LED's for TwinSonic?

CT-Lighting

Member
May 24, 2010
73
Bell Co., TX
Thinking of replaceing the GE Par 36 with LED's. Has anyone done this be for? One side will be under a RED dome/RED LED's and the other under CLEAR with BLUE LED's. Woul like to have all clear lens but interested in doing the LED's first.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
I think you will be disappointed with LED par36 lamps in a TwinSonic or any rotating beacon. LED's do not have the finely focused beam of light that you get in the GE 4416 or 4464 lamps. That focused light is what gives the lamps the "flash" you see when they are operating.
 

NPS Ranger

Member
May 21, 2010
1,988
Penn's Woods
stansdds said:
I think you will be disappointed with LED par36 lamps in a TwinSonic or any rotating beacon. LED's do not have the finely focused beam of light that you get in the GE 4416 or 4464 lamps. That focused light is what gives the lamps the "flash" you see when they are operating.

Absolutely correct, this has been discussed on the previous forum a number of times. LED's are not an omnidirectional point source of light that lend themselves to being focused by reflectors, they are a flat directional source of light that lend themselves to being focused by optics.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
NPS Ranger said:
Absolutely correct, this has been discussed on the previous forum a number of times. LED's are not an omnidirectional point source of light that lend themselves to being focused by reflectors, they are a flat directional source of light that lend themselves to being focused by optics.


Unless you stick them in a vision


... in that case it's the coolest thing ever. :roll:
 
May 21, 2010
2,201
Elmira, ny
someone did that on ELB (the archived one)


his department had a brush truck with a twinsonic and th echief said make it less strain for the laternator, sooooooo he took out all the twinsonic parts, threw 6 whelen 600?? LED's in it, as well as some LED's on the whole truck.


Came out good in my opinion.
 

kadetklapp

Member
May 21, 2010
1,568
Indiana
^^^ I remember that.


However, don't give up on Par36 LED modules in old-school rotators yet! I haven't given up hope!! OH PLEASE OBAMA MAKE ME SOME GOOD OMNIDIRECTIONAL PAR36 LED LIGHT HEADS!!!!
 

ryan

Member
May 20, 2010
2,996
Massillon, Ohio
I sell a retrofit with Whelen 600 series LEDs your choice of red/blue/amber/split. email me for pricing. These are direct fit and come with just a power and ground wire that attaches to original power and ground to the bar.
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
Wouldn't you be able to "bitch fit" in some whelen par 36's TIR style and still have it rotate? (sexy)
 

tnems7

Member
May 21, 2010
407
USA Nashville Tennessee
Maybe we should look at the way PowerArc is using LEDs and see if the Board member who is making custom takedown lights could help experiment, adjusting the size to the PAR diameter, but not using PAR Optics (just positioning three to five leds within the dimensions of the PAR bulb). If he can light up a neighbor's house across the street with a couple of them with spotlight lenses, they ought to be capable of being mounted in a redesigned array that could cast a pretty good beam.


PowerArc is pretty bright with four LEDs, but still using mechanical movement for the flash. Note : they also are not depending upon the reflector.


I would suggest the focused beam of five conical leds in a five point star pattern be directed outward, and a strip of old 5 mm LEDs be reflected into the parabolic reflector or the side of the lampholder to create or simulate dwell.


We might see a resurgence of some of our most beloved light bars that could be used without the current draw of all the old sealed beams. And, create a great way to use the old Federal Model 184 and Model 14 beacons for display or secondary use without a huge power supply.


Or, like Michigan State Police is redesigning their Unity RB-26 beacons with LEDs, maybe a fixed array lighthead could be created sized up like the old PAR 46 and PAR56 lamps to fit our old beacon shells. Traditional looking, but modernly functional!
 

Henry455

Member
May 21, 2010
513
Houston, TX
Just thinking off the top of my head, buy 3 sections of ELS's led lights with 5 degree "takedown" optics, stack them on top of each other, this would give you 9 "3 watt" led's in a 3.75" X 3" package that is almost the same foot print as a par 36 bulb. The problems would be mounting in place of a par 36 bulb holder, possible heat issues using steady burn and less heat sink area due to stacking.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
That might work! Looks like they are available only in white, so you would need to use color domes or possibly coat the lens with transparent acrylic paint. There was a thread about doing just that on this board a few months ago.
 

Richard P

Member
May 23, 2010
1,031
Sudbury, On
Truck-Lite Makes LED headlights, in 7" rounds, they have high and low beam, And ive seen LED par36 spot light replacements, Im sure on a rotating axis it might work, Unlike the TIR WHelen replacement I saw in a powerlight on the old board
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
EL1998P71 said:
Yeah but how many Par 36 4464'sor 4416's (ect) can you get for the price of one of those LED replacements?
What you wanting compared? We are talking about a few lights in this thread now.. :lol:
 

RJ*

Member
May 21, 2010
346
Finland
EL1998P71 said:
A quick Experiment.
Well, Not quite a Par 36 LED. But an TIR3 Red LED in my 184H beacon.


It is bright, but doesn't have the POP like a glass bulb does.

Turn it sideways 90 degrees. That will give it a much better "pop".
 

kadetklapp

Member
May 21, 2010
1,568
Indiana

EL1998P71

Member
May 23, 2010
704
Sterling Heights Mich

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
If you watch the light hot spot on the wall, instead of the light directly, there isn't a distinct difference in intensity that I can see. The shape is different, but it looks as bright.
 

kadetklapp

Member
May 21, 2010
1,568
Indiana
Awesome. I wonder if some kind of mirror assembly behind the lighthead would give some more pop.


I STILL want to see this with two of the lights having flash patterns activated.
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
EL1998P71 said:
That would be horrible, cause when it passes by it may be off. (And I already put it back to normal)

The only flash pattern/setup I could consider partially working would be a slow alternating back and forth- but only if there was at least two LED modules "side by side" in place of each halogen bulb..


Like a 90FPM or something... Or even 60.. Just so there is an additional pop. But you would have to make sure there was no "dead" time, where both lightheads were off.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
53,962
Messages
449,805
Members
19,102
Latest member
Hilux01

About Us

  • Since 1997, eLightbars has been the premier venue for all things emergency warning equipment. Discussions, classified listings, pictures, videos, chat, & more! Our staff members strive to keep the forums organized and clutter-free. All of our offerings are free-of-charge with all costs offset by banner advertising. Premium offerings are available to improve your experience.

User Menu

Secure Browsing & Transactions

eLightbars.org uses SSL to secure all traffic between our server and your browsing device. All browsing and transactions within are secured by an SSL Certificate with high-strength encryption.