1. Q:  I’m building a home built aircraft and want to know what lights I need?

A:  Legally you do not need any lights to fly from sunrise to sunset, however, if you want to fly during the period known as “Civil Twilight” (1/2 hour before sunrise & ½ hour after sunset), you will need the following.

(a)  For an ultralight operating under FAR 103; an anti collision strobe light that is visible for 3 stature miles.

(b)  For an “N numbered aircraft”, covered under FAR 91.209; lighted position lights and an anti collision light system that meet other FAA regulations.

2. Q:  I currently have a Kuntzleman Dual Magnum strobe system on my plane can I upgrade to the COMBO heads?

A:  Yes, the strobe driver will fire any of our Magnum strobe heads.  The LED position lights part of the Combo heads uses 12 volts of DC power and is not connected to the strobe driver box.

3. Q:  Do your lights meet the FAA requirements? 

A:  Yes, the Magnum & Combo systems meet the requirements in FAR 23.1391, 1393, 1395, 1397, and 1401.  The SC103 meet FAR103.

4. Q:  What electrical power source do I need for your lights?

A:  All of our systems can be powered by 12/14 volts DC.  The SMART STROBE drivers can also be powered by an AC/DC of 12 to 100 volts.

5. Q:  What is the “HOT BOX” and how will it help my building process?

A:  The Hot Box is a self-contained primary wiring system.  It has everything needed to connect your starter and lighting coil equipped engine electrically with the rest of the aircraft. It will not only simplify the wiring process, but will aid in trouble shooting down the road.

     6.   Q:   I am shopping for an LED landing light and see that some manufactures rate theirs in “LUMENS”, what are lumens?  

A:  Lumens or lumens per watt is a rating of an LED given by the led manufacture.  It is usually determined at the maximum voltage & current allowable under perfect conditions for the led being tested.  When connecting multiple LEDs into an array, such as in a light fixture, it is not accurate to use the sum of the rating for each LED as a brightness figure.    Light angle, style of lens, voltage drop and current across each LED will determine the effective brightness and should be measured in “LUX” or FC (foot candles).  It should be measured at a given distance with a light meter.  I like to use this scenario; Horsepower (Lumens) related to SPEED (Lux or FC) is like a race car and a farm tractor having the same horsepower, but the speed will be quite different. So, when shopping for a landing light, GO FOR SPEED (Lux /FC) readings for comparing.  

MOUNTING KIT FOR COMBO HEADS ON TRIKE WING TIPS.   

 Kuntzleman Electronics is now offering a revised TRIKE wing tip mounting kit for our streamline COMBO strobe and LED position light heads.  Due to the many different configurations of TRIKE wing tips it became necessary for us to make an adapter kit that would work on them.  To meet FAR 23.1391, 1393 and 1395 proper position light angle must be followed.  Because of the swept back angle of the spar on a trike wing, the mounting angle of the head is important.  This new kit (KE part # TRK-MT) will supply the additional parts necessary to go with the Double Dual Magnum Combo strobe system KE part # DDM-SLC).  The kit includes special adapter plates hardware and instructions for mounting to NORTH WING and AIRCREATION wings.

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   Troubleshooting Guide           

    Double Dual Magnum 12vdc, Smart DDM Strobe and the Single Magnum Smart Strobe systems.

1. If the system is a new installation and doesn't work go over the installation instructions to insure everything was done correctly.

2. If the strobes were working and quit. The first thing to check is be sure the driver box is receiving power at a good level, at least 12 volts. Remember, even if you are powering the Smart Strobe model from your AC lighting coil it can be powered by battery for trouble shooting purposes. When using a battery polarity has to be observed (RED is positive and BLACK is negative).

3. If you have a Dual system (two lights) and neither light works plug one light in at a time and if one starts to work and one doesn't there is a short between the red and black (hot to ground) wires on the failed light.

4. If only one light is working, swap the plugs at the driver and if the failed light starts to work the problem is probably in the driver and it should be returned to Kuntzleman Electronics.

5. In step 4, if the light still doesn't work the problem is in the plug, the wire out to that strobe head, the 3 butt splices at the head or the head itself. All lights have been tested before packaging so if this light has never worked and was not damaged in installation, check the pins in the plug. Make sure they are pushed all the way in and locked. If you installed the plugs, did you get good metal to metal connections at the pin? In other words did not crimp the plastic wire coating into the pin.

6. Continuity testing with an Ohm meter can be performed on each wire from end to end. Pin #2 to pin #3 will read some resistance through the trigger coil mounted in the head. No continuity will be measured through the xenon gas tube (pins 1 to 2) there is no filament in the bulb. Be sure the pins are all the way into the nylon plugs and locked in place.

7. Voltage at the head can be checked between the RED pin #1 and BLACK pin #2. BE VERY CAREFUL HIGH VOLTAGE. The voltage should be near 400 VDC.

8. AFTER CHECKING items 2, 6, & 7 a small AM radio can be used as follows. Turn on and tune between two stations. Hold the radio near the strobe driver box. A clicking of the strobe trigger circuit should be heard. If not, then trouble is in the driver box and it should be returned to Kuntzleman Electronics for repair. If it is heard move the radio to near the strobe head, that same clicking will be heard and the problem is the bulb unit. New bulb units are available from Kuntzleman Electronics.

9. If all else fails call Kuntzleman Electronics, Inc. @ 610 326 9068.        Back to Top

Noise Problems            Back to Top

Noise in Radio and/or Intercom

Our strobe driver units are designed with filtering and internal shielding to keep radio interference to a minimum, however occasionally noise will be heard over the radio or intercom. This noise is almost always caused by the way the systems have been installed.

One must remember that noise does not always come from the power that is being supplied to your equipment. Especially if the radio has it's own power source (battery ) and the strobe is powered by the aircraft battery. Installations vary greatly from aircraft to aircraft. Do both systems share the same power source? Is there an external antenna? How close is the antenna, radio, wires, etc. to the strobe driver box and wiring? If both systems are not sharing the same power, then where is the common thread? In most, if not all cases the problem is GROUNDING. The ground path is very, very important. The strobe circuit draws high current through the ground circuit. The radio, intercom, head set and mic circuits use that same ground so it is important that there is NO voltage drop between where all these grounds are connected. In other words lets say the strobe driver is getting negative battery or ground from a bus near the battery that is also grounded to the metal frame of the aircraft. The ground plane for the radio antenna is connected to the aircraft frame further back near the tail and the radios are grounded near the cockpit to a screw in the frame. This array of connections can be a source of noise. The following list is intended to help in eliminating noise.

1. Power for the strobe system should be on the first fuse of the power bus. In other words the closest fuse to the battery. It is also very helpful to run BOTH the POWER and GROUND in a twisted pair all the way from the source to the strobe driver. In other words don’t pick up ground for the strobe near the driver and the hot on a single wire from another location.

2. The strobe driver's metal case should be solidly connected with a ground strap or 16 ga. wire to the aircraft ground system.

3. The audio ground and aircraft ground should be commonly connected only at ONE SINGLE POINT. Ground all the audio equipment; radio, mic, antenna, headphones, intercom, etc. to an "audio ground bus" (16 Ga. or larger wire). Then connect that bus at one end only to the aircraft central grounding point, preferably near the point the battery is grounded.

4. Do not run audio related wires next to power supply wires.

5. Shielded wire is not normally necessary, however, if it is being used ground that shield at only ONE end. Usually the end closest to the source.

NOTE: This list has been derived from the fixes that have worked for others. If you find something new please let us know and yours will be added to help someone else.

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