Strobes Choices

[chrisatpsu]

spray with clear aerosol liquid tape?

[tbone321]

You need to watch out for that stuff.  It also acts as a thermal insulator so you need to make sure that it doesn't overheat the unit.

[t.jo13]

After much research, I found some strobes from ChristmasLightShow.Com. they cost a little more than most, but they are very,good.We had a few good rain storms, and had no failures. I bought mostly xenon strobes , ( there are 2 different speed options for flashing)and  a couple of their led strobes. I used the led strobes next to the xenon ones , and you could really could not tell the difference. CLS led strobes are bright!!!!  the cool part that I found with the CLS strobes, Is that you can use  krylon metal x paint and paint them (3 or 4 light coats ) with no washout.

[Gary]

I just wish I had a store in town that I could look at strobes up close and buy them... plus they're easy to return if they suck!

[taybrynn]

CLS strobes are the one ones that I know for a fact to be great.

Most reviews from others are less than stellar.  I don't see that there is a lot to shop around for just yet, unless you think the slower blinking or less bright varieties would appeal to you.  Also, some may have 4-5 second delays to start up ... which totally defeats the purpose of strobes, if you need a warm-up period to use them.

[meman]

I just wish I had a store in town that I could look at strobes up close and buy them... plus they're easy to return if they suck!

I agree...if it weren't for the shipping hit, I'd just order a couple of samples from every vendor.  About the best I could do was watch videos of other folks shows that had commented on their strobes in this and other forums.  For now, I swear by the CLS Xenons (3G also sells what looks and performs like the exact same light).

Here's what 22 Xenons stuck in 4" high PVC risers look like. For the accents in the beginning of the song, you can see I get most all of them to flash one cycle with full power on for 150 milliseconds.

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Mike E.

[Gary]

I just wish I had a store in town that I could look at strobes up close and buy them... plus they're easy to return if they suck!

I agree...if it weren't for the shipping hit, I'd just order a couple of samples from every vendor.  About the best I could do was watch videos of other folks shows that had commented on their strobes in this and other forums.  For now, I swear by the CLS Xenons (3G also sells what looks and performs like the exact same light).

Here's what 22 Xenons stuck in 4" high PVC risers look like. For the accents in the beginning of the song, you can see I get most all of them to flash one cycle with full power on for 150 milliseconds.

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Mike E.

I'm a bit hesitant to buy the CLS stuff as BryanV in my town bought a bunch last year from 3G (which look just like the CLS ones) and hasn't been too impressed with the quality. I borrowed his to try around my yard one evening to see how they look and how many I would need, and I wasn't impressed by them either; the threaded bases were detaching from the plastic base.

As for your video, do you mean that you applied power to your strobes for only 150 ms, and got that much flashing?

[meman]

I've seen posts about the bases, but never experienced anything like that myself...and my #3Gs are on their second season.
The point I was trying to make with the 150 millisecond comment is that I can get them to pop quickly, without any need for pre-charging, etc that you read about on other forums. In the beginning verses of the song when it goes Jingle Bell-Jingle Bell- Jingle Bell-ROCK, you can see them all pop one time in sync with ROCK (150mil). 

[sebjsan]

Gary, I posted a video comparison of some Xenon vs. LEDs that I have. As taybrynn stated, the LEDs are getting better, but just don't seem to be quite there yet. The LED Strobe from CDI is on the right at the start of the  video.

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I do notice that the LEDs in the strobes from CLS are mounted higher in the lens housing. These look much more promising and I'm probably going to get a couple to see how much side light they put out compared to the CDI version. See new style You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Mike E.

Meman have you had a chance to compare the new style type LED's?

[meman]

Meman have you had a chance to compare the new style type LED's?

No, I may buy a couple later this year just to see how they perform. Too much other stuff going on now.