ILS Strobe Lighting Systems
DOC-3400-MNL Rev23.doc
(9/22/2021)
Copyright 2007-2021 ITL, LLC Page 65
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Strobe Light Basics
A simplified strobe light schematic diagram is shown below applicable to any strobe
lighting system. An AC power source is stepped-up by the transformer then rectified and
used to charge the capacitor bank. When the capacitor bank is fully charged, a trigger is
applied to the flash tube. The trigger ionizes the xenon gas in the flash tube which then
becomes conductive and quickly discharges the capacitor bank producing light from the
flash tube.
Three Essentials
A strobe light must have three things present to produce light from the flash tube,
High
Voltage
, a
Trigger pulse
, and a working
Flash Tube
.
Input Power
The input power for the ILS-1400/2400/3400 comes in on TB1 terminal 14 then proceeds
through the interlock switch S1 and fuse F1 to the power transformer primary on T1
terminals 3, 3A, 3C, and 4A.
The Ferro-resonant power transformer T1 provides 500VAC center tapped on terminals
5, 6, and 7. The +/-500VAC goes to the Interlock Relay K2 and is then supplied to the
High Voltage Rectifier board, PCB2 on terminals HVAC1 and HVAC2.
The High Voltage Rectifier board performs full-wave rectification and charges the Day
Capacitor Bank, C2A-E, on ter500VD and -500V and the Night Capacitor, C3, on
te500VN and -500V to 1000VDC between Anode and Cathode.
Figure 63: Strobe Light Simplified Diagram
Trigger
Source
Flash
Tube
Bank
Capacitor
Rectifier
Transformer
Source
Power
Anode (+)
Cathode (-)
