This is the second of a two part post, if you haven’t seen part 1 check it out here.
Build Your Own Alien Bees Power Pack
I realize that this setup isn’t anything new for people that are electronics savvy. The Alien Bee Vagabond (Power Pack) is just a battery source connected to an inverter. The tough part is just doing the homework to figure out which battery and inverter combo work best. This is the best setup I have dialed in and have had no issues with it in several months of use, I make no guarantees other then to say I know 4 other photographers running this system. A lot what I am sharing is the product of the research by my friend and badass ski photographer Erik Seo for his blog, only he used a heavier lead acid battery.
So here’s the skinny on what you need to build your own Alien Bee Power Pack (Vaganbond).
1) 10Amp Hour NiMH Battery Pack — Like this one (don’t forget the charger). This is the battery pack of choice because it has enough power for about 350 full pops on an AB800, it outputs the right Voltage (12V) and it has a high enough discharge rate to keep up with the AB (this is the one factor that I haven’t figured out yet with a DIY Lithium Pack). I like to keep the sticker on top visible when I travel so that the baggage checkers don’t get too freaked out.
2) A Pure Sine Wave Inverter — Like this one (this is what I use) or this one (this is heavier but has two outlets). The inverter is going to connect to the NiMH battery and turn the DC source into an AC source that the AB can use. Make sure to keep the inverter well ventilated while in use, blown inverters are the most likely failure you could have with this system.
3) Anderson Connectors or similar higher capacity connectors from your local hobby shop. 
These will connect the battery to the inverter. Stay away from the cheapo connectors, take the time and solder or track down some Anderson Connectors. 
I’ve also decided to tape my connectors on the leads out of my battery to the battery itself in order to eliminate the risk of damaging my connection. In fact I leave the inverter plugged into the battery permanently and have rigged a neat little little switch cover to prevent the inverter from being turned on accidentally.
4. A bag to put it all in. I just use a CaseLogic mini pack that I picked up from a local store.
5) Put it together. Once you have your supplies, you need to take the top off the inverter to identify which wire is the positive end. Use this picture and mark the positive end so you permanently know which wire is which. The battery is already marked with its wiring (red is positive). Attach your connectors and then you can attach the inverter and battery together. Make sure to give things a good tug, you want to make sure things aren’t coming apart in the field. My battery, inverter and mini pack weigh in at exactly 5lbs.
6) Final Thoughts. I’ve been traveling and using the AlienBees quite a bit over the past few months. I have a larger Kata bag that contains 3 AB 800s, 3 Power Packs, Power Cables, and Sync Cords and I check this bag with other location gear in one large 70lb roller (the Kata bag weights 28lbs). I haven’t had any issues traveling with the packs or using them on location. Here are few AB shots:
I’M A PHOTOGRAPHER, NOT AN ELECTRICIAN — USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
64 Comments
Great post, thank you. Why you have used a $100 battery? Paul C Buff sells Vagabond II Battery for $70 and Vagabond II Carrying Bag for $20. Would it make sense to get these items from http://www.alienbees.com and only purchase the inverter from the place you mentioned?
Also, what is the trade off of having 5lb setup comparing to 18lb vagabond?
Thanks,
Konstantin
Konstantin -
The Vagabond battery is a 20 Amp Hour sealed lead acid battery and weighs about 10lbs more, and likewise the carry case is larger to accommodate it. So its bigger and heavier.
The tradeoff is like any other DIY project. The Vagabond has a full warranty and has been tested by thousands of people. You should get more pops out of the Vagabond as well, but I haven’t tested the exact number. tk
So what would i need to use this in new zealand where we have 240 ac?
Will this set up work for white lightnings as well? (same maker as alien bee’s)
That’s really nice TIm!! I’ve always wanted the Vagabond to be lighter…. It seems like 1/2 the weight = 1/4 the life of a vagabond shooting at full power, but I have yet to drain my vagabond.
Tony — If the White Lightning works with the Vagabond then this should as well, I have only used Alien Bees because of the compact size, flash durations etc.
