SLR...stick with the L31...or other option?

[LineSpotter]

I just found out this week I'm getting five new Wranglers direct from dealer so none are unfitted. We've been using L31's on the last few batches and they've proven to be solid beacons.

I've been intrigued by the rotating SLR but I've never seen one in person.
In amber, how do they perform compared to an amber L31?
Is there a better option in that price range?

My crews usually work in traffic and along highways so I'm looking for soild protection. The best I've been able to get budgeted for have been the single L31 and a pair of white Vertex in the backup light housing. I personally do not believe that is enough and also have a R/B Avenger in the rear of my company truck as well, which gets much more traffic to give us some space (but came out of my pocket).

Suggestions....?
Thanks

 

[tsquale]

I would stick with the L31. I am less than impressed with the SLR's in the day time. Anything but being at eye level with the reflector renders them useless in my opinion.

L31 is cheaper too!

 

[ERIC6913]

I would stick with the L31. I am less than impressed with the SLR's in the day time. Anything but being at eye level with the reflector renders them useless in my opinion.

L31 is cheaper too!

As diehard as I am with Federal, I would have to agree with very poor light output during the daytime with the SLR. Stick with the L31.

 

[dmathieu]

I agree, stick to the L31. I use one on my plow truck set to 75 FPM "Signal alert" pattern with 2nd level of cruise light on at all times that the beacon is flashing. Great day or night. Never dark with the cruise function, and it does not diminish the daytime brightness at all.
My only gripe is no heat to melt wet sticky driving snow. The front LED lighting of every LED on plows in our last (wet, sticky) snow storm were almost worthless.
For stationary situations this should not be a problem.

 

[ERIC6913]

I agree, stick to the L31. I use one on my plow truck set to 75 FPM "Signal alert" pattern with 2nd level of cruise light on at all times that the beacon is flashing. Great day or night. Never dark with the cruise function, and it does not diminish the daytime brightness at all.
My only gripe is no heat to melt wet sticky driving snow. The front LED lighting of every LED on plows in our last (wet, sticky) snow storm were almost worthless.
For stationary situations this should not be a problem.

Just a thought.....Has anyone tried a nice coating of wax on their dome? I would think the Snow wouldn't stick then

 

[dmathieu]

I do keep mine clean and waxed, and you're right it works for me, but most users aren't that anal, LOL

 

[pdk9]

I just found out this week I'm getting five new Wranglers direct from dealer so none are unfitted. We've been using L31's on the last few batches and they've proven to be solid beacons.

I've been intrigued by the rotating SLR but I've never seen one in person.
In amber, how do they perform compared to an amber L31?
Is there a better option in that price range?

My crews usually work in traffic and along highways so I'm looking for soild protection. The best I've been able to get budgeted for have been the single L31 and a pair of white Vertex in the backup light housing. I personally do not believe that is enough and also have a R/B Avenger in the rear of my company truck as well, which gets much more traffic to give us some space (but came out of my pocket).

Suggestions....?
Thanks

I love the L31 on signal alert and spec those on the rear of all fire apparatus. They're much better than the SLR pods IMO; the SLR pods are definitely cool but I don't like that they're small and would much rather have a larger done and reflector

I always recommend that ppl stray away from LAWs if they're on a budget; for the price of vertexes, I'd much rather have some surface mounts on the bumper than LAWs in a small reverse light housing like the wrangler. The wrangler doesn't provide the most options for rear mounting, but i think it's definitely well worth the safety factor to surface mount some linear lightheads there. I think recess mount (i.e. Nforce) would look best there, but it obviously leaves a bigger hole in the bumper once the lights are removed and the jeep is sold.

Why do u guys use wranglers? I understand that they're good for off road driving, but I would've expected a pickup truck for a work truck

Also, please stay away from white to the rear! Many of us here are against it b/c of it's blinding effect at night, but if that's not enough of an incentive, think about how many orgs/agencies that do lots of research (i.e. NFPA don't include it in the rear lighting recs). In Florida, there's a lot of split Amber/white use on construction vehicles, and I hate it; I'd much rather have full Amber any day b/c I think it's a much more effective safety color!

 

[Jarred J.]

how about the preco led rotators.... ?

 

[kitn1mcc]

the L31 is the way to go no moving Parts and a well built light

 

[LineSpotter]

Why do u guys use wranglers? I understand that they're good for off road driving, but I would've expected a pickup truck for a work truck

Because a significant amount of our work is in remote areas only accessible by 4x4. Our survey, radio-detection, and GPR equipment doesn't take up much space and the Jeeps are much easier to work out of than a pick-up. They they also get better MPG than most 4x4's and my guys and I put on loads of miles, I'm driving a 2015 (bought late 2014) with over 120k on it.

For example, I drove to Chama on Friday (a 340 mile round trip) where I had to access a remote river gauging station by about 10 miles of trail that was originally a narrow gauge railway ROW. Tomorrow I have to drive about a hundred miles out where I will then use a trail that climbs about 3,000 to weather station & cell site. The trail is about 90 minutes of slow driving in low-range up steep trail with loads of switchback. Unless it's raining then I'll help out my guys in one of the metros we cover.

