B/B/B code3 XL? latest score

[Thomas1234]

The SAE-W3-82 was hiding a nice oscillator inside, Yay, my first one!
This bar will clean up nice! the inside looks already brand new.

Just wondering, is this bar a xl 9000? who knows?





and the oscillator!

 

[shues]

The Code 3 name for that oscilating light is Oscilaser. You have an XL 5000. An XL 9000 would have sealed beam rotators.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Yep XL5000 with blue domes to boot so bonus!
Nice score!

 

[kitn1mcc]

nice find

 

[CrownVic97]

All blue lensed XL bars are pretty scarce to come by! Don't let that one go!

 

[ERIC6913]

Based on your location, those might even be cie blue domes!

 

[Thomas1234]

Based on your location, those might even be cie blue domes!

Is that even more special? DIN/CIE blue is europe?

 

[shues]

Based on your location, those might even be cie blue domes!

Good catch. The endcaps, being marked Peterborough, England, seem to support this possibility.

 

[Thomas1234]

should there be some markings inside, to check if these are european?

 

[jph2]

Nice find! That bar is nice and clean inside and the domes look to be in good condition, too. Bonus if they're CIE!

 

[Thomas1234]

Shouldn't there be a XL mark also on the sticker?

 

[Thomas1234]

How much does this bar difference from the Ecto-1 lightbar, is it only the inside config (sealed beams etc), think the lenses are the same / compatible?

 

[dmathieu]

Great catch!

 

[wolfman]

How much does this bar difference from the Ecto-1 lightbar, is it only the inside config (sealed beams etc), think the lenses are the same / compatible?

The bars that are on the screen version of the ECTO-1 are "regular" bars - 47" length. It had two end domes and a 12" speaker section. The rotators in the bar were standard speed independent rotators, two per side, with a diamond mirror between them. The lenses were standard blue domes, older style with the center chrome strips, and chrome/metal inner bulkhead. They had custom mounting feet on them, a welded configuration of Code 3 and Federal Signal Aerodynic mounting feet painted flat black.

When the car was restored recently, they were unable to find the original sized 47" bars, so they went with the larger 55" bars which had a bigger speaker section as this size bar is more common in the market.

If there's anything else you want to know, PM me. I've built several of these for people building ECTO-1 replica cars.

wolfman

 

[ERIC6913]

Is that even more special? DIN/CIE blue is europe?

Yes, I have an eye for that color
That color is hard to find.

 

[Thomas1234]

older style with the center chrome strips

i never knew the bar had the strips, i asumed it was just made out of one piece, (can't remember if the car ever was filmed above, so you could see the top of the car, and it's not on my Hotwheels Elite model) btw thanks for all the info!

 

[Thomas1234]

Yes, I have an eye for that color

going to clean the lenses first, could not even see what was inside the bar.

 

[lenny77]

plus having the plastic gray center strips on the dome vs the metal with rivets means you can split the colors front and rear. ie blue to front red to rear or any other color combo.. just be easy pulling them apart. I have done a few full size aswell as minis. Think Boston p.d. There xl bars ran opposing colors.

 

[CrownVic97]

When the car was restored recently, they were unable to find the original sized 47" bars, so they went with the larger 55" bars which had a bigger speaker section as this size bar is more common in the market.

wolfman

If they had consulted eLightbars, they would have gotten the exact bars they needed instead of the incorrect ones the restored Ecto-1 has now

 

[Thomas1234]

So where is this original ecto-1 bar now, was it stolen, or is it used on a replica car?

 

[Thomas1234]

found a picture of the Navistar 4900 4x2 fire fighting truck where this lightbar came from.(a german airport fire-engine)

 

[ERIC6913]

Sehr schoen! Ganz bestimmt sind die R-65 Blaue Hauben

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

plus having the plastic gray center strips on the dome vs the metal with rivets means you can split the colors front and rear. ie blue to front red to rear or any other color combo.. just be easy pulling them apart. I have done a few full size aswell as minis. Think Boston p.d. There xl bars ran opposing colors.

You can also do the same with the chrome topper bars.. just drill out the rivets and then position on the dome halves and re-pop rivet back into place...
Not incredibly hard but not something I would chomp at the bit to do again.

 

[Thomas1234]

chrome topper bars

Did they also use split colors on the aerodynics? blue font, amber back?

 

[lenny77]

Aeros are one of the most customizable bars for color options. And your correct Valkyrie the metal top domes can be done, just not as easy as the other style.

 

[Thomas1234]

fixing the lenses, old vs new

 

[Thomas1234]

So now i have this lightbar, just wondering, what is exact the difference between Code 3 XL and the Force 4 XL (ecto-1)...only the sidetag/sticker?

 

[Maxim2Eng]

As a very knowledgeable eLB member (tip o the hat to cmb56) has enlightened me, Code3 XL has diamond shape and par36 sealed beam bulbs. The Force4 XL would be simple bulb feflector rotators in a diamond shape. Correct Michael?

 

[cmb56]

Yes, at least as I have been understanding it for the last 40 years.

Michael

 

[cmb56]

The company started in 1974, I think, under the name Public Safety Equipment Inc. with the trade mark Code 3 (tm).
To what I know they still has that company name (PSE) and is using their copyrighted (c) trade mark (tm) Code 3 as a company recogition.

Their first roof bar was with a squarish housing with synchronized sealed beams as a response on the TwinSonic.
It become known as Code 3 due to the trade mark.
Some years later their aerodynamic version with the diamond shaped housing came on the market and was named Code 3 XL.
The old bar could not be called Code 3 no longer so it become Code 3 SD (standard).

When the demand of cheaper roof bar came they introduced the rotating reflector version and the problem was that they could not call them Code 3.
The new name become Force 4 to distinct them from the sealed beam versions.
Still with the XL and SD as a housing identifier.

This is at least what I have learned over the years.

Michael

 

[Wailer]

Two lights and two Twin Sonic style mirrors on either side. I never saw one like that before.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Two lights and two Twin Sonic style mirrors on either side. I never saw one like that before.

This style was popular for ambulances, and minus the TCL was a basic bar. I had.. until just recently several similar setups minus the TCL that were pulled from a local junkyard. All came from scrapped EMS vehicles..

 

[Thomas1234]

So this lightbar states Code 3 XL, but the inside looks more like a force 4 XL right? in other words, if i put my blue domes on it, i got a ecto-1 bar, although the side sticker is not entirely right...

 

[Thomas1234]

So this side decal states CODE 3 XL MODEL 9000 SAE-W3-79, so this dome is before the renaming to Force 4 XL?

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

So this side decal states CODE 3 XL MODEL 9000 SAE-W3-79, so this dome is before the renaming to Force 4 XL?

Ok so let's be clear.. the ONLY people that are going to know the endcap is incorrect are Lightbar nuts found on elb..

As one of those aforementioned nuts.. the XL9000 is a sealed beam version of the XL bar.. Your safe with either Code 3 XL endcaps or Force 4 endcaps as the waters get murky with the Force 4 and 5000 series XL.

 

[Thomas1234]

Yes, i get you...actually the red dome is also different (with a smaller xl print), so they guy just placed some left over domes on this bar, but im pretty sure the base is FORCE 4 looking at the diamond mirror and rotators.

 

[cmb56]

Thomas,
I hope you are aware of that SAE-W3-79 is an approval number that show that this bar conform to the SAE standard for 360 degree warning lights and was approved in 1979.
SAE is the equivalent to the german DIN standard and the UN-ECE standard within EU.

Michael

 

[Thomas1234]

@cmb56 tthanks i did not know that, learn everyday!