Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi, I currently use AB B800 flash units, and I am in the process of saving for a Vagabond power supply.

In the meantime, I have a 400W power inverter that would power the strobes just like a 120VAC supply, but the inverter current wave is square - it's not a sine wave.

Can anyone tell me if that will cause an issue with the performance of the strobe or if it will cause any damage to any of the units?

Thanks!

With off the shelf inverters, you will find that not only are they modified sine wave inverters, they also shut down with a spike in power draw.

Modified wave inverters are not friendly to studio strobes (and other electronics, depending on design). With the way thier power works, they can cause components to heat up excessively, and will cause damage over time. The amount of time for this to happen will vary, but it will happen.

The overload protection will also cause the inverter to shut down as a light unit recycles. The peak amperage for a single Alien Bee is 18A. This is fine for the typical household outlet, but the inverter sees it as a fault, and will shut off. 18A at 120V is over 2000W, and a typical 400W inverter can't handle that.

Vagabonds are designed not only as a sine wave inverter, but they also fold back and lower the voltage to compensate for the added load so they do not shut down.

http://www.innovatronix.com/explorerxt3andmini.asp
Check that out, might be of help to you :D

The Explorer Mini costs $110 more than VML ($349 VS $239), weighs 11LBS VS 3.5LBS, provides 250 pops per charge @400WS VS about 700 for VML, uses pesky SLA battery, and is way bigger than VML. Recycles faster than VML, but recycle slows down as battery discharges.