X4BC 400ws Basic Booster Module
The X4BC goes between the Battery and most Lumedyne Power Packs to add 400ws of additional power to the Pack above it. It has a switch that controls: no boost, or add 200ws, or add the full 400ws to the Power Pack above it.
It is only about three inches tall and weighs about 2.5 lbs. and it will add an f-stop to the 400ws Packs since it doubles the available power. For the 200ws Pack, that's a stop and a half brighter. These are also stackable to go up as high as 2400ws by adding five of these to a 400ws Pack.
The X4BC has 400ws of capacitors inside of it and it can be placed between most Packs and any Battery to add 400ws or 200ws of extra power. It does have a switch to activate the additional boost power options or turn the boost off to use the original settings on the Pack.
The X4BC 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.
This Booster adds 400ws to the 400ws Packs. It’s then able to put out 800ws which is an f-stop brighter than 400ws. Now, you can also stack these Boosters, so three 400ws Boosters along with a 400ws Power Pack would give 1600ws which is a full f-stop brighter than 800ws.
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.
