NPS Ranger
Member
Did anyone ever see one of these in person? They had an H.I.D. bulb as well as a ballast and a "preconditioner" inside. Anyone know why they took off like a lead balloon?
Whelen RB-6 H.I.D. beacon
- Thread starter NPS Ranger
- Start date
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
I was actually going to ask about it. I have a sealed beam model, was looking for info on it, saw the HID model under the PDF's.
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
I just sent John Marcson the brochure on this light, and HID products. When he gets it in the mail, maybe he'll share it.
Dan
Dan
JohnMarcson
Administrator
dmathieu said:
Once your stuff gets here I'm starting a sorting project....... I'm going to try to get things broken down by company and year. I'll get new things scanned and posted as quickly as I can.
ford-dealer
Member
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Its interesting that Whelen lists the cp on the halogen version of the beacon as 25,000, but the current RB-6 is shown as having a 50,000 cp rating. It is hard to believe that a redesigned reflector would double the light intensity. Was Whelen fudging to create a wider difference between the HID and halogen versions? Anyone know what the HID beacon sold for?
badge22
Member
I don't remember what they sold for, but the company I worked for in the '90's was going to install the beacons in the trunk of their standard package slick-tops as a throw beacon for roadblocks. I had one, but sold in 2 years ago. Wicked bright. Whelen and Phillips could not reach a deal on the quickfire technology (used in headlights). It took about 15 seconds to get to full brightness. If you shut it off you were screwed for up to two mins. before it would re-light. Unfortunately, Whelen produced a retro-fit kit to convert them over to standard halogen, just as with the OSC lightbars (Oscillating). So many of the few that were sold have been gutted.
Doesn't HID give you interference problems with radios?
I saw on Ham Radio boards that people that had HID headlights, also had interference in the radio.
I saw on Ham Radio boards that people that had HID headlights, also had interference in the radio.
whatevah
Member
Radio interference depends greatly on the quality of the ballast and wiring. I have aftermarket HIDs in my Charger and I get zero interference to my AM/FM radio or over my scanner on any frequency that I've noticed. Most of the problems come from people using cheap kits instead of the good OEM-spec components.
whatevah said:
Yeah I don't know about this, but I hope that a ham knows how to install a radio and some HID at the same time.
Dr. Dennis Stouffer said:
I'd guess they're just talking about the bare bulb without the reflector.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
John, are you aware of the Spectra System being sold to customers, and how effective the system was? I've not previously been aware of it.
I recall talking to a Whelen rep when the H.I.D. lamps were introduced. He was not pushing the light, but the amber beacon on display was pretty bright. He saw it only as a brighter Amber light useful for highway construction and heavy equipment because -
Ambulances and other emergency vehicles at the time were having problems with electrical current consumption, and on startup the HID used a considerably greater surge of current.
On law enforcement vehicles, the frequent cycling of the lamp would cause premature lamp failure, and the bulbs were expensive. Also, it was the same old argument - how bright is bright enough. Halogen sealed beam bulbs and halogen lamp emergency lamps were already pretty effective. And then --- LEDs were around the corner, with a whole different type of beam projection and low current demand.
Ambulances and other emergency vehicles at the time were having problems with electrical current consumption, and on startup the HID used a considerably greater surge of current.
On law enforcement vehicles, the frequent cycling of the lamp would cause premature lamp failure, and the bulbs were expensive. Also, it was the same old argument - how bright is bright enough. Halogen sealed beam bulbs and halogen lamp emergency lamps were already pretty effective. And then --- LEDs were around the corner, with a whole different type of beam projection and low current demand.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
DefianceEngineCompany
Member
7d9_z28
New Member
ditto. Im goung to experiment making one. I got access to h1 and h3 hid kits . See what thy look like to place in a rotator socket
kitn1mcc
Member