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  1. Photography Xenon Studio Flash Unit

    Photography Xenon Studio Flash Unit

    This is a thread to track and report my progress with my first electronics project, a 200ws high power xenon studio flash strobe. It's a relatively basic circuit, but I am an amateur and no one is ever done learning. I welcome suggestions/feedback!
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    Affirmative :) Hey steve! Great suggestion but I think I'll stick with xenon for the time being. Don't get me wrong, LED arrays are okay for some types of photography, but they're more useful for videography. I'm not familiar with LED arrays at fast strobe rate, but an LED array is a fairly...
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    Right! You did say put it across the mains. I wasn't paying close enough attention. Thanks once again :)
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    OK, for bulb placement. I can't place a 120V bulb ("normal bulb" in Canada) on the DC side as we're dealing with 340VDC peak. I doubt I can place it after the transformer, either, for that's 240VAC. Would I therefore have to place it in series, ahead/before the transformer on the hot mains line?
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    OK. I'll make use of standard 75W bulb for testing purposes until I'm sure the charging circuit isn't an issue. It'll be too big for the end product, but it'll be a great help for testing. Thanks!
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    Thanks for the kinds words! I'm excited. I'm having difficulties triggering it right now, but it's pretty well assembled as it is. I'm picking up fresh parts tomorrow morning to try and finish the testing tomorrow. That's a good and interesting point. Any specific recommendation for bulbs...
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    Sounds good to me. Thanks again! I'll be picking the parts up in the morning and trying again. Should know by tomorrow evening (Toronto time).
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    I'd be interested in hearing the pros/cons of this
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    Hi guys, It's been a couple days since your very helpful replies, and I wanted to give you an update. Kris, I've gone ahead and implemented the changes in your schematic and replies. Also, I have a 4A fuse protecting the circuit at the power supply that I neglected to include in my...
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    Also, I'm willing to try other ways of triggering the flash. If you can think of a better way, please suggest it.
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    Help Needed with SCR and Optocoupler

    Hi! I have a project with a high voltage side (340VDC) and a low voltage side (5VDC). It's a high powered xenon flash with a low voltage trigger circuit. I'm trying to use a 5VDC (currently just controlled by a momentary switch, ultimately will be from camera hotshoe adapter) to close the...
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    router wrong power supply help

    A picture of the board would help.
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    Replacing Broken Cord

    Yes, that would do it. You manually connected live wires to a completed circuit (trigger depressed): not unlike arc welding. Again, the order of which you do things makes a difference: First unplug everything. Then repair the wire. Then plug to mains. Circuit is not complete til trigger is...
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    Replacing Broken Cord

    Woodman, are you sure the stranded conductors didn't fray and possibly touch one another? As mentioned, this sounds like a short, either within the saw or within the new or old power cable. Also, what Harald means by "I assume this is a mains operated machine, right? Mains is AC, so "polarity"...
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    OK guys, Based on all the feedback and suggestions here, and some research, this attached circuit is what I've come up with so far. I've also created a project page for myself to track progress and share it with others. Please give me your feedback if you have any. I'd really like to hear...
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    A chart showing comparable flashtubes (200ws) requiring 2000uF capacitance for full discharge.
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    Here are the images reflecting flash output at varying voltages and power levels, and also shows how an IGBT can be used to shorten "full power" flash.
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    This is very handy! The flash is salvaged from another photographic studio flash unit, and rated at 200ws. Specifications state full power flash is 1/300s, 1/64 power flash duration is1/9,500s. Am I right with these calculations: 200 watts per second = 200 j (1 second) If you cram 200J into...
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    Hi Duke, You make a good point and it's one I've considered. The flash tube is rated to 200 joules, but I'll almost never be using it at that capacity. It's far too bright. More often that not, I'll be using it at somewhere between 1/6th and 1/3 power. To do this, I'll be dividing the...
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    Increasing Line 120VAC to 340VDC

    I'm considering a 19V 3.5A laptop power supply, because it's affordable, available, usable internationally, and it's common. Bonus points for size/weight as it can be used externally. Thoughts on this power type of supply for this project?
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