Hoskins 701295 strobe powerpack - looking for diagnostic help.

[willerjim273]

Can anyone help explain how to do a quick

 Hello,

1.

My strobes have been working fine for years. Then I noticed one side not working. The bulb is shot. Black and ugly looking. So naturally, I switched them out and still not joy. So I moved the good strobe to the non working side. 

I found the power pack (pp) in the port wing. It has 3 wires. A red- hot which is hot. The black is ground, I presume. Not sure about the white. 

My plan would be to unplug the power pp connector, fire up the strobes and see if I am getting voltage to the pack. Anybody have a better way? I dare not mess inside the pp. I figure it is time to get one ordered.

2.

Also, the grounds to the pack: When the pack was unscrewed from the cover plate, one ground (braided ring) was obvious. It was right in front of my face. When I removed the pack, I noticed another black wire hanging there. It goes back to the pp and is a ring terminal. I have checked continuity from that 2^nd black ring to the body of the pack and it is affirmative. There is continuity. So I assume that it goes to a mounting mounting screw just like the braided ring.

It looks like Spruce does not have one. I have not done a ton of sourcing, but it looks like they range from $380 to over $800. What is the best move if she tests bad?

Thanks

[LANCECASPER]

As the strobe boxes go bad, people switch to the LED Strobes/nav lights. They draw far fewer amps, give back some useful load and are much more reliable.

[markgrue]

The output on the power supply is high voltage.  Be careful with it when you turn it on.

 

Mark

[JWJR]

To Lancecaspers point go with an LED. If not source one (used) from someone that has converted to LED.


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[jaylw314]

As noted above, HIGH VOLTAGE!  Be careful with anything with the power supply or past it!  It's hard to imagine it's upstream of the power supply if one is working.

For reference, the cost of the cheapest item, the strobe bulb, is about $250.  The tail strobe can be about $550.  God forbid you have to replace the tail strobe with the CPC connector (that's about $850 if you can find it).  The cost of a position/strobe combo LED light is about $500.  It's just hard to justify repairing a strobe assembly, and you can ditch the current-hungry and (potentially) dangerous power supply too.

[willerjim273]

Thanks for the resposes and the cautions.  We are ready to put it all back together. Just running power to each side, with a new stobe, we are getting one flash, then nothing. That goes for both sides. Anyone know anything about that problem?

Thanks

[EricJ]

4 minutes ago, willerjim273 said:

Thanks for the resposes and the cautions.  We are ready to put it all back together. Just running power to each side, with a new stobe, we are getting one flash, then nothing. That goes for both sides. Anyone know anything about that problem?

Thanks

It may be that a capacitor inside the power supply has dried out and is failing or a transistor is going bad.   The bulb failure may have been a result of the power supply failing.  

Mine got harder and harder to keep working, so I bit the bullet and replaced everything with LED.

 

[Culver LFA]

I recently replaced a blown capacitor in a power supply that came off an Decathlon we put LED strobes on, the capacitor was $13.  That repair got me over 500 volts output from the power supply but unfortunately the trigger (3rd wire) circuit also had issues.  I could only get one flash out of the unit, I messed with it for  a few hours and then decided, without having a proper diagram or diagnostic information, I have had enough fun playing with high voltage and open circuitry!  If I remember correctly the strobe supply voltage is supposed to be 450+ volts, the trigger is in the 30,000-50,000v range.

The Whelen LED wingtip strobes were a nice install, I'll do the same to mine when the old strobes go out.

[carusoam]

Somebody posted two power supplies around here yesterday…

Cheap…

Go LED if able…

-a-

[Scottknoll]

Somebody posted two power supplies around here yesterday…
Cheap…
Go LED if able…
-a-

That was me, but it’s a different part number I believe. Mine were mounted in the tail (Ovation). We went all led when the tail strobe bulb burned out. Worth the effort & money, did it with my A&P, learned a lot. They are heavy boxes.

[carusoam]

Thanks for sharing the details Scott!

For anyone going LED… we have a guy for that…   

Best regards,

-a-