Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I already have the Vagabond 2 and I bit the bullet and bought the Vagabond Mini.

I use the Mini with the Profoto Acute2 1200 pack. When recycling the pack after a flash, the fans slow down almost to a stop, start making a clicking noise, and then start back up again as usual. They never actually stop, but almost. Being powered by the Mini, the pack recycles pretty quickly though, whether the Acute pack itself is set to slow or fast recycle. Faster being faster obviously. On slow recycle, at 150 watts, it's about 1 sec recycle time with one light. Its about 2 sec with all 3 lights connected. But I've always kept the pack set to slow recycle, even plugged into a wall socket. With an B800, we all know that we don't hear any fans stop or make odd noises with the Vagabond 2 or the Mini.

My questions are:

- Is this fan noise from the Profoto head damaging to the Vagabond Mini unit? What's happening?

- Is it safer for the Vagabond Mini to keep the Acute pack set to slow recycle, since slow recycle puts less pressure on fuses? Does it conserve battery power?

Here is how the set up looks. The Mini is velcroed to the side of the pack. The red light in the corner of the pack is the red light that comes on when the pack is set to slow recycle. It all fit inside the Profoto Batpac case, which is ironic perhaps... :lol:

Are you running model lamps? how quickly is the fan coming on and how fast are you firing the pack?

- I don't have any modelling lights on. In fact, 2 out of 3 heads don't even have working modelling bulbs in them.

- The fans are always on though. While the lights recycle, for about that 1 sec or so, the fans "sputter", thats the best way I can describe it. They never actually stop though. After the pack recycle, fans spin as normal.

- I am firing the pack at a very casual pace. When I hear the recycle beep, I fire. About 5-6 shots per minute, if that. I could fire faster perhaps, but I'm in slow recycle, at low power settings.

Fans slowing down has not been a problem. They do it on ABs and Zeus too, but not on Einstein. It depends on the voltage regulation of the fan's power supply. Of necessity, Vagabond output voltage falls during recycle . . all current limited inverters do, to varying degrees, depending on their wattage rating.

At least the Acute main Power supply and processor aren't crashing - that's good.

Thanks for replying Paul Buff.

I noticed that in the Profoto Acute 1200 specs in the manual says: "Input Power Supply: 100-127V/200-240V, 50/60Hz (nominal)"

How low does this supply go on the Vagabond Mini unit? What does it supply? I ask because with the Einstein, the specs say:

" The unit can tolerate power line voltages as low as 35VAC from the Vagabond™ II portable power system or from other similar pure sine inverters without crashing, whereas many competitive digital flash units crash if the input voltage falls below about 80 to 90VAC. "

The Einstein specs also say:
"global plug-and-play from 95 to 265 VAC"

If the Einstein can take 95V and can still use the Vagabond Mini, I guess its "relatively", safe with the Acute pack that takes as low as 100V with the Mini as well...?

I am a little confused, or maybe I just don't understand the Input Voltage thing. Am I asking the right questions? I know that the Einstein and the Acute 1200 are different beasts. I'm not a technical type. Perhaps someone can enlighten me here.

It'll drop below those voltage levels probably. It's generally not important as long as it doesn't crash.
If you're really curious, hook up a voltmeter across the power plug...

Voltage can drop pretty low in the VML. It drops to the low to mid 40VAC range on a Zeus 1250.

For proper operation, Einstein need to be connected to 95VAC-265VAC. This not to say that it can not tolerate brief periods of lower input, but it would not work properly if it was connected to, say, 50VAC as its maximum source of AC.

However, other brands of lights may specify 95VAC, and the processor will crash if the power drops below 80VAC (or 65 or 50 or who knows).

Also, there are some lights that can operate despite power sags, but they have remote controls built in. Sometimes these remotes have separate processors, and those can crash while the light works fine.