Feniex Cannons - Compartment Lighting > OVER HEATING!

[JohnFireFan]

I am using two Feniex Cannons in dual color red/white as rear hatch lights in a Ford Explorer. After test running the Feniex Cannons as solid colors for around 5-10 minutes the light go so hot that it burnt out some of the LEDs or something along those lines. I turned on the lights and let it sit for 5-10 minutes on solid white. Next thing I new the LEDs started blinking and would not stay solid. I quickly turned them off and let them cool down. I turned them on again this morning and now they work BUT one Feniex Cannons white LEDs are only working to half capacity/brightness. The red LEDs are at full brightness it is only the white LEDs in one Feniex Cannon that is not at full brightness. Anyone had previous experiences with this? I guess I should contact Feniex and get it fixed or replaced?

 

[uniden278]

My understanding is that the cannon is not designed to be steady burned for that long, and if any of the LEDs are shutting off this is a failsafe to prevent them from melting the housing. There are other options for this application.

 

[MEVS06]

How old are they, the newer models its ok to use 6 of the leds for steady burn, but also depends on the way they are mounted.

 

[JohnFireFan]

How old are they, the newer models its ok to use 6 of the leds for steady burn, but also depends on the way they are mounted.

I bought them new in April of 2014, these are the three mode generation ones. How does it depend on the way it is mounted? I assume that you mean if it is surface mounted to a body of a vehicle the metal helps dissipate some of the heat from the LEDs? That's my guess.

These lights are absolutely amazing and the innovation and success of the Feniex products makes me want to support the brand 100%. We could spit this install and have a variety of manufacturers but this needs to be all Feniex products with the exception of the siren. After talking to some Feniex customer service representatives they have been more helpful, informative and knowledgeable about their products than the other big "W" brand. Customer service is always your number 1 priority and that my friend is how you successfully run a business that will outshine the rest.

 

[sheazle]

Make sure you have a good ground. I had problems with a set overheating on steady burn, I had tied 2 of them into a factory ground wire designed for a couple 194 bulbs.

 

[Icepuck72]

Not meant to be steady??  What about the intent of using them in your fog lights, or reverse??

 

[tsquale]

Not meant to be steady?? What about the intent of using them in your fog lights, or reverse??

This was already answered in the thread you started about using them as fog lights a few hours ago...

 

[Icepuck72]

Yes...there was a hint of sarcasm laced with my question... ....and besides..I didn't see that response in my thread until just now.  So.....WOOOOOSAHHHHHHHHHH, Chachi!

 

[ERM]

 

[JohnMarcson]

They may not have adequate area for heat to dissipate.  Can you post pics of how they are mounted?

 

[TritonBoulder47]

You could always get a small cooling fan and tie it into the lights so when the lights are ont the fan turns on and circulates air in the area the lights are mounted...  

 

[JohnFireFan]

They may not have adequate area for heat to dissipate.  Can you post pics of how they are mounted?

*See photos

 

[Ballistic]

Nice install! I think ill do something similar on my trunk.. 

 

[kitsune86]

I agree with Boulder.  I'm going to assume that there are no adequate openings in that plastic interior cover, so all of the heat that the cannons generate gets trapped in there.

You could always get a small cooling fan and tie it into the lights so when the lights are ont the fan turns on and circulates air in the area the lights are mounted...  

 

[Ballistic]

What if you put some holes or slots in the flange or would that not be enough?

 

[wilsonbr90]

I agree with Boulder. I'm going to assume that there are no adequate openings in that plastic interior cover, so all of the heat that the cannons generate gets trapped in there.

Not only that but mounting them to a metal surface is in the design to act as a heat sync. Plastic is an insulator, that lighthead has no where to dissapate heat except to the air and itself.

Workaround would be adding a resistor inline to drop the voltage some. At a certain point the light should produce about no heat. Generally on whelen products its about 10v with about 75-80% output

 

[2004p71]

that is one really neat installation 

 

[Sigma Safety]

We do exactly the same thing, except we use these lights; http://tecniqinc.com/pages/products_e06silhoxarea.php .  They are red/white switchable (they do not have a switch ON the light, you need to add your own) and have a lifetime warranty.  Part # E06-WS0R-1 .  They are a lot cheaper than a Cannon, too.

Disclaimer - we are a Feniex distributor and use a lot of Cannons, but just not in this application.

Here is a quick picture of a pair of the Tecniq lights in a Tahoe (one of our local Ambulance supervisor cars)...

 

[ff168577]

We do exactly the same thing, except we use these lights; http://tecniqinc.com/pages/products_e06silhoxarea.php .  They are red/white switchable and have a lifetime warranty.  Part # E06-WS0R-1 .  They are a lot cheaper than a Cannon, too.

Disclaimer - we are a Feniex distributor and use a lot of Cannons, but just not in this application.

