Best way to test strobe light?

[Joepthepilot]

Hi all, I have whelen wing tip strobe lights and My left strobe light does not flash. What is the best way to test to see if it is the bulb? I dont know if unplugging it from the driver is bad for the driver. Any help is appreciated. Joe

[SkyPirate]

check your wires that go to the light first,..did you run a seperate ground wire or go to the wing tube,..did you run a fuseable link? or a fuse block ,..if I remember right ,..you do not want to touch the bulb with your bare fingers if you pull it use a piece of cloth or gloves,or rubber tipped bulb plier..the oils in your fingers will eventually blow the bulb as the bulb heats it works a heat sink,..

have you tried jumping a wire from the rear spar to the main airframe?
I know you said your nav lights work ,..but sometimes you will get a bad connection and get back feed thru a hot wire which gives you some lights but not others,.the strobe being a pulse would be getting some power but not enought to light the strobe ,.strobes work with a capacitator,..if they don't get the full required load to charge the capacitator ,.they won't dump the load that lights the bulb.

[Dave S]

Hi Joe,

Had any luck determining what is wrong with the strobe?

I had somewhat of a puzzle to figure out the other night with my position lights - both the port and starboard were out, and, the white ones plus strobe were fine. Since the white ones and the port/starboard lights are on the same circuit - figured both bulbs must have died - not true - It ended up being a simple matter of a bit of corrosion developing at the base of both the port & starboard bulbs - at the same time - wasn't my first thought when both were out at the same time.

Strobe parts cost so much that a person doesn't exactly want to start replacing parts unless it is certain which part is busted. Once all of your connections have been determined to be fine - Sometimes switching parts around, (since a person has two of most parts on a wingtip strobe) is an inexpensive way to locate the problem.

One way a person can check to see if it is the bulb or something else is to switch the bulbs from right to left wingtips - if the problem moves with the bulb, it is a pretty sure bet the bulb (or its base connector) is done for.

If the problem does not move with the bulb - then it is something else. If it is not the bulb then you may be looking at the strobe power supply (or wiring coming into or out of the power supply) being the source of the problem.

A person can also move the power supplies to the opposite wing tip and see what happens.

Let us know what you find out. Exorcising electrical demons can be real challenging sometimes.

Sincerely,

Dave S
St Paul, MN
KF 7 Trigear
912ULS - Warp