Noisy Belly Rotating Beacon

[Gary0747]

My original rotating belly beacon has gotten noisy.  Does anybody have a way to make one not sound lke a coffee grinder?  Perhaps it is time to replace it with an electronic version.  Has there been an approved LED version developed?

[Marauder]

My original rotating belly beacon has gotten noisy.  Does anybody have a way to make one not sound lke a coffee grinder?  Perhaps it is time to replace it with an electronic version.  Has there been an approved LED version developed?

Whelen sells both an LED and strobe version. I have the strobe version which has been on the plane for 20 years without any issues.

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[Hank]

I used to have the ?Whelen strobe. Then it got to where the flash was irregularly intermittent. I took it off and put a volt meter on it, the voltage spikes (500+ Volts!) were irregular. Some wrote down the numbers and went to the Whelen booth at Sun n Fun. The rep laughed, said "man, that's old" and showed me what I need. It's LED. I'll have to find the comparison photo, the LED unit is about half the size.

[carusoam]

The old beacons suffer from old hard grease.

Short on dough, clean grease, re-lube. It keeps working...

My C's strobe would bind up each year.  It got cleaned and re-lubed annually.

The electronic motor noise could be heard in the headsets. Changing out to a strobe was easy and not very expensive.

LED is the modern way to go.  Whelen is a great aviation supplier.

My thoughts on the belly strobe or the top mounted strobe(?),

-a-

[Shadrach]

I was surprised how well the original unit from my 67 F was made. Everything in it was top quality right down to the tiny bearings bearings in the motor that were stamped "made in Germany".  I ensure that it gets lubed pretty often. It needed a capacitor ($1.75) about 3 years ago. I would replace it, but it refuses to die.

[tony]

Whelen model 7108055 is a 12V LED direct replacement for the grimes rotating beacon.  Remove the old one, replace the connector, install with three screws, and your done except for the 337.

[Hank]

"337"? A belly light is a Major Modification? My A&P accepted it as a logbook entry . . .

Everyone being afraid of the FAA and being afraid to make a decision is part if what is killing general aviation. There are many, many things that do not fit the FAA's definition of Major Modification and thus do not require a 337. But filling one out and filing it for everything above an oil change does, indeed, protect you from ever having to discuss anything or defend a decision.

It's your plane . . .

Edited March 13, 2016 by Hank

[TTaylor]

Just installed the Whelen LED last week.  Easy to install and probably gained two pounds of useful load.  

[tony]

Hank, I agree with you.  But since Whelen has an STC for the thing and our Mooney's aren't covered by it; I just felt like I wanted to be covered.  Someone made a determination and Whelen went through the expense to generate an STC.

[bradp]

19 minutes ago, tony said:

Hank, I agree with you.  But since Whelen has an STC for the thing and our Mooney's aren't covered by it; I just felt like I wanted to be covered.  Someone made a determination and Whelen went through the expense to generate an STC.

It is a cycle.  Everyone doesn't want to make decisions about part applicability and interchangeability.   If whelen has a cross reference that says this 12V unit is replaced by this 12V LED I would interpret that to mean that it is a direct replacement part.  But to each his own.  Because everyone is hesitant to make decisions about parts (that's us owner operators by the way), A&Ps are hesitant and want a CYA, hesitancy is passed on to manufacturers who go to the expense of developing STCs, and that cost is passed directly back to owner / operators.   That's why we have $500 flashlights on our wing tips, tails and bellies.  

[Hank]

Yep, I paid the outrageous price to cover Whelen's submissions. They included a copy of the approval letter; my IA liked it, it's now in my logbook. So far, it's been good enough. When the time comes, I plan to do the wingtips the same way, but it's not worth $1000 plus labor to replace my still-functional red & green lights with colored LEDs that add a blinky white light. 

I bought the pricey £€D lights for the belly and landing light when those lights became non-functional. My wingtips still work, and are approved. So what if they aren't very visible? The other lights surely are.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Hank

[FlyboyKC]

If anyone is interested I have this Wheelan strobe, its 12volt and works fine. I had it as a backup for my Cherokee but no longer needed now that I have the Mooeny. PM me or respond to the message. Asking $125 shipped within the US.

Neal

[Hank]

Here is my old, semi-functional Whelen flasher and my new Whelen LED flasher. This was just after I moved the trim ring from the old unit. Everything fit great. Really bright, too.

[bradp]

What's the deal with these new snazzy orion 360 beacons?

Just shorter than the current led that Hank and others installed?

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelen-orion360.php

Might be something to look into around SNF time.

Brad

 

[Marauder]

What's the deal with these new snazzy orion 360 beacons?
Just shorter than the current led that Hank and others installed?
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelen-orion360.php
Might be something to look into around SNF time.
Brad
 

Just another way to separate you from your cash. Noticed they are over $100 more expensive than the last gen.


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