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Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

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andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 7:43 am Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Good morning, everyone.

The last time I had my B&C flasher hooked up, I thought it was a little

fast. I did some experimentation over the weekend, and I thought I would

share my results.



A post on the this list last week made me think it would be much easier to

fix than I thought. Vern: "My fix was to open up the wig-wag flasher and

replace the electrolytic capacitor with a larger value, slowing the flash

rate down."

After eagerly writing Vern back, he elaborated, "You should only find one

capacitor.  It's a metal can with a plastic case.  Try doubling the

capacitance (in microfarads).  It's not critical.



You can just pry open the bottom to release the tabs and slide the cover

off."



Sweet. I went outside and got to work.



http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-007-large.jpg



The cover was surprisingly easy to pry off.

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-008-large.jpg

There's the capacitor, on the upper left. Let's see, this is a 4.7 µF

capacitor.

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-009-large.jpg

I'll go by a 10µF and 20µF to try out.

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-013-large.jpg

 I fired up my (new, because I polished the old one's tip for devinyling

help) soldering gun and heated up the solder on the back of the board enough

to pull the old capacitor out.



http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-014-large.jpg

Sweet. That was easier than I thought it would be.



Here's the 10µF capacitor installed.

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-015-large.jpg



http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-016-large.jpg



Not great, but not terrible either. (My first REAL soldering.)



So, I put the thing back together and fired it up.



This is the fast version, from my previous post with the 4.7 uF capacitor..

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retasker(at)optonline.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:03 am Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Depending on exactly where this is mounted, you might want to use a glob 

of RTV to stabilize the capacitor against vibration.  I am surprised 

that they didn't use any on the original, although if this is a car 

flasher, I suppose they assumed it would be mounted in a low vibration 

environment under the dash.



Dick Tasker



P.S. Your soldering looks fine!



Andrew Zachar wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 Good morning, everyone.

 The last time I had my B&C flasher hooked up, I thought it was a 

 little fast. I did some experimentation over the weekend, and I 

 thought I would share my results.



 A post on the this list last week made me think it would be much 

 easier to fix than I thought. Vern: "My fix was to open up the wig-wag 

 flasher and replace the electrolytic capacitor with a larger value, 

 slowing the flash rate down."

 After eagerly writing Vern back, he elaborated, "You should only find 

 one capacitor. It's a metal can with a plastic case. Try doubling the 

 capacitance (in microfarads). It's not critical.



 You can just pry open the bottom to release the tabs and slide the 

 cover off."



 Sweet. I went outside and got to work.



 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-007-large.jpg



 The cover was surprisingly easy to pry off.

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-008-large.jpg

 There's the capacitor, on the upper left. Let's see, this is a 4.7 µF 

 capacitor.

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-009-large.jpg

 I'll go by a 10µF and 20µF to try out.

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-013-large.jpg

 I fired up my (new, because I polished the old one's tip for 

 devinyling help) soldering gun and heated up the solder on the back of 

 the board enough to pull the old capacitor out.



 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-014-large.jpg

 Sweet. That was easier than I thought it would be.



 Here's the 10µF capacitor installed.

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-015-large.jpg



 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-016-large.jpg



 Not great, but not terrible either. (My first REAL soldering.)



 So, I put the thing back together and fired it up.



 This is the fast version, from my previous post with the 4.7 uF 

 capacitor...



 http://videos.videopress.com/h02JJyop/20101020_hd.mp4



 And with the 10 uF capacitor...



 http://videos.videopress.com/kxRChhjU/20101107-002_hd.mp4



 I used an online "beat-tapper" (http://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm) to 

 calculate the old flash rate (85 Hz, from light 1 on to light 1 on 

 again) and the new flash rate (45 Hz).

 I like 45 Hz. I'm thinking I might try the 20µF version, just to see 

 how slow it is. But, I'm calling this a huge success. (Thanks Vern, 

 for showing me how easy this would be.)

 (I'm giving up on the flashing of the 4 MR16 HIDs in the wingtip. I 

 think I'm going to use steady HID leading edge landing lights, and 

 flash my taxi lights (which may still end up in the wingtips.))



 -- 

 Andrew Zachar

 andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com <mailto:andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com>

 *



 *

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sprocket(at)vx-aviation.c
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 12:49 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Wow, Andrew, what a great tutorial!  If you  have a website, you should publish this.  If not, let me know and I can put  it up on my site.

  

 Vern

  



  From: Andrew Zachar (andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com) 

 Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 7:38 AM

 To: aeroelectric-list(at)matronics.com (aeroelectric-list(at)matronics.com)  

 Subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag  Flasher.

 



 

Good morning, everyone. 



 

The last time I had my B&C flasher hooked up, I thought  it was a little fast. I did some experimentation over the weekend, and I thought  I would share my results. 

  

A post on the this list last week made me think it would be  much easier to fix than I thought. Vern: "My fix was to open up the wig-wag  flasher and replace the electrolytic capacitor with a larger value, slowing the  flash rate down." 



 

After eagerly writing Vern back, he elaborated, "You should  only find one capacitor.  It's a metal can with a plastic  case.  Try doubling the capacitance (in  microfarads).  It's not critical. 

 

You can just pry open the bottom to release the tabs and  slide the cover off." 

  

Sweet. I went outside and got to work. 

