tak3 Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 can anyone please give me some advice on using a normal contruction site 2k generator on my bowen gemini studio flashes 500w x 2 heads? is it possible? is it safe? do i need an adaptor or something, many thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Should be fine if you run it outside. Use a long HEAVY DUTY extension cord to keep the sound away. A baffle will help. Hondas are very quiet. Others not so. 2K is more than enough power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_wong2 Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Make sure it has the pure sine wave output. Most of them does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_davis2 Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hello, You should be OK They will provide power as clean as we get in the US or Canada. Two things I wish to mention. There is a small device available for less than $40.00 called Kill a watt that will give you 8 specs of any power supply. Second always have the generator up and running before you plug anything in. I recently lost 7 electronic devices when my home backup generator tried repeatedly to start under an overload. Good luck D.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_smith35 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Generators are rated for a resistive load such as hot lights or heaters. Strobes are not a pure resistive load, and demand a large peak load right after firing. Size the generator for the maximum current surge immediatly after the strobes fire, plus derating for a non resistive load. If in doubt, contact the strobe manufacturer for suggestions. Inexpensive generators often have poor voltage regulation and excess distortion which will greatly shorten the life of any electronics. Let the generator warm up a couple of minutes before plugging in, also disconnect loads before shut down. Never let a generator run out of gas while loaded, it will probably cause voltage surges. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john falkenstine Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 You have to be careful with these generators. I was planning to use a small unit and put the unit on a scope to check the quality of the output. It was, errr really horrible, and could be a good way to smoke some flash equipment permanently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tak3 Posted April 16, 2007 Author Share Posted April 16, 2007 thanks guys for the advices, but can you tell me what is sine wave output?and what is exactly kill a watt are these some kind of adapters or some kind of stablizer, these are ordinary generatorm but a good quality one...how can you judge a good or bad one? i am planning maybe its better to just use contiune lighting rather than flash....many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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