View Full Version : Generator question


Nick Medrano
July 31st, 2004, 11:07 PM
I am going to do some night shooting for an independent film and I figured out that my Kino Flo, Totas (2x), Omni, and Monitor total about 2320w and about 600volts. Do you guys think that a Honda eu3000is (http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=eu3000is#) is okay for powering this equipment?

Never done this before...don't want to blow anything up....

Thanks.

Mike Rehmus
August 1st, 2004, 05:38 PM
All that stuff runs at 110, not 600. Unless you are planning to run them in series.

Since they are all resistive loads, there will be no significant startup peak placed on the generator so the 3000 watts should be enough.

John Hartney
August 2nd, 2004, 08:45 PM
I use a Yamaha yg2800i with excellent results. It's an inverter and supplies high grade power better or equal to local power companies.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/gen/yg2800i.html

Nick Medrano
August 3rd, 2004, 10:32 PM
Thank you for your feedback, guys. My local tool rental shop has the Honda EU3000is silent generator for rent...and they'll let me rent for 3 days for $135. Do you think that's pretty standard?

Barry Green
August 3rd, 2004, 11:08 PM
That doesn't sound bad. The EU3000 will deliver about 3,000 watts of power, which isn't really a whole lot... use three 1k lights and you'll max out the capacity of the generator.

Use fluorescents and HMI's, and you can get quite a lot of light out of 3,000 watts.

Also, take the term "silent" with a huge grain of salt. Those "silent" gennies put out somewhere around 55 to 60db of noise, which is very quiet when compared to a "noisy" generator, but it's still quite loud -- as loud as an Arri 16S or Konvas 1M. So you will still need to hide it away behind something, and count on getting some long, long stingers so you can position the generator far enough away that the sound is muffled.

Jacques Mersereau
August 6th, 2004, 11:41 AM
We have one of the 2000W Hondas. Great unit and pretty quiet for
a generator. 100ft of 10 guage A/C will get it far enough away
(especially placed behind a tree, wall, or truck tire to make its
SPL workable. It runs for several hours on a full tank.

Mike Rehmus
August 6th, 2004, 07:11 PM
Those are under $900 at the local RV store.