DIY Vagabond II Power Supply

I got the inspiration for this when I was searching around looking for portable power for my mono-bloc strobes.  I ran across this blog post and thought I would give it a try.  I’m collecting up the costs associated to see how closely I can get to the cost to what Jacob describes.

Vagabond II Carry Case
$19.95 + $7.80 shipping = $27.75 from Paul Buff online store

PowerSonic 12v 18ah AGM Sealed battery
$49.98 local retailer

Samlex PST Series 150W Pure Sine Wave Inverter, 12VDC 120VAC
$94 + $11.86 = $105.86 online

GFCI plug
$12.95 local Home Depot

Battery Tender adapter
(2) $6.99 = $13.98 local Batteries Plus retailer

Grand damage
$210.52

I did make a design change that actually reduced the cost by a bit. I went with the two Battery Tender connections for simplicity, instead of the wire/connector that he indicated, as that will easily hook up to my Battery Tender that I already own.

This is enough more than Jacob’s $170 ($40.52) that I have to mention it, but in the grand scheme its still $90 less than the retail price of the Vagabond II, and $110.57 less including shipping (which they quote as $21.14 to my area)

FWIW YMMV

I have not had a chance to hook this all up and test yet, I will make another post with my results shortly.

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