I just bought a set of cheap strobe lights from work. I wanted to see how they would look before I installed. So I hooked them up to my ac-dc convertor. All went fine for about 3 seconds and then click. The little black control box for the strobes went dead and smelled of burnt electronics. Why this happened I am not for sure the convertor is set with a 3.8amp circuit breaker which shouldn't blow the srobes but I guess it did (maybe the strobes take very little power). Oh, well just another defective return at work tomorrow.
Anyways I was wondering if any of you guys have found some good ones? I would like to know what brand you have and where you got them. I was thinking if possible I would like to have the possibility of adding up to 6 strobes but only have one control box. Thanks for any help.

 

Someone must have a comment or experience.

 

i've been trying to remember the link for you and well i finally did.

the address is www.galls.com

it is a mail order catalog for law enforcement, they have some cool stuff but usually you are going to pay for it though

 

Strobes look awesome...just thought I'd say that before I tell you that cops don't like them. If you decide to get them don't even consider turning them on within sight of a road or parking lot. You never know when one of the boys in blue will be driving by. This is something that many of them love giving a ticket for, a nice $120 ticket in my friends case, but he has a rice burner and I think if he's gonna waste the money on a neon he deserves to give it to the government. Might pay for all the speed bumps they have to repaint we he leaves part of his $2000 paint job on them.

 

in texas as long as you do not change the color of the lenses the strobes are considered to be alternative emergency flashers, so there is a little bit of play in the law

 

KY,

I wouldn't think that the problem would be with the converter. When it gives you an amperage rating, that means what it is capable of putting out.

The strobe controller will draw from the converter, and the converter will only put out what it needs. As long as the voltage is right, there shouldn't be a problem. If the strobes were pulling too much current, the fuse in the converter would blow.

Maybe there was something defective in the controller.....?

 

jleinweber
I was thinking along the same lines. The stobes should only pull the need voltage/amperage (sorry not an electronis expert). I suspect it was just very poor quality.
Just so you guys know not to buy these they were Pilot brand strobes and were only about 12. You get what you pay for, the cheapest set you can find even in JCwhitney is 80 for Streetglow brand. It was not a big deal as I wanted to test them out before I started hacking on the truck to put them in, good thing I did.
As for the laws I would suspect this being Kentucky it would probably be a lot like TX and could be used as alternate flashers. I had already planned to be very careful when and where I would turn them on. Which would probably just be around home or at a friends house. My best friends dad down the road is the county sheriff, so I'll ask him about the laws. I would like to join the volunteer fire dept, so maybe I could actually put them to a good use if I get another set. Thanks

 

If you want the best strobes money can buy...you may want to look at the Whelen's..there the same as the onces in most police cars.

 

I agree, looks at Gall's, and on Whelen....I have a Whelen strobe bar on my "2nd" car, my 2000 Crown Vic Police Interceptor take home car. The new strobes light bars are super!!!! The only drawback with them is they are power hogs. But with the beefed up electrical system we have, the extra light is much safer.
But if you add 2 or 4 hideaways you'll be fine. Like they said, DO NOT use them on the street and DO NOT make them red or blue. Here in FL you're asking for trouble if one of us catches you. As long as someone isn't using them to fool someone, I could care less. It all is common sense, like verything else, think first. Strobes are a bit pricey though and you get what you pay for.

 

Dang, I wouldn't think you would need a beefed up electrical system just for stobes. Anyone know the wattage or amperage on a decent set of stobes (ie: Streetglow headlight stobes). I am not looking for the very best just something that lasts for more than 3 seconds like the chepies I bought first. I appreicate all the warnings about turning them on while on the road which I plan to never do. I am planning on getting blue but I am getting these just to have something else to play with and turn on when I am sitting at homewith friends never on the road I have more sense than that no matter what color or how bright they are.

 

but I'm not.

I would get some clear whelen hide-a-way strobe heads and put two in front turn signals and two in rear back up lights. This will give you something very bright and most likely legal. This is also the two brightest colors (clear, amber, red, blue - as far as strobes go.)

As for the power draw...a hide-a-way strobe heads takes 1/4 of the juice it takes to light up your turn signal. So with four strobes and a power pack you will be more than fine.

As for cost...if you go with the lightheads and power pak (60-90watt four outlet, you will probably be looking at least $200.

I would not buy fron GALLS, they are about the highest priced retailer there is. Do a search for used strobe lights. You should be able to pick some up from a vollie somewhere.

Of course, LED's are the wave now, they are awesome, no power draw but EXPENSIVE!!!

 

Our unmarked cars have the hideaways in the turn signals. They have a MUCH lower power draw than the full overhead bar. The overhead bars have high draw because you are talking about 10 or so strobes, 2 take down lights, 2 flashing/alley lights, and 2 amber lights in the rear. But the strobe bars aren't as bad as the Federal Vector bars on our 98 Crown Vics.
For a fun project, I would go with the hideaways in the turn signals also. It is an easy install with a hole saw and basic electrical knowledge.