The remote rugged stuff is fun to access and quite peaceful to work in, but the often many hours of pavement driving just to get out to these locations can be maddening. It can also be hard on the body, the one major drawback of the Wrangler is that they can be jarring on road and they don't have much leg/seat room. I try to stop every 30 minutes and get out to stretch & walk for a couple of minutes, otherwise my legs start to go numb.

Oh and BTW I ordered more L31's

 

[NEB]

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Whelen-L31-Class-1-360-Degree-Super-LED-Beacon.html?language

unless you're getting a better deal somewhere else, you could get a decent mini bar for the money you're spending on the beacons... JM2C...

Have any pictures of your current vehicle setups?

 

[LineSpotter]

What 'mini bar' would perform better than the L31?

 

[jhook]

What about this one ? Don't know much about them but they look well built and the price is good !
http://www.8evp.com/Hurricane.html

 

[NEB]

What 'mini bar' would perform better than the L31?

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Whelen-L31-Class-1-360-Degree-Super-LED-Beacon.html Well here the L31 is $318.99

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Whelen-Mini-Century-Super-LED-Lightbar.html

And here you can get a 23" mini bar for the same money, or a smaller bar for less. Just my two cents anyway.

 

[kitn1mcc]

the Beacon is the best for what his service is.

 

[LineSpotter]

I'm getting the L31's for a bit under $250ea shipped.
A local MHQ has one of the bars you linked to and frankly it doesn't appear as 'bright' as the L31. It has half as many of the linear LEDs, and the center ones with the little individual diodes (not sure what that are called) didn't seem as bright straight on and they were defiantly not as bright when viewed at an angle. They set one up on the roof next to an already mounted L31 and it just didn't seem close, the L31 also appears 'fuller' or maybe 'bolder' is a better word. I set them on the same patter as our FD uses, not sure of the name but it has a series of approx 4 quick pulses then the last pulse stays on a bit longer. i also Set up the cruise light and dimmer on the last batch, will do the same on this one.

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Whelen-L31-Class-1-360-Degree-Super-LED-Beacon.html Well here the L31 is $318.99

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Whelen-Mini-Century-Super-LED-Lightbar.html

And here you can get a 23" mini bar for the same money, or a smaller bar for less. Just my two cents anyway.

 

[LineSpotter]

One things for sure, the L31 is one tough bugger. I've nailed low hanging limbs and it just shrugs them off. I also had a couple of baseball size rocks come off a cliff face once and one nailed the dome square on, it left a gouge but didn't crack. One of my guys rolled his buggy into an arroyo after getting hit broadside, the top was crushed and tore off but the beacon survived and I mounted it on his replacement buggy.

the Beacon is the best for what his service is.

 

[kitn1mcc]

yes they are you can also get the brush guard for them

 

[Sigma Safety]

I'm getting the L31's for a bit under $250ea shipped.
....

I'd be interested to know where you are getting the L31's for $250. Care to PM me the details? I have a customer who is interested in 10-20.

 

[Sigma Safety]

I love the L31 on signal alert and spec those on the rear of all fire apparatus. They're much better than the SLR pods IMO; the SLR pods are definitely cool but I don't like that they're small and would much rather have a larger done and reflector...

Interestingly, we had a client up here (an electrical utility) who was using the L31's with great success, other than they were terrible in inclement weather, particularly at night. When raining/snowing or heavy fog, the vehicle that the light was mounted on was difficult to perceive.

They tried an SLR beacon and loved the results. The true rotator pattern and the very tight, powerful beam were much more effective in these types of weather.

I wouldn't buy the SLR 'pods' (the ones that they use in the VSLR bars), but rather the standard 6" diameter SLR beacon ( http://www.fedsig.com/products/357/slrbeacon ) .

The other advantage of the SLR is that it is a true 360 beacon. The L31, as good as it is, has weak spots at the 'corners' of the modules.

The SLR is technically far brighter than the L31 (meets Title 13 Table 2) though in reality I don't know what that looks like in terms of perception.

 

[unlisted]

... The L31, as good as it is, has weak spots at the 'corners' of the modules.

Always surprised me Whelen never offset the upper and lower modules to lessen this issue.

 

[dmathieu]

I still find the L31 to be the brightest out there. I never use the rotating patterns, just the SignalAlert 75 FPM. I find this pattern to outperform, in brightness, all others. This is probably why it is one of the 2 NFPA approved patterns. In the flashing, not rotating patterns I don't perceive a problem with the corners either, especially at a distance. I also use the cruise light function, as the light never goes dark. I've tried many many different lights next to the L31, because I'm always looking for better/brighter, and the L31 always comes out to be the brightest beacon by a good margin. Lastly, the L31 also has the best look on the vehicle. Style counts!

 

[PJD642]

Don't buy Vertex, buy Cannon 120s - cheaper, brighter (more LEDs), etc.

And yeah, if someone is bugged by a little white in the taillights, then Cobra T3 heads on the rear bumper or somewhere similar (in Amber) would be a good alternative.

 

[kitn1mcc]

I use the L31 and L 32 on installs all the time and they work great even in the rotar pattern. the Rotar pattern is great for plows

 

[dg0223]

You're in construction, but you have a red/blue Avenger in your back window?

 

[CHIEFOPS]

....When raining/snowing or heavy fog, the vehicle that the light was mounted on was difficult to perceive....

Alternating amber lights at the farthest outboard edges of the vehicle