Outdoor Power?

N

NashvilleActors

Member
Hey, I have to film at a location with no power. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but it gets dark around 4PM(Central) here around this time. So I'm going to be limited on lights.

Is there anything I can buy (inexpensively) that will give me the opportunity for some power so that I can hook up my lighting kits?
 
A generator you get pretty cheap these days (rent or purchase), but you'll need to place it far away if you're recording sound.
 
Lighting gear usually uses a pretty stupid amount of power. A redhead for example is usually about 800w, and normally you would have two or three. This would mean you need a 3kW generator min, and those things are very big, very heavy and very loud. We were shooting in a graveyard at night (scary enough in itself) but the generator was a pain in the arse, was so hard to move and we had to park it up miles away to prevent the microphones picking up the engine sound.

If you are using the low energy florescent type lights, you might be able to get away with a smaller generator.
 
There are different generator options out there. I have a generator that is very quiet (as far as generators go) and throttles itself depending on how much power is required. Its small and light weight, I carried it up 2 floors of stairs by myself without much trouble. However its expensive and it all depends on how much you have to spend. You can get a cheap generator (~$500) and get 5kw or more out of it, but it will be so loud there is no way you could get it far enough away.

Another option is using an inverter for a car, and this is something I had done before and works great. Especially with new vehicles that are very quiet. I have a 2kw inverter and its been enough for high res monitors, and some lights. Using a vehicle and an inverter is the easiest as far as remote power, there are over heating concerns because a car is designed to be moving. Im told that some newer vehicles if overheated will total the car.

ADR is a necessary evil even without a generator if you want clean high quality sound. There are always other things to worry about, insects, crew, camera noise, you name it... If I need power I almost always go with the generator.
 
hhmmm... I would recommend an Automatic Voltage regulator on that generator too, otherwise your light will not be constant. And on a 5Kw Generator you are probably looking at about 72dB, but you can run extension chords from the generator, add silencerbox, and put a wood screen on the side your filming (far far away). Lav's will have a smaller chance of picking up the generator compared to a boom mic.

- Derrick
 
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Nashville,

Look into renting Honda Quiet generators. They are expensive to buy ,but I think you can rent some. they are much much quieter than regular ones. Also look into renting HMI or fluorescent lights. these lights output more light per watt than incandescent. so you will need less power.

so a 575 watt HMI will put out about what a 2000 watt tungsten. You can get a Honda 3000 watt generator and probably get away with either (3) maybe even (4) 575 HMIs. So for 3000 watt generator you can get 6000 to 8000 watts of light.

or you can get an 800 watt inverter for your car and get one of those 575 HMI on it without much fear of frying your car. Obviously the bigger the car usually means a bigger battery and less chance of damaging it with an 800 watt inverter. a 2000watt inverter is huge and I probably wouldn't use it on my expedition. (but that's just me)
 
did you know that a hybrid vehicle can almost power an entire house? check into renting car for the day. just tossing that out there. it seems unlikely.
 
if you are using a smaller lighting package then you may want to try using a car battery and an inverter. i have a 4 lights kit, 2 dedo lights (150wtts) and 2 lowel pros (200wtts), and can run at least three lights off of a 'marine' car battery for boats that can be run down and recharged constantly with no damage to the battery, where a regular car battery will loose performance. i keep the rigg in a little shoulder bag, i picked both up at kragen, the battery for $80 and the inverter for about the same, it can run grounded power 800wtts with a power surge of up to 1600wtts. and i'm pretty sure they sell high range models as well. not as luxurious as a generator, but is easy enough to lug up a hill where no extension cord can follow, its still heavy, mind you it is a car battery, but could work to suit your power free locations. i have two of them, so i can run a fog machine a couple lights, charge camera batteries or power that mini lcd monitor, you know the smoke and mirrors that make a movie magic work.
 
Im no engineer or mechanic. You should ask a professional before doing anything like this but here is what i know:

I have used a 1,500w inverter on my 5 series bmw but do so at your own risk. Most car alternators output about 800w, if you go over that its possible it will drain your car battery even with the car running. It will die and not start. An inverter should not damage your vehicle.

