Best DIY Vagabond photography portable power supply!

Since the Vagabond is currently on backorder when this video was made I did some research and came up with this unit. Watch the video for the inside and out tour. I did not state it in the video but if you were wondering the battery is zip tied to the extendable handle housing to prevent it from shifting inside the bag, works awesome! The entire unit weighs in at 31 pounds. Here is the cost breakdown for the unit....

Rolling luggage bag: $19 from Walmart
35ah sealed lead acid batter: $60 from Interstate Batteries (Vagabond only has a 15ah battery)
300watt Samlex pure sine wave inverter: $135 brand new on ebay (Vagabond has a 150watt Samlex inverter)
3-stage battery charger with auto float charge: $15 Harbor Freight tools
Total cost for system :$229

Post a comment with any other questions!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• vagabond
• diy
• power supply
• photography
• alien bees
• alienbees

[sabrosa1068]

if you could give us the exact links for the products you are using that would be great!! I tried looking them up and it seems like they discontinued some of the products you are using?? or don't carry those V's anymore.....=(

[epd169]

@sabrosa1068 Sorry I do not have links, I listed them out in as great of detail as I could...

[1dayv]

What kind of wiring did you use to hook up from the battery to the inverter and did you hook up a in line fuse?

[epd169]

@1dayv I used the cables that the inverter came with as I assume they are rated for what the inverter is. I just put new ends on the cables to connect to the battery screw terminals. No inline fuse.

[photographix08]

hey nice job. what's the specs on the inverter? and how much was it??. please if i may ask. thanks for this. again nice work...........rick

[epd169]

@photographix08 The cost and specs are in the description of the video. If you still are not able to find it let me know.

[mariopierre]

How many shots can you get off in one charge?

[detestosu]

thank you so much, i did it today and i am waiting for my flash. it's a "china made" 120W single head. i used a 300W power inverter (fuse wire ) and a 12V 12Ah acid battery, do you think it will be enough for the single head flash ? also the charger for the battery is a 12V 370 mhA . Any advice ? thank you so much for the video.

[slowpokecivic]

so how are things holding up? is the system still working the same as when you first posted the video?

[phantomct2007]

I know this is a stupid question. Is this ideal for a small camera DSC-H2 and a JVC camcorder as well as a laptop? Also would I be able to build one and place it in my backpack for example walking around DC and taking pictures and vids. What I like about the AC cord is that it can be plugged into my inverter in my van. Also, I know depending on battery size, how long will it last for the above. using a camera and vid and a laptop alone?

[nvnewvision25]

i used a Black&Decker 500w power invert got it for $40 bucks and the charger for the battery $15 the i used 2 12v 5amp hr acid sealed batterys $38 bucks.

[MyTechtime]

now we need to get this in the airport without security guards

[treywilly431]

How much did you pay total and how much run time are you gonna get out of it???

[1dayv]

@epd169- hey thanks for the quick reply. A lot of people recommend putting the inline fuse, should I even bother?

[rickydelatejera]

Your system looks seems great unfortunately you did not show how it is assembled.

That would be nice to see.

Thanks

[epd169]

@jrcaraudio How many pops did you get within that hour? I am still confused as it should be lasting much longer than an hour.....

[jrcaraudio]

@epd169 No use the modeling lamp.

[MosheStudioDesign]

I spoke to VJ over at Samlex, and the reason the orange light is coming on; is because the inverter has a new protection added to its design. It now protects itself, so the unit is not getting stress.

[epd169]

@jrcaraudio Are you using it with the modeling light on? Should last much longer than an hour.

[jrcaraudio]

I buy the Samlex 300w inverter pure sine wave and a 33a/h battery, connect the AB800 and work for 1 hour then the inverter goes to protection turning the orange light and not working.

[c2thew]

@epd169 your best bet would be to contact PCB and see if you can just order a replacement fan and DIY it yourself. I don't own an AB strobe but i've read that it's just a generic computer fan.  I run elinchrom d-lite 4's with a vagabond mini .

[epd169]

@c2thew Your not kidding. It was a used strobe that I recently bought. Are the fans easy to get a hold of and replace?

[c2thew]

fix that noisy fan!!

[epd169]

@MozartGFX Yes it is that simple, nothing to it. As for how many shots you can get, I really don't know for sure and here is why I don't care to find out...... The Vagabond II has a 15ah battery, my setup has a 35ah battery. For one b1600 the Vagabond is rated at 600 FULL POWER shots. My battery has over twice the capacity so you can do the math......

[MozartGFX]

also how many shots can you get with a B800 or B1600 before it dies?