Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi all

As the Vagabond will not power 220V versions of Alien Bee's what specs do I need to consider in buying a third party inverter to power 4 x AB800 (220V) lights?

The Vagabond 2 is rated at 400W continuous for up to qty 6 x 110V lights so my question is....

What continuous rating should I use for 220V lighting?
and what peak draw rating should I be looking for?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

Tony :)

Vagabond Mini Lithium will be made in 230V version. It's about 10 weeks out. Everything is done and tested - waiting for the molds and parts to come in. Check our website toward the end of the week for extremely detailed discussion, test results and photo quality renderings. Can't take real pictures until the molded parts come in about 6 weeks. But my CAD renderings are pretty darn exact.

Hi Paul

Thanks for the info and that sounds wonderful but I do not have ten weeks to wait ..

Can I get continuous and peak wattage specs based on 220V AB's for the inverter as I need to go buy one tomorrow !!!

Cheers

First, it needs to be pure sinewave and current limiting (meaning when under load, it lowers voltage instead of shutting off). Both of these properties are more important than actual output, but are typically not specified (particularly the current limiting part). **(edit to add:)**Modified sine wave inverters can cause excessive heat build up in the components of the flash, which can result in premature failure. Non-current liming inverters will shut down upon recharge of the flash caps. Alien Bees have an average 5A draw, but when recycling, draw 18A for a brief period. Multiple lights only exacerbate that problem. Current limited 120V inverters will drop voltage to about 40V until the initial surge is over, then raise back up to 120V. **


Higher output inverters will recycle the flash faster (up to maximum recycle speed), lower output inverters will reduce recycle time. For example: a 300W inverter will recycle a B800 (320Ws light) in about 1 second or so. A 150W inverter will take about 2 seconds. A 600W inverter will still take about 1 second, as the light simply cannot recycle any faster. But the 600W inverter can recyle 2-B800's in about 1 second, while a 300W inverter could take 2 seconds.

(The numbers above are for approximation purposes. Due to the nature of electronics and various designs in inverters, you will not always get an absolutely linear correlation in wattage and recycle times)

TS

Thanks for that info thats extremely helpful in find ing a VB replacment.

:)