Members Reson8tor Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 A question for the electrical gurus here. My acoustic duo has some wedding gigs coming up, where in addition to playing the reception (with our normal PA), we might need to play outdoors and away from AC power. We've done that a few times in the past, just going acoustic. It works okay, depending on wind or other environmental noise, but I'd like the option of running something really small... like maybe a single ZXA1 powered speaker with a Zed10FX mixer, just for light reinforcement. I'm thinking of maybe a 12v. gel marine battery and inverter for power, mounted on a folding hand cart. I used to run a setup like that years ago for a laptop computer and electric blanket when I had an astronomy hobby. I used a 70ah battery and this inverter, which I still have: http://www.4lots.com/portawattz600.aspx So the first question is: Will this type of "modified sine wave" inverter be safe to use with the ZXA1 and maybe a Zed10FX mixer? Or do I need a full sine wave inverter? The other question is whether that's enough power (600 watt inverter, 70ah battery). We would only need it for something less than an hour, probably a lot less, and we'd run the ZXA1 at a fairly low power setting ("light acoustic" music, not rock). The power draw of the ZXA1 is listed at 0.6 amps and I don't know what the Zed10FX draws but it probably isn't much. It might be nice to run two ZXA1's for coverage, or as mini-main plus monitor, but I'm not sure that's essential. P.S. I know there are battery-powered acoustic amps, but I don't trust the lower-end stuff from Roland and Carver, and the one I'd want to use (because I have their smaller Alpha version) would be the AER Compact Mobile. But that's an expensive amp at $1,700 here in the USA. I'm not sure I want to spend that much for an amp we wouldn't use very often. Also, I'll have more input options with the Zed10FX mixer and a compact powered speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LewnWorx Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 As for the modified sine wave, you'll have to check. Most stuff is ok, the typical problem children running off modified sine tend to be stuff like laser and inject printers, microwave ovens and whatnot. Digital consoles sometimes get picky about power. I've got a 5KW modified sine jenny I use for really remote gigs (where there is no power at all) and all my stuff (StudioLive/PRX's/Laptop/Wifi Rig) runs fine on it. I also have a couple cheapie inverters in my rig and the stuff works fine off them as well. Bear in mind that non sine inverters are horrifically inefficient, so factor that in with the current draw of the device. If possible, size your inverter to be close to what you're actually using, as the amount of juice they draw at idle is related to the max output size. I've got a 400W and a 1500W inverter, and the 400 draws .8 amps at idle, and the 1500 pulls close to 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 I use a 1500w 12vAC/DC Xantrex MSW inverter, with a 115ah deep-cycle battery, and run two NX55P's (550w ea.), an AER Compact 60/2 (60w RMS/monitor), a few LED Rain wash-lights, and a Soundcraft EFX-8, for up to eight hours straight, and I've had zero issues. Mind you , this is for an outdoor acoustic-guitar gig, and we're not running the mains hard. We get 60-80 people at that gig. When I get home and put the battery on the charger, it still indicates "full-charge" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 1, 2012 Members Share Posted May 1, 2012 Things that have power factor correction can be a real issue, some linear (as in line frequency) transformers will buzz like a can of bees. Also, peak voltage regulation is critical in a linear transformer applications because the DC voltage of the power supply depends in great part on the peak voltage of the waveform. My advice is to get a good quality pure sine wave inverter to avoid the risk of damage to other gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted May 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 1, 2012 Thanks for the info everyone. That gives me what I need to go forward. That's a good tip about the sizing the inverter for the load so there isn't extra power draw, and it's also very helpful to hear about what can be run in the real world off this kind of rig. I'll pick up a new pure sine wave model to play it safe. They're not that much more expensive than the MSW models in the range I'm looking at, and it's one less thing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted May 1, 2012 Members Share Posted May 1, 2012 My advice is to get a good quality pure sine wave inverter to avoid the risk of damage to other gear. Yep, this is what I have been told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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