I recently aquired a secondhand Innovatronix Explorer XT. I've tested it with the studio heads I own, which are 2 x Lencarta Smartflash 200 and 2 x Interfit EXD200. One Lencarta works fine on full power. Two Lencartas work on full power although I did notice that the cooling fans on the heads slow down whilst charging when using 2 heads. The EXD200 (Digital) will work fine with one head but two heads result in the relays cutting in and out on the power unit, as to be expected from the published information. I haven't measured recharge time compared to actual mains use but it still seemed quick enough to me. My batteries are likely to be 4 years old and so a new pair of 12V 7AH SLA batteries will help. It has a heavy duty utilitarian appearance, more arc welder than a work of art and that might bother some users. It can be charged from the mains or a car cigarette lighter, the latter is especially useful when out and about in the middle of nowhere.
Innovatronix publish a compatibility list but it's US market orientated and Lencarta is not mentioned at all. Past posts on this forum indicate that Lencarta Heads are fine but this advice might pre date the lastest digitally controlled Heads. Web comment is that any Studio Head that has analogue control of the power output is likely to be just fine, that is a rotary switch or slider for the power control. Digital Heads demand more peak power to recharge and this causes the relays to flip flop, obviously not good for the head or power unit. Later versions, the Explorer XT SE or the Explorer XT3 are more suited to Digital Heads or Dual Voltage Heads but are more expensive.
The bespoke systems from such as Bowens/Elinchrom/Lencarta/Jinbei are perhaps lower weight but not interoperable with anything else. They are also serious amounts of money and some power units now only support one head, adding another head means adding a second battery pack and more weight/cost. The Explorer can potentially be used with up to 4 older and cheaper heads so it's not as financially embassing if one falls over. It can be used safely for items such as laptops which should be fed pure sine wave output. The cost of readily available batteries is current £30 per pair and Yuotube shows how it is done. Caution is needed when buying older generation bespoke power units as listings for the supply of spare batteries appears be drying up (Lencarta/ Jinbei DC600?).
Overall, I'm very happy to have added the capability to use my existing equipment away from the mains. I paid £123 including postage for my unit and fitted two new fans to replace the noisy ones for £8 (note, wired in series!). It won't suit everybody and if budget is of less concern, then a bespoke system is likely to be a better solution.
