Warn Industries 1978 24v Strobe

[JohnMarcson]

It is my next trouble shooting project, it might just need a fuse and some connections looked at. Warn is still a brand, mostly selling off road truck stuff. I wonder if this was a rebrand? Warn-a-strobe shows a registered trademark symbol so maybe it was their product.

 

[RS485]

This post says FedSig acquired them...but the basic format looks like this TargetTech (mfg in '01):

 

[JohnMarcson]

This post says FedSig acquired them...but the basic format looks like this TargetTech (mfg in '01):

View attachment 240865

Good eye. It does look very similar, essentially identical.

Here is a newer one pre Federal from the 1980s

 

[RS485]

I think I may have found a missing link
- Mfg ~'86
- Labeled made by TargetTech...Kent, WA (same as yours)
- No mention of FedSig
- contains trademarked "Warn-A-Lite"
- Board layout seems evolutionary
Image to the far right is a '99 model...very little seems to have changed in the PCB for 13 years.

 

[JohnMarcson]

Interesting. I always considered target tech to be the Austin of Federal Signal, but I'm not sure that holds up 100% except for being strobe oriented and amber market. This really shows the evolutions between the original, the target tech cross over and the final target tech one. Thanks for showing this.

Also, I think the bulb changed a few times if I remember these lights right. The Warn ones used the "commander style" bulbs while I believe the later ones used smaller bulbs.

 

[RS485]

These all look like they have the trigger transformer built in (PCB, right underneath the octal socket) so I'd expect the bulb should be like the "Edwards" you posted here.

I wouldn't think the "commander style" flashtube is intended here as it has its own trigger transformer built-in to the base -- but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm hoping to get one to tinker with next week -- N.O.S. 36Volt made in '79

 

[JohnMarcson]

These all look like they have the trigger transformer built in (PCB, right underneath the octal socket) so I'd expect the bulb should be like the "Edwards" you posted here.

I wouldn't think the "commander style" flashtube is intended here as it has its own trigger transformer built-in to the base -- but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm hoping to get one to tinker with next week -- N.O.S. 36Volt made in '79

Based on the overall light design (I didn't have a specific a reason/understanding as you ) and the way the underside was soldered in I was expecting to see the Edwards style bulb when I pulled the dome (a very similar no name strobe is where I pulled my Edwards style bulb), but this one had a commander style bulb literally frozen into the socket and required some very careful screwdriver work going around the base many times to free it. Not sure if that was an aftermarket replacement that just had a very long tenure in that socket or if it was designed that way.

 

[kitn1mcc]

Warn makes some great locking hubs for front axels

 

[RS485]

FWIW, I got a couple of samples to work with.
I removed the material in the flash-tube to reveal no trigger transformer:

The wire goes right straight from the socket pin up to the the outer wrapping of the tube.
It might not look like the "Edwards" style FTs...and maybe the pin-outs are different...but in neither case is there any trigger transformer.

I tried using Whelen's S406 and Universal FT -- neither worked -- and the PS hissed at me for even trying (suggesting the PS detects over-voltage and briefly disables the inverter).

I don't grok the PS design yet...very different from Whelen and Lectric Lites (of the same era).
Any luck on your end, John?

 

[JohnMarcson]

FWIW, I got a couple of samples to work with.
I removed the material in the flash-tube to reveal no trigger transformer:
View attachment 241079
The wire goes right straight from the socket pin up to the the outer wrapping of the tube.
It might not look like the "Edwards" style FTs...and maybe the pin-outs are different...but in neither case is there any trigger transformer.

I tried using Whelen's S406 and Universal FT -- neither worked -- and the PS hissed at me for even trying (suggesting the PS detects over-voltage and briefly disables the inverter).

I don't grok the PS design yet...very different from Whelen and Lectric Lites (of the same era).
Any luck on your end, John?

It took me a while to test it, but it just hisses. I need to make sure I don't have the wrong bulb in it. It was sold as not working "thought it was just a bulb but it wasn't" which leads me to think they swapped the bulb with the wrong one. I will need to see what I have lying around.

 

[RS485]

I think the wrong bulb is in mine, it is hissing and doing nothing else. I'm pretty sure it's the wrong bulb.

It could also be that its the right bulb...but its dead/no good. The "hissing" would theorectically be the same.

PLUS: the fact that its hissing is a great sign!