Merrick — Thanks. I’ve yet to drain these packs either. I did 350 test pops w/ an AB800 after a full charge and it took about 3hrs @ 1.8 Amp hr to recharge… which should mean that there was 25% left. I figure 350 is a nice safe number all things considered.
Tim, thanks for the answer! Will the 10Ah battery be enough for B1600 too?
Konstantin – The 10Ah should be enough for about 200 pops (my guess) if you need more get a second battery or one with more. Something like this would do nicely I bet —
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1942
tk
Do you have an inline fuse between the positive terminal on the battery and the positive terminal on the inverter? I blew an aims 180w inverter up I think as a result of not having it in. The inverter had a 20a fuse inside it (as per your diagram above) drawing 6.5a on with a AB400, and still fried it somehow…any ideas on why?
Also, do you give your inverter room to breathe when you are working with it or is it tight in the case? I am building a case for it in the field and am paranoid about it heating up and that contributing to it blowing up.
And Ryan M, I built my two (one still alive with the inline fuse) in Auckland New Zealand with 110ac alien bees and the 110 0utput inverter that I bought in from the states. You need to match the output of the inverter with the input of the bees that you have and it will work. The inverters here in Jaycar and Dick Smith are stupid expensive and I found it cheaper to import the stuff and make my own pack. if you are in Ak and want to check out my setup in person email me at admin@customstickers.co.nz, I know that when I was doing it seeing it in real life would have helped me heaps.
Kyle –
An inline fuse would be a smart idea. If/When I do round two I will probably drop one in. I have heard of one other case of somebody nuking the inverter and that was due to overheating (the inverter and head was left on inside a pack for an entire day) and Aims replaced the inverter under warranty. Having said that, yes I let the inverter breath as much as possible, and I’ve had the inverter (and heads) on for up to 4 hours with no issues (albeit in cold weather).
Also thanks for the international hookups, very cool. tk
Hey Tim,
Thank you so much for the info. I did almost exact replica of the pack you show here
I put it in a cloth grocery bag for now http://www.flickr.com/photos/cool-photos/3228462222/
Ohh…. i wish we could buy/use those bees here in Israel… but as far as i know – there are no Bees for 220V.. only 110V (US)
just buy a vagabond or make one, oe buy a transformer, and you can plug them into the wall
Hi guys, finally finished one of my boxes, only one to go now.
Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cruch/3263736399/
I wanted something that looked the part, and thats what i came up with.
Thanks for the help tim, and kyle
Holy Shit Ryan that box is sick….How heavy is it? Can you post a pic of the guts of it?
Its 10 pound, so its not so light, but its sturdy, all it is the battery invert fan then connected to thge switches and fuse.
@Michael — Sure I’ve seen 220/240V Bees on their site.
@Ryan — Seem to recall reading somewhere that they’re frequency dependent, not just voltage, so a transformer might not work.
Nice idea. infact, to lighten things up, you could use a 3S lipo instead of a NiMH battery. Cost goes up a bit, but the performance of lipos are so much more better than NiMH over the course of time a battery is being used. Plus for the same amount of power supplied, the lipo is 2x lighter than a NiMH. HobbyCity.com sells a lot of lipos for cheap, but you’ll need a lipo charger for this. They sell chargers too btw… I say this because I love playing with RC’s and not to promote HobbyCity. If you want something here on US soil, spcracing.com sells 8000mah lipo batteries. Cheers everyone.
Nice post Tim and great comments everyone. I’m not electrically savvy “At All” when it comes to the science behind this stuff. So I wondering if you guys could answer a few questions. If so, thanks a million and here goes.
As a “Starving” hobbyist, would this be the best solution for the long run. Also, would this system work for the Calumet Genesis 400 ws kit. I want the 2 light kit and have the flexibility to run them at the same time.
