Generators on gas

[Frank Doorhof]

In the summer we always do a lot of location workshops but this year has been especially crazy and although I never ran out of batteries for the Rangers it's been close a few times.
So I was thinking about adding a generator to our gear.

I'm looking at the Kipor Sinemaster IG1000
Main use would be to power the chargers for the Ranger batteries, so when a battery dies we can charge them on location and hopefully use them again when the other one dies.
Also it would power my MBP.
If all goes wrong we would also use it on a 600W RX strobe.

The IG1000 looks promising because it only produces 53dB and it's 14KG.
It's bigger brother the IG2000 is 22kg and has 75dB.

Has any one here any experience with these ?
It's really meant as a safety net.

[Dustbak]

I have only used the red Honda things which are great, totally reliable. A generator as a safety net is one of those things you typically rarely use. The Hondas start without problems even if you haven't used them a few years. Mine even started after I accidentally initially fed it with diesel instead of gasoline (naturally I had to throw out the diesel first ).

If you do go for the other brand, let me know how they behaved. I do have to buy a generator again (have sold mine a while ago), at this moment I would be reluctant to buy anything else but the Honda.

The Kipor things are cheap though! (you could buy 2 for the price of 1 Honda!) Looking at the spec's and the product line of the Kipor I noticed it is really close to that of the Honda. So much that is might have the same stuff on the inside...

[Frank Doorhof]

That's why I was thinking about the Kipor.
I could couple it with a Line-R from APC just to make 100% sure the power is really clean.
In total it's still manageable.

[UlfKrentz]

In the summer we always do a lot of location workshops but this year has been especially crazy and although I never ran out of batteries for the Rangers it's been close a few times.
So I was thinking about adding a generator to our gear.

I'm looking at the Kipor Sinemaster IG1000
Main use would be to power the chargers for the Ranger batteries, so when a battery dies we can charge them on location and hopefully use them again when the other one dies.
Also it would power my MBP.
If all goes wrong we would also use it on a 600W RX strobe.

The IG1000 looks promising because it only produces 53dB and it's 14KG.
It's bigger brother the IG2000 is 22kg and has 75dB.

Has any one here any experience with these ?
It's really meant as a safety net.

Hi Frank,

I wrote quite a bit about flash on location here: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....l=gas+generator
Powering a MBP and battery chargers is a not a critical task but I would truely consider buying the Honda inverter series though. I can second the experience of Dustbak, the Hondas are extremly well designed. We own two of the 20i, you have the option to connect them to one big source which provides enough power to run quite a big set. Once you get used to work with real power on location you might feel more comfortable.

Cheers, Ulf

[HarperPhotos]

Hi Frank,

I have a Honda 1000 watt and a Kipor 2600 watt generator. The Honda is way lighter but the Kipor is quieter. I can run two Bowens 3k generators on full power(3000watts) with the Kipor and only one 3k Bowens at 2000 watts on the Honda. The piston sleeves in the Kipor are made of steel compared to the aluminium sleeves in the Honda so it will last a lot longer.

Cheers

Simon

[UlfKrentz]

Hi Frank,

I have a Honda 1000 watt and a Kipor 2600 watt generator. The Honda is way lighter but the Kipor is quieter. I can run two Bowens 3k generators on full power(3000watts) with the Kipor and only one 3k Bowens at 2000 watts on the Honda. The piston sleeves in the Kipor are made of steel compared to the aluminium sleeves in the Honda so it will last a lot longer.

Cheers

Simon

Probably any 1000W generator will be overload with a 3K pack. In general I would recomment to have a reserve and if in doubt take the bigger one. Reaching the power limit will give irregularities and can be harmful in worst case. Jonathan Wienke posted a thumb rule for this: Max Output in Ws or J / recycling time in sec +20% safety + modelling lights. This is quite applicable. I didn´t knew about the different mechanic of the engine and if that is true, but I never heared of any problems with the Hondas.

Cheers, Ulf

[Frank Doorhof]

We're ordering the 1000W version.
I've calculated it according to those rules and it could run a RX600 head and my laptop without a problem.
And that's a worst case scenario because we run on accus normally.

[Dick Roadnight]

I have a Honda 6000, which produces about 19amps 240v 50hz. It is not easily one-man handlable, but I imagine it would handle my 4 1,500ws Elinchromes.

I also have inherited a 29 amp Lister diesel generator, which feels about 70kg, but is on wheels and can be moved by one man: I need to re-invent the silencer on this one.

A big UPS might enable you to use big flashes with a small generator, but a big UPS might not cost much less than a generator!

[UlfKrentz]

We're ordering the 1000W version.
I've calculated it according to those rules and it could run a RX600 head and my laptop without a problem.
And that's a worst case scenario because we run on accus normally.

Hi Frank,

you might consider a 12V DC to 220V AC pure sinewave inverter for your purpose, I assume you have a car with you and don´t really like an engine running.

Cheers, Ulf

[Frank Doorhof]

I have a car with me but the distance between the set and the car is often not that close, that's the main problem I already thought about that one and they are cheap.

However the Kipor only weighs 14kg so that's very light to carry with me.
We drag a lot with us anyway so the kipor can't be a problem

I won't be using studio strobes on location by the way, I love the rangers and Quadras so we'll stick with those.
Only when all batteries would be dead I would switch to a studio strobe.
Let's hope it never happens
My laptop does die rather sometimes on location even with the applejuice, or it's very close and that worries me more than the strobes.

[Jack Flesher]

Another vote for the Honda. I've had one for over 10 years and it still runs like new. I change the oil every other year or so and use the best gasoline, and that's it.   They're cheap (relatively), portable, bone solid reliable and really, really quiet...  Oh, my version also has 12 volt output pins.

Of course, given you know you want to continue to use Quadras, and given the cost of a good portable gasoline generator, it might make more sense to simply pack extra charged Quadra batteries -- unless that is, you plan to be outdoors for extended periods of time...