Thorp Air Command - T18.net

My left hand strobe is inoperative. The nav light works fine.

When built, I got a set of strobes (Aeroflash signal Corp model 152-0008) from one of the original suppliers, and my father installed them at the wingtips as he built. This week I removed the wing tip to look at things and broke the ground wire on the lamp end of the strobe. I fixed that and broke it at the other end.

With help, we put a volt-ammeter on the system and it looks like everything has continuity. We don't know how to check the flashtube itself (the tube had some paint spray on it and I scraped away some of it - I may have broken a fine wire that is wrapped around the tube). The suggestion was made to try the unit on the opposite wing tip where everything is working. I'd rather not do that, but I guess I need to find out what I need to do to fix this unit. Can one buy just the flashtube assembly?

This is what the strobe looks like. Also the power unit on the wing tip.

The bulbs are only about $40. at Spruce.

D

I had this same problem once. It turned out to be one of the pins inside one of the molex connectors wasn't making a good connection. It had me stumped for a good while. I now have a spare strobe bulb sitting on my shelf.

Jack: I tend to agree with Ryan to look at the small stuff like pins in the connectors, wiring, circuit breaker before looking at the expensive parts.
Corrosion on connectors, wires, pins and grounds are also possible problems.

In-case you haven't seen these web sites you may want to take a look:

http://www.aeroflash.com/aeroflash_troubleshooting.php (Troubleshooting Guide) and
http://www.aeroflash.com/aeroflash_index.php (Technical support number)

Hopefully this helps.

_________________
Victor J Thompson
C-GIRQ
In memory of Dad

I'll have to check out the Aeroflash contacts (web). It just seems so odd the way the failure went. Ground wire was obvious. But all was working until I pulled the wing and the ground wire broke. I didn't know that the bulb could be gotten separately. I live only a 30 minute drive from A/C Spruce.

The accepted, tried & true test is to swap out the left & right strobe tubes and see if the problem stays on the left or moves to the right. You know, if the tube is bad it won't work on the previous good circuit.
That won't cost anything, so you won't waste money or time diagnosing to that point.
You don't have to start with American Ingenuity, you know, keep changing parts until it works!

_________________
Scott Emery
EAA Chapter 326
T-18 N18TE

So... Both strobes work on the starboard wing tip. Can't figure out how to really test the power unit on the port wing (strobe from stbd wing inop on the port power supply). Process of elimination makes it appear to be the culprit. A/C Spruce has not got the power unit ... 12/15/13 they're to be delivered to them. Will check elsewhere in the meantime.

Strange that the power supply would fail just when I removed the wing tip and broke the ground wire.

hook your strobe straight into the power supply box and see if the bulb flashes. If it does work, you have a problem somewhere midstream, not your strobe box.