Getting shocked???

[stltreedr]

I finally got around to replacing the broken and missing amber strobe lights on my bucket truck. There was one on the back that had been broken out by the chipper chute- the other on the back was OK, and had worked previously. The two on the front have never been there since I've owned the truck.

We replaced the broken one one on the back, flipped the switch, but neither worked.

Tested the switch with a 12V test light- all good.

I tested the wire to the missing front to see if it was hot.. Here's where it gets weird.. It immedately blew the bulb in the test light. then, before I realized what happened.. It shocked the living **** out of me....HMMM... I went and got the meter to test voltage. It was erratic, but between 159 - 189V DC!

I tested the voltage on the wiring in the rear... After shocking me again, it tested the same as the front.. Is there some kind of step-up transformer for these strobes? Where do you buy the higher voltage lights?

 

[2treeornot2tree]

If they are true strobe bulbs they will shock the **** out if you. There is probably a power pack somewhere in the cab of 5 he truck that powers them. You have to wait like 5 minutes even after turning the power off for the coil to declare before working on them. Pictures would help.

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[stltreedr]

thanks 2tree- thats the same answer that I got from another guy I talked to. It got me thinking that there was a "mystery box" bolted behind the seat. I still don't know where I can get the high voltage strobes. I will try to take a pic and post it. Also, I was thinking that maybe I can just eliminate the capacitor/ transformer thing and hook it up with the 12V lights I've already bought.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Stobe bulbs use three wires instead of the normal ground and hot. You can buy strobes from most fire / ems stores and even some trailer places. Galls.com would sell what your looking for but they are more expensive then some other places. Post a pic of the bulb if you can

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[stltreedr]

here is a pic of the only remaining original light. They are a ***** to get out of the rubber mount, so I didn't. It is a 3 wire setup, but i don't know why I couldn't use only 2 of them and leave the other 1 free.