Mikeymatic

So far I have repaired a couple dozen of these units of the type that you see in my photos and have almost always had to replace both the xenon flash tube and the trigger coil. Many electronics suppliers sell them as sets. Also in many commercial strobe units, like those used in emergency vehicles, both the xenon flashtube and trigger coil come factory assembled and sealed as a replaceable module with a three pin connector. Living in northern Canada, I get mine from ABRA electronics in Montreal to save on postage, customs and brokerage fees. ABRA also have a branch in the U.S. that accepts online orders: www.abra-electronics.com The xenon flash tube is part # 361-4425 and the trigger coil is # 422-1304 (They also sell cool stuff like Miniature LED printed circuit Christmas tree kits and Ramsay FM transmitters and kits.) Both the tube and coil are slightly larger and beefier than the originals that came with the curtain strobe and should give you a much longer lifespan. It also seemed that they flash a little bit brighter. Very rarely have I seen any other components fail in these units. If the tube is darkened and the unit still flashes erratically or once in a while the trigger coil may still be good. If you connect the power to the unit while it is disassembled (be careful!) you can see the small glass neon bulb under the circuit board flashing. This means that the coil energizing circuit is working, and if you do not hear a "ticking" sound corresponding to the flashing neon light it normally tells you that the coil is bad.