Generators Are They Safe Or Is It Better To Go With Battery Power?

[Robertofish]

As some of you know over the last while I have been tackling the hard question of lighting and other things having to do with the age old question, battery power or generator, I just want to know which is best for my situation, heres the situation I am in, I don't have money for a gaffer on set every day that is for sure, I want to BUY and not rent and will pay any amount for the safety of the cast and crew, how safe are generators and how much do you have to know to make them as safe as possible? Is there some sort of gaffing dvd I could buy to learn, I have time to learn gaffing if need be, from what people have said if I go down the path of a generator I would be getting a Honda Inverter Series 2,000 watt generator since I have heard they are as quiet and generators get and the standard! If I go the battery based route for everything I have heard that Batteries4Broadcast have some cheap products, I looked at them and I like them a lot but there is more that you can do with a generator but I am concerned with the potential for a surge while on set, is it one of those cases where no matter what you do there is always that chance, and is there the same chance with battery powered lights? What does everyone think about Battery power vs Generator?

 

[David W. Jones]

Well you are limited either way. Batteries like an IDX are only going to power something like an LED light. And the Honda EU2000i you are considering can power fluorescent, tungsten, and HMI lights as well, but it is only 1600w continuous power, so there is your max lighting limitation using a single small generator.

 

[RyanT]

Generators are pretty safe machines...the most anyone has every showed me about them was to keep it level, how to turn it on, and where to put the gas. From there you should be pretty good. This knowledge comes from working as an electric for the past 5 years...as the generators get bigger there's obviously a lot more to worry about, but the small suitcase ones will usually shut off with a warning before you do too much harm.

As David says too, a little 2000w putt putt will go a lot further than any battery powered device.