theroofable
Member
Extreme Lighthead Failure
- Thread starter theroofable
- Start date
![IMG_2561[1].jpg](https://elightbars.org/forums/data/attachments/79/79082-6f1fd79fb85142f939c78f92ca2f2c63.jpg "IMG_2561[1].jpg")
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chief1562
Member
theroofable said:
Was that electrical or to close to the heat?
Cause the plug does not seem damaged.
theroofable
Member
The light was just flashing as it has done for the past 7 years of being in service. There is no damage to the wires or the plug. Someone noticed the smell of something burning, walked over and saw the smoke pouring from the light as the lens was melting. The malfunction had to be within the light itself, starting from the corner where it is melted the most.
This is a Whelen 600 series 5mm style led. I hope the rest of them do not do the same thing.
This is a Whelen 600 series 5mm style led. I hope the rest of them do not do the same thing.
chief1562
Member
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
theroofable
Member
chief1565 said:
I agree!
dmathieu said:
Yes, it was mounted on aluminum, so it didn't damage any paint or anything. I want to send it back to them, but it smells so bad that I will have to let it air out for a at least a few weeks. That way the post office doesn't think its a suspicious package or anything.
It did smell so strongly that when you walked in the firehouse, you could smell it, and it was outside.
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
I've never seen a 5mm LED lighthead with that type of damage, almost no heat at all from those bad boys.
Flashguy
Member
FireMedic19
Member
A white TIR6 did the exact same thing on my ambulance at work. 3 diodes burnt out, 3 still work. Glad I noticed it before it got worse. Lights still on my truck happily firing away with its 3 working LEDs. Thankfully hasn't caught on fire again.
theroofable
Member
LED said:
Im guessing that something internally went wrong with it. (Yeah, the smoke gave it away.)
bluestinger90
Member
How reliable is the trucks electrical system? If the trucks electrical system gave too high a consistent voltage, or caused a massive spike in voltage, it would probably overheat the resistors embedded in the black epoxy and eventually cause a fire.
ChargerLighting
Member
bluestinger90 said:
In just one lighthead though?
I've never seen one fail like that. Kind of looks like the 911EP bars that had all the problems with the potting & things catching fire, etc.
bluestinger90
Member
theroofable
Member
bluestinger90 said:
Hooked to the same place as all of the other ones. All of the other heads are fine. This is a factory install done by the truck manufacturer.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Looks like a failure of some electronic component within the potted material. This is the first one I have ever seen fail this way. I'm sure a Whelen rep has seen this by now... but I'd be interested what they tell you directly.
GPC
Member
TritonBoulder47
Member
Strobesnmore
Member
theroofable
Member
JohnMarcson said:
I would like a comment from them. It is not a major deal to replace this, just more concerned that it could have been much worse.
Strobesnmore said:
I am going to check on what kind of circuit protection is in place, but regardless, something internally must have gone wrong to short in the first place. What ever the protection on the circuit is, was done by the manufacturer when it was built in 2006.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
theroofable said:
Breakers trip because of overload or short. It is possible that this had yet to cause either condition to the extent that the breaker is rated. Within a LED head you are dealing with multiple electrical components working at different voltages and amperage than the 12v system that supplies it. Internal failure of components do not always trip the 12v 30A breaker at the supply side of the wiring. This is however the first major internal thermal event I have seen in a product of this type. I have seen Chinese TIR lights melt-out or burn up and a perfectly good breaker never tripped.
Zapp Brannigan
Lifetime VIP Donor
Well this is certainly not what I expected to see...
From the title I was expecting to see an ETD failure!! :crazy:
From the title I was expecting to see an ETD failure!! :crazy:
theroofable
Member
JohnMarcson said:
I was thinking along the same lines. This light probably draws around 1a when running normally. Im thinking though it would have drawn a bit more when on fire though.
Zapp Brannigan said:
Associated with my name? I think not!
lotsofbars
Member
Looking at the title of this thread, I was just expecting assorted pictures of the Vipers on the back decks of NYPD RMP's.
Zapp Brannigan
Lifetime VIP Donor
Zapp Brannigan said:
theroofable said:
Never know what an upfitter will come across (your title did not say it was YOUR light, or install). :undecided:
Strobesnmore
Member
I'm am still leaning towards something wrong with the wiring. To burn that hot to cook the potting will take some amperage and the fuse should have blown.
Carlos SpicyWeiner
Lifetime VIP Donor
Strobesnmore said:
not true...... i've had a damega product burn up during bench testing WITH a fuse at five amps (Yeah i know what we are all thinking "well duh)... It is possible. Some light heads get hot... something failing could cause it to get that much hotter.
Everyone can have a product go bad. The fact that no one else has seen this on this type of light head wouldn't leave me concerned about others.
Going forward, I would double check wires though to be on the safe side.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Strobesnmore said:
Again, the wiring and circuit protection can be just fine and this can still happen. The internal voltages and amp draws on an led can be below what tripps the breaker. In fact, the melting from the corner pretty much always means an internal failure. An internal failure can often take a while/a lot to trip a fuse or breaker. Remember that breakers trip based on shorts and over draw. It is totally within the realm of possibility that an intenal part failed and caused this w/o tripping a prefectly setup breaker. Of course wiring failures are also high on my list of suspicions, but the lack of a blown breaker is not a firm indication in this case.
When you check the breaker, look to see if it is a Type I circuit breaker. This is the sort of breaker that automatically resets itself after a short period of time. There's a chance that, if it is a Type I, the breaker did its job, waited a moment, reset itself, did its job again, and so on.