Strobes: CDI vs CLS

[John]

I would say you have more of the CDI LED strobes firing at the same time where the CDI are not after the two minute mark. The reason for the lower amp draw. on the CDI strobes.

Thomas

Not sure I understand your comment, Thomas. (I'm slow this morning lol)

With the CDI - both Led and xenon, they tend to initially charge and fire at the same time when first powered on. After a few seconds, then they start firing randomly.

The measurement I posted was the highest amp draw I saw (in the case of the CDI - when first powered up) then the CDI dropped even lower as more random charging/firing occurred.

So, 10 of the CDI xenon strobes had a lower amp draw on initial power when all were charging even then the CLS xenon strobes

[TGabriel]

Maybe I got to much vodka in the orange juice this morning. I was taking it the reading were at the two minute mark and not at power up.

Thomas

[John]

I understand lol

It was the highest readings obtained during the two minute period, which included initial power on.

Average readings during the two minute period was much lower for all three strings tested, and varied all over the place depending on how many were charging/firing at any one time

Guess I wasn't clear and thanks for giving me a chance to clairify

[rescue_653]

I used the LED's last year using 20 of them. I liked them for the most part I wished they would spread out a little quicker on the randomness of the flashes. Another thing is that I question LED's are supposed to last for so long so at the end do I sacrifice some brightness for life span because I do like the looks of the strobes in the fact of the randmoness. What was everyone elses fianl view for the outcome of the 2 CDI products?

[John]

I have both of them.

The LED strobes I'll use for a pinpoint type twinkle effect.

The Xenon strobes will be used for the bold dramatic effect.

I'll have strings of each in my megatree

With both types program in a precharge before you want them to fire, then the randomness is there from the get-go

[rescue_653]

With both types program in a precharge before you want them to fire, then the randomness is there from the get-go

u
When you guys talk about precharge how exacly do you do that, still kind of new to this and trying to larn all the insider tricks.

[victory402]

A precharge is when you turn on a little power to the strobes prior to firing them. I think a "little power" would be defined as 40% or 50 volts instead of the full 120 volts. This is enough power to charge the capacitor, but not fire the bulb. This gives you an immediate randdom effect (flash) from the strobes, instead of having to warm them up.

This precharging is done through your sequence editor programing. Set your intensity to 40% (I think) for a few seconds before you go to the full 100 % intensity (on). I'm not sure of the intensity settings or time, but this should give you a general idea of the procedure.

Just come to a TASL meet and AL will straighten you out.

[EarGuy]

There are a few threads regarding precharging on the LOR forums. I believe for CDI LEDs the precharge was at 16% intensity for .4 seconds

[Al in Raleigh]

Current readings of a strobe with a meter are not accurate. In order to obtain an accurate reading, you would need to examine the current pulse which is a narrow pulse. During that narrow time frame, you would see it draws much more current than you expect. Regardless, you don't need to worry about current consumption and strobes. Period.

As Vic said, precharging the strobes gives the strobes electronics the ability to be "random". The numbers on the other forums are just numbers. If you experiment with a higher voltage for shorter times the same effect should occur. I examined the circuitry of the CDI strobes and feel that precharging should not harm them; however, I could be wrong as I didn't design the circuit. Anytime you place a voltage at a different level than what it is rated, you run the risk of damaging the electronics. With that said, I plan to precharge mine.

Don't buy CLS strobes. They are poorly designed.

[rescue_653]

Oh no I have heard to much bad about CLS strobes. Dont get me wrong I have bought other just display accessories and he has been great but the I have just heard the failure rate of the strobes are awful. Anyway I am already a fan of CDI and have never had any complaints with the things I have got from him.

[John]

Lot of speculation about precharging in the above posts.

I did precharge my CDI LED strobes last year. Experiment! Your results may vary!

I had great success by turning them on at 20% a half second or so before the full on effect was needed. Mine fired randomly when I used this procedure. 40% or 50% would make them glow during the precharge. (The LED strobes only, I haven't played with precharging the CDI xenon strobes yet, they could probably tolerate a higher precharge percentage without firing)

I had 20 LED strobes on a string. Other quantities MAY have a different result. I don't know. Experiment with your strobes. Precharging didn't kill any of mine, they all still work.

For me 20% was just right. Much more and they glowed. Much less and they weren't ready unless I really increased the precharge time.

So start at 20% for 1/2 second as a baseline starting point. Leave the time steady and adjust the intensity a % or two up or down, so they just don't glow. Then play with your time. 1/10 sec at a time. To me, plus or minus 1/10 of second I couldn't tell a difference in the yard.

I don't know if the outside temperature would have any effect on the precharging or not.

Experiment with your strobe strings. See what works for you and your strobes. What works for me or for the next person may not be what you need. Experiment!

[wbottomley]

Reviving an old thread here.

I lost 20 CLS strobes this season which most of them were 2-3 years old. CDI Xenon strobes, one failure for a one year strobe.

[Don Williams]

William, your pile looks like mind LOL. But I lost most of mind last year. I used Paul's this year and I really like them plus his price is better. I will be ordering more this year when they go on sale.

Don

[John]

I will be ordering more this year when they go on sale.

Don

Don,

Paul's sale started back on Monday Dec 27th, don't miss it!

LINK

[wbottomley]

I'm ordering 5 boxes of xenon strobes for my mega trees. Enough of the failures!