Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

My friend will give me

Coleman Powermate Premium Plus 6250 Generator Pm050562201

For free. And can I use it to power the alien bees??

Quick reply will be appreciated since I want use it this evening

Would it blow up my ab400?

We cannot make any gurantees for generators, as they will vary widely. You will need to make sure it is grounded and voltage regulated. Lacking these features, damage to your light can result. Also, noise on the circuit can also be present. This will not directly affect your lights, though they may misfunction (e.g., firing on thier own). A power conditioner can help for that.

Noise on the circuit? U mean it's noisy? If that the case... I can't hear noises! :)

Would u use it if were given for free? Should I give it a try?

"Noise" is often a used to describe sound, however, it can be used to describe unwanted signal, just like the grainy look in your high ISO files. That is also called noise. If you have ever seen a TV go fuzzy or skip when a vaccuum cleaner was running, that is a visual effect of non-audible noise on an electrical line, and that same trait can cause the lights act unpredictably.

If it is grounded and regulated, then I would try it. If it is not grounded, i would not try it. That can cause damage to the light. Maybe immediately, maybe not.

What about connecting a Vagabond to the generator and the flash to the vagabond? Would that be enough to clean it up? How does a vagabond work on a generator?

Well, yes. It could clean it up. If the generator has 12VDC output connections, then the Vagabond may be able to run from it (depends on the Vagabond version and the connections). Or, you can plug the Vagabond in as though you are charging it, and plug the lights in normally. This

However, in both cases, you are limited to the performance of the Vagabond inverter, i.e. no model lamps and possibly reduced recycle times. The point of a generator is to supply enough power to use the lights as normal. If you are going to go through the expense and trouble of a generator to run your Vagabond, you would be better off using a higher capacity SLA.