I love the Alien Bees, the look, the performance, and the cost friendly accessories. I’ve goo-goo eyed them for almost a year now, but… However, financially the Genesis 400s are the most economical option. Beside, the money saved can go towards assembling this rig. I need to get shooting. I probably won’t see over 200 shots anytime soon in one day, my daughter is not that patient.
Lastly, Tim you spoke about flash duration. Do the Bees allow faster sync speed when remotely triggered or what is the importance of the Bee’s flash duration to your style of photography?
Well thanks for listening everyone. Any and all responses will be a major help.
@PhotoJunkie — I don’t know anything about the Calumet system, but if it runs off of AC power I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, anyone else?
The AB are unique in that they have a pretty short flash duration for being a mono-light. The fast duration stops action in the images vs producing a blurry image. tk
great post. i have a question. what if i decide to go down this path and make my own? then id like to possibly make cheaper or lower powered ones so i can make one for each of my b1600’s? So that way i dont have more wires and cords around the shoot. Would this be a good idea. i figured for probably the price of one vagabond, maybe i could make 3? I figured if only one strobe would be going off the battery id need a smaller inverter and less power right?
Any thoughts
jen
@ jen
I don’t think you are going to find a smaller pure SINE inverter. I use one of these packs for each head I power, plus using the b1600 you are going to need all the power you can get from those NiMH. tk
Thanks for the quick response. Can you link me to to a cheaper inverter and/or battery thats a tad bit less?
So def if I can i should use one pack per strobe? Should have faster recycle times as well right?so this one would work fine correct http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inverter-store-product.php?model=pwri18012s
tim,
do you have a link for a particular Anderson connector? aren’t they made in different sizes? which is best?
I was wondering if the PURE sine wave inverter is necessary for AB’s?
Pure Sine Waves are critical for things with heating elements, and to prevent some fluorescents from buzzing~ but for the simple mechanics of the AB’s power-> capacitor, shouldn’t a cheaper inverter be fine?
thanks!!! Great stuff Tim!
@ Vidor -
Yup Pure Sine is a must. tk
Whats up Tim. do you have a post tutorial for the photo above?
Also, what charger do you use to charge the battery?
@Photo Junkie — Just a standard NiMH trickle charger. There was next to no post on the image of the girl, nothing outside of Basic Lightroom.
Thanks Tim. Sorry, I’m a newbie at post. When you say, “basic Lightroom Stuff,” I have no idea what that is. I don’t want to throw your post off subject but, is there a standard routine you do in post. As for me I just lighten, brighten, or B/W in LightRoom. There are no LightRoom classes here only photoshop so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for your help.
What’s the full-power recycle time for a B800 using one of those 180W inverters?
Great Post! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
There is a nice parts list with links at http://jamatregistrationroller.blogsome.com/2009/04/12/alien-bee-battery-pack/
They give you credit for the idea and just work it a bit more…
I would like to put a few of these together and get out of the studio — and still have my light!
Do you know what discharge rate is needed for the alien bees? That battery has a constant discharge rate of 20A, but a max short term discharge of 50A…
Ken — From the AB User Manual on their site –
http://www.paulcbuff.com/manuals/ABMANUAL(march2007).pdf
“Power Requirements
As the units require an AC power source, each unit comes with a 15-foot power
cord. This cord connects to the flash unit on the back control panel with a
standard IEC connector, and then must be connected to a 120VAC, 50-60Hz
power outlet. The units are rated at 6 amps average current, and may briefly
peak at nearly 18 amps input current at the very beginning of the recycle period.”
Hope this helps. tk
Is there a important difference between a Sealed Lead Acid battery and a NiMH battery you have linked? I’ve read other tutorials and they just mention a SLA battery, There has to be a key reason you suggest the latter…
@SZ — The NiMH batteries are lighter (1/2 the weight at least), easier to travel with, don’t require a full time trickle etc. For me its the lighter weight and travel-ability that are most important. tk
Anyone try this w/ a Speedotron 805 pack? Just wondering if it’d croak (blow fuses) or not
Thanks for the quick response.