I looked at these lights at the Pa Fireman's expo.  Awesome lights.  

 

[JohnFireFan]

I saw photos of it but is there videos of it in action? and how do I purchase two? The website only allows me to send them a payment of my own denomination.

 

[Sigma Safety]

I saw photos of it but is there videos of it in action? and how do I purchase two? The website only allows me to send them a payment of my own denomination.

Videos of a compartment light??

Contact Tecniq directly and they will refer you to a local distributor.

ph;  (269) 629-4440

email; sales@tecniqinc.com

 

[JohnFireFan]

As you may know I have had to two Feniex Cannons in red/white as my rear hatching lighting for the past several months.



I know that these are not designed to stay on steadyburn for a long time but for my application I only used them to grab equipment from my trunk and go... so they never stayed on steadyburn for more than a few minutes. Anyway one of the Cannons only puts out half the output it should now and it's really aggravating. I replaced the other Cannon a few months ago because of the same issue. Now the other side is only half working.

What is the best replacement for compartment lighting? I already have 1" holes cut out for the Cannons and a 2-position switch powered for red compartment lights and white compartment lights. Please keep in mind I want something BRIGHT and looks good. I really hate to see the Cannons go but sometimes you need change. lol.

*Side note - I am having a trunk tray made that extends out 36" from the rear of my vehicle.

 

[bluestinger90]

Whelen and Soundoff Signal make white/red led lights;

http://sirennet.com/wh3s.html

http://sirennet.com/soecvdmltal.html

I don't believe there is anything out there that will utilize the 1 inch hole and is both white and red. The only product I've found suitable for steady burn and uses the 1 inch hole, are these wurton led pods. They use .300mA at 13.5v and don't produce much heat.

http://www.amazon.com/20031-Mounting-Hardware-Electrical-Connectors/dp/B00B3LJ19G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424556008&sr=8-1&keywords=wurton+led+pod

 

[Retired1]

I used Whelen red LIN3s and they worked very well. They are manufactured with steady burn, in addition to flash patterns, so steady on use does not affect them adversely. I did not like the TIR3s. The LIN3s had much better off-axis light output to light up my cargo area.

http://www.whelen.com/auto/product?head_id=12&cat_id=74&prod_id=145

I had never seen the 3" Whelen compartment lights before bluestinger90 posted the link above. I believe I will give them a try. Thanks, bluestinger90.

 

[pdk9]

My 2 favorites are the 3" Whelen compartment light & the striplite; the striplite isn't as bright & won't cover up the cannon holes as well, so I'd go with the 3" lights

 

[fleetcomm]

My 2 favorites are the 3" Whelen compartment light & the striplite; the striplite isn't as bright & won't cover up the cannon holes as well, so I'd go with the 3" lights

I have used the 3" Whelen compartment lights and have been very happy with them. The cost is less or the same as the cannons.

 

[JohnFireFan]

The Whelen 3" compartment light has ground leads for both red and white LEDs, correct? My switches are already wired for positive. The light appears to only have 125 lumens which is not a lot of light. If any one has pictures please post em. Thanks!

 

[fleetcomm]

I used one on each side and they are very effective.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Use a red/white Apollo?

 

[Sigma Safety]

We use a ton of the Tecniq lights.  They are SUPER thin (1/4" thick) and surface mount.  They have red/white switchable light (no switch on the light, but you already have a seperate one anyway).

They are designed specifically for vehicle task lighting.  We generally use one or two of them under the hatch on SUVs and they are fantastic.  Not stupid bright, but at night they are more than enough, and they have a downward pattern so they don't shine into your eyes.  They are roughly equivalent to a 20watt halogen.

We go through hundreds per year and I've never had one fail.

http://tecniqinc.com/pages/products_e06silhoxarea.php

Part # we get is E06-WS0R-1 .  You can get them in a huge variety of trim ring options, LED colours, etc.

You should be able to pick them up for well under $50.

Tecniq has a ton of work/task lighting options.  We use their Dragon lights as fire apparatus step (not ground) lights.  They do have an E10 series which we use as a ground light (NFPA compliant).

They also make warning and scene lights in the normal sizes.  I have sold a few of their 9x7 LED scene lights and they are really good, and an excellent price, PLUS lifetime warranty.   http://tecniqinc.com/pages/K-Series-Emergency-Ambulance-Police-Fire-Truck-Flasher-Scene-LED-Bright.php .

Their website is not completely up to date, so get their 2015 catalogue off their website and browse.

Nearly all their stuff is manufactured in their plant in Michigan.  I think the E06's are made in Taiwan.

 

[JohnFireFan]

We use a ton of the Tecniq lights.  They are SUPER thin (1/4" thick) and surface mount.  They have red/white switchable light (no switch on the light, but you already have a seperate one anyway).

