OT: Generator for location work

musicvid10 wrote on 1/24/2005, 9:35 AM

5-6 times a year we take our bands to parks or remote locations without adequate power. We rent, borrow, or use whatever is available, sometimes with unexpected results.

My question: What are the best generators for this work. We need 4 to 6 KW, heavily regulated and filtered for sound equipment, QUIET, long running time between fillups, and minimal lug down when we hit the lights. Wheels would be nice, as would 220-240 (although we don't have 220 dimmers yet).

Thanks in advance for informed replies. Spot?

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 1/25/2005, 8:44 AM

bump

rmack350 wrote on 1/25/2005, 9:37 AM

There's very little that's portable and quiet, let alone well regulated.

When I worked at a rental house in the 80s and early 90's we rented a variety of Honda gennies. The EX5500 was the quietest and we outfitted these with crystal sync regulators to keep them at 60Hz for HMI use.

These generators are like a large wheelbarrow full of wet bricks. They're quite heavy. And although they're a bit quieter than the average genny, they aren't anywhere near quiet enough to record sound. I would generally have to run them 2-300 feet away, around a corner, and preferably in the bottom of a 6 ft trench. Then I could tell the audio guy I'd done the best that I could and would they try to work with it?

You might be well served to use two gennies. Devote one to your electronics. I once worked a Survival Research Labs show where we had one big genny for everything. Once the ubiquitous fires burned through one leg of the distro, everything got a quick shot of 220 and then died. Dimmer boards, sound system, lights, everything.

Click here for the honda page for this genny

Rob Mack

B_JM wrote on 1/25/2005, 9:39 AM

Aggreko generators are about all you find now in the movie indsutry , but you want something smaler.. Aggreko power solutions are pretty big units - even for thier smallest model (mounts on a skid) ...

Honda would be the way to go (and are used for this application) , one or two of the Honda model EU3000is would be the one to use ...it produces a clean sine wave, instead of many comercial units that produce square waves .. The EU3000is maintains a rating of 48 to58dB ..
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/gensup.asp

rs170a wrote on 1/25/2005, 9:40 AM

Do you have a high-end film/video rental place such as Wm. F. White in your area? If so, see what kind of generators they're using. It may be overkill for your needs but at least you'll know what brand to look for. HTH.

Mike

Randy Brown wrote on 1/25/2005, 10:45 AM

FWIW, in an outdoor environment a large piece of soundboard, plywood (or anything to reflect the sound) would help reflect the noise substantially. I would think a large box of some kind with the bottom and one side left off would help even more...just a thought.
Randy

musicvid10 wrote on 1/26/2005, 11:20 AM

Thanks for the replies. The Hondas that B_JM pointed me too sure beat the big, noisy Honda 5KW's we used in the past.

I think two of the 3KW's he suggests might be just the ticket for us, because they could be used separately or in parallel.

Thanks.

patreb wrote on 1/26/2005, 12:47 PM

I used that 3000w geny and damn, we tried it once and had to turn off the car's engine to hear it. Pretty impressive especially since we had to satrt shooting in very residential aread at 5am in the morning so regular geny would send cops our way.

That 3000w geny goes for about $60/day at rental places so if you live in a big city concider renting.