naperville:

LOL. Gotcha!! [Linked Image]

Yeah, the Avalon is a great place. I should be going back there by Xmas for their P.M. checkup.

Generators such as the one in the Avalon would actually be better for the life of the Xenon bulbs, as they have extremely low ripple current. (Xenon bulb electrodes erode rapidly when exposed to ANY type of A.C. or ripple in the D.C. input voltage.)

The only real reason one cannot use a generator for Xenons? (At least for practicality sake.) Generators for carbon arcs do not have a high enough open circuit voltage. (Most only manage around 2 times the running voltage, or about 75-90 volts open circuit.)

Xenon arcs require an open circuit voltage of at least 125-175 volts D.C. and are struck using a high-voltage, high-frequency pulse ignitor. Typical ignitor output pulse is 35-65kV, somewhere in the R.F. band in frequency. The ignitor's H.V. output transformer is driven by a spark gap R/C circuit at about 400 volts A.C.

And I can tell you that the pulse from an ignitor is extremely painful. [Linked Image]

Stay tuned for the outcome of the caper....

Stupid should be painful.