njrfoto
4-Apr-2016, 15:52
Hi all
I am in the process of getting myself a group of Speedotron 105 light units, both the quad light 4 cable and bi-tube 2 cable units, and while Im based, and work, out of the UK (England and NI) I am having to troll the American second hand market for these lights and subsequent power supplies as the European market for used Speedotron equipment is scarse at best (trust me, ive tried). As such, as a working-class freelancer restricted by a realistic budget, new kit is just to pricey for me. I have family in the states, so shipping can be easily arranged if needs be, and having spent years out there in the past, I love the US, the people & the culture, and the secondhand market there is far superior to anywhere else - makes sense as Speedotron is based out of Chicago ;)
My enquiries are simple - how can Speedotron 105 units (or Speedotron light units in general) be powered without the packs made by Speedotron, or another large capacity pack manufacturers if the lights have been modified? Does any one use these packs powered by any other means? How is it best accomplished? Is main power an option? Or fuel powered generators with sine wave protection?
Second part of my enquiry, as I am not an electrician, and have very little knowledge regarding electrical matters, it seems obvious to me that if I am successful in procuring these US Speedotron units, I wouldn't simply be able to plug them into any UK/Euro power supplies (be that the main power or UK/EU packs) because of the variation and differences in AC/DC power, voltage, frequency, hertz and overall power output... I know there are things that need to be taken into account, so what are the main considerations when buying kit from other countries whose power specificiations will be different to the power output where you will be using them? Is that why dedicated packs from the same country of orgin as the lights is the best way to go? I know there are adaptors and convertors that can easily be fitted to power supplies to alter the output to suit the needs of the unit it will be powering, but Id much rather get this info from someone who knows far more than I and has already tried and tested these methods, so I dont blow my lights up as soon as I experiment with what will power them!
And finally, in terms of power - say I had four lights, each with a capacity of 2000ws each, thus requiring 8000ws to power to use all lights at full power, would a generator such as a Honda EU2000i (2000ws) be able to produce enough power to fully charge all the light simultaneously, or is a massive 8000w generator a minimum needed to power these lights? As I havent had enough interaction with these things in my day to day, I just assume any wattage output source would charge these lights, but the capacity would only affect the charge/recharge time...
Apologies for the noobie questions. I simply need some help :) Any experience, recommendations or links to documents, articles or books on this topic will be very helpful!
Thanks in advance
I am in the process of getting myself a group of Speedotron 105 light units, both the quad light 4 cable and bi-tube 2 cable units, and while Im based, and work, out of the UK (England and NI) I am having to troll the American second hand market for these lights and subsequent power supplies as the European market for used Speedotron equipment is scarse at best (trust me, ive tried). As such, as a working-class freelancer restricted by a realistic budget, new kit is just to pricey for me. I have family in the states, so shipping can be easily arranged if needs be, and having spent years out there in the past, I love the US, the people & the culture, and the secondhand market there is far superior to anywhere else - makes sense as Speedotron is based out of Chicago ;)
My enquiries are simple - how can Speedotron 105 units (or Speedotron light units in general) be powered without the packs made by Speedotron, or another large capacity pack manufacturers if the lights have been modified? Does any one use these packs powered by any other means? How is it best accomplished? Is main power an option? Or fuel powered generators with sine wave protection?
Second part of my enquiry, as I am not an electrician, and have very little knowledge regarding electrical matters, it seems obvious to me that if I am successful in procuring these US Speedotron units, I wouldn't simply be able to plug them into any UK/Euro power supplies (be that the main power or UK/EU packs) because of the variation and differences in AC/DC power, voltage, frequency, hertz and overall power output... I know there are things that need to be taken into account, so what are the main considerations when buying kit from other countries whose power specificiations will be different to the power output where you will be using them? Is that why dedicated packs from the same country of orgin as the lights is the best way to go? I know there are adaptors and convertors that can easily be fitted to power supplies to alter the output to suit the needs of the unit it will be powering, but Id much rather get this info from someone who knows far more than I and has already tried and tested these methods, so I dont blow my lights up as soon as I experiment with what will power them!
And finally, in terms of power - say I had four lights, each with a capacity of 2000ws each, thus requiring 8000ws to power to use all lights at full power, would a generator such as a Honda EU2000i (2000ws) be able to produce enough power to fully charge all the light simultaneously, or is a massive 8000w generator a minimum needed to power these lights? As I havent had enough interaction with these things in my day to day, I just assume any wattage output source would charge these lights, but the capacity would only affect the charge/recharge time...
Apologies for the noobie questions. I simply need some help :) Any experience, recommendations or links to documents, articles or books on this topic will be very helpful!
Thanks in advance