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Iran Watson 10:57pm, 26 January 2013
A few months back I posted a thread asking about portable 12V power packs (www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72...) . I do lots of twilight and early evening night shots and most of the time the lighting conditions are pretty poor. I found that if I had some kind of high powered light that I could at least use as fill, I greatly improved my chances of ending up with a decent image. I prefer Halogen worklights as they are cheap, widely available in high wattages and they actually balance very well with interior incandescent lighting. I have been resorting to chaining together multiple extensions cords but in cases where there is no electrical outlet to start with there wasn't much I could do. I wont even start on how many times I dragged an extension cord too close to a pool and watched it fall in...

After considering a few different options I decided to rig up my own. It was actually very easy and cost me less than $200. Its basically a rolling, stack-able plastic tool box that holds a 12V deep cycle marine battery and a 1200 W power inverter.

Portable Power 1 by Iran Watson


Here are the lights Im using with it:

750w Halogen : milo.com/700W-Husky-Halogen-Portbl-Work-Light/p/7211185

1000w Wide Angle Halogen: www.amazon.com/Designers-Edge-1000-Watt-160-Degree-Workli...

When its time for the twilight shots I simply roll the toolbox to between my two cameras, connect the inverter to the battery, plug in a short extension cord into the inverter and the extension cord to the light. It powers my 750 Watt halogen easily. I can even plug in my phone or tablet and let it charge at the same time!

The pros of this are numerous. I can now have light ANYWHERE I need it, and some pretty high powered light at that. Everything fits in the toolbox, even two 50ft lengths of extension cords and there is still room to spare. I dont have to spend time looking for power outlets or cloning extension cords out of the shot. It is virtually silent (compared to a gas generator...). It doubles as an emergency power source, either in my truck or at home. Most importantly, it works!

There are a few cons however. This thing is not light, it easily weighs over 50lbs. While the toolbox has wheels, it doesnt have a very high ground clearance. This means it scrapes the ground as you roll it over most terrain, not enough to bog it down but it will scrape. The toolbox also lacks side handles to pick it up. It does have two narrow recesses on the side, but just enough to get the tips of my fingers in. Finally, this is a 12V battery were working with here. The same safety precautions you would take when working with a similar battery in a car or boat must be observed.

So far, this thing has proved to be very effective. I'm already five shoots into this new battery and it still has most of the charge left!
Chris@HD Posted 11 years ago. Edited by Chris@HD (member) 11 years ago
Nice job man! How many lights and at what wattage are they? You probably already know that ideally you want to completely drain then trickle charge the battery.

edit:typo
AtlantaTerry 11 years ago
an option is to use a UPS one can find in computer dealers or office supply stores.
Kerry Bern 11 years ago
AtlantaTerry:

Most of the UPS are rated in VA (volt amps). Roughly one VA is equal to one watt of power. Best Buy has a 750VA UPS and it's priced at $279 and weighs 32 lbs. Most UPS will only last 2-3 years before the battery is dead. Far beyond the warranty.

Iran's system doesn't weigh that much more, costs less, comes on wheels, has more power and I bet he probably has at least a five year warranty on the battery.
Iran Watson 11 years ago
Chris Kellison - HDshowings.com:

At the moment I am using just one 750 w light, but you can theoretically run up to three lights as long as the combined draw is not more than a continuous 1200 w load. Actually I wouldnt recommend going above a 1000 w with a 1200 w inverter. They say it can handle it but from my experience with inverters you are better served to stay around 75-80% of the max continous load. I have seen inverters rated up to 3000 w, but for something like that you would probably need multiple batteries and some huge cables...

I hear you on the drain and trickle charge as well. It will give you more life out of the battery. Surprisingly the battery charge is holding up quite well just using it a little at a time. Besides, at $70 for battery, if one makes it through 10 shoots I could justify replacing it after that if I had too. I doubt that will be the case though, I think its going to going to hold up for much longer than that.

Kerry Bern:

You are right on the money. I considered a UPS early on and they just didnt seem rugged enough, not to mention the reasons you listed. I suppose if you spent a little more and got a better rolling toolbox you could even have some weather proofing and overcome some of the cons I listed above.
Colin_Perry Posted 11 years ago. Edited by Colin_Perry (member) 11 years ago
Iran Watson:

I would be interested in seeing the photos as a result of your setup. I'm thinking of doing something similar. Thanks

Do you use something to diffuse the light as well?
Chris@HD 11 years ago
I was going ask about diffusing as well. I use similar lights, there are horizontal bands, brightest in the center. The best advice I have seen so far is to get textured glass cut to fit the lights. Placing anything over the lens is not that safe as they get very hot.
Iran Watson 11 years ago
Colin_Perry:

The last couple of twilight shots I posted were done using the 750 W light and this power pack. Pretty much every twilight shot Ive done for the past year has incorporated the work light though... I dont use any type of diffusor, doesn't really seem necessary as you can more or less control the degree the scene is lit by how you light paint. Also, as Chris mentioned, they get very hot, it would have to be some kind of glass or crazy plastic to hold up to that kind of heat.