Abrams Taurus tri-color mini lightbar

[Quickstep80]

Last edited: 6 months after purchase with a final evaluation (Aug. 14, 2013)


Just as promised, here’s a review about my Abrams Taurus 24'' tri-color minibar.


I’ve ordered the bar from NYC Fleet Safety (NYpolicelights.com) on Jan 15, 2013; it arrived on Feb 13.


After powering it up, I found out that there were some strange things going on. Trouble hunting finally revealed a detached cable in the connector between control panel and bar causing a slack joint which I was able to fix easily.


Today morning I did a quick test with the bar which I also documented with my camorder, just to give you some brief impression about the light itself, both in- and outdoors. Sorry for the snowflakes blurring the vision at the end of the clip.

After six months "in the field"...


...I am pretty disappointed. Despite the light output is quite decent, I had to face...

• almost all screws (the pods are fixed with) to rust,
  
• three connector pins to go loose which I had to resolder,
  
• severe malfunction after the bar got wet in rain - moisture ingress always made some pods burn steadily (even when the bar was off)
  

Considering what a lightbar should be designed for, this is simply not acceptable; all the more because my vehicle is mostly parked in a garage and climatic/weather conditions were surely not what I call extremes.


I have notified the dealer about all those malfunctions and want to point out that he immediately refunded all my money - shipping and PayPal transaction costs included. Since there are about 4230 miles and an ocean between us, he might as well just ignore my case. This is what I call outstanding customer service. People can make mistakes, technical products can fail - as long as there's a solution, it's not the end of the world. So I've had truly not the best experience with the "Taurus", but at least things went loss-free.


Overview:


Retailer: NYpolicelights.com


Retail Price: $ 429.99


Paid: $ 499.99 including “quick color switch” extra function as described


Brand, Model: Abrams Taurus Mini Light Bar


Product Code: MLX-56TC

 

[Quickstep80]

Surprise, surprise... I guess my Taurus just discovered that I'll shortly be heading to California!


At least that's my explanation why it recently started with a low-power steady burn red in one of the pods.


Let's wait what the factory says... might be either a connection problem or a defective pod; dealer and manufacturer are currently trying to figure it out. Meanwhile I have to cut off the current entry when the bar is not in use so as not to drive around with that unwanted cruise light...

 

[pdk9]

Output looks decent (of course, the real test is outdoors daytime) but I've personally never been a fan of that standard Chinese minibar look that a lot of minibars and full size bars have (even though there are some reliable ones, such as Herschel's, and some with junk modules, such as our favorite STL)

 

[Quickstep80]

Little update...


Just after discovering that low-power steady burn "feature" I decided to demount that one pod and found out there was moisture on its circuit board. Dried that, and the problem was gone.


That's insofar annoying since there was no heavy rain or whatever the bar could have been exposed to. Just some light snowfall, a bit of drizzle, and most of the time the car is even parked in a garage, totally protected from wind and weather. But even if not, from my point of view such a lightbar just has to be sufficiently sealed as it needs to work even under worst conditions as well.


Well, at least no more issue since that event, but we'll see what happens during the next rainy day.


On the other hand... I remember some FedSig/VAMA P8000 and Intav Selecta/Alcyone bars on some of our ALS ambulances which turned into aquariums too. So that's apparently not just some "no-name-brand-disease" ...

 

[Quickstep80]

I've personally never been a fan of that standard Chinese minibar look

I was looking for something that any clueless passerby might identify at least as something that is designed to be there on my roof.


Some years ago I went with a Federal Signal LED Highlighter for some months. Great minibar, but (no exaggeration!) there were at least five people per day almost jumping onto my hood (especially when leaving parking lots or so), waving, frantically pointing at my roof and shouting, "Wait! You've left something on your car!!", assuming that clear-lensed Highlighter was some ordinary box or whatever. :crazy:


At least I did not have such encounters while using the Taurus.


Only today some elderly lady asked me if my car was solar-powered

 

[TheGatekeeper]

Great review, thanks. :thumbsup:


How much did it cost delivered to your city ?

 

[Quickstep80]

AFAIR approx. 130.00 U$


But I kann tell you the exact amount after returning from vacation

 

[Quickstep80]

Updates:


@ TheGatekeeper: Shipping was exactly $ 168.99 (oversea). (Sorry for taking so long to reply, didn't find too much time to surf the internet during the past weeks.)


---


Had to resolder two other connector pins yesterday. Just realized the malfunction when generally checking the vehicle inside the garage. Although the controller display showed the chosen pattern and color, the bar itself did not light up. Remembering the first issues not too long ago I immediately checked the jack and two wires were loose.


As for my enquiry about an option to switch on the takedowns independently, the dealer told me that the manufacturer is still checking such an option which of course would mean getting a new controller, but let's see.


Screws that hold the LED modules in place start to get rusty.


So after 11 weeks, my resumé is:


Light output is okay, but in some aspects the manufacturing quality is quite disappointing. Fortunately nothing which I wouldn't have been able to fix by myself, but on the other hand that's not what I expect from a brand-new product.

 

[Abacus]

So you have outlaid $630 dollars in total and so far in 3 months had to resolder a weak connection, dry internal moisture , noted rusty screws and had a pod go steady burn. I think you have been very charitable to the product in your review .

 

[Quickstep80]

I do believe in the good in man(ufacturers)

 

[Quickstep80]

Okay, now that the snow is gone - we have changed to floods instead :badday: - I thought it's time for a quick daylight video of the Taurus, with both close-ups and from about 165 ft. distance.


Of course a camera can hardly depict reality, but at least a daylight video will much better live up to the purpose than night shots or garage footage.

 

[Quickstep80]

Original review has been updated now with my final review after six months of use.


No recommendation for the "Taurus" itself, but kudos to the dealer for outstanding customer service.

 

[Carlos SpicyWeiner]

Thanks for the update. Sorry that it didn't work out for you. Seems to be the case with most of these, but it is extremely awesome to see another import dealer stepping up with their customer service.

 

[proled]

So you have outlaid $630 dollars in total and so far in 3 months had to resolder a weak connection, dry internal moisture , noted rusty screws and had a pod go steady burn. I think you have been very charitable to the product in your review .

I had the same bar, and same problems with water, plus on my bar 2 modules stopped working after only 3 weeks ! The bar got sold on eBay 1 month later ! I guess I understand the saying 'you get what you pay for' !

 

[Quickstep80]

Generally, that's true. However I have a custom-built dual color LED beacon (which I now switched back to), been using that light for quite a few years now - with just 6 months break where I went with the "Taurus" - and never ever had a single issue with it. I got that light long before dual color beacons ever became easily available on the market, had to search a very long time to find a manufacturer that was willing to build such a "made-to-measure" light and finally I found it in Asia. Since I have been using Axixtech products (which are made in Asia as well) for more than eight years too, I am certain that there are quality products out on the Asian market. While I know the amount of cheap junk might be dominating for sure.


And I have learned my lesson - there are probably no affordable and reliable dual- or tri-color minibars on the market. Okay, so never change a winning team - dashlight, rear lightstick and roof-mounted beacon will hopefully do a reliable job further on