Faster recycle time 12v power source for 110v strobes

[visiono]

I have adapted a studio strobe to work with 12v 9ah nobreak batteries wired in parallel to provide 18amp for outdoor shoots. I am using a pure sine wave inverter. The one strobe i am using is 800ws godox tc800. Supplied with 110v direct power at my house recycle at full power is 2 seconds. Using the power pack its about 14 seconds. I assume a 12v amp car battery would be faster yes? What about lithium 12v pack diy? Any suggestions? I would be happy with 4 seconds at full power.

 

[jlafferty]

TBH just ditch the DIY and go with PCB Vagabonds. The money you'll "save" with DIY will be more than lost in compromised performance and time spent working on your project.

 

[Jean Lestrale]

The capacitors can only recharge at a certain speed (approx 5 times the time-constant). ... so the power supply can only make a difference within that context, and is essentially a voltage-driven outcome.

Cheers,

Jean

 

[antares103]

You have said nothing about the Wattage of the inverter. Loosely calculated, your light would require 400W average to charge at 2 seconds to 800Ws. However, many lights have a peak current that is quite high. This will shut down many inverters, while others may "brown out". Depending on how long it takes the inverter/flash combo to recover from this brownout, this could (and appears to) drag recycle times out.

If you can find the peak current for the light, you can start there to match the inverter.

Vagabonds are awesome, but do not work with everything.

 

[visiono]

You have said nothing about the Wattage of the inverter. Loosely calculated, your light would require 400W average to charge at 2 seconds to 800Ws. However, many lights have a peak current that is quite high. This will shut down many inverters, while others may "brown out". Depending on how long it takes the inverter/flash combo to recover from this brownout, this could (and appears to) drag recycle times out.

If you can find the peak current for the light, you can start there to match the inverter.

Vagabonds are awesome, but do not work with everything.

the inverter is 500w

 

[Gato Amarillo]

You have said nothing about the Wattage of the inverter. Loosely calculated, your light would require 400W average to charge at 2 seconds to 800Ws. However, many lights have a peak current that is quite high. This will shut down many inverters, while others may "brown out". Depending on how long it takes the inverter/flash combo to recover from this brownout, this could (and appears to) drag recycle times out.

If you can find the peak current for the light, you can start there to match the inverter.

Vagabonds are awesome, but do not work with everything.

the inverter is 500w

Like Antares, I suspect your inverter is the limiting factor. As said, many flashes have a very high peak draw at the start of the recharge cycle.

I suppose you could test the battery question by rigging a temporary hookup to your car battery.

Gato