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GS-Air Strobe Current 6 Amps

 
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Dennis Johnson



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 89
Location: N. Calif.
PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 2:58 pm    Post subject: GS-Air Strobe Current 6 Amps Reply with quote
Last week, a reader asked about sizing the fuse and wires for a GS-Air strobe light power supply. The GS-Air strobe light is part of a wingtip position and strobe light unit. The position lights are LEDs and the strobe lights are conventional strobes. The strobes are powered by a single, remote power supply. For more info:

www.gs-air.com

I replied that I used a 10 amp fuse instead of the 15 amp fuse in the instruction manual and haven't had a problem in my first 50 hours of flight. Bob asked me to measure the actual current draw, which I did today.

My GS-Air strobe power supply is model XPAK604X-HR, 60 watt 4 outlet strobe power supply with half speed flash patterns. It has two selectable output levels, high and low. I run mine on high. I bought mine a year or so ago and this power supply was a new model and replaced the previous one. The older model may consume more or less current than mine.

Using the "bar graph" function on my Fluke 87 meter, the current draw fluctuated from zero to maybe 10 or so amps (I couldn't really tell), but spent most of it's time between 5.5 and 6.5 amps. The bar graph function on the display more or less duplicates an analog meter's response rate.

I had intended to use a cheap ($5 from Harbor Freight) analog meter, but it could only measure up to 0.5 amp. Lucky for me, I read the meter's instructions first and didn't blow the meter's fuse!

By the way, I'm really happy with these strobe light/position light combination units. They use LEDs for the position lights (green or red forward, white aft) and are cheaper and appear more aerodynamic than the Whelens. The GS-Air website has a 15 page document that explains how they meet the FAA requirement, in case you happen to get a grouchy inspector when it comes time to sign off your airplane.

Regards,
Dennis Johnson
Lancair Legacy, now flying


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CBarber(at)TexasAttorney.
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:24 pm    Post subject: GS-Air Strobe Current 6 Amps Reply with quote
Dennis,

Not meaning to be a complete bonehead, but where on the GS-Air site is the 15 page paper you refer to. I poked around and could not find it. Their site has always been rudimentary and the only thing I saw was ferference to meeting FAR Part 23, but no link to a paper. I have had my lights from them for a couple of years and installed them to my Velocity Build a few months ago, however, even though I have faith in the product, I would like to have documentaion to show a DAR now that I am getting somewhat closer to actually flying. TIA.

All the best,

Chris Barber
Houston, Texas
www.LoneStarVelocity.com

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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 8:48 am    Post subject: GS-Air Strobe Current 6 Amps Reply with quote
From: owner-aeroelectric-list-server(at)matronics.com
[mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Dennis
Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 6:55 PM
To: aeroelectric-list(at)matronics.com
Subject: GS-Air Strobe Current 6 Amps
Last week, a reader asked about sizing the fuse and wires for a GS-Air
strobe light power supply. The GS-Air strobe light is part of a wingtip
position and strobe light unit. The position lights are LEDs and the
strobe lights are conventional strobes. The strobes are powered by a
single, remote power supply. For more info:

www.gs-air.com
I replied that I used a 10 amp fuse instead of the 15 amp fuse in the
instruction manual and haven't had a problem in my first 50 hours of
flight. Bob asked me to measure the actual current draw, which I did today.

My GS-Air strobe power supply is model XPAK604X-HR, 60 watt 4 outlet strobe
power supply with half speed flash patterns. It has two selectable output
levels, high and low. I run mine on high. I bought mine a year or so ago
and this power supply was a new model and replaced the previous one. The
older model may consume more or less current than mine.

Using the "bar graph" function on my Fluke 87 meter, the current draw
fluctuated from zero to maybe 10 or so amps (I couldn't really tell), but
spent most of it's time between 5.5 and 6.5 amps. The bar graph function
on the display more or less duplicates an analog meter's response rate.

I had intended to use a cheap ($5 from Harbor Freight) analog meter, but it
could only measure up to 0.5 amp. Lucky for me, I read the meter's
instructions first and didn't blow the meter's fuse!

Dennis,

Thanks for going after this data for us and sharing it.
What you've observed is typical of many accessories
with cyclical power demands. In order to do a realistic
load analysis on some accessories, I've had to take it
to the bench and measure the current waveform for piecemeal
integration of the RMS or real-power current. But the
data that you've gathered confirms the validity of sizing
power to this system at 10A/16AWG.

My software guru is fiddling with one of the PIC
microcontrolers having a multi-channel, 10-bit
a/d converter on it with a USB engine. We're toying
with the idea of offering a low cost, data-acquisition
accessory to run with a lap top that would facilitate
the capture of cyclical data right off customer's
airplanes for remote analysis. Like our old friend
Lord Kelvin suggested, until you can measure something
for discussion by the numbers, you scarcely know anything
about it!

Bob . . .

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