So I just received my inverter and I guess it remains constant that the center pin on a dc car plug is the positive contact so you could mark it based off that, rather than having to open up the inverter. True?
Found this blog, did he use your photos or did you use his?
http://blog.garrettgrove.com/?p=1220
Thought I’d pop in and write up my results…
Looked into LiFePo for a while…the packs at batteryspace have smart circuits that limit the current draw and will go open circuit if it’s above their limit (draw is around 33A peak and the limiters kick in at 26-30A so this was a big non-starter for me).
Got a 300Ws AIMS inverter and the same 10AH NiMH pack as this build and found it was far too weak to power two AB1600’s w/ Radiopopper JrX’s attached (the remote control interface would crash and the dump light would light up and the ready light never went green). One AB1600 worked fine w/ the JrX on the remote port. Two AB1600’s worked w/o the JrX on the remote port, but they only lasted maybe 30 pops at 1/2 power (maybe from all the crashes where it still kept sucking power). Looks like it can only safely power one AB1600, unfortunately.
Another quick update…turned out I killed the inverter…LOL. So much for undervoltage/overvoltage protection. Hope AIMS honors their warranty…
Hi Tim, Thanks so much for this post. Your photo’s are amazing. I had question and Im looking for some advice if you don’t mind. I am looking to order 2 Alienbees Monday morning and wanted to see what you thought. I pretty much only shoot BMX during the summer and shoot a bit of Snowboarding/skiing in the winter as a hobby. I want fast durations so I was thinking of doing 2 400’s but wanted to get your thoughts. I have been using 3 Sunpak 622’s and Im just having a hard time freezing my shots when there is a fair bit of ambient light. Do you think the 400’s will be alot better than what I have been using. Thanks in advance and I love this blog. Ciao
@ Soda –
Honestly I would wait a month and pick up the new Einstein Heads that will be available. There is some info up on the Alien Bee site about them. The basics are 640 Watt/Second and fast durations.
Most of the skate/bike guys are using the AB 400s if they are going the AB route because they have fast durations throughout the power of the head. But flash durations aren’t the only thing that is stopping the action in daylight… getting the shutter speed around 1/500 while still syncing is ideal. tk
TK, Thanks for getting back to me so fast. I will look into the Einstein heads for sure, I shoot Nikon and it seems that I can only sync at 320 I believe with the D300s with out catching shutter. If anyone has any secrets or ideas on that I would appreciate it. Also I will be building 2 kits like you have showed above, if I wait for the new Einstein heads will these kits work OK. Thanks again
Would a 12v lithium ion pack like this one work?
It can pump out 21 amps of current.
The NiMH pack you use can put out 20 Amps with a 50 Amp peak.
http://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo426650battery128v102ah13056wh21aratewithpcbreplacenimhpackwith4timeslongerlife.aspx
Soda – We’ll need to wait and see how fast and how much charge the head is drawing to see if the packs built for the Bees will work with the Einsteins. I suspect they will be ok though.
Ryan – Nice find. Sounds like it will work for 1, don’t know about 2. The Lithium Iron batteries are the way to go as far as Lithium packs are concerned. I think these should do the trick, and a pound lighter… nice. Just double check that your inverter can handle the voltage put out by the battery pack. Alien Bees have a split second draw of 18 amps so you should be ok there. Here are the AB specs:
http://www.alienbees.com/specs.html
Give it a shot and let us know how it goes! tk
tk
I had visited your blog and show all photos and videos and enjoyed all of that. That is really amazing photos and videos.
Thanks for the post and the information. I was wondering if you have to remove the battery from the case to charge it, and if not could you just permanently solder the two together instead of fitting connectors? Can the batteries be charged from a car power outlet and is the single outlet inverter powerful enough to power 2 ab800s at the same time?
