DIY Vagabond / power pack parts list

Robert Strom · Mar 17, 2007

I ordered one from http://www.altenergystore.com for $148 They were in stock and i got it in 3 days.

Now I just gotta use the great info and pics in this thread to build the rest of the rig.

Robert
--
http://www.streamlinestudio.com

jean bernier · Mar 17, 2007

lablover said:
So
Having 2 12v Batteries will give you longer usage time of the Flash
units? The more batteries the longer usage time. Am I right?

Yes. It goes arithmetically, so that if one batt gives you 100 flashes, 2 batt will give 200 flashes, 3 batt will give 300 flashes and so on.

lablover said:
I wasn't sure what hooking them in parrallel did. I have the
samlex ordered, funny how most everyplace had them backordered
Now I'm gonna run out and get a batt and charger. I have a swift
little idea on hooking it all up. Will post Pics when done.
Everyone here has great ideas

Joe

--
Jean Bernier

All photographs are only more or less credible illusions

lablover · Mar 17, 2007

Got mine from the same place

Cool..Now to get the rest of the goodies

Thanks for the info

lablover · Mar 18, 2007

Went shopping for a battery today at sears. Found a few Motor cycle batts but they had no stats listd on em so I had no clue to what the AH was!!!

Frustrated to say the least

Cesar, where did you get your batts that fit into the home depot tool box

They seem to be a good fit

Robert Strom · Mar 21, 2007

lablover said:
Went shopping for a battery today at sears. Found a few Motor
cycle batts but they had no stats listd on em so I had no clue to
what the AH was!!!

I don't know wjere you live, but here there is a store called Batteries Plus, or Battry depot. All they sell is batteries to fir practically anything. I picked up a battery similar to what has been talked about to replace the battery in my portable video light.

I would also check motorcycle dealerships. Surely they know what aH their batteries are.

Robert

--
http://www.streamlinestudio.com

jean bernier · Mar 21, 2007

These are the wet kind: spillable sulphuric acid. Stick to gel packs.
--
Jean Bernier

All photographs are only more or less credible illusions

lablover · Mar 21, 2007

Got the gel pacs from battery plus. Got a pretty good deal too

John Spaar · Mar 21, 2007

Repaired my test button last week and had unit in my van soo..
I used a power up 500Watt that my sister in law gave....
Nice unit 2 outlets, USB, lighter and battery clips inputs...
Flash wouldn't fire. Though I blew fuse on flash. Not.
Took home works fine..
I just check my unit...Says "Modified Sine Wave inverter"

Hope this helps .Don't risk it...

I do have a self contained unit Battery and inverter GFCI recepticles and weighs about 35 pounds. It works great, but it is a true sine wave and was 150 dollars but sold at walmart for 49.95...John

Brian Li · Apr 1, 2007

bookmark.

cate8 · Apr 1, 2007

same here. the engineer who lives with me considers anything with the words "true sine wave" a summons to the lab-o-ra-tory...

Zymotik · Apr 2, 2007

Now, this is a far cry, but could this be possible?

9 * 12 volt battries, making 108 v, this I know would be DC.
(3.5 amp each, so small, around 3.8kwh total?!?)

Would the fact that it is DC mean the cap inside wouldn't charge?

Could you make your own pure sine converter at 110 voltage? That would be a lot cheaper than an inverter surley!

(This is just wild speculation, so don't flame my nieveity of electronics)

--
http://www.Ian-B.com

NoTx · Apr 2, 2007

Tagging for ref.
--
Rob aka NoTx...
-Film: Fuji GX680, Leica M6TTL, Contax G2, Contax G1
-Digital: Olympus E1 x2

jean bernier · Apr 2, 2007

Zymotik said:
Now, this is a far cry, but could this be possible?

9 * 12 volt battries, making 108 v, this I know would be DC.
(3.5 amp each, so small, around 3.8kwh total?!?)

These batteries being wired in serie will provide 108vdc. The amps (current) won't change, in fact it would drop slightly due to resistance in connections and wires. It'll still be 3,5 amps @ 108 vdc Volts x current = 378 watts

It's when batteries are wired in parallel that the voltage stays the same, but amps will add. Your 9 batts wired in parallel would provide 31,5 amps @ 12 vdc Volts x current = 378 watts

Zymotik said:
Would the fact that it is DC mean the cap inside wouldn't charge?

You can't connect an ac device to dc, unless it is (rarely) designed to accept also dc.

