quantum Radio Slaves I was using at the time - so I had to hard wire my packs with a sync cord. Not ideal - but workable. I later used the PocketWizards and had no issue.

Then one day after about 20-30 shoots it just stopped working. Couldn't find a service center here in the states to work on it. The company has no authorized service center in the US so it was a matter of shipping it back to the Philippines for repair - with the overseas shipping I could have nearly bought a new one! So I just gave up using it.

Weird thing when I opened it up thinking that the 12volt battery might need replacement which I did and it still wouldn't work - I noticed that all the microchips and many of the internal parts had the logos sanded or abraded off. Weird huh?

Best to you Paul and a prosperous New Year!

Forrest MacCormack

I have a Innovatronix (currently dead) and Dynalites.

The Innovatronix will work with the 1000XR and the Uni400Jr.

It didn't work with 1000X, XL or 2000X packs.

My Innovatronix XT died several months ago and at the time was told it would have to be sent back to the Philippines. With the shipping, repair and if it needed a replacement battery it was going to be close to what a new one would cost. No deal.

Innovatronix now has an authorized repair facility in the US but they won't quote costs till they have the unit in hand.

Really looking forward to getting a VML in my hands.

Does this innovatronix xplorer xt work to power on Einstein? I'm thinking of other alternative to use Einstein on location while waiting for the mini vagabond. Thanks in advance... :)

It should not have any problems, though we can not make any guarantees on other manufacturers' products.

I have an Einstein and use it with the tronix explorer . works smooth as butter =)