Xenon strobe beacons are starting to become more energy efficient by using LEDโs rather than a gas filled xenon tube. However the gas filled tube style are still very much available and on the market.
Gas-filled xenon beacons work by storing energy in a capacitor, which then discharges through a low-pressure xenon gas, producing a brief burst of high intensity white light.
What produces a flash?
A traditional xenon strobe beacon produces its flash in 5 steps:
1. The energy storage capacitor connected across the flash tube is charged from the power supply to a voltage.
2. The flash tube should typically remain non-conductive even when the capacitor is fully charged and therefore does not flash.
3. A separate small capacitor is charged from the same power supply to generate a trigger pulse.
4. The pulse generated by this trigger is enough to ionize the xenon gas inside the flash tube.
5.ย ย ย ย ย The ionised xenon gas suddenly becomes low resistance and allows the energy stored on the capacitor to discharge through the flash tube, resulting in a short duration, brilliant white light.
What limits their flash rate?
A typical flash duration is from a few milliseconds down to a fraction of a millisecond. For a typical xenon strobe beacon, the trigger circuit includes timing components to generate a repetitive pulse at say, once every second, such that the beacon produces a string of flashes 60 times a minute. Strobes handle slower flash rates easily, but flashing faster has limits โ the typical maximum flash rate is 4 flashes per second plus it takes a finite amount of time to charge up the flash capacitor to its maximum voltage. Therefore, most xenon strobe beacons have a maximum flash rate of 3 flashes per second.
The xenon strobe beacon’s flash tube consists of toughened glass with electrodes sealed-in at each end. Various shapes are available such as U or linear. As these flash tubes handle high power density, they must be made of high-temperature resistant materials. Most also include a capacitive trigger electrode โ a wire wrapped around the tube of a silver conductive coating on the outside of the glass).
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