Powering a 5k light

mattsdni

mattsdni

Active member
Super noob question here: How do I power a 5K with a generator? The honda 6500 looks like it only has a 30A on it. BTW I know nothing about power distro and am just curious. (so you don't have to worry about me killing myself)

Also, any suggested resources to read about power distro? I figure I should learn this stuff since I will encounter it sometime in the future.
 
Watts divided by Volts= amps . 5K; 5000 watts/volts?=amps needed. so for your application and 120volts, you'll need at least 42 amps continuous.
 
Yep, I'm talking about generators here. Just wondering the path the electricity takes from the generator to the light. Can a honda 6500 even run a 5K?
 
mattsdni said:
Yep, I'm talking about generators here. Just wondering the path the electricity takes from the generator to the light. Can a honda 6500 even run a 5K?
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I'm not a gaffer, but my guess is no. You'd be constantly blowing the breaker.
Like I said, a Ginny (generator) truck. It's a truck with a big ass generator(s) in the back. It's what's running those big 12K lights you see on a movie set.
 
most will use a 60amp Bates connector for a 5K. See here:
http://www.usedmovielighting.com/lights/mole-richardson-415-5k-fresnel/

The biggest issue you will run into with trying to run one off of a consumer ginny is getting that 60A circuit. Also most only have a twist-lock connection (unless a bates connector has been installed, we rented one from PCE like that), but you can get a twist lock to bates adaptor.

(this all is just based off of my limited knowledge and a little research, if I am wrong someone please correct me)
 
If you don't know what your doing, you should not be trying to do advanced distro. And you really should not be trying to power a 5k. Get an experienced electrician.

That being said: The Set Lighting Technicians Handbook by Harry Box. Industry standard, has all the distro stuff in it.
 
What Andrew said. Get Mr. Box's book. If you can swing a 1200w par, it will run off that geni with a standard edison plug. It will give you about the same output as the 5k.
 
I echo what others have said about not doing this unless you know exactly what you're doing. A 5K is no pepper - you could do more than just bust a household fuse. Hire an electrician or stick to what you know and are comfortable with. Electricity is nothing to be trifled with; you could cause damage to equipment or hurt yourself or someone else.

Wave of Light said:
What Andrew said. Get Mr. Box's book. If you can swing a 1200w par, it will run off that geni with a standard edison plug. It will give you about the same output as the 5k.
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A 1200W PAR is a better solution, in my opinion. It can be run off a household 20A circuit and puts out more light over a greater distance than a 5K.
 
Just so we're all clear, I have no intentions of using a 5K anytime soon. This is all hypothetical. I am all for HMIs, especially since they put out less heat that tungsten. I guess you could say I'm looking to buy some sort of light that is brighter than what I currently own. All I have are 1K tungsten lights. I like to own my equipment for convenience. I've seen some cheap HMIs pop up on craigslist. Anyway, I can always rent until a good deal comes up.
 
Well, HMIs not only put out less heat, they put out a lot more light per watt (which is not unconnected to the "less heat" bit :) ).
 
Just gotta find a 6500 watt genny with a 60amp bates on it. Make sure the 60 amp bates is actually rated for 60 amps and you should be good to go. Not very complicated. As far as replacing a 5k with an HMI....it's just not the same thing.

Really it's just what your rental house has available to you, as these are not really things you should buy. When you do have to rent them though, just tell the rental house you'd like to rent a 5k and ask them what their options are to power it. They'll give you more solutions than we ever could here.
 
mattsdni said:
Just so we're all clear, I have no intentions of using a 5K anytime soon. This is all hypothetical. I am all for HMIs, especially since they put out less heat that tungsten. I guess you could say I'm looking to buy some sort of light that is brighter than what I currently own. All I have are 1K tungsten lights. I like to own my equipment for convenience. I've seen some cheap HMIs pop up on craigslist. Anyway, I can always rent until a good deal comes up.
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Look into 400W and 575W HMI's if you are looking for something brighter than a 1K.
 
Arceric said:
This topic was discussed at length earlier this year. For more details on these two options see http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...re-up-a-5K-fresnel/page2&highlight=5k+Fresnel .

Eric Jaspers
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Is there some way to get that post, and others about generators, that 'nejucier' posted into the 'stickies' sections. Perhaps not the whole threads, but those that seem reasonable for describing using higher powered lights than 1K's or others that can be driven from ordinary circuits?

When this discussion came up I tried to search for some of those, and couldn't find the ones that are more appropriate for this discussion.
 
The problem with the bates modifications to the Honda EU6500s is that they don't offer you 60 Amps at 120V, but only 43Amps continuous load. The problem with those mods when used with a 5k is that the load of the 5k will cause the voltage output of the generator to drop 10V to 110 and so a 5k that will draw 42 Amps at 120V off house power will draw 45.5Amps at 110V and so will likely overload the generator.
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There you go. I'm not too surprised that 60amp bates doesn't offer you the true 60amps...Good to know though, thanks!
 
You can draw 60 amps through a bates it is the moded generator that will not provide the 60 amps. However, if the generator provides 120V you will need 41.66 amps.
 
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