Honda EX5500 Crystal Controlled Blimped Movie Generator

Honda EX5500
'Blimped Movie Generator'

Quietest Honda Generator Available that is Crystal Controlled for Flicker Free Filming. Power large lights, up to 4k HMIs or 5k Quartz Lights.

Film style 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro with modified Honda EX5500 movie generator (the Cadillac of Honda Generators). Designed to run Arri, Mole, LTM, Strand, Desisti or ANY movie lights up to 5000 watts Quartz, 4000 watts HMIs or a complete HD lighting package. This system effectively eliminates the need for expensive large diesel movie generators or dangerous tie-ins to accomplish feature style production values.

Until now, to power HMI lights over 1.2kw or Quartz lights over 2kw, you needed a large diesel movie generator. Movie generators are not only expensive to rent, but they come with hidden costs that usually break the budget of independently funded HD projects. Our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro enhances the production capability of the our Honda EX5500 movie generators to power HMI lights up to 4kw or Quartz lights up to 5kw - effectively eliminating the need for large diesel generators to get feature style production values in HD Digital Cinema production.

The Super Quiet EX5500 offers the most power of Honda's Super Quiet EX line by offering 5500 max watts and 5000 rated watts.

The standard factory equipped EX5500 features:

• Engine: 12 HP, Twin Cylinder, Overhead Cam, Liquid Cooled Commercial Honda Engine.
• Displacement: 359 cc.
• AC Output: 120/240V, 5500W max.(45.8/22.9A) - 5000W rated (41.7/20.8A).
• Receptacles: (2) 20A 125V Duplex (NEMA Plug 5-20P), (2) 20A 125V Locking Plug (NEMA Plug L5-20P), (1) 30A 125/250V Locking Plug (NEMA Plug L14-30P)
• Starting System: Electric
• Fuel Tank Capacity: 4.4 gallons
• Run Time on One Tankful: 5.4 hrs. @ rated load, 7.9 hrs. @ 1/2 load
• Noise Level: 65 dB @ rated load

The Honda EX5500 generator is half as loud (10 db quieter), and runs longer on a tank of gas, than the Honda ES6500 generator that you find at most rental houses. (see chart below). Screenlight and Grip here in the New England area has extensively customized this generator for motion picture production.



The further blimping action of the grip truck will enable you to run the EX5500 close to set without picking up generator noise on your soundtrack. This generator is outfitted with a precision Barber-Coleman AC frequency governor for flicker-free filming with the more affordable and power efficient magnetic H.M.I. ballasts (a cost savings combination).


Note Barber-Coleman AC frequency governor center and Electronic Fuel Pump on right.

The control panel is outfitted with an LED style Frequency (Hz) meter to indicate Flicker Free Filming and an electronic fuel pump for more reliable operation. For convenient charging of the battery, a three pin twist-lock receptacle has been installed in the side of the generator.


This unit has a custom 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro (pictured below) so that you can get as much useable amperage out of our Honda EX5500 as you would a Honda ES6500.


Custom 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro

The 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro steps down the 240V output from our Honda EX5500 to a single 42A/120V circuit that is capable of powering a big light like the new Mole 5k Quartz Par or the brighter Arri 4k HMI Par - thus eliminating the need for large expensive diesel generators that require special tow vehicles. And, where our transformer distro provides access to the full 5000W continuous rated power capacity of the generator in a single circuit, it enables the Honda EX5500 to power just as many small lights as the commonly available Honda ES 6500.


Our Crystal Sync Honda EX5500 Generator is shown with the 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro

While a Honda ES6500 generates more amperage per leg than a EX5500 (25 Amps verses 20.8 Amps of continuous rated power per leg), the EX5500 with our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro offers you just as much useable power because it enables you to stack just as many lights on the genny. It accomplishes this by stepping down the 240V output from the EX5500 to 120V enabling you to fully load 5000W of power on a single 42A/120V circuit. By comparison, you can never fully utilize the available power of a ES6500 because the load of a light has to go on one 20A circuit/leg of the generator or the other. For example, when you reach the point where an ES6500 can't power an additional 1kw light because there is not 8.4 amps available on either leg of the generator, you will be able to add that 1k on the EX5500 because our transformer distro splits the load evenly over the two legs (4.2A/leg) of the generator. The best part about our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro is that it splits the load of whatever you plug into it automatically, so that you don't have to carefully balance the load over the generator's two legs as you plug in lights the way you do with a ES6500 in order to fully utilize the generator's available power.


Our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro powering a 2.5 & 1.2 Par Plus HMI

How many HMI lights will the Honda EX5500 run with our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro? Since this unit has a precision Barber-Coleman AC frequency governor for flicker-free filming with the more affordable and power efficient magnetic H.M.I. ballasts (a cost savings combination), you can simultaneously run a 2500W H.M.I. with a 1200W H.M.I.; or two 1200W H.M.I.s with two 575W HMI's. And there is almost no limit to the combination of power efficient Kino Flo Florescent Light Fixtures and small quartz lights that can run on our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro.

Without a doubt, our 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro and quiet Honda EX5500 make an unbeatable combination when it comes to providing silent location power. Not only does our transformer distro enable you to get just as much useable power out of a 5500W generator as you can out of a 6500W generator, it also greatly simplifies your set electrics. Plus, the fact that the Honda EX5500 is half as loud (10 db quieter) as the commonly available Honda ES 6500 makes our Honda EX5500/42A Full Power Transformer/Distro combination the obvious choice for filming with live sound.

The Transformer/distro has one 60A female bates, one 20Amp Duplex Edison, and one 20A twistlock receptacle on it. The Transform/Distro has a pigtail on it with a three pin 30A/250V Tistlock on it. Included is an adapter to adapt the three pin 30A/250V Twistlock to the four pin 30A/250V receptacle on the generator. Also included is a 50' three pin 30A/250V Twistlock Extension to run between the generator and Transformer/Distro, a 60A Bates Splitter (as pictured above), (2) 50' 60A Bates Extensions, and a 60A Bates to Edison break out (Woodhead Box).

Includes everything you need to start filming. It includes a modified Honda EX5500 generator w/ separate battery charger, 42A Full Power Transformer/Distro, and Four Pin-to-Three Pin Twist-lock Adapter.

Rental Includes:

• Honda EX5500 generator
• 2A Full Power Transformer/Distro
• Four Pin-to-Three Pin Twist-lock Adapter
• 50' three pin 30A/250V Twistlock Extension
• 60A Bates Splitter
• (2) 50' 60A Bates Extensions
• 60A Bates to Edison break out (Woodhead Box)

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