Portable Power Questions

[joe_dolen]

<p>I'm looking for some advice about what to do for power. I'm doing on-site family portraits and I need to run my Epson Artisan 810 printer, but I don't have access to power. Here is a short list of other issues I have:<br>

-I can't have my vehicle close by, so a power inverter isn't an option.<br>

-I can't use a generator because they're too expensive and too loud.<br>

-My budget is below $500 (preferable below $300)</p>

<p>I was thinking about the Paul Buff Vagabond II as an option, because then I could also use the unit at other times when I'm using my strobes outside, but will that work to power my Epson printer? Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks so much!</p>

<p>-Joe</p>

[Matt Laur]

It would be a pretty interesting thing to try ... your printer only uses about 26 watts, but it could still pull that battery down

pretty quick. The Vagabond does let you hook up additional external batteries, so you could see what sort of use the built

in battery gets you, and then add a big marine battery if necessary.

[jim_momary]

<p>That battery unit is 20AHr at 12V. Power = Volts x amps. P = 12 x 20 = 240 Watts. Figure the inverter efficientcy is 85% ( +/-). So, you have about 205 WattHrs of power available (total). see : <a href="http://www.white-lightning.com/VIIsystem.html">http://www.white-lightning.com/VIIsystem.html</a></p>

<p>The Epson 810 consumes 20 Watts in run mode. see : <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA52201">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA52201</a></p>

<p>Thus, you have 205 WHr / 20 W or something like about 10 hours of active printing. (Note that the printer sleep mode is 5.5 Watts, so you have to take idle time into account if you leave it on all the time)</p>

<p>And, it's a bit of a load ... power unit = 18.6 lbs and the printer = 23.1 lbs.<br>

The numbers are a bit rough, but close enough to judge merit.</p>

<p>Jim</p>

[joe_dolen]

<p>Thanks so much guys for your input! I think I'm going to go with the Vagabond II and purchase an extra battery just in case, because I'm going to be running the thing for about 8 hours, but I can't have it die on me in the middle of the day. Thanks again!</p>

<p>Joe</p>