exstention cords and plug boxes with studio lighting

[Avotius]

Hello all.

I have a studio unfortunately with only 2 wall plugs. Yes yes I will get more installed in due time but as it stands now I only have two.

I got three 400 power and a 800 power studio flashes and well obviously I can only use two with what I got now but I was wondering if it is ok to use plug boxes (or power bricks or whatever they are called) to split one plug into a couple and have two lights on one brick. Also I have some problems with how far away the lights are from the sockets as my studio is 105 square meters more or less and pretty square shaped and the plugs are on opposite sides of the room. Is it ok for me to use plug boxes with 3-5 meter power cords or are flashes too powerful for such utility?

I seem to remember in the studio at the school I used to go to they would plug in 400 and 500 power lights into a kind of industrial looking power brick that had a very very long extension cord on a coil but I could be wrong on that one, it was a while ago.

Obviously I dont want to use the cheapo cords and stuff, but some suggestions from the ones in the know would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[Finder]

Look at the power specs for the lights (not watt/sec, but what current the flashes run on). Buy an extension cord rated for the specs. You should be able to get a 12 gauge or 10 gauge cord with multiple connections that will handle you units. (Flash voltage is high, but amps are low.)

 

[drewbarb]

Unless your studio has very old/low amp wiring, you should be fine. 400 and 800 WS packs don't draw huge amounts of electricity- even using them all at once. I'd plug an AC lead into the wall, then plug a simple surge protector/power strip into the end and plug your pack/s into that. If you can, split up your packs so that they are running off different circuits. If you can't do that, I wouldn't worry about it- just don't shoot as fast as you can.

I've done this hundreds of times in many locations- sometimes with as much as 100 feet of (heavy duty) AC extension between the wall plug and the pack, and only had trouble with blown fuses occasionally- and it was always in older buildings with outdated and very low amp AC feed. Have fun!

 

[Avotius]

Right now I got two breakers on the two plugs and all my normal lights (of which there are 14 large halogens) but I am not 100 percent what is on which breaker but luckily the breaker box is in my studio too and adding another breaker or two should be no problem as far as I can see.

I understand absolutly nothing about power and such so obviously I need to get a pro in there to check everything out for me when he installs new plugs.

 

[Finder]

Don't stress, neither light draw that much power.

 

[David R Munson]

Simple test - plug everything in, set all packs to full power and fast recycle, and fire. Repeat a few times. If a breaker trips, set everything to slow recycle and repeat. See what happens. If it still trips, try moving things around to different circuits, etc.

Chances are you'll be fine, but depending on the age of your building and how it was originally wired, it is possible to run into problems. I once had a circuit on a shoot that would trip with a single 1600w/s pack plugged into it.

For a movable power tap, you (or someone you know/trust if you aren't familiar enough with it all to do it comfortably yourself) can build one from materials found at any decent hardware store. You may also be able to just buy one. If you build one, build it heavier than you think you need and then just forget about it. At some studios, the power tap is built onto a dolly with swivel casters, but you probably won't need something big enough to need wheels. Last fashion shoot I worked we had a big power tap with EIGHT 2400 w/s packs plugged into it, all of them at full power. 🙂