Split Dome Beacons

southpaw

Member
May 7, 2015
723
South-West
They are lexan, and they have to be re-attached, I've ordered some of that Loctite plastic bond I think you knew about and used, to try a re-attach operation...
 
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The Loctite works very well in ALL applications I've used it on. I had a damaged amber dome that was going in the trash so I tried the bond on it to see how well it performed--worked better than superglue without the "frosting" effect. I may need to get another 15 if you decide to part with one.... :)
 
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southpaw

Member
May 7, 2015
723
South-West
Well to be honest I missed 15 part, I thought these were the older smaller model 17 domes, but you may be right they are 15 domes.. I never had the lights they were attached to, just the domes...
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
An interesting "split dome" that I saw in Lubbock many years was totally "home brewed". A friend of mine who did roadside service in the early '80s had bought a surplus Sears van. For roadside service he needed something light-wise for when he was assisting motorists. He found a used TwinSonic reasonably priced. He wanted to run red-blue on the lightbar, which is common here in Texas; but red/blue to the front is restricted to emergency vehicles, which allows volunteer firemen and EMTs the use of red or red/blue on their POVs. So the state guy tells him that he can run solid blue to the front and red in any combination to the rear and that would be o.k. He had found a pair of red/blue TwinSonic dome easily enough. The nice thing in Lubbock was that there is a plastics manufacturing company there, and I suggested that he take the red and blue domes he bought to them and see if the could split and then reassemble the domes so that he could have blue up front and red behind. They were able to do that, and did so without charging him anything: Typical Texas hospitality.
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Well to be honest I missed 15 part, I thought these were the older smaller model 17 domes, but you may be right they are 15 domes.. I never had the lights they were attached to, just the domes...

About 12 years ago I lucked out locally and found a blue glass dome for a 15 that I got for $5!! That was at a fire extinguisher/fire equipment co. in Odessa that was downsizing and getting rid of what little emergency equipment they had since the death of the original owner. And finding that dome couldn't have come at a better time. I had just bought a 1974 GMC VanDura Type II ambulance from a dealer in Ft. Worth. It had come with a pair of Mars SW2 beacons on the front corners that had badly faded domes. I just happened to have a nice pair of red 15s that would fit where the Mars beacons were sitting. So I put the blue dome on one and left the other red. Health problems two years later caused me shut down the standby ambulance service I had run for quite some time. I still have that van with the 15s in place along with an '84 Starline Type II Chevy van. Neither has been run or driven in several years.
 

coop359

Member
Apr 16, 2012
495
USA Tennessee
Indiana ran Highlighters with red on the back of amber lights on their plow dump trucks - think they used the center red insert since the could not have red to the front. Cool split.
 
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philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
Hi fellas, I have the opportunity to buy four red/amber split Highlighters like tsquale's in the post from September 2017. They seem to be in the same condition as his. What do you think they're worth? I know Highlighters don't go for much so I want to make sure I won't get taken on these.
 

BLUELIGHT

Member
Jul 7, 2018
118
Hendersonville NC
Hi fellas, I have the opportunity to buy four red/amber split Highlighters like tsquale's in the post from September 2017. They seem to be in the same condition as his. What do you think they're worth? I know Highlighters don't go for much so I want to make sure I won't get taken on these.
Don't know what they're actually worth, but I'd give at least $100 each, maybe more depending on condition.
 

brw1249

Member
Apr 5, 2011
129
Tulsa, Oklahoma USA
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Mars Light

Member
Jun 23, 2011
1,491
Leipzig, Germany
It is better to make only one split dome from a amber and red dome. There is always a better side and if you concentrate your work on this side the end result is more convincing. First you have to mark the exact half of each dome. But you have to consider the material loss when cutting and any inaccuracies if you cut by hand.
I use a painters tape to protect the dome and to make easy markings.
Please check the Signal Stat marks on each dome. At the end of your project it looks cleaner if each dome has the mark again.
After this you need a very small saw to cut the domes. I sawed by hand because if you use a machine the plastic melts regarding the fast movement of the machine saw. This causes too much material loss.
The more accurate you cut the better the dome parts fit.
Clean and smooth the cut surfaces .
After this you can fix the domes with clue and fill small holes with crystal-clear silicone.
 

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