Anyone used an inverter to power the R1?

[Matt Hutchinson]

Hi guys,
As a film student, money is tight and Red batteries aren't cheap. Has anyone used a car battery/inverter to power their camera?

More specifically:

* Is this a really dumb idea with such an expensive piece of equipment, or is it safe?
* I'd use a separate car battery from the one in my car, as I believe the cigarette lighter might cause issues? Not to mention not wanting to break down.
* How do you work out how long it will last?
* I hear that you shouldn't run it down more than 50% or there will be troubles recharging it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
THANKS!

 

[fernando Cordero]

Dear Matt,

This is so funny lol I just ran the last hour on a feature I was working on with a faulty batter, and our charging station on the honey wagon was not working. our last resort to get by the day was to plug in a car inverter to a car, we ran a 100ft extension cable and -plugged in the AC adapter into the R1- and it was a miracle. we filmed without no problems. ONE IMPORTANT NOTE- know your car fuse box, have some extra fuses for your car and the car inverter, know the car inverter wattage. We tried to charge the R1 bricks with a another car inverter, but burt out my fuse.

fuses cost like 5 bucks for 10-

It does work though!

 

[Stephen Gentle]

I'd be hesitant with a modified sine wave inverter (you can get pure sine wave ones that put out cleaner power but they're like twice as expensive).

Theoretically the rectifier and filtering in the AC adapter should completely clean it up though. Wonder if anyone from RED can chip in?

 

[Elan Gunos]

It'll work, but you'll realize the more you use it, the more issues you'll start having with your camera, or lights. One day they'll work, and the next next day they'll start acting funny, and then they'll stop working altogether, and you won't know why. Listen to Stephen about getting one that generates a pure sine wave.

 

[Björn Benckert]

Use a car battery make wires to feed the camera directly. then you do not need your car close by. does not cost much.

 

[Christopher Mills]

there are lots of threads on the JWsound forum on building your own batteries/power supplies..
the simplest is probably a marine DC battery, and a deep cycle charger. with a "boat box" enclosure on the battery.. cheap.. couple of days of continuous use between charges... probably under $200 including the cable...

just make very sure you make your cables properly, and check not only output voltage but pin polarity..

People have been building their own for decades...
though this is intended as a non-handheld battery

 

[Troy Bakewell]

Did you say "couple of days of continuous use between charges"?

Wow! That's amazing.

I just finished a two day shoot, mostly on sticks the entire time, shot in a very remote area in the woods and making round trips to the charging station for fresh bricks was a huge pain. This would have been a great solution to have.

So basically any 12v marine battery properly wired correctly would work right?

 

[Matt Hutchinson]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, Christopher, that sounds amazing!

Also, for a more portable battery pack, what about a motorbike battery, in a case, in a backpack, on the cam op's back? Also, I found this on calculating the time it will last, not sure if it's true:

"How long an inverter runs is determined by the size of the supply and the speed at which you use it. As a general rule with an average fully charged battery, take the inverter maximum wattage and divide it by the actual watts being used. A 400-watt inverter providing 200 watts will last 2 hours (400/200 = 2)


​

 

[Christopher Mills]

yeah.. marine is recommended over motorbike as the charge/discharge cycle is more like a camera use cycle..
the battery will live a LOT longer.. however, if you treat your battery as an expendable, or even get it rebuilt, yes. it would be lighter.. though you may have trouble finding 14+ volt motorbike batteries..
dc volts are *mostly* dc volts.. a voltage regulator in your output circuit is not a bad idea.. again.. the DIY section of JW sound has a lot of info on building your own portable DC 12v systems...
Gel Cells are also very cheap, can be built into pelican cases with chargers..
If we remember that we are not mostly working handheld in drama, then our options get MUCH cheaper.. and longer lasting.. and hey, if you're handheld in one footprint, then it still works......

also, you might want to see if your bat plate has enough secondary sockets for your accessories..
An inverter is just adding more oportunity for signal noise in the output voltage to confuse your camera, induce hum in your audio, and otherwise fail to reward you..

 

[Axton]

The Godox Leadpower LP800X pure sine wave inverter is the ideal power solution for taking your monobloc studio flashes that normally run on AC power into the outdoors for complete flexibility allowing both studio and outdoor shooting.

 

[Christophe Daucé]

Hi Matt,
Recently, I traveled with my R1. By plane it was impossible to take any batteries and lot of accesssories. Impossible to rent equipment on place (New Caledonia).
I choose to connect on a car battery with inverter (modified sine wave inverter).
No problem on 2 or 3 hours but i don't know on long term. Theoritically, power supply going to camera shoud be clean.