A generator for my strobes - suggestions?

[David R Munson]

So I'm thinking about a gas-powered generator to power my strobes at locations where one could not get power otherwise. It would need to be able power two Profoto Acute2r packs, one 2400ws and one 1200ws, and need to be able to handle the draw of both packs firing at full power. Any suggestions? I know essentially nothing about the power requirements this leads to, so I'm not sure what specs to look for on a generator.

 

[glbeas]

You would need to look at the power packs for your strobe and look at the wattage requirements. The watt seconds of the strobes are the fireing power and not the charging power, you can charge up a 2400 watt second strobe on a one watt power supply in 2400 seconds theoretically. Once you find those figures add them up and double it for a safety margin and you will know what a good wattage generator would be to use. More than likely a 3 to 5 kilowatt generator will do more than you need, even run your coffeepot.
Ever think of buying an old camper with a integral generator for location shoots?

 

[bmac]

Have you thought about the fact that you might be able to buy a set of real location lights for the price of a noisy generator? Either the little ones from Quantam, or even White Lightning has a portable kit these days. Not sure what you are shooting, but if it is anything with people, a noisy generator isn't very condusive to a peaceful shoot.

 

[David R Munson]

Well, the Quantums don't have the power I would need, and as for White Lightning, I've never been too impressed with their build quality or consistency of output. A hensel is a decent option, but I'd still like to see what a good generator would be in case I do go that route.