Iced warning lights... Not as good as Iced Tea!!

localhero800

localhero800

Veteran
Member
May 22, 2010
1,333
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Southeast Missouri
What do you guys used/do to keep your warning lights/Lightbars unfrozen. Here are some pics of my lightbar and of Some Ext. Mounted LED3's that froxe up.. the led3's worked ok like they were, but never made enough heat to melt them..


The MX7000 didnt work as great, but after about 35-45 min running all 5 rotators and intersections it melted alot of it off.


How does one prevent this? Reason i ask, i saw a local MSHP officer use an ice scraper as a hammer to beat the ice off of her Liberty.... I cringed..


Pics:


MX7000


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LED3


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Antennas..


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Trees and other stuff.


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This is also a problem with LED traffic lights here in the midwest and other areas that get snow. There isn't enough heat to keep the bulbs clear when blowing snow packs into the light. Traffic lights are being retrofitted with heaters in some areas.


As far as de-icing a lightbar, something like a Step Heater made for buses and RV's could be wired to the underside of the lightbar, and turned on as needed to provide the needed heat. Here's one of the step heater panels to give you an idea of the item.


I thought I remembered reading that there was a heater option on a new lightbar out there, but cannot find the article, so maybe it was a previous discussion aboutthe need for it that I'm thinking of.
 
I've used some of the spray bottles marketed for windshield with varying degrees of success, I don't know if there is really much you can do. For overnight parking, you can put a tarp over the roof or for the LED bars, two strips of kitchen plastic wrap across the bar... just pull it off at the beginning of the shift and spray de-icer on the bar throughout the shift.


My main problem has been on the flush-mounted 900 series lights on the front of the ambulances, the snow hits directly on the flat surface while driving and cakes up. Over a 80 mile transport, there is more than enough contact to remove all of the de-icer spray and ice over. My trucks have halogen or strobes for those lights though, so after a minute or so it's easy to remove.
 
Last spray de-icer i used on a lightbar, left a residue on it. I cover my bar and windshield overnight and when im not on a call, but its while im on traffic detail, or sitting at idle( i dont run my mx once im on scene unless needed)
 
Doesnt putting heater on the LEDs defeat the purpose of low current draw? we might aswell go back to halogen and incandescent then. same brightness, plus heat!
 
Agreed. The night before an expected ice storm, put some de-icer windshield washer fluid in a spray bottle and apply. Should help do the trick.
 
Our lightbars have the same problem when we get the wet heavy snow because it starts to cake up on our freedoms and once it gets on there it is not coming off. it get to the point where you can barely see the lightheads underneath so much snow and ice.
 
localhero800 said:
I wasnt sure if something like that would heat up enough to melt the ice of the lenses? Or Melt them?
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, I was thinking of something similar in application to that item, not necessarily that specific item. The one I linked to only draws 8 AMPs, so not much more than a couple of halogen bulbs, but I suspect that anything the manufacturers come up with would have to be similar, some type of panel or grid system across the width of the bar to distribute some heat. Same theory as a rear window defroster.


The other issue would be any side effects of the excess heat on components of the bar.


Either way, beats seeing it get beaten with an ice scraper.
 
I've heard of Rain-X being used on lightbar lenses and domes, either on a regular basis or obviously before a frozen precip event, and the ice will supposedly slide right off when you try to remove it or get the vehicle up to normal highway speeds. It's also supposed to be good for keeping bug splatter and road debris marks on the front of lenses to a minimum.
 
Does the ice hurt the light output? Thankfully, I've never had to deal with anything like that!
 
I found it really reduces the light output. You will have a glow through the ice, but its not very visible from long distances. I usually turn on the halogen takedowns/alleys on my bar, and then gently use an ice scraper, starting where the ice was melted.
 
BigWil said:
I found it really reduces the light output. You will have a glow through the ice, but its not very visible from long distances. I usually turn on the halogen takedowns/alleys on my bar, and then gently use an ice scraper, starting where the ice was melted.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it could make for some really interesting creative pictures. May not be ideal for emergency warning, though. :)
 
Ive had this happen one or twice, I run an MX, while the truck is warming up and the hydraulics are going and warming up, i Let the bar run full rotators and sweeps, melts off fast. My tail lights and rear strobes are recessed, so no build up and my grill led are in the grill, no build up either
 
My grill leds got ice build up on them, and my strobes are in the turn signals in front and reverse lights in back.. But im just mainly worried about the Edge bar that is going on my truck.... not sure that the strobes will melt the ice..
 
Doug said:
Sounds like it could make for some really interesting creative pictures. May not be ideal for emergency warning, though. :)
Click to expand...

I'll have to try to get some pictures one of these days. I'm not much of a photographer, tho
 
i park in the garage. that helps


when i dont or if im outside a lot and its snowing and blowing i use a enxtended ice scrapper with a brush on it and that will keep it clean. long enough to get it home


id be interested in a heater idea


something almost like you see used on the back windsheilds of cars and suvs. the dark thin metallic lines that stick on.
 
Don't have that problem down here. Kinda interesting, I never really thought of a bar getting iced up. As someone said earlier about the rain-x, it does help with the bugs!
 
I forget who it was, but someone said they clear packed snow from their siren speaker by tapping the air horn and it blows right out.....that made me laugh.
 
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