 

[JohnMarcson]

It could also be that its the right bulb...but its dead/no good. The "hissing" would theorectically be the same.

PLUS: the fact that its hissing is a great sign!

I guess either way I need to make sure I find the right bulb to keep testing. Between the bulb drawer and other beacons I'm sure I have sonmething.

 

[RS485]

Do you hear a periodic "tick"? If I remove the FT from the known working unit, I can hear the tick of it trying to flash...accompanied by the over-voltage detection kicking in (after just a few seconds).

If you _don't_ hear a tick...then there may be a prob with the timing circuit. WARN's timing circuit is quite novel to me. Its seems to be hung entirely off the high-voltage side of the circuit. I haven't seen that before:

Other than GND, the timing circuitry shares nothing from the front-side.

 

[JohnMarcson]

With the incorrect Whelen bulb inserted it was just hissing. With the wrong bulb removed I hear the tick. With the bulb pictured below installed I can hear the tick AND and an attempted charge up each time. I'm not getting high voltage at the capacitor. I assume the capacitor is bad, I'm getting 85 volts maybe max.

 

[RS485]

85V isn't going to flash. This could be just a case of needing to reform the cap.
If you measure increasing V on the cap, then keep the process going...you're reforming the cap!
If not, the good news is that 100uf/450VDC caps are still easy to come by.

 

[JohnMarcson]

85V isn't going to flash. This could be just a case of needing to reform the cap.
If you measure increasing V on the cap, then keep the process going...you're reforming the cap!
If not, the good news is that 100uf/450VDC caps are still easy to come by.

That's what I figured, everything seems to be present except the voltage needed to flash. The wrong bulb being installed was kind of a red herring. I'm going to play with that some more tomorrow. I was successful at reforming capacitors on other strobes, I will keep at it and replace it if there is no change.

 

[JohnMarcson]

Here are a 1986 and 1989 dual label target tech / warn pair of slightly different model lights.

 

[RS485]

Seems very little changed in the board design between ~85 and ~90 -- here's one I have:


I also got one from ~80 in need of some repair:

Someone had already tried to repair the burnt PCB traces (black and white wire above) but missed:
- D44H11 power transistor had a chunk blown out of it
- High Voltage diode was no good
- primary cap was shorted

How did your (top-of-this-thread) Warn-a-lite turn out?

 

[JohnMarcson]

Seems very little changed in the board design between ~85 and ~90 -- here's one I have:
View attachment 241876

I also got one from ~80 in need of some repair:
View attachment 241878
Someone had already tried to repair the burnt PCB traces (black and white wire above) but missed:
- D44H11 power transistor had a chunk blown out of it
- High Voltage diode was no good
- primary cap was shorted

How did your (top-of-this-thread) Warn-a-lite turn out?

I haven't had time to touch my other non-Whelen projects in a few days. We had some weather and I was stuck at work and doing other stuff at home. I will update when I get back to tinkering though.

I would agree that besides the bulb there weren;t a lot of changes from model to model. I think the bulb got worse IMHO

 

[JohnMarcson]

I have mine working. It needed a few connections repaired and a bulb. Here is a stand-in bulb.

 

[RS485]

I have mine working. It needed a few connections repaired and a bulb. Here is a stand-in bulb.

Nice! Congrats!
Flashtube is part #210590 - I don't think its terribly special - any tube in an octal socket pinned out to match the socket, and that _does not_ have a built in trigger should work.

 

[JohnMarcson]

Nice! Congrats!
Flashtube is part #210590 - I don't think its terribly special - any tube in an octal socket pinned out to match the socket, and that _does not_ have a built in trigger should work.

Yeah I found one for $8, no trigger pinned the same it was an edwards I think. The stupid light had a bad solder joint under the capacitor that was intermitient because of the weight of the capacitor pressing on it. I found it by pulling on stuff until the windup noise quit. Then the bad bulb made testing tougher until I found a non-trigger bulb.

I am going to have one more go at my Gen 1 Edge supply before it heads your way. I am gaining a little more confidence and starting to become conditioned to like 300vdc shocks.

 

[RS485]

With the utmost respect, I bid you no luck trying to get the Gen1 going

 

[JohnMarcson]

With the utmost respect, I bid you no luck trying to get the Gen1 going

With the utmost honesty, it looks like it may be beyond my skill level. I'm doing the equivalent of checking of it's plugged in or has a blown fuse etc. You will likely see it shortly.