Whelen Linz 6 Leaking

nathanial98

Member
Oct 30, 2013
38
Wisconsin
Has anyone else had problems w/ Whelen products seals failing and allowing moisture inside? I do all of our installs and recently switched our entire fleet over to Whelen products. Now we have ALOT of light son our squads. My K-9 vehicle alone has over 32 Whelen lightheads and just have not been happy with their products and customer support.

I have 2 Linz6's on each running board of my Expedition (for a total of 4) and I have had to replace each one 3 times a year for the last 4 years. Every replacement I get lasts for a few months and then suddenly there is moisture inside and after that, it's just a few days before they fail.

All of my other light heads seem to be ok (I did have my inner edge start smoking one day, but they replaced that).

Whelen does continue to replace them under warranty, but I am sick to death of constantly replacing them. Our agency uses so many lights, we have other agencies who come and look at our squads for ideas. You think they would treat me better, but all they do is just send a replacement. I even asked to down grade to a cheaper light head and they won't do it.

I am just curious if anyone else is having these issues? They are flush mounted on a Ford Expedition, 2 on each running board.
 

NY743EM

Member
Dec 3, 2015
21
NY
I don't claim to know as much as most people on here (I admittedly know little). However when I joined this board, I was shocked at all the fans of Whelen. Our ambulances all have Whelen equipment that are all nothing but trouble. Leaking lights, failing trim and gaskets, poorly designed housings, yellowing plastics, overheating floods etc. These are on both of our 10 year old and 3 year old rigs which see infrequent use as we are a small town.

Yes they were professionally installed, and I see the same issues on our fire department apparatus which were professionally built by a different reputable builder. Though the fire department takes better care of their equipment after calls in the rain so have fewer leaking issues.
 

octoberguy77

Member
May 15, 2014
975
Indianapolis, IN
They had a problem with ones that are a couple of years old and should have the issue straightened out I would thing. I would contact Whelen directly and discuss your aggrevation with having to replace them again. They've always been really easy to deal with.
 

got_yogurt

Member
May 21, 2010
539
BC, Canada
We have two Linz-6 on the back hatch of one of our rigs. One is completely burnt out and the other one glows any time power is applied. They are three years old and it looks like a water issue
 

nathanial98

Member
Oct 30, 2013
38
Wisconsin
Oh trust me, I have tried SO many times over the last 4 years to talk to them. I get no help other than "we will send you out a replacement". I don't want a replacement. It's a pain in the butt to replace these things ever few months. Let me trade up or down even. Let me try something else! Nope. They say they won't help at all.

Well, because of their lack of enthusiasm to fix this and me CEARLY not feeling important enough, we will be ditching ALL of or Whelen products and going with Soundoff Signal.
 

nluszcz

Member
Dec 1, 2011
196
Kentucky
My LIN6's have been leaking for 3 years without an issue... I'm annoyed they don't look nice and clear but they flash just as bright as day 1. Whelen has been amazing to deal with, VERY pleased with their support. I run 100% Whelen on my car.
 

tigerfdny

Member
May 28, 2010
31
New York
I have used Whelen for over 10 years now. I have dealt with Federal Signal and SoundOff Signal during that time and still found Whelen to be the best overall. I will say I have had issues with Whelen's older generation LED lightheads with regards to moisture build up in the housings but they seem to have corrected the issue with the new ION series lights. The housings with the IONs have been completely re-done compared to the LINZ's or TIR optics. They also re-designed the vents in the back of the lighthead to let moisture escape better. With that said, when installing the lightheads, you must make sure the side with the vent is not facing upward or else you will get moisture buildup and even maybe burnout the lighthead.
 

13TTPP

Member
Feb 11, 2016
175
San Antonio, Tx
I have seen some fairly new Linz6's and Lin3's get condensation or liquid in the housings for sure. We have an unmarked supervisory/command post car with a pair mounted vertical on the rear LP which I noticed were wet inside probably within a year. My impression is that they generally still provide good service for a long time even in that condition. Are you perhaps in a more caustic region like by the coast or an area with harsh winters? I use my personal car for off duty traffic gigs and have had no issues with Whelen stuff and I run my lights 8 to 10 hours straight sometimes. My current car has 4 exterior mount ION's and they have been trouble free. I can empathize with the hassle repeatedly installing the same lights and dealing with Whelen's customer service. I have had great experiences with Code3 and SOS going above and beyond for the customer. The positive being at least Whelen honors the 5 year warranty without making people jump through too many hoops. I vote carry on until the Linz6 are out of warranty and swap them for IONS if they don't give you a new car by then.
 

badbrad

Member
Jan 29, 2011
53
canada, saskatchewan
We have had issues with the LINZ6 for years on our Tahoe rear outer edge. We have 20 enforcement vehicles with them.. whelen did replace all of the light heads in bulk. The lights do get a lot of water in the rear housing and the light heads fill up with moisture. Lately we have been sealing the all the new light with silicon before installing, including covering the heat vents. We will see if this keeps the moisture. At $200.00 each it gets pricy. New vehicles have IONS.
 

billforbush

Member
Jun 10, 2010
313
Northern Michigan
LINZ6 heads have always had water issues. Whelen is aware of the problem. Try your regional manufacturer representative. In Michigan. CJ Trojan Associates do an awesome job solving problems. Although the LINZ6 is not a particularly good choice for exterior mounting, IMHO Whelen is an outstanding signalling manufacturer.
 

EVT

Member
May 24, 2010
622
Midwest
Microns having lots of issues as well. That's the reason they moved a lot of the new outer edges to IONs.

Of course if you ask them they will say they haven't heard of any issues
 

GE

Member
Sep 30, 2015
109
Prairies Canada
Make sure when installing anything that will be exposed to moisture that any unused wires are SEALED OR CAPPED OFF. Water will wick down the braid via capillary action and enter the lighthead and damage it. Don't ask how I know.

Not all of Whelen's moisture issues are because of this, but some may be.
 

DaveClement

New Member
Jan 23, 2019
13
Lynnwood, WA
Very interesting. I've heard about water migration in flood damaged vehicle wiring harnesses. The water can wick in and corrode connections that are out of sight and above the water level. I had never considered wicking into emergency lights, although I do cap off unused wires as a general good practice.
 

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