Whelen light bar question

Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
Hi all

New user. I recently got a new service truck. A f550 and I want to put a tow light bar style bar on it. With brake tail and turn lights and rear work lights. The two light bars I am looking at: Liberty 2 60”. It is WeCan.
And a freedom 4. Both no empty modules. All amber. No alleyights.

I can get either one of those at a very good price. The freedom costs less than $100 more than the Liberty. Other than thickness what is the difference between the 2 bars? Is one brighter than the other?

I plan on running M4’s in the grille. And I plan on tying in into the factory upfitter switches on the truck

Thanks
 

Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
Thank you. I agree I do like the taller light bars for big trucks and tow rigs and also fire trucks. I will likely go the freedom route. I was just curious what the difference was between the two.
 

Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
Thank you both. I will go freedom. I do like the thicker Lightbar for a truck.

I have been told by someone that has one of threse freedoms that you usually need to run low power for night since they are so blinding.
 
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Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
Thank you for your replies. I ended up ordering the 60” freedom with rear work lights, brake lights, and alley lights. Auto dimming feature.
I decided to go with M6’s for the grille. Thank you for the replies. Should arrive after New Years.
 
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Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
Just out of curosity what’s the difference between the m6 and the 600 series? I ordered the m6 for my setup. I know price was more the M series.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
The 600-series is rectangular, and the same size as the older 64-series lightheads so named for their 6" x 4" (nominal) dimensions. The SuperLED version contains a single row of 8 diodes:

60a02sar.jpg


The M6-series is a little more of an oval shape, and contains two rows of 9 diodes, or 18 diodes in total:

m6rb.jpg
 

Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
The 600-series is rectangular, and the same size as the older 64-series lightheads so named for their 6" x 4" (nominal) dimensions. The SuperLED version contains a single row of 8 diodes:

60a02sar.jpg


The M6-series is a little more of an oval shape, and contains two rows of 9 diodes, or 18 diodes in total:

m6rb.jpg
Thank you for the answer. I purchased the m6 but was curious about the difference. Since the m6 has more diodes does that mean it’s brighter
 

firebuff17

Member
Mar 28, 2011
774
CT
Yes, an increase in diode count generally translates to an increase in perceived brightness.

Perceived brightness are the key words. Our new rescues at work has the M6’s.... and holy cow are they bright...like burning my retina when I am pulling up after them.
 

Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
The guy I ordered my lights from said with the M series they are so bright at night you need to run them at low power. There are a few ambulances that run them near me. Very bright.
 
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Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
I plan on running 1 switch for the freedom (all amber, no empty spots) and the m6’s. Would a 20 amp switch be enough? No alleys. I want to run those off separate switches.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
The Freedom will have a main power and main ground that connect directly to your application's battery. The switch to activate the lightheads will require a fraction of an amp, as it will just be activating several of the Freedom's "low current" trigger wires.

According to the M6-series installation instructions, each M6 should be fused at 3 amps. Each M6 must draw less than 3 amps. I suspect the actual number is closer to 1.5 amps, but I have never measured the actual current draw of an M6 with an ammeter.

At a nominal 3 amps each, you can connect six M6 or fewer to your 20-amp switch.
 
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Cjrva1

New Member
Dec 23, 2018
9
Virginia
The Freedom will have a main power and main ground that connect directly to your application's battery. The switch to activate the lightheads will require a fraction of an amp, as it will just be activating several of the Freedom's "low current" trigger wires.

According to the M6-series installation instructions, each M6 should be fused at 3 amps. Each M6 must draw less than 3 amps. I suspect the actual number is closer to 1.5 amps, but I have never measured the actual current draw of an M6 with an ammeter.

At a nominal 3 amps each, you can connect six M6 or fewer to your 20-amp switch.

Thank you for the answer. I am having a friend who is a mechanic help install the lights. Should have them installed tomorrow or Monday. I know it’s LED so it hardly draws any power compared to strobe. I plan on using several 20 amp switches.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
I know it’s LED so it hardly draws any power compared to strobe.

That is not always the case. Consider this:

The majority of modern strobe power supplies were regulated at 22.5 watts per channel, or less. While some power supplies did exist that could deliver more power per channel, 22.5 watts per channel seems to have been the de-facto maximum.

Any old 90-watt regulated strobe power supply driving four or fewer strobe lightheads would deliver 22.5 watts to each lighthead. The same power supply driving six strobe lightheads would supply just 15 watts to each lighthead. Even lower wattages per channel were common; there were plenty of 60-watt strobe power supplies with six outputs.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the M-series lightheads use 1-watt diodes. Hopefully @wilsonbr90 can stop by to confirm. It seems to be common knowledge that the "hundred" series SuperLED lightheads that came before the M-series used 1-watt diodes. In any case, an M6 has 18 diodes. That's 18 watts per lighthead, nominal.
 
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wilsonbr90

Member
Sep 30, 2013
1,427
Corning, New York
the M series primarily use the Philips Luxeon Rebel series of leds. Led wattage is more or less just a marketing scheme, but i believe without breaking out the calculator these should be equivalent to a 2.5w led. an M6 at full power steady burn is 2.89amps draw at 13.4vdc
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
the M series primarily use the Philips Luxeon Rebel series of leds. Led wattage is more or less just a marketing scheme, but i believe without breaking out the calculator these should be equivalent to a 2.5w led. an M6 at full power steady burn is 2.89amps draw at 13.4vdc

Thank you, sir. You are outstanding in your field!

With eighteen 2.5 watt diodes, an M6 should draw 45 watts, nominal, or double that of a strobe lighthead. Even at the measured 38.726 watts, its current requirements are markedly higher than a strobe power supply would deliver to a single strobe tube.
 
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