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ARRI m18 Question.

Jason beaumont

Jason beaumont

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I bought an m18 off ebay and it came with a 220v plug. I was hoping it had a regular plug that could be plugged into a wall, or simple generator. Can I buy a converter for the plug or should I change the plug all together?
https://ibb.co/NT6NSyG
NT6NSyG
 
Looks like a twist lock for a honda genny. If you are mostly going to plug it into a wall, just put an edison plug on it. Keep the plug it came with and make a pig tail to edison at the female end, then you can use both.

Nick
 
I got it off ebay for $7800 , so I can just buy a Edison plug and swap it out? can anyone recommend one?
 
I'd call who ever is your favorite gaffer and buy them a beer to help you out, but it's pretty straight forward. Hubbel makes good plugs, just make sure it's rated for the amps, and you are good.

Nick
 
Jason beaumont said:
15 amp good?
https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Insulgrip-Heavy-Edison-HBL5266CM2/dp/B00ANPWMSK
Click to expand...

1.8kW / 120V = 15A...WITH NO ROOM FOR ERROR. If you have the slightest extra load between the panel and the receptacle, you'll trip a 15A breaker. Similarly, if you have the slightest load between the ballast and the converter (for example, an extension cord) you'll exceed the 15A spec on that side, too. 20A is the commercial standard, and a reason it's standard is so that it can deliver 15A in real-world conditions (and close to 20A when you pay close attention).
 
So you should be buying a 20A one? I don't know about this electrical stuff.
 
Just so you know, If you get the 20A plug, it won't fit in a normal shaped 15A outlet. Someone else here posted about putting on a high grade 15A plug and then making sure that the outlet has a 20A breaker, plus a lot of other precautions: http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...ast-question&p=1070412&viewfull=1#post1070412

Also, the ballast will pull a max of 2250VA (almost 19 amps at 120V) so it definitely is not going to work with a 15A breaker at all.
 
Jason beaumont said:
would a gene like this power it
https://www.amazon.com/iPower-SUA20...=lightweight+gener,lawngarden,148&sr=1-6&th=1
Click to expand...

If you read the specs on that Amazon page, you'll see that it has a peak output of 2000W good, and sustained output of 1600W, which misses the 1800W target for the lamp by 200W.

It's great that you are up-front about the fact that you know nothing about electrics. But nature doesn't care how up-front you are. I'd suggest finding some folks who actually understand electrical supplies, connectors, standards, and above all, safety, and let them guide you to a feasible and safe solution. Electrocution is not the only danger of not understanding how electrics work; fires are often the result of folks doing things they don't understand with equipment they don't really know. Depending on where you live or where you plan to shoot, fires could either be a hazard or they can be a Major Problem you don't want to unleash.
 
Michael Tiemann said:
If you read the specs on that Amazon page, you'll see that it has a peak output of 2000W good, and sustained output of 1600W, which misses the 1800W target for the lamp by 200W.

It's great that you are up-front about the fact that you know nothing about electrics. But nature doesn't care how up-front you are. I'd suggest finding some folks who actually understand electrical supplies, connectors, standards, and above all, safety, and let them guide you to a feasible and safe solution. Electrocution is not the only danger of not understanding how electrics work; fires are often the result of folks doing things they don't understand with equipment they don't really know. Depending on where you live or where you plan to shoot, fires could either be a hazard or they can be a Major Problem you don't want to unleash.
Click to expand...

I don't plan to use this alone, I just got tired of renting them so I bought one. just trying to find out what gene would work well with this without being extremely heavy/cumbersome
 
Michael Tiemann said:
If you read the specs on that Amazon page, you'll see that it has a peak output of 2000W good, and sustained output of 1600W, which misses the 1800W target for the lamp by 200W.
Click to expand...

Again, the ballast is 2250VA, so it's going to pull 18.75 Amps at 120V (2250VA / 120V = 18.75A). I'm mentioning this because if it was only 1800W it would be pulling 15 amps, but it is not - it's pulling more than that.

Jason beaumont said:
would a gene like this power it
https://www.amazon.com/iPower-SUA20...=lightweight+gener,lawngarden,148&sr=1-6&th=1
Click to expand...

That generator is only going to do 13.3 Amps, so no. (1600W / 120V = 13.3A - It also says it on page 28 here: https://a-ipower.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SUA2000i.pdf).

However, that generator will work in parallel, so you should be able to buy another one and link it together to get double the amps or 26.6A. Please note: I am not an electrician and just did some Googling to answer this, so you definitely need to do your own homework on this.
 
Last edited:
Joshua Cadmium said:
Again, the ballast is 2250VA, so it's going to pull 18.75 Amps at 120V (2250VA / 120V = 18.75A). I'm mentioning this because if it was only 1800W it would be pulling 15 amps, but it is not - it's pulling more than that..
Click to expand...

When the Arrimax 1800 first came out there was a lot of discussion on these boards regarding whether the Arri M18 can operate off a standard wall outlet. As Joshua pointed out, it will draw 18.75 amps at 120V and will always trip the common 15A house circuit and will trip a 20A circuit if there is something else, like a computer or light, on the same circuit. Where you can't always know what else is on the same circuit, or even if it is a 20 or 15 Amp circuit, it is risky to plug the Baby Max into the wall, which is why it is against the US National Electrical Code.

NEC Section 210.23 (A) (1) Cord-and-Plug-Connected Equipment Not Fastened in Place states: “The rating of anyone cord-and-plug-connected utilization equipment not fastened in place shall not exceed 80 percent of the branch-circuit ampere rating.” Section 210 of the Code also requires that, unless listed for 100% usage, the ampere rating of the overcurrent protective device (breaker) protecting a circuit be de-rated to 80% of its listed ampacity when powering a load for twenty minutes or more.

I have found that the only reliable and code compliant way to use the M18 off house power through a wall receptacle is by using a small step-down transformer/distro to step-down the output of a 240V receptacle (like a dryer, range, or air conditioner outlet) into a 60 or 100A 120V circuit and then use a real film 60A snack box or 100A lunchbox with 100% rated breakers.

Paul Dean, Gaffer
 
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