They are designed specifically for vehicle task lighting.  We generally use one or two of them under the hatch on SUVs and they are fantastic.  Not stupid bright, but at night they are more than enough, and they have a downward pattern so they don't shine into your eyes.  They are roughly equivalent to a 20watt halogen.

We go through hundreds per year and I've never had one fail.

http://tecniqinc.com/pages/products_e06silhoxarea.php

Part # we get is E06-WS0R-1 .  You can get them in a huge variety of trim ring options, LED colours, etc.

You should be able to pick them up for well under $50.

Tecniq has a ton of work/task lighting options.  We use their Dragon lights as fire apparatus step (not ground) lights.  They do have an E10 series which we use as a ground light (NFPA compliant).

They also make warning and scene lights in the normal sizes.  I have sold a few of their 9x7 LED scene lights and they are really good, and an excellent price, PLUS lifetime warranty.   http://tecniqinc.com/pages/K-Series-Emergency-Ambulance-Police-Fire-Truck-Flasher-Scene-LED-Bright.php .

Their website is not completely up to date, so get their 2015 catalogue off their website and browse.

Nearly all their stuff is manufactured in their plant in Michigan.  I think the E06's are made in Taiwan.

Just what I needed! I'll order em' tonight and post pics whenever they come in. THANK YOU!

 

[slash9dotnet]

My 2 favorites are the 3" Whelen compartment light & the striplite; the striplite isn't as bright & won't cover up the cannon holes as well, so I'd go with the 3" lights

The downside of that is when those don't work out for him, he'll need to find something to fill 3" holes. lol

 

[bluestinger90]

The downside of that is when those don't work out for him, he'll need to find something to fill 3" holes. lol

Good thing Whelen makes lights in 4, 6 and 8 inches diameters.

 

[JohnFireFan]

First let me start off by saying this... the new TecNiq lights physically look better than the Feniex Cannons but it does NOT out perform the Cannons. Although they do work for my application it is an EXTREME loss of output vs Cannons. The install looks good, clean and almost factory. Painted the chrome flange black in order to make it look factory fresh. Thanks for the input everyone! 

 

[Sigma Safety]

First let me start off by saying this... the new TecNiq lights physically look better than the Feniex Cannons but it does NOT out perform the Cannons. Although they do work for my application it is an EXTREME loss of output vs Cannons. The install looks good, clean and almost factory. Painted the chrome flange black in order to make it look factory fresh. Thanks for the input everyone! 

Yes, they are designed as work lights, not warning lights.  The upside is that you can actually use them in your application because they barely get warm, not surface-of-the-sun hot like the back side of a Cannon.  Don't get me wrong - I love the Cannons, but not for compartment lighting and that's not what they are designed for - just like the Tecniq lights shown are not for warning lighting.

For future reference, you can get them with a black flange (though it's a plastic flange) if you want.  If you get the chrome flange/trim-ring like I suspect you did, then it's a metal flange, though easy enough to paint.  I believe they also have white trim rings as well (again, plastic).

 

[JohnFireFan]

Yes, they are designed as work lights, not warning lights.  The upside is that you can actually use them in your application because they barely get warm, not surface-of-the-sun hot like the back side of a Cannon.  Don't get me wrong - I love the Cannons, but not for compartment lighting and that's not what they are designed for - just like the Tecniq lights shown are not for warning lighting.

For future reference, you can get them with a black flange (though it's a plastic flange) if you want.  If you get the chrome flange/trim-ring like I suspect you did, then it's a metal flange, though easy enough to paint.  I believe they also have white trim rings as well (again, plastic).

Tried to contact them but no replies or call backs. The only thing available online was the chrome that I saw. I painted the flange black but due to the colder temps. it didn't work out well so I had to take it off. Once weather warms up I'll re-paint them.

*Future reference - buy the sold white LEDs for brighter output not white/red unless you absolutely need red lighting.

 

[slash9dotnet]

Good thing Whelen makes lights in 4, 6 and 8 inches diameters.

Then I guess after that would be these...

 

[bobbyj]

Make sure you have a good ground. I had problems with a set overheating on steady burn, I had tied 2 of them into a factory ground wire designed for a couple 194 bulbs.

Sorry to bring back an old thread but I'm having the same problem with a couple of cannons I have mounted as my cargo lights on my F150.  I have mine grounded just as you say to the factory wiring.  Did changing your ground help the problem?

Thanks,

Brandt

 

[sheazle]

I have mine grounded just as you say to the factory wiring. Did changing your ground help the problem?

I had no problems with overheating after I added a better ground, but I also changed the way they were mounted so they were mounted to a piece of 1/8" aluminum instead of plastic.

 

[JohnMarcson]

I had no problems with overheating after I added a better ground, but I also changed the way they were mounted so they were mounted to a piece of 1/8" aluminum instead of plastic.

Any steady burn LED should be mounted so the heat sink contacts metal.