Zymotik said:
Could you make your own pure sine converter at 110 voltage? That
would be a lot cheaper than an inverter surley!

We need an electric engineer to design the circuit.

Zymotik said:
(This is just wild speculation, so don't flame my nieveity of
electronics)

--
http://www.Ian-B.com

--
Jean Bernier

All photographs are only more or less credible illusions

Zymotik · Apr 3, 2007

Thanks Jean, thats my idea down the drain! haha. I'm now looking at the thread with the generators (someone suggested a UPS instead!):

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1025&thread=22682650

Will a computer UPS be an ideal cheap solution, well, look at the above link!! I sound like I'm advertising it!!

--
http://www.Ian-B.com

virtuamike · Apr 3, 2007

Zymotik said:
Now, this is a far cry, but could this be possible?

9 * 12 volt battries, making 108 v, this I know would be DC.
(3.5 amp each, so small, around 3.8kwh total?!?)

Would the fact that it is DC mean the cap inside wouldn't charge?

Could you make your own pure sine converter at 110 voltage? That
would be a lot cheaper than an inverter surley!

(This is just wild speculation, so don't flame my nieveity of
electronics)

--
http://www.Ian-B.com

That's how some UPS's work (ie - APC Symmetra). They'll wire up 10 12V 5AH batteries in series in order to get up to 120V DC, and then they invert to AC. My power pack was built with batteries pulled from a Symmetra =)

If you're running in series then the capacity stays the same.

First problem doing it this way is the lack of availability of 120V DC to AC inverters (unless you start ripping apart UPS's). The second problem is that it's ridiculous how heavy 10 batteries will weigh

So yes it'd work, but it's not practical.

--
Ramen is how I afford my glass
http://www.blindmike.com

Michael Fryd · Apr 3, 2007

virtuamike said:
....

That's how some UPS's work (ie - APC Symmetra). They'll wire up 10
12V 5AH batteries in series in order to get up to 120V DC, and then
they invert to AC. My power pack was built with batteries pulled
from a Symmetra =)

If you're running in series then the capacity stays the same.

First problem doing it this way is the lack of availability of 120V
DC to AC inverters (unless you start ripping apart UPS's). The
second problem is that it's ridiculous how heavy 10 batteries will
weigh

So yes it'd work, but it's not practical.

--
Ramen is how I afford my glass
http://www.blindmike.com

Are you sure this is how some UPS's work?

Standard 120VAC electrical power ranges from about +170 volts to -170 volts. We call it 120 volts becuase if you hook it up to a space heater, you get the same amount of heat as you would from 120 volts DC.

If you start with anythig less than 170 volts DC, you need some sort of voltage multiplier to get up to the peak of 170 volts. Starting with 120Volts DC isn't enough to avoid the need for a voltage multiplier.

jra111 · Apr 4, 2007

--
Warning !
All my photos will have 1 or more of the following,
Softness,OOF,Under Exposure,Over Exposure,
and a poor attempt at Photoshopping.
http://www.pbase.com/jra111
http://lucasberg.com/home/
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=lucasberg

msfphotos · Apr 5, 2007

Much thanks to OP & contributors. Final cost was about $235 US. Could have been cheaper, but I'm not usually a DIY guy, and I had to buy everything - solder, wire, heat shrink tubes... you get the idea. I did get a good deal on the Samlex 300 at Fry's Electronics - open box model with full warranty for $15 off.

Used this at a location shoot last Friday. Worked like a charm, except that I did leave the model light on after the last set... drained the battery pretty fast. All told, about 60 flashes with spot use of modeling light, plus about 45 min of modeling light while I talked to the store owner before I got the low voltage warning beep. Not too shabby at all.

One last note - it's pretty heavy. Optech SOS strap works great on this load.

--

Happy hunting... whatever your weapon of choice

Andy Ly75136 · Apr 5, 2007

I was curious if theres a difference between 150 and 300w samlex. As far as my research goes, it leads me to believe that theres no benefit in using the 300W one as that rating is suited towards continuous power, such as televisions, or light bulbs. The strobe recharges cumulatively by drawing through amperage and I've read that both the 150w and the 300w is rated for the same throughput. I would imagine if you really did get twice the performance (for strobes) in the 300w version, the Vagabond 300 would use it, instead of two 150w inverters.

Thoughts?

Robert Strom · Apr 6, 2007

60 flashes does not seem like very many from a 20aH battery.

What watt seconds did you use on the strobe(s). How many strobes did you use?

Robert
--
http://www.streamlinestudio.com

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