Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi there...

I just recently purchased Vagabond Mini Lithium 230vac to power-up Bowens Gemini 400 (http://www.bowens.co.uk/content/pages/gemini400.html)

The Recycle Time is just surprisingly shocked me,
Full Power 400 ws = 36-40 seconds,
Lowest power 12 ws = 6-8 seconds

Well, I'm complaining this issue but I just wonder if I did any mistake...(I already Fully-charged the VML unit)
From what i read in the reviews, other brands like Profoto, Elinchrom, some other brands only took 3-4 seconds to recycle the strobe...

uhmm...Is there any possible "Good" explanation if this VML does not compatible with Bowens strobes?

Any other friends encounter this incident with these new VML?

Thank You very much for all your attention

ps: I also tested the VML with Cheap "Chinese-brand" 250ws MonoLight,
Full Power = only around 2 sec to recycle, which is very Good!
But i prefer Bowens stability etc....

Are you leaving the modeling lamp on?? If so, this would explain the problem. If not, the Bowens power supply design was not designed to operate with small inverters and is probably shutting down multiple times during recycle.

Anyone else out there have any experience with Bowens and VML . . . particularly 230V?

Thank U for your quick response, i really appreciate it ^_^

Well, with the timing above (40secs), i already switched off the Modeling Lamp and other stuffs (including the Beep & Ready light)
It's just the Flash recycle time...

Is there anyway to bypass these compatibility issue?
What's the problem with the VML PSW Inverters?

Why only Bowens units have to block other 3rd party batteries?
Does this mean that Bowens purposely made their strobes only to accept their own TravelPak Batteries?
Really disappointing (don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining to U) ^_^

Last but not least, Do you think it's still safe to operate the Bowens strobes under this (long-recycle) condition? [Note: the Green Light on the strobes was occasionally shuts off like u mentioned above or Flickering]


Thank You so much....

I don't have first hand experience :!: but I've read that others have had trouble with the Gemini 400's and inverter-based portable power. Also, I believe the Bowen's travel paks output a DC supply so the mains-input power supply circuity in the Gemini units might not be able to handle the low voltages during recycle from an inverter.

In trying to find that info I stumbled across the 'Tronix Facebook page; there are at least a few folks on there having trouble powering Gemini 400 from 'Tronix inverter units as well. That got me looking that 'Tronix compatability charts and they say the Gemini 400 units are not compatible with their XT or 1200 Explorer models.... but their webpage is such a disaster that I couldn't decipher why these units were not compatible, at least without spending a lot of time. Maybe this will make sense to Luap or TS immediately?

Can't speak of Bowens specifically, but when a flash fires and starts to recycle, there is a strong power draw. Where most inverters would shut off due to this draw, the vagabonds limit the current, lowering voltage (to as low as 150VAC I believe on 230V inverters), until the unit starts to recover, then increses the current. This is just like a brown out of your AC mains power. Being these are 230V lights, they were not designed in anticipation of such low power. Standard analogue lights don't typically care, but diigital lights cannot typically handle the drop, and crash or starve the processors. There may also be safety mechanisms in place that prevent the units from operating properly. If the unit is auto dual voltage, it may be switching between 120V and 230V.

Looks to me like the problem lies in Bowens' design, not in the VML. As stated, Tronix Explorer fares no better than VML. Check out http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_ ... 1314-11226

PowerEngineer . . . indeed the problem is immediately obvious to me . . . Bowens failed to include a power supply that can withstand the intrinsic voltage drop incurred by all inverter systems during recycle, and gets confused or crashes the light.