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Watts on strobe power supplies

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 6:16 am
by arlojanis
I have noticed watts values on strobe power supplies. I have not seen watts on strobe tubes. How do you match them?

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:19 am
by Rick Rock
The 'average' strobe tube will handle 27 watts. power supplies are designed to only output 20-25 watts per head, so as not to overpower the bulb- you can run 2 heads with a 180 watt supply if you want. The more heads you run, the less power each head will receive, however, and a good rule of thumb is 15-20 watts per head ideally. Just take the supply's rated output and divide it by the # of heads you are wanting to run to figure out the wattage you'll get per head.

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 2:29 pm
by nmfire10
If the power supply is REGULATED (most are not), then it will supply a set wattage to each outlet regardless of how many are enabled and how many are connected. For example, the ISP188 will deliver 22.5 watts to each strobe head all the time no matter what.

If the power supply is UNREGULATED (most), the power is devided evenly amongst all the connected strobe heads. The wattage advertised is the full power wattage with all the outlets enabled. A 6 oulet / 90 watt power supply has 90 watts to split between 6 active outlets. If you have all outlets enabled but you unplug one of them, now you have 90 watts divided among 5 outlets. Unplug 2, you have 90 watts divided among 4 outlets. Etc. If you disable a set of outlets with the control wires, it will reduce power to accomodate the lower number of strobe tubes however what it reduces to is often not published.

I personally never like to see any less than 20 watts per strobe tube. Any less than 15 watts per strobe head classifies it as a toy.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:20 am
by kb3jkp
4 outlet 90 watt PS's.............. or 6 outlet 90W power suuplies,but only using four outlets......

THAT is the way to go....

NMFIRE nailed it on the head...

although I've seen strobe tubes rated ~30-32 watts...

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:27 pm
by IMBEJames
Just keep in mind if youre talking about hideaway strobes....

You can spend a LOT of money for a good power supply, but improper placement of hideaway tubes in a reflector assembly will seriously cut down on the intensity. Tube placement can make the difference between a blinky toy or lethally bright warning lights.