Thoughts of members on light head setup.

[JasonBro]

Hello everyone. I have a project going and it has been somewhat of an evolving project. I'm between ideas and while its not a big issue I am wondering what others would do if they were me.

I have a federal pathfinder siren on my truck with a Whelen Inner Edge FST (all blue) and two LINZ6 (solid blue) heads on the upper center of my front grill. (Rear is an Inner Edge RST and a couple LINZ6 btw) The LINZ6's are set to steady burn and the Pathfinder controls the flash patterns, and dimming. I have a button for dimming (all lights front a rear) and a button for setting all lights to cruise.

The current setting are as follows:

Step 1: No front lights activation, only rears.

Step 2: Slow Inner Edge pattern, simultaneous Quad 75 pattern on LINZ6's.

Step 3: Fast Inner Edge pattern, alternating triple 120 pattern on LINZ6's.

So my question is, I bought 2 new split blue/white LINZ6's that I plan to mount on the lower sides of my front grill. I am torn between options:

1) Set them to steady burn with the two split colors. Let the pathfinder control the flash patterns. This way they sync to the other lights, and can set them to multiple patterns in different modes including cruise. Obviously the drawback is that bother of the blue and white elements in the head only flash together. I suppose being blue/white lights it wouldn't be as bad as say a red/blue light that looks purple..... but I dunno.

2) Just have the Pathfinder control on/off power to the lights and use the patterns in the light heads. Probably set each head to alternate blue to white. I lose sync. lose ability to do multiple patterns, no cruise mode. I suppose dimming would still work. If I did this I'd set them just to come on in step 3 I suppose. Being as how these are white lights and the first two steps are more of parked traffic pattern modes.

3) Get different light heads and not use these split ones.

I know it's sort of a dumb problem/ non-problem. Just curious what others would do. The thought of having full control over every light with the pathfinder EXCEPT these two light heads sort of bothers me.


As an aside: If I wired both these heads to the same pathfinder relay would it still control dimming? I'm presuming it would but I dont know for sure.


Thanks for anyone's input.

 

[NoLimitSquads]

I’ll start off by saying that I know very little about the Pathfinder setup. This is all my personal preference, but I NEVER flash any white in park. I haven’t used split lightheads since before using flashable outputs. If I had to use split lightheads, I would rather have the blue and white separated, than have them synced. So I would use an on/off output and utilize the internal flasher. I would set those splits to a faster pattern than the rest of the vehicle, so that they were obviously not even close to synced, rather than having them on the same flash rate.

 

[Tango7]

If the lights only illuminate both blue and white at the same time? As a Cantrol user I wouldn't use them.
Why have a brain box if you can't select the lights you want when you want them?

 

[JohnMarcson]

I would not use the split blue/white. Go solid blue and if you need white use separate solid white lightheads so you can have them on a fast pattern when in drive.

 

[cabunty]

A split light isn't enough white to be an issue in drive or park. Don't panic about that. Your headlights would dwarf any of that.

 

[JohnMarcson]

A split light isn't enough white to be an issue in drive or park. Don't panic about that. Your headlights would dwarf any of that.

I'm with you that they are pretty much not going to be seen and are hardly a relevant part of this setup. Split LEDs are awful and probably just as, if not more, deserving of a NFPA guideline or SAE standard than flashing white at this point. Pink, Purple, and baby blue blobs of indistinguishable glow have been an issue since the first split lens lights and only gotten worse with LEDs.

The reason for the wall of text, and where I disagree, is the idea that comparing warning lights to headlights is a valid way of deciding anything except where to mount them (if at all). The fact that the white output is dwarfed by headlights is not part of any standard that would be followed or ignored. Either the user cares about the industry standard (suggestion) that flashing white should be disabled in park, or they don't. If not, then who cares about the perceived brightness of the headlights? Nothing is stopping most end users from leaving flashing white on while parked. It is a commonly ignored and debatably outdated safety standard. NFPA and other such standards are not usually adopted as laws. Most often they are designed to be "best practices for the industry" to shield agencies and responders from damage, injury, and civil liability. People and agencies ignore them all the time. Major agencies ignore significant parts of NFPA standards and have for years. One could argue that modern LEDS of any color and in some flash patterns are far more distracting than the white lights that were in use when the standards were drafted. There are whole systems of lighting control being developed to cut down on visual overload from modern warning LEDs of all colors, not just white. As far as actual laws about white light, most people with a legit reason for using flashing blue lights aren't going to be hassled by law enforcement for violating any traffic laws related to white lights. None of these laws, guidelines, or practices are dependent on the brightness of the headlights, which is where I am confused by this suggestion. Nothing reads "flashing white light perceivably brighter than X" shall be disabled when in park. It is a blanket "shall be disabled"; either follow it or don't.

The only way I can see headlights being relevant in this decision is if the described blue/white LEDs are too insignificant/dim to be seen against the headlights at all, which is completely possible. Modern headlights are bright and split LEDS are not. If this is the case, then I agree, leave them on. Or better yet, never turn them on. Better still, remove them. If the headlights negate them why use them? Strictly from a standpoint of deciding whether a lighthead is suited for use as a warning light in a specific location or configuration, headlights area valid litmus.

Either;

1. These are a source of flashing white light that can be detected by the human eye and disabling them in park is a decision that doesn't involve the headlights (either follow the standard or don't)
2. or they are being totally negated by the vehicle OEM headlamps and they are therefore not valid warning devices.

So use them in park or don't; following the practice of disabling white light while parked is rarely mandated (I consider it a professional courtesy). But if you can't see your warning lights compared to the headlights, I would reconsider using them at all.