DC powered High output LED light

H

hugofilipe

Member
Hello,

I'm in the need of some light for outdoor use. I'm mainly focusing 2 points, light output and mobility so I'd like to ask you guys what is the highest output light running direct current so it could be powered anywhere.

I can easily grab some 24-30v high amp batteries, but looks quite impossible to get the light that accepts dc.
I don't want to run a DC-AC inverter to not waste energy.

Ideally I was looking for something like a 200w LED fresnel with DC input, is there anything out there that you know of?
 
Cineo just released a few different lights. The Maverick is their portable, DC powered light. I have used the HS, which is an AC powered fixture that is twice the size. If the Maverick actually is half the output of the HS, then it is equivalent to a 1k zip. It's a very impressive light.
 
I'm confused about the problems you're encountering: all LED lights run off DC power and need to be converted from AC, not the other way around. They should all be battery-compatible with the right power connector, no inverter necessary.

EDIT: I have a few Litepanels fresnels that will run DC, and are highly focusable and shapeable. Mine are too small for your stated needs, but try the 190W Sola 9: http://www.litepanels.com/sola9.php
 
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Finn Yarbrough said:
I'm confused about the problems you're encountering: all LED lights run off DC power and need to be converted from AC, not the other way around. They should all be battery-compatible with the right power connector, no inverter necessary.
Click to expand...

But they don't all run off of 12 volts. I have a few Cineo HS fixtures that have a massive 150 volt DC transformer. That's about 13 Anton Bauer bricks! I'll second the Litepanels Sola and Inca fresnels. I tested them out and really like their output.
 
I'm really thankful for all inputs.
I've got into all sugestions and looks like only Inca would suit my need, high power out of a <30v DC source, but the price way out of my league (I need to buy several)

I was looking for something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dimmable-10...777?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e28db741

Its 100w LED, but is powered only by ac source, since the LED itself should run DC, there has to be a conversion from AC to DC inside the unit, if there was anyway to bypass that conversion would be ideal. Had anyone done something like this before?
Other option would be to convert DC into AC, but that way we'll end up with double conversion and low efficiency.
 
Yeah, there will be a converter inside that box unit below the fresnel for sure. Depending on how handy you are, you should be able to open it up and just splice a d-tap or whatever carries your DC current right into your source, bypassing the inverter...but you may want to include a voltage regulator somewhere along the line unless you can verify that the LED is equipped with one.
 
Bypassing the AC-DC converter is not the problem as it surely has one OR it may well be the all-in-one type that has the AC-DC as well as the led driver circuitry on a single board, in which case you must know the schematic before dissecting them at the right junctions. Even then you must know the led driver section for the allowable DC input range and type of driver, most likely a boost type design that will boost the nominal DC input to the operation DC Fv ( forward voltage) of the led chip itself. Those 100W chips are most likely in the 70 volt DC to the led but require anything from 12 to 24 or higher DC input to the driver. The question is the input DC RANGE that is acceptable for boosting by the led driver. You may well find that the driver may only want to see a minimum of 36 VDC as the input source or perhaps as low as 12 volts and an upper limit of who knows what. There are hundreds of led drivers out there in varying configurations and introducing an input voltage that is lower than it's minimum will not light up the led at all. Also to consider, beside the V in is the minimum current (amperage) requirement of the DC source (battery). That light may well need a minimum of 10 amps from a 14.4 V DC source to light it. Just don't expect it to shine much longer than an hour at full brightness from a 120 amp/hour battery.
 
hugofilipe said:
I'm really thankful for all inputs.


I was looking for something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dimmable-10...777?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e28db741
Click to expand...

If your ok with the fan on that unit then you should also consider the Alzo 3000, the RPS, and the Nicefoto. The Nicephoto is the highest power unit at 150watts.

On the plus side, they have Bowens mounts, which allow you to use many commonly available light modifiers such as snoots, globes, reflectors, soft boxes, barn doors.

On the negative side, they do not have a fresnel lens.

There is a frame grab in this link to give you an idea how it compares to a fresnel 650. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?316956-150W-LED-(Similar-to-Alzo)-Compared-to-650W-Fresnel

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NiceFoto-LE...232?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd777eb58

Inside is a switcher supply. I took it apart to change out the fans to a 22db fan. i didn't bother to look to see if the AC/DC conversion was easy to get to and convertible to have it work on a DC source. If I'm not too tied up this weekend, I may give it a go as I have been curious about battery powering also.

As Norman pointed out, the chances of finding a nice convenient point that happens to be a simple battery voltage level that is also easily tapped into is marginal. Given the efficiencies of switchers these days, you may be best off doing the double conversion. It's more bulky and in-efficient, but you know it will work.
 
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