razzle frazzle mutha trucker cot sucka MMMMMMmmmm visibar.

ryan

ryan

Premium Member
Member
May 20, 2010
2,996
152
Massillon, Ohio
Ya, this is a rant sorta...


If your under the age of 21 leave now.


Ok. Why god? Why did federal signal make this lightbar? Why did they make it so nobody with less then 13 fingers could possibly restore it?


Here we go... I had a gentleman call me and ask for a restored visibar. I had a few in the shop and ended up buying him one of his own for the resto. I started taking it apart and realized..This is NOT a twinsonic. I am a lost puppy in a crowded street. I am not familiar with this area, and boy did it show. I am now 50% thru the restoration and will never ever restore one of these again.


Beware... no matter how many times you remove a visibar rotator base... the chain will always make both lights spin the same way. Sure you could X the chain and make them spin opposites but it aint in the cards. And who fricken engineered the idea of a 1.25 hole to pull a chain out of, try to wiggle it onto a sprocket, and get the extension wire all back on and not fall off inside the channel?


FML. Rant off.
 
read and performed a majority of that plus some! wow this thing is totally 180 from a twinsonic.
 
Know what you mean; I had fixed one a few years ago & had JUST gotten it back together only to have one of the gears come apart. I got mad & threw the son of a bitch outside onto the lawn.


I took it apart, sold what I didn't smash & said NEVER again will I work on one of these effin' things!
 
I remember putting mine back together. Five (yes, you read right)....five flipping hours to get it all re-chained, re-wired, and buttoned up. That was a long night, but it made me happy that it ran good the next morning when I tested it. My TBR was the most time-consuming resto.......EVER. And I agree with ChargerLighting. I don't want to do that all over again.


ai246.photobucket.com_albums_gg82_Mercer36_VisibarandSirens.jpg


I've said it before on the old board when Charger shared his run-in with one of these beasts: It's a wonder how those poor Federal Signal employees put hundreds, if not thousands, of Twin Beacon Rays together when they are such a pain in your own butt to re-assemble. Makes you ponder how many went through therapy after years of fighting with that little square space to get everything just right, with hardly any room to maneuver tools around. That's why the TwinSonic was invented :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:!!!
 
they had to have a few tricks for it or some special invented tools.
 
These things were a major pain in the a$$ but I still have a fondness for them being that the first police cars I drove had them. We had blue domes with wide mouth flare speakers. The chains would hang up and the lights would freeze. Usually, a good slap and they would start turning again! Used them until the late 80's then thought it was Christmas when we got brand new AeroTwinsonics! Ah, memories..............
 
Ryan: After reading your rant I think I want to restore one even more now... Sounds like one good challenge. I've always liked the look of the Visibar anyway so it would work...


Yea I know I'm a little strange but hey, we're all a little strange for enjoying this hobby right???
 
Girls, girls, please. Oh my, if the throwing of such devices ever crosses your mind again, please let me know! I will gladly place them upon my workbench for the needed surgery. Delicate? Yup. Aggravating? Oh yeah. But, for me, ultimately worth it all.
 
If I ever had to have a beacon ray, this is what "I" would do:


One Model 14 on each end. With Model 11 Beacon Ray retaining rings. No more aggravation, no more stupid chains, busted gears or high blood pressure- end of story. :lol:


The only difference is 1 extra motor, but really....isn't it almost the same bar otherwise? (Aside from the obvious)
 
03crownvic said:
...but the synchronized signal is what made them effective and unique.
Click to expand...
A widespread belief, probably supported by scientific data, is that, with rotating lights, alternating flash patterns are less effective than simultaneous flashes, so the Visibar would probably be less effective than the Twinsonic even without the mirrors. What I'd do with synchronized lights that rotate the same direction, is have them offset by a 30-degree angle, so that one side flashes briefly before the other side, rather than simultaneous or alternating.
 
As the chain stretches, you will get a slight change in the light pattern, but not much. Two independent beacons will constantly change patterns.
 
well, i am in the process of doing a visi-bar restoration and have been nervous about getting to the point ryan was talking about. i just finished putting both rotators on and i must say i didnt have that much of a problem. i just started the chain on the gear and stretched it over each tooth till i had it! ryan, maybe this was a sign from the twinsonic gods telling you to stick to what you know, lol :lol:


p.s. stay tuned for my restoration pics!
 
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