General Generator Information

[Timothy David Orme]

Hi everybody--

 

So, I've been doing a little research on generators, but come to many road blocks also. Basically, I'd like to get a generator that will power my 5k Mole Solarspots and a few other lights. My intentions are two fold: to have acess to the 5ks for use with daylight correction or situations when I need that big of an outlet, or to be able to have lights where there are no outlets. A friend of mine was talking to me more specifically about burps or coughs in the engine that might make the lights flicker or blow bulbs. I wasn't sure how much weight to put in that, but I would like to know what I need to know in order to continue buying a generator.

[Mark T. Karinja]

Hi everybody--

 

So, I've been doing a little research on generators, but come to many road blocks also. Basically, I'd like to get a generator that will power my 5k Mole Solarspots and a few other lights. My intentions are two fold: to have acess to the 5ks for use with daylight correction or situations when I need that big of an outlet, or to be able to have lights where there are no outlets. A friend of mine was talking to me more specifically about burps or coughs in the engine that might make the lights flicker or blow bulbs. I wasn't sure how much weight to put in that, but I would like to know what I need to know in order to continue buying a generator.

 

Do you have solarspots? (As in multiple 5k's?) A 5k takes 50 paper amps (roughly 41.5 technicallly). So if you had 1, maybe an 80 amp gennie would do you well with room for your other lights (depending on what they are). But if you have multiple 5k's, you may be moving up into 200-500 amp gennies in which case you can get a baffled towe gennie (500 amps is the maximum to still run on unleaded gasoline) - and keep in mind that you are talking about expensive generators that are usually rented. You are also then talking about single/3 phase banded, something like a 300 amp box, snake bites, lunch boxes, 100/60 amp bates cable, and everything you need for distro. Hopefully that helped you some.

Edited July 20, 2006 by Mark T. Karinja

[Timothy David Orme]

Do you have solarspots? (As in multiple 5k's?) A 5k takes 50 paper amps (roughly 41.5 technicallly). So if you had 1, maybe an 80 amp gennie would do you well with room for your other lights (depending on what they are). But if you have multiple 5k's, you may be moving up into 200-500 amp gennies in which case you can get a baffled towe gennie (500 amps is the maximum to still run on unleaded gasoline) - and keep in mind that you are talking about expensive generators that are usually rented. You are also then talking about single/3 phase banded, something like a 300 amp box, snake bites, lunch boxes, 100/60 amp bates cable, and everything you need for distro. Hopefully that helped you some.

 

That helps. I'm never sure what people mean by expensive on these forums though, considering the spectrum and cost of any movie making tools.

 

As of right now, my current light set up is 2 5k Moles, 2 2k Moles and 2 1k Moles (all solarspots). Plus we have a little arri 300 and some other misc stuff (like parcans and ellipsoidals), but the moles are really what I'd need to power.

 

Also, how loud are these things looking to be? Are we looking at getting thousands of feet extension cords for something like this?

[Mark T. Karinja]

That helps. I'm never sure what people mean by expensive on these forums though, considering the spectrum and cost of any movie making tools.

 

As of right now, my current light set up is 2 5k Moles, 2 2k Moles and 2 1k Moles (all solarspots). Plus we have a little arri 300 and some other misc stuff (like parcans and ellipsoidals), but the moles are really what I'd need to power.

 

Also, how loud are these things looking to be? Are we looking at getting thousands of feet extension cords for something like this?

 

With those lights, I would get yourself 300 Amps. That leaves some room for more lights and whatever else you need to pull amperage. If a generator is baffled, that means it was designed in a way to be very quiet (in comparison to a non-baffled gennie) - not saying it doesn't make noise, but it often works fine with sync sound without having to go too far away in most situations. The 300-500 amp gennies will most commonly found as a towe gennie which can attach to a heavy s.u.v. with a hitch. The word expensive is relative.. but keep in mind that these are normally rented for a reason.. not to mention, they can way a ton or more. (Hopefully that answers the rest for you)