How to make a strobe light brighter?

[Draco]

Okay, as the topic says.
How do I make a strobe light brighter? I know it has to do something with the box.
I was thinking about opening the box, which I already have, and replacing a few components to make it brighter. Does anybody have any experience with this?

A little extra information:
The strobes are on my car. Im on the local fire department and rescue squad and im needing to make these strobes brighter so people can see me quicker and get out of my way. I dont really need this very badly, but I need to make the flashes go faster also.
These strobes are supposed to be 100W each, but I am not sure if thats what it even is. I think its around the lines of 40W each.
Under request, I will post a link to a video of the car and a few photos of the circuit board of the box.

Any help will be appreciated.
Serious answers only, please.

[Dfg]

I am sorry i can't help you much but i know someone who might help you out. For his assistance please post as much information as possible. Pictures of the circuit board, a video and some tech specification sheet will be helpful.

Hopefully someone will help you out.

Good Luck.

[Draco]

Thanks Dfg,

I will post the pictures of the circuit board shortly.
I will also post the video at the same time.
I am not sure if there is a technical specification sheet, but I will look around.

Give me about an hour...going to go make the pictures and video now.

[Draco]

Alright everyone,

I had to wait an hour so I could perform the video at night, because you could not really see the headlights because of the sun shining. I am now performing the tests...reporting back in a few minutes.

[ObsidianZ]

You might try this over in DIY, this sounds more like an electrician's job.


*ObZ

[Draco]

Alright, well...if a moderator finds it to be in the wrong forum, please move it for me.

But, other than that. uploading the video and photos right now. The video is in sync with the flashes, so you cant see them too well...but I guess you can make it out what it is.

EDIT:
Going to have to wait until tomorrow to get a daytime video. The video is just a little bit too dark. Gonna have to take the video in the wee hours of morning.
Pictures are on the way.

[Draco]

Alright, here are the photos of the strobe control box.
I went ahead and included the shitty video anyways.

Dark picture of the circuit board.
http://i41.tinypic.com/hwfjuw.jpg

Backside/Solder Side of the circuit board.
http://i42.tinypic.com/10n6wqc.jpg

Bright picture of the circuit board.
http://i41.tinypic.com/xkxjdx.jpg

Video.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=f4i79l&s=5

[MunkeyQ]

Moving to DIY.

Will opst useful things when sober.

[Draco]

Thanks Munkey.

Maybe I will get a response..

[MunkeyQ]

Looks like it has two seperate power supplies so it can flip-flop between the two...one charges whilst the other is used. Those transformers are high-frequency EI cores which are used to produce the high voltage needed for the strobe tube. It's also likely to be self-regulating, so increasing the input voltage won't do much.

The simplest solution is to direct the light better - put a reflector behind the tube or something. Otherwise, you'll have to modify the circuit to increase the voltage fed to the tube, which I'd need a schematic to work out.

[phmeworp]

The simplest solution is to direct the light better - put a reflector behind the tube or something. Otherwise, you'll have to modify the circuit to increase the voltage fed to the tube, which I'd need a schematic to work out.

This! But I suspect the light units already incorporate some kind of reflector. You could try modifying the reflector (and/or lense) to change the light pattern to focus more of light in a particular direction, but this will also the veiwing angle. More light straight ahead will also give less light to the side lobes.

Disclaimer/Warning:
Anything you do actually increase the light ouput of the flashtube will have an adverse effect on the life of the tube. Also, exceeding the intantanious power rating of the tube will likely cause immediate catastrophic failure.

(When playing with home-made strobes back in my hippie-trippy days, I got one hooked up that was just insanely bright... but it only lasted for one flash!)

If you are bent on modifying the driver circuit, the simplest thing to try would be to extend the flash duration. This can be done by adding parallel capacitors across the existing charge caps. This will not actually increase the brightness but will make them appear brighter due to the longer flash time.

Again, no guarantee on how long the tubes will last.

[Draco]

Alright, thanks everyone.
And no, they have no reflector at all...its basically just the lens on the actual headlight reflecting them.
I would try to get a schematic, but I have no idea.

[Trix Are For Kids]

Higher watt lights?

[MunkeyQ]

Higher watt lights?
It's a strobe tube, which does not have a wattage rating. It is fed HT by the power supply, and replacing the tube with a different one probably won't work as it won't be matched as well. Typically, strobe lights are rated by the power supply's output.

[13579]

I'll just pop in for a moment here, since the topic is strobe lights.

I have an old adjustable one that is, well, several years old.

It's getting to the point where it misses a flash or two every once in a while. Why is this happening?