  

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-007-large.jpg 

  

The cover was surprisingly easy to pry off. 



 

 http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-008-large.jpg 



 

There's the capacitor, on the upper left. Let's see,  this is a 4.7 µF capacitor.  



 

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-009-large.jpg 



 

I'll go by a 10µF and 20µF to try out. 

 



 

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-013-large.jpg 



 

I fired up my (new, because I polished the old  one's tip for devinyling help) soldering gun and heated up the solder on the  back of the board enough to pull the old capacitor out. 

  

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-014-large.jpg  



 

Sweet. That was easier than I thought it would be. 

  

Here's the 10µF capacitor installed. 



 

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-015-large.jpg 

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/20101107-016-large.jpg 

  

Not great, but not terrible either. (My first REAL  soldering.) 

So, I put the thing back together and fired it up. 

  

This is the fast version, from my previous post with the 4.7  uF capacitor...http://videos.videopress.com/h02JJyop/20101020_hd.mp4

 

And with the 10 uF capacitor...http://videos.videopress.com/kxRChhjU/20101107-002_hd.mp4

 

  

I used an online "beat-tapper" (http://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm) to calculate the old flash  rate (85 Hz, from light 1 on to light 1 on again) and the new flash rate (45  Hz).  



 

I like 45 Hz. I'm thinking I might try the 20µF version,  just to see how slow it is. But, I'm calling this a huge success. (Thanks Vern,  for showing me how easy this would be.) 



 

(I'm giving up on the flashing of the 4 MR16 HIDs in the  wingtip. I think I'm going to use steady HID leading edge landing lights, and  flash my taxi lights (which may still end up in the wingtips.))-- 

Andrew  Zachar

andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com (andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com)

 	  Quote: 	
		  



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   Release Date:  11/08/10 07:34:00

   [quote][b]

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skywagon

Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 184

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:07 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Andrew,

 Thanks for the fine details and images.  Just wish  that you had not used .mp4 video format as I could not safely figure a way to  view that codex in my Vista windows os...Dave

   

 [quote]   ---

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andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:10 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Woops. Forgot to include the post address.



Here's the post: http://n999za.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/hacking-the-wig-wag-flasher/

 



[/url](General site is: [url=http://n999za.wordpress.com/]http://n999za.wordpress.com/)



 Thanks again, Vern. You were the inspiration for the post.



 	  Quote: 	
		       Wow, Andrew, what a great tutorial!  If you  have a website, you should publish this.  If not, let me know and I can put  it up on my site.

  

 Vern



	




-- 

Andrew Zachar

andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com (andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com)

 

  [quote][b]

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deej(at)deej.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:18 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

On 11/08/2010 04:04 PM, David LLoyd wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   Andrew,

 Thanks for the fine details and images.  Just wish that you had not used

 .mp4 video format as I could not safely figure a way to view that codex

 in my Vista windows os...Dave


	




Hi Dave,

	Try VLC:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/



-Dj



-- 

Dj Merrill - N1JOV

Glastar Sportsman 2+2 Builder #7118 N421DJ - http://deej.net/sportsman/



Please use Netiquette Guidelines http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1855

Kindly TRIM your email replies and post AFTER the relevant text

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andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:28 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

 	  Quote: 	
		   Just wish  that you had not used .mp4 video format as I could not safely figure a way to  view that codex in my Vista windows os...Dave



	


Yeah, I was worried about that. Can you see them at the bottom of my wordpress post through Chrome or IE? (http://n999za.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/hacking-the-wig-wag-flasher/)

 

-- 

Andrew Zachar

andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com (andrew.d.zachar(at)gmail.com)

  [quote][b]

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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:12 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

At 03:06 PM 11/8/2010, you wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		  Woops. Forgot to include the post address.



 Here's the post:  http://n999za.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/hacking-the-wig-wag-flasher/ 



 (General site is: http://n999za.wordpress.com/ )



 Thanks again, Vern. You were the inspiration for the post. 	


    It's MUCH easier to replace the timing resistor. I couldn't

    see the critter well enough to read the resistance but it's

    no doubt the one right next to the base of capacitor.

    Having said that, one might ALSO which to replace the aluminum

    electrolytic with the smaller tantalum. It's more stable and

    less stressful of mounting under vibration. Here's a readily

    available device



  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId 62393



    and it's a 10uf . . . which will double the flash cycle

    period. But for finer tuning . . . fiddle with the

    resistor. A dab of E6000, RTV or similar cement at the

    base of the existing capacitor would go a long way toward

    increasing it's resistance to vibration.



    It's a VERY common production practice to put little

    dabs of support on components with long overhangs. I learned

    this about 1975 when my first article ov relay for Cessna

    got some parts shaken off during qual tests. After about

    three or four similar experiences I learned how to do it.

    Haven't broken a product in vibration qualification in

    30 years.



 

        Bob . . .



         ---------------------------------------

        ( . . .  a long habit of not thinking   )

        ( a thing wrong, gives it a superficial )

        ( appearance of being right . . .       )

        (                                       )

        (                  -Thomas Paine 1776-  )

         ---------------------------------------



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skywagon

Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 184

Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 12:18 pm Post subject: Hacking the B&C Wig Wag Flasher.

Dj,

Thanks for the tip....will try.

D

__________________________________



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