Thanks
@Ryan – I believe the companies that are selling the NiMH batteries sell car chargers. I don’t run two heads on one pack with an outlet splitter regularly, so I did talk to a couple colleagues that do. They said that the refresh rate takes a little bit of a hit, but everything works properly (as has been my experience). You might look at getting the inverter with two outlets if you want to run two heads regularly? tk
thank you for the article.
will a 50HZ inverter work for AB800? i am looking at one which is 200watts. also, i know nothing about electronics. in the inverter specs it says “modified” sine. what does that mean? i am concerned cause you mentioned a pure sine.
also, i am in europe and i will be buying a 220v version of bees and therefore 220v inverter. anything i need to know that is different? thanks
@ Sergey – I’m not experienced at all in European power, I’d contact your local battery store. I’m sure they would love to help you out if you tell them what you are trying to do!
tim.
do you know if a modified sine inverter will do the trick or do i need a pure sine?
I have built the battery pack/ inverter that you guys are talking about and tried using it on a White Lightning Ultra 600.
The dump light comes on and it seems that the unit charges to full power no matter what I set the power setting at. Anybody else have this problem
yeaaah jesmond … sweatin his balls off
… did you gel it up or its just post processing? do you shoot with profoto or elinchrom or just AB’s ??
any idea if this would work?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/962e/
it’s significantly heavier than any of the other solutions, but it’s also $99
@Khap –
Don’t know if the need for a Sine Wave inverter would be an issue.. I doubt it, but you never know. Why not buy a 2.5lb Lithium Ion pack and a 1lb inverter?? tk
Hi, thank you for the above, I was wondering if a battery like this would work well http://www.amazon.com/Enersys-NP12-12-Lead-Acid-Battery-PowerStar/dp/B0025ZFVWA/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1263752667&sr=1-2-fkmr1
Thank you
@Tunin – Yeah that battery will work, but it also weighs 10lbs… The NiMH version is half the weight, and the LiFePo4 batteries are 3lbs… tk
Thank you for a quick reply. I would consider buying the Explorer or the A.B. Va. II but it is like 400 – 500 Euros in Europe… I was going to buy an inverter and a bat. and do it my self…
I found several inverters… not sure if the specs meet my needs but I would rather go with 1000W than 400 or 350…
http://www.amazon.de/Skytronic-Spannungswandler-Wechselrichter-Belastbarkeit-1000-2000/dp/B000NCHP3A/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=ce-de&qid=1263761817&sr=8-24
http://www.amazon.de/LAS-KFZ-Spannungswandler-230V-1200Watt/dp/B002HEBABA/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1263761793&sr=8-12
http://www.amazon.de/Spannungswandler-Inverter-12V-220V-600W/dp/B000R8RVZW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1263761304&sr=8-3
What do you think of the inverters above? Thank you.
@Tunin
Ha – If those sites were in spanish I might have a shot! All you need is a Pure SINE wave inverter, connect that to 12V NiMH battery and you are good to go! Good luck – tk
Thank you. I will look in to this, the one I found locally writes “Modified sine wave” whatever that means?
Excuse me but does anyone know the difference between a vagabond system and a regular UPS. I’m just saying there is the prospect of going through all of this trouble wouldn’t it be easier to just use a UPS?
^ The weight is the biggest issue. Also I don’t know if the UPS has any issues with discharge rate. In general for the Alien Bees the battery/system needs to be able to withstand a very short draw from the flash unit of about 20amps. tk
What is the actual refresh/recharge rate with your setup when the AB1600 is set to full power?
I bought a “PURE SINE WAVE POWER INVERTER 300/600 WATT 12V DC TO AC” on ebay for $100 and plugged it into my 700A car battery booster http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/SolarPortablePower/PowerPacks/PRDOVR~0111591P/Motomaster%252BEliminator%252B700A%252BBooster%252BPack.jsp and it takes about 6+ seconds to refresh a White Lighting 1600 which usually takes 2 seconds when plugged into the wall.
Also the inverter can only handle two or three pops in a row before overheating and turning off.
I’m wondering if this is due to a cheap inverter or if it is the wrong kind of battery and it won’t put out enough amps through the cigarette lighter port.
What is your refresh time?