Adjustable Strobe Light

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This Adjustable Strobe Light is the bigger brother of the plain old strobe light. This one uses a much more powerful "horse shoe" Xenon tube which produces more light. You can also control the flash rate up to about 20Hz. Do not look directly at the flash tube when this thing is on!

DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE

Schematic

This is the schematic of the strobe

PC Board Layout

This is the PC board pattern of the strobe

Parts Placement

This is the parts placement diagram of the strobe light

Parts
Part
Total Qty.
Description
Substitutions
R11250 Ohm 10 Watt Resistor
R21500K Pot
R31680K 1/4 Watt Resistor
D1, D221N4004 Silicon Diode
C1, C2222 uF 350V Capacitor
C310.47uF 400 Volt Mylar Capacitor
T114KV Trigger Transformer (see "Notes")
L11Flash Tube (see "Notes")
L21Neon Bulb
Q11106 SCR
F11115V 1A Fuse
MISC1Case, Wire, Line Cord, Knob For R2

Notes

  1. T1 and L1 are available from The Electronics Goldmine (see Where To Get Parts).

  2. This ciruits is NOT isolated from ground. Use caution when operating without a case. A case is required for normal operation. Do not touch any part of the circuit with the case open or not installed.

  3. Most any diodes rated at greater then 250 volts at 1 amp can be used instead of the 1N4004's.

  4. Do not operate this circuit at high flash rates for more than about 30 seconds or else C1 and C2 will overheat and explode.

  5. There is no on/off switch in the schematic, but you can of course add one.

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Comments
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Bonnie
Adjustable Strobe Light
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 6:27:42 AM
what volt battery does it run on?
Max Balboa
Adjustable Strobe Light
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 8:34:34 AM
Very helpful. Just a quick question, how do I do this on 220V? Best regards, -Max
Tom
READ THIS
Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:38:01 PM
Hi all. Just to answer some questions you might have about the neon light. Since the circuit runs (thereby charging the capacitor) as soon as it is plugged in, the components become dangerous to handle. The neon bulb is a mean a discharge the capacitor so that the circuit doesn't zap you if you go to touch/modify it. Another way to put that is: when you plug the strobe light in, don't turn it on at all, then unplug it, the neon light will go on to eliminate any build-up of charge. Give me an e-mail if you have any questions.
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Friday, February 19, 2010 4:55:17 PM
I remember building this circuit as a kid way back in the 70's when all the parts were available from radio shack. The neon bulb acts as a trigger for the transistor and coil. It passes no current until there is enough charge in the capacitors and then all of a sudden it fires. It needs to be there.
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:33:27 AM
Can a large heatsink be used to avoid overheating and explotion of c1 and c2?
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Wednesday, September 09, 2009 8:13:29 AM
This thing looks cool.
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 11:34:52 PM
can i using motor and relay into adjustable strobe light circuit?? can it operate or not??? if it can how much power can use for the motor and relay??? please help me...
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Friday, June 26, 2009 12:36:40 PM
I think we also can add a 120 VAC fan to cool down C1 and C2 to avoid overheating and explotion of C1 & C2:-).
tarun
Adjustable Strobe Light
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:32:55 PM
why wr use noen bulb.?? where i find working of this circuit???
anonymous
Adjustable Strobe Light
Sunday, November 16, 2008 12:20:36 PM
What purpose does the Neon Bulb serve?
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