Need help on FX8 TX3 50"

[JazzDad]

I was given two Freedom (?) bars, DOM 2008, with the mandate to get one of them to work. One bar had the wiring harness(es) removed. The other bar has two cables coming from it. One cable has all white w/ different colour tracer wires, which I assume is for the operation of the TA, and I have a controller for it (TACTLD1).

What it strange to me is that the other cable coming out of the bar has the same colour wires (red, blue, yellow, gray, etc.) that are already attached to the output of the TA head (stubby ends chopped off). Did I inherit something that someone else messed up, or am I just not realizing the order in which the TA head and switch panel go (like, in series somehow)? I can provide photos if this doesn't make sense.

 

[WireKing]

Post a couple pics

 

[JazzDad]

This is the switch panel and the the smaller of the two cables from the bar.



Here's that same smaller cable with the stubs coming out of the TA. (The colours seem to match.)




And here's the larger of the two cables that go into the bar.

I have not been into the bar yet, so don't know if the terminations on that end are stock or have been messed with.

The other bar has only a small cable going into it. Both have the TA amber modules.

They don't seem to power up according to Whelen install sheet: 13745V


???

 

[StEaLtH2]

Jazz, have you power and ground to the bar as you try to power up any pairings?.. I'm not terribly familiar with this version Freedom but you need to have power to the bar before any "options" can be activated..

 

[JazzDad]

I guess I really need to open the bar up and check where everything terminates. It's odd that there seems to be about 4 negative (black) conductors. I assume that if one isn't making a good contact, the whole process won't function.

 

[StEaLtH2]

Im believing your bar to be a "Texas DPS" variant and therefore would need the suitable install guide, to know for sure how this needs to function properly. There may be a specific controller needed for this.

 

[JazzDad]

The switch panel and TA controller came with the bar. (I assume they did not throw in some unrelated stuff just to vex me.) I guess I could call Whelen to see if they have some Texas-specific install sheet.

 

[MEVS06]

All 4 black wires are ground, the Grey and Red are the corners, the front corners won't flash without the rear corners activated. The yellow is the right alley, white is left alley, white/black and white/orange are the takedowns. White/brown and White/Green are the rear center lights, the white/red is the front center flashers.
That's what I can remember off the top of my head.

 

[StEaLtH2]

Would you be so kind as to post the controllers? Tks Jazzy

 

[emtanderson51]

The bigger of the 2 cables is the bar. Lg red and black to (=) and (-) and whites w/tracers are your control leads. The rest of the black wires go to (-). This is a HC bar so no LC switching w/o relays. The harness with the solid color wires is the TA cable..

 

[JazzDad]

The controller is a TACTLD1, of that I'm sure.

The switch box is just that- a switch box. It's just odd that the switch box has stubs that are the same colour as the TA cable.

 

[JazzDad]

I hope to get some time this weekend to try your out your identifications. Thanks!

 

[JazzDad]

Got a drawing from Whelen. It seems one of the bars was re-wired.

 

[JazzDad]

You can't replace the lamp in the TDs?

 

[MEVS06]

You need some?

 

[JazzDad]

I don't know, yet. I'm still troubleshooting the bars. It's just odd that you have to replace the whole (cheap plastic) fixture, and not just the lamp.

 

[7d9_z28]

I don't know, yet. I'm still troubleshooting the bars. It's just odd that you have to replace the whole (cheap plastic) fixture, and not just the lamp.

Is it just a 400 Halogen? Because I used to think you couldn't replace the halogen bulbs in the 500s and 700s until I damn near broke one removing it and found out that its just a hardcore locking mechanism that holds the bulbs in.

 

[JazzDad]

It looks like it should turn, but I can't seem to do it. I hear cracking as I try, similar to the sound of the cement breaking in an Edison base lamp when it's corroded into the fixture.

 

[StEaLtH2]

Jazz, it's possible u need the bulb removal tool which is a small metal tool that came with replacement bi-pin halogen bulbs that fit in to release the tab that is locking it in.
Any pics of the takedown and entire bar?

 

[StEaLtH2]

http://www.whelen.com/install/135/13516.pdf

Sorry I couldn't add the link to my previous post. Not too swift on the site on mobile

 

[7d9_z28]

Yeah JAzz its not a 'twist lock' bulb LOL, they pull straight out. I had no idea they had a special tool for it though.....

 

[JazzDad]

Well, it looks like the tool is used to get leverage under the lamp, and not stress it by pulling directly on the glass. I will have the JDI prototype shop make one up for me.

 

[JazzDad]

Took the bars apart last night. Someone had gotten into them and paralleled the amber TA lights to the red and blue (amber flashes with red and amber flashes with blue). The wires were twisted together and some electrical tape was partially wrapped around the 'connections'. I imagine some of the interior harnesses are missing.

Why do I always get projects that seem simple until I actually get into them?

 

[ERM]

And that is why you should always open up the bar to verify. Trying to decipher wires is almost impossible nowadays when people are messing around with the guts of these things.

It's always better to take a peek to make sure everything is as it should be.

Tony

 

[JazzDad]

I'm finally to the stage of buttoning the first bar back up. I can't believe the stupid pattern it had. (My wife had come out to the shop and asked why the bar had purple lights. ) I've now got a nice alternating pattern, one colour on at a time, with some dark time in between.

Question: What other LED modules will fit this model Freedom? I've got some bad extended corners, and need to determine if having Wilson repair them is the most economical way to get the second bar up.

 

[JazzDad]

Sorting out the wiring on the 2nd bar.



Frame has been trimmed. Lenses cut (thanks, Chief Paul). Mounts made. I just need to finish the low current relay interface board.

And No, Jarred, the lawn tractor battery is not going in the bar.

 

[Jarred J.]

lawn tractor batteries arent really "solar" friendly...

 

[JazzDad]

This is taking forever!

The thermometer on the car read 104° on the way home last night. I ate dinner and went out to the garage where I literally crimped one wire on the bar and had to go back into the air conditioned house. It was that hot.

 

[JazzDad]

It was raining so I got a lot done. Just need to take the old bar off the Jazzmobile, mount the new one, run a new control wire and I'm done! I will post a video.

 

[JazzDad]

Got the old JetStrobe off and the new brackets mounted to the roof rails. (This is a no-drill project.) Every time I begin to attach the new bar it rains.

 

[JazzDad]

Finally installed the bar. I estimated it would take me 2 hours - it took 4. I will post a video soon. (Maybe in 6 to 8 weeks.)

 

[JazzDad]

 

[13TTPP]

Did you paint the barn to match the car, or car to barn? Hard to stomach the death metal, but the bar and the rest of the video could go viral.

 

[JazzDad]

Barn was built in 2002. I guess I just like red. Have a red tractor, red truck, red side-by-side...