I've seen those strobe devices that flash when a fire alarm is triggered, and i've wondered is there a central power source that pulses those things or is power simply applied and they strobe on their own.
anybody know, i'm just curious.
I would presume they're powered the same way siren units without strobes are powered.
Bill:
Strobe units wired into a fire-alarm system are regulated to "pulse" by a central control unit... Otherwise 'random' strobe light activation (caused by unsynchronized "strobing on their own") could cause people who suffer from eplipelsy to suffer a seizure... Often such stobes are wired into circuits that flash alternately but at regulated rate...
The intersting thing about many of the more advanced modern fire-alarm systems is that they don't have "siren" units, nor vibrating horns... Many systems today employ the use of speakers mounted in the fixture with the strobe unit that can be programmed to make whatever sounds or tones that are desired... They are driven by audio amplifiers tucked away in within the fire sub-panel boxes... In addition to being flexible in what alert tones/sounds the system can make, they also often employ the use of "pre-recoreded evacuation messages" that will play over the speaker units just prior to the alarm tones sounding after the strobes begin to flash...
Evan, ~~formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...
that's what i figured, cause it always seems the lights fire in unison.
that means that if you had the light only you'd still need the control box to make it work I guess.
Strobes can operate independantly from a control unit. They work on a charging circuit that will "fire" or strobe when the charging is complete.
From what you are saying they all strobe at the identical time. This would indicate a smart strobe (like a camera flash) that is charged and awaiting a pulse from a control unit....
Electronics shops can send you strobes that all then need is power (normally
12v DC) applied and they will strobe away.Jim Australia.
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