The other option is to disconnect the battery from the car and run the inverter from that. I ran 600w of light this way for about 31 min. For 1500w you should have about ~10 min at least of quiet power, which may be just enough to get the shot. This of course is going to depend on the size of battery. (keep in mind that it may not have enough charge left to start the car)

If you decide to use a Prius, from what I remember, the Prius wont start the engine until the batteries are low. That thing should have enough power for hours of use. If I remember correctly you can override the batteries and start the engine to recharge between setups/takes.

I have heard you can go over the watt rating on inverters for a short amount of time. A 1500w inverter could possibly run at 3000w for a while. Again do so at your own risk.
 
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Hey Hecklejeckle,

so you say 3 lights. I'm assuming the (2) 150w and (1) 200w for about 500w. How long can that sucker keep those lights on?

Could you please let me know which model battery are you talking about and which model inverter?

I'm hoping this setup could light one of my 575 HMI, though I doubt it. But worth a try. if Not, then I could definitely use it for my Fluorescent Chinaballs.

Also, how do you recharge the battery on the field, and how long does it take to re-charge.

Thanks,
Luis
 
Siniarch, I have had a 1200 watt 3000 watt surge connected directly to my car battery for about 5 years now and use it for all kinds of lighting (and other things). It's true that the car battery will crap out so I just leave the car running with a slight increase of the idle. You can check out DonRowe.com for info and ideas. I use mostly fluorescents and leds now so 1200 watts is perfect. A friend just bought a 2000 watt for about $170.00.
Gary
 
Siniarch, sorry to get back to you so late, but here is basically what i did. the battery is not in a car, it sits in a hard plastic box or carrying case, much like an ice chest. the inverter is much like this one, http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=PNE&MfrPartNumber=64009792&CategoryCode=3076
the one here is 1200wtts, mine are 800wtts because the kragen that i bought them at was out of anything higher.
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=PNE&MfrPartNumber=64009624&CategoryCode=3076
mind you, these may not be the same brand or make but they will do the same job. i wouldnt trust keeping this set up attached to a car and expect the car to start afterwards. the battery could be drained significantly. i used a 'marine' battery because its for boat engines, and can take a beating, ie be charged up and down numerous times. while a normal car battery may quickly lose its capacity to hold a full power charge. this was all based on info given to me from the kragen technicians, the battery will also have a number for minutes of reserve capacity, the higher the number the higher the batteries storage capacity http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=EXI&MfrPartNumber=NG24&CategoryCode=3583
as for the life of the charge, i never tested how long the set up would work straight, i simply used the lights sparingly, turning them off when not shooting or when not checking the lighting for any given shot. mind you this was a very low budget guirilla shoot in the boonies with this as the only power source. we shot from about 8:00 am to about 1:30, using two batteries sparingly, to power at most three lights at a time and occasionally a smoke machine which used up the power much faster. there wasnt any recharging of these batteries out in the field, i simply used a trickle charger for a car battery and charged them on low amps over night to ensure that they were full up for the next day and then used the same set up again. normal charge for a battery is about 6 - 8 hours but if you slow charge them overnight they hold a better charge. this worked for three days, and i have since used the set up in other places, but never for a full day with lights running none stop. it was ideal for being in a remote location. infurno is correct about surge for inverters, they generally will do double the wattage for a time, at the trade off of running the battery down faster. and if you can set up and get the shot quickly then this would be all you need. if you are trying to power a 575 hmi, that seems like a much bigger bulb, i dont know how long this set up would run for. if this is the case, and you are trying to shoot long days then i would suggest the generator route. but for sure the chinaballs would run well on this set up. anyways i hope this helps you a little.
 
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hey siniarch, sorry it took so long with the pics. here is the set up and some details, the 2 style of lights, a lowel pro 250wtt and a dedo 100wtt, the battery and the inverter. as you can see the three lights are plugged into an orange three outlet adapter. The inverter does have a fan and makes a low hum so bear in mind that you will need an extension cord to keep this set up away from the sound. hope this helps.
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No Blain, he is using a marine battery that lets you re-charge it many many times. Its not his car battery. I think its a lovely solution.
 
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