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4kw arrisun with 5.5 generator! Problems?


Max Hoever

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Some Rental in Poland doesnt want to give me a 4 k arrisun if I wanne run it with a 5.5kw honda generator, because they think the lamp could break down.

So because I didn't believe that, I spoke to ARRi Rental in Berlin an they said, that nothing could happen exept that the power supply unit could shut down the lamp because the voltage is going to much down. But that could cause nothing worse than that we have to reshoot the scene!

 

Does someone know anything contrary!?

 

Thanx for the help

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You aren't giving enough information. A 4k HMI with what kind of ballast, electronic, magnetic? How many amps does it draw? How many amps to strike the lamp? That is what you need to know to size your generator. By the way, manufacturers of portable generator seem to quote their output using the surge watts, not the continuous output. So a Honda 5500 doesn't give you 5500 watts, except for a brief time. Same for the Honda EU3000, 2800 watts, not 3000.

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Some Rental in Poland doesnt want to give me a 4 k arrisun if I wanne run it with a 5.5kw honda generator, because they think the lamp could break down.

So because I didn't believe that, I spoke to ARRi Rental in Berlin an they said, that nothing could happen exept that the power supply unit could shut down the lamp because the voltage is going to much down. But that could cause nothing worse than that we have to reshoot the scene!

 

Does someone know anything contrary!?

 

Thanx for the help

Hi Max.

I presume the voltage over in your part of the world is 240v 50Hz.

That being true, you might JUST get away with using the 4K on a gennie that small, but I would only think so if you are using an electronic ballast.

We had some Filmgear heads and powergems ballasts that I ran a test with. Using a tong meter I measured the current draw on strike to be around 4 amps, ramping up to about 16-17 amps at full running temp.

If you are using magnetic ballasts (if I remember correctly), the reverse is true. You will see a Current spike on lamp strike. Depending on things like the age of the lamp, and the condition of the capacitors in the ballast, this could be anything from 20A to 40A! The spike then will ramp down and settle at probably close to 20A.

As someone else has mentioned, 5.5kW is the maximum that the gennie will deliver, which is around 23A.

if you exceed the rated ampacity of the breaker on the Gennie, it should just pop, but you should leave a little bit of time for it to cool down, as they trip easier once they are hot! ( At least that is what I have found sometimes).

As far as the honda goes, I think it is one of the best small gennies around, quiet and reliable, I doubt that you will damage the lamp by driving the gennie hard. With the later model electronic ballasts, they will usually shut down before they are affacted by under or overvoltage.

Personally I would try to find a bigger gennie. To me you really don't have much headroom left to play with.

I hope this has helped you somewhat.

Please chime in anyone if my maths is somewhat screwed up.....

 

 

Cheers

Chris

Australia

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I can run my LTM 4k par with electronic ballast on my Honda eu3000s tied together no problem. My suggestion is make the rental house test it!!!!!!!! not all 4ks do well on put-puts!

 

Good Luck,

Rich

 

I thought they didn't make a parallel kit for the EU3000's only the EU2000's? Has anyone run a 2500 on a EU3000? I own the genny but have never tried.

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