The X2BC has 200ws of capacitors inside of it and it can be placed between most Packs and any Battery to add 200ws of extra power. It does have a switch to activate the additional boost power or turn the boost off to use the 200ws setting on the Pack at the normal 200ws. That’s because, when the Booster is turned on, the 200ws setting on the 200ws Pack will then put out 400ws.
The X2BC has an indicator that flashes when it is charged up and ready to go. There is a small brass contact on the top and bottom that passes along information to the Signature Series Power Packs.
The Booster adds 200ws also to the 400ws Packs. It’s then able to put out 600ws which is about a half f-stop brighter than 400ws. Now, you can also stack these Boosters, so two 200ws Boosters along with a 400ws Power Pack would give 800ws which is a full f-stop brighter than 400ws. Most photographers who have a 400ws Pack would select the 400ws Boosters…
Boosters must work together with a Power Pack and a power source like a Battery or AC Power Supply, but they do not work by themselves.
There are Power Packs like the Action Packs and the #068 660ws Packs that DO NOT work with Boosters. In the 1970’s we built Top Modules that are still functioning, and in some cases, being used with some regularity for over about 40 years, these are not boostable. Although we have attempted to make the products photographer proof and make them such that they just won’t effect anything, please don’t even try to boost those Packs.
However, the other Classic Packs like the 200ws Packs of the #065 series with all the letter code options and 400ws versions #067X,L,M,Z all work great with Boosters.
The newer Next Generation equipment is faster recycling and has Battery gauges but is otherwise the same as the Classic stuff with the two switches to control the power. In all these cases, the lower power settings are unaffected by the Booster and only the highest power setting on the Pack is “added to” with any combination of Boosters up to a maximum of 2400ws.
Otherwise, the Signature Series Packs with the big dial to control the power level are different, because when a double power Booster is attached then all the settings have roughly double the power that they had before. It’s not as linear (keeping perfect f-stops between settings) but it is about double power for all settings when system power is doubled. If you continue to stack Boosters up to 2400ws the settings would each be roughly six times original with the full power at 2400ws.
We want to remind you that as the power goes up the flash duration does get longer. We find that 400ws and occasionally 800ws is sufficient for most images. In cases where you want to take a night time or flash illuminated exposure of a whole bridge span or a full building, or even super large groups over a hundred people against daylight, then I understand the need for higher power levels. We have not tested much above 2400ws. The power can be split between multiple Heads to shorten the flash duration. Deluxe Boosters have independent Head jacks that can be controlled at asymmetrical power levels to the ones on the Power Pack, although this model does NOT offer extra Head jacks.
