DIY - Power Inverter

By Ron Cotton - June 15, 2005

Once a thunderstorm rolls into town and your lights go out, that's when you realize how dependent you are on electricity. It's quite natural to not notice power when it surrounds your everyday life. (At least until you get your electric bill.) In most cases, Non-portable devices are plugable while portable items are powered by batteries. Items requiring more power often requires that the batteries recharge. All of this could have remained unsaid except when your in the heat of film making and your caught unaware (again.) You need power for an extra light, your DV battery went dead and you forgot to charge the spare, or you need extra power on site and you don't have a generator.

All of these situations are bound to happen sooner or later, so it's best to always caution on the side of error and pack a power inverter in your car. What is it? It converts your car battery into a plug-in(s) to power your many devices. Also, you can charge your accessories on the field. Just remember that you'll want to run your engine once in a while so that you don't drain your battery. As a precaution, pack jumper cables for piece of mind.

Many power inverters very inexpensive yet very limited - powering only a camcorder and another small wattage accessories. If you spend a bit more, there's power inverters that connect directly to the battery and handle more devices. However, as power inverter has a higher capacity - you're more likely to kill your battery.

Power inverters can replace your need of renting a generator as long as you don't mind leaving your car on idle. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend running your lighting rig from your vehicle. This does have limitations, yet is a tool for your grassroots filming.