Powering Your Epic Dragon Through a Car Inverter

[James Winegar]

I've been looking into inverter options to be able to continuously run my RED Epic Dragon from my car battery. I need this to be able to be filming while on the road from the car. I picked up an old Jeep Cherokee XJ to be used as a follow cam car. I'm looking into replacing the alternator and possible running a second battery. All to be able to run an inverter with 3000 watts connected directly to the battery. I believe the RED Epic requires 1500W Max to run.

Just thought I would see if anyone here has had experience powering their RED Epic through an inverter while driving.

Any feedback would be appreciated thank you!

 

[Hal Long]

That sounds like a pretty strong inverter. I'd still hesitate to run the Epic off a car. Why not use the inverter to charge batteries? Might be safer.

 

[Manfred Lopez]

Pay attention to what kind of electrical sine wave the inverter produces because you could have audio problems. There might be a buzzing sound you wont be able to get rid off.

 

[B Kanegson]

There are different levels of quality of inverters. Good quality pure sine wave inverter, the best and closest to house power, is generally safe for electronics. You could verify with Red the DSMC power converter is safe with that type to be sure. If looking to keep form factor small for car interior, block battery would also achieve that, with the added advantage that running the camera with ignition off will not drain your car battery(s). Whether running camera direct, recharging block or recharging on-camera batteries, strongly suggest avoiding cheaper modified sine wave type inverter.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

I second that in terms of getting an inverted to charge the batteries, not power the camera. Also keep in mind that some of those inverters are quite loud, so if in car sound is important, that's prob not gonna happen.

 

[sander kamp]

Why not power the camera directly from the car battery? Back in the days of the Red One I used to do that and it worked fine. I haven't tried it but I assume with the DSMC bodies that still works.

From the manual: 'The 6-pin LEMO connector accepts DC input power between +11.5 V and +17 V DC. Powerconditioning provides protection against reverse-polarity connection, ESD, under and over voltage, and over current.'

Basically you're wasting power and money by converting DC to AC and then back to DC again.

 

[Lakis Amarantithis]

I've been looking into inverter options to be able to continuously run my RED Epic Dragon from my car battery. I need this to be able to be filming while on the road from the car. I picked up an old Jeep Cherokee XJ to be used as a follow cam car. I'm looking into replacing the alternator and possible running a second battery. All to be able to run an inverter with 3000 watts connected directly to the battery. I believe the RED Epic requires 1500W Max to run.

Just thought I would see if anyone here has had experience powering their RED Epic through an inverter while driving.

Any feedback would be appreciated thank you!

Find a good car electrician.
I installed a 5000watt in my car and runs fantastic for lights, cameras, anything! I have it for 8yrs at least without any probs whatsoever.
My car electrician had to install another battery and some very thick cables with a switch inside the car that I turn on only when I want the inverter to work.
Biggest problem is to find someone who knows what hes doing but the companies who sell inverters can advise you also. They did and worked awesome!
Some altenators can handle it and some don't. You may have to update your altenator but I did not.

The inverter I got is not loud at all.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

I've used a cheap modified sine wave 500W inverter to charge batteries in the car, but I've always been a bit hesitant to power the camera via it. Some questions for those with more knowledge than me:

If you are powering the camera using the power adapter, does it matter whether the inverter is pure or modified sine wave? Will there be a difference in the DC output from the power adapter? Could modified sine wave inverters damage the power adapter?

I agree that it seems very wasteful to go 12V DC > 110V AC > 12V DC, but is it safe to power the camera directly from the car battery?

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

I believe the RED Epic requires 1500W

1500W seems way too much. 150W perhaps?