A Portable Power Box for Photographers

Step 8 Finish

Portable Power Box Setup

1. Push ground spike into the earth (If possible)
2. Attach negative cable to battery
3. Turn on breaker
4. Attach positive cable to battery
5. Turn on inverter
6. Turn on strobes

Always connect the positive terminal last, so that any arching occurs on the cable that is protected by the breaker. When the positive cable is disconnected, do not allow it to touch the metal box. Turn the breaker off first. Some people have reported that the capacitors in the inverter can still hold a charge and can feed voltage back through the battery cables.

Turn off all the strobes before turning off the inverter. Do not store the power box with the battery connected. The portable power box with a 33AH battery will run two 600 watt strobes (not at maximum settings) for over 210 flashes. I have not yet drained the battery shooting under normal conditions.

Comments

[TBKVideo]

This is awesome. I'm building mine this weekend. What kind of strobes do you use?

[Divet]

I have used the power box with Alien Bee and Elinchrom strobes.

[mrosenstok]

hey Divet,

whish elinchroms you use?
I have 2 - 500ws BXri. Do you think it will work ok with my strobes as they are a digital model?

Is your DIY portable power pack still working ok after all this time?

Best regards
Miguel

[Divet]

I've used the pack with the digital Elichrome Style 600RX, but I haven't ever used the Bxri and couldn't say for sure it would work (tho there is a decent chance it would).

Three months ago I loaned the pack to someone and they burnt out the inverter by shooting too quickly with a 1000 watt load. The design of Samlex inverters have been changed so they now shut down with a low voltage. I haven't found a decent replacement inverter locally to rebuild it with. I guess in Portugal another option might be the Paul Buff vagabond mini, if you have the cash. http://paulcbuff.eu.com/cms/

[josh.wingo]

you should cut a hole on the side for the gfci to face outwards. so you do not need to run power out of the box, the box can stay sealed. when facing the gfci out, get a weatherproof box cover, it will keep water from getting in it and you can still safely use it in the rain.