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Re: Miscellaneous (was: LED Flasher circuit why won't it work)


 

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This thread brings back many memories about strobe tubes.

Decades ago, I used to work on big industrial YAG lasers.

The YAG bar was strobed by an intensely bright light flash for producing the laser pulses.

There were two capacitors with a working voltage of around 2,000V.

They were bigger than the airplane carryon wheeled travel cases.

I was extremely careful around them.

I still have one sitting in the attic, but I have not found a good use for it.

By the way, the strobe tubes were water cooled.

Bertho

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of wn4isx
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On those salvaged flash units, there are two types, most were (?are?) small xenon strobe tubes, probably have a life of no more then a few hundred flashes, the other uses white LEDs.

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The ones with the xenon strobe will have a ~300uF 300~400V capacitor that will light you up but good.

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Been there, done that and still feel the zap. I mean be careful with those tube ends and capacitors! They have enough energy to stop your heart. Use the "keep one hand in your pocket" technique.

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Look up " xenon strobe circuit diagram" on Google for examples of how they are constructed.

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Unless you need a really bright light that lasts a 1/1000 of a second, I'd be really tempted to send them to the electronic recycler.

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