Whelen 400 series LED light heads comparison?

[vonirkinshtine]

Specifically between the single-level linear Super LED light head and the 5mm SmartLED light head. I can't find this bit of information anywhere, but how many LEDs does the linear light head have? I assume 4? So that begs the question, which is a brighter light? I've looked all over youtube for a comparison but haven't found one (search for "whelen 400 series" and you get all sorts of results).


To me it would seem like having 4 LEDs filling that entire light head would not "punch" as much as the 5mm version with lights filling the entire area. I know all of the MEDIC trucks here in Mecklenburg county use 5mm LED light heads and they really show!





[Broken External Image]:http://www.whelen.com/_AUTOMOTIVE/images/Lightheads/400/400_Super_LED/hiresweb/40r2zcr.jpg


vs...


[Broken External Image]:http://www.whelen.com/_AUTOMOTIVE/images/Lightheads/400/400_LED/hiresweb/40r000xrr.jpg

 

[HFD eng1ine]

Personsally, i find them very close in light output. The linear ones have 4 leds. ontop of the leds is almost like a tir style reflector cut in half, this put tremendous light output towards the top and bottom of the light, and there it bounces off of mirrored surfaces and is aimed forward for the eye to see. Without the ridgedd colored lense in front of it it is not good with off axis, however, when it has that lense it is very bright head on and all directions (left or right). The 5mm lightheads are very bright head on but not the best off axis. This is why the miniphantom dashlight is slightly curved and the leds are slighty angled. To provide better off axis. So, it all depends were the lights are going and how many must be pruchased because the linear are much more pricey! Hope this helps, and if there are any more questions please send a pm.


KP

 

[grfd711]

In the picture of the ambo, it looks like you have 700 series lightheads on the grille, front of the fenders and above the rear wheel wells.

 

[kinnelonfire75]

In the picture of the ambo, it looks like you have 700 series lightheads on the grille, front of the fenders and above the rear wheel wells.

+1, in addition to that, those are 900's at the top of the box...so i am not sure how a discussion of 400 series heads applies to the image... :?

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Yeah, I know there are zero 400-series heads anywhere on that bus, lol. I merely posted that picture illustrating the use of 5mm LED heads...even though you can't tell those are 5mm through the lenses.


HFD thanks for the technical opinion. I'm half temped to buy one of each and see which one I like better, haha. It would make a good "technology comparison" thread for the board.

 

[kinnelonfire75]

I think you will be satisfied with either one - we use 5mm 900 series heads on our ambulances and they are plenty bright during the day time and especially bright at night time. Hope that helps.

 

[John Hearne]

I had 400 Series on the rear of my Crown Vic. I replaced them with M4s. The footprints are almost identical. The difference between the light output and the off-axis is simply amazing. Think SUPER TIR output with good off-axis.