New drop-in LED bulbs from Whelen

[LANCECASPER]

4 hours ago, kortopates said:

Will never happen because their are only a handful of Mooney owners to buy them. Plus several of us just buy the $5 projection bulb so don't find them expensive to replace and use the pulsing system which eliminates the plastic lens melting - both issues solved!

Please tell us more about the $5 bulb and how to get it to pulse.

[gsxrpilot]

Ok, do these bulbs require the heavy power supplies already in the wings or can those be removed when installing these bulbs?

And secondly, @kortopates...

6 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Please tell us more about the $5 bulb and wow to get it to pulse.

+1

[LANCECASPER]

22 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Ok, do these bulbs require the heavy power supplies already in the wings or can those be removed when installing these bulbs?

Power Supplies in the wings and tail can go.

Oops . . .  corrected below.

[gsxrpilot]

Just now, LANCECASPER said:

Power Supplies in the wings and tail can go.

Now I'm interested... I wish someone would buy them and install them already so I can see what they look like 

[LANCECASPER]

9 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Now I'm interested... I wish someone would buy them and install them already so I can see what they look like 

My mistake I thought we were talking about this thread:  

The soon to be approved nav lights alone don't allow you to remove the strobe power supplies - you have to go with the 6502 Whelens to do that.

 

[gsxrpilot]

51 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

My mistake I thought we were talking about this thread:  

The soon to be approved nav lights alone don't allow you to remove the strobe power supplies - you have to go with the 6502 Whelens to do that.

 

Ah, ok. I'll eventually get the 6502's. If I spend money on this plane, it's got to come with additional useful load :-)

[peevee]

54 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Ah, ok. I'll eventually get the 6502's. If I spend money on this plane, it's got to come with additional useful load :-)

I don't see the point of these bulbs when it's not that much more to do away with the strobes and power supplies with the orion 650e

[gsxrpilot]

Just now, peevee said:

I don't see the point of these bulbs when it's not that much more to do away with the strobes and power supplies with the orion 650e

Yeah I agree. I meant to reference the 650e's. I'd really like to get those installed at the upcoming annual in August. But I might wait to see how well the annual goes first.

[peevee]

Just now, gsxrpilot said:

Yeah I agree. I meant to reference the 650e's. I'd really like to get those installed at the upcoming annual in August. But I might wait to see how well the annual goes first.

the numbering is so confusing it's easy to mess it up. also why I wanted to reference the correct number. we just dropped 6k at autopilot central soooooo not for us now.

[kortopates]

4 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Please tell us more about the $5 bulb and how to get it to pulse.

And @gsxrpilot 

The Mooney  wing tip recognition lights available from Whelen for about $100 ( these: http://www.skygeek.com/whelen-01-0770303-00-recognition-light.html ) are 14V 25 Watt PAR18 Halogen projector bulb.  http://www.topbulb.com/err-bulb-25w-14v-par18-halogen-ansi-err 

Yes - 28V Mooney's use a 14V bulb (in series with a large voltage dropping resistor which is also in the wing tip). If you are willing to dremel down the sides to the proper shape and solder on two wires to the terminals and cover with heat shrink you can fabricate your own for under $10 - okay I exaggerated by a few bucks. But that's still 1/10 of the cost from Whelen. 

There used to be two flashers or pulsers available from LASAR and PreciseFlight. The LASAR was ideal in that it fits right behind the rocker switch but is no longer available. The Precise Flight is still available and fancier (does more) and I recall it was $359 last time I checked - but not sure. My LASAR works by turning the recognition light switch on for just 1 sec and then off and that puts them in pulse mode and would expect the Precise to work similarly. That is the only way I ever use  them and in pulse mode they improve recognition over than without pulse mode. Plus while pulsing they don't get that hot to melt the lenses Thus they are a win-win IMO plus strobes don't flash straight head either, but you can of course do similar with pulsing headlights too. But I don't think you can pulse the much brighter HIDs that I use - since they say to leave on for 30 seconds minimum if just turning them on to test. 

BTW, I am not the first to mention this on MS, if I recall correctly one of the European Mooney owners posted the info on the projector bulbs a few years ago here.

Edited July 17, 2017 by kortopates

[Raptor05121]

I ordered a set of the Whelen LEDS. I'll do a proper write-up and really nice before/after pics when they get here,

[ArtVandelay]

Please tell us more about the $5 bulb and how to get it to pulse.

I believe this is the $5 bulb, requires some dremel work.

[DXB]

On 7/13/2017 at 10:47 PM, Raptor05121 said:

Check this out. Whelen Chroma series. Supposed to be a drop-in PMA LED bulb to replace red and green nav lights. Better quality than the knockoff LED bulbs you see without the expensive price point. $115 each, $230 for both wingtips is very attractive!

 

They currently are still awaiting FAA certification, per the ad. I doubt Whelen will have any issue getting it.

AircraftSpruce is expecting 14v to arrive in their warehouse by July 27, and 28v early August: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelenchromaled.php

 

Just saw this post and would have jumped on these. But yesterday I noticed the Hoskins power supply for my left wingtip strobe seems to be dying - it's only firing the strobe  once in a while.  Now I don't want to put more money into the ancient system and may just do the $500 Whelan LED nav/strobe units to be done with it forever, and maybe remove my belly beacon at the same time.  

What's annoying is that there is still no drop in legal tail light replacement, and spending $400 for the hardware  to make that one bulb LED is still too hard for me to stomach!

[bradp]

On 7/31/2017 at 0:25 PM, DXB said:

Just saw this post and would have jumped on these. But yesterday I noticed the Hoskins power supply for my left wingtip strobe seems to be dying - it's only firing the strobe  once in a while.  Now I don't want to put more money into the ancient system and may just do the $500 Whelan LED nav/strobe units to be done with it forever, and maybe remove my belly beacon at the same time.  

What's annoying is that there is still no drop in legal tail light replacement, and spending $400 for the hardware  to make that one bulb LED is still too hard for me to stomach!

Dev in some cases you need to keep an incandescent or some sort of other resistor in line if you have your gear indicator lamp dimmed by your nav lights.  I'm in the same boat as you.  My other hoskins is about to die (it literally takes 10 minutes for the right strobe to start firing up), so may be needing to do a replacement power supply or bite the bullet and do the expensive LEDs.  For the amount of effort it took to build a shelf for the Whelen power supply I have in my other wing (fabricating, finding h/w, alodining, priming, etc), it may be just better to do away with both and do the 650/600 wingtips.  

[MB65E]

Well- still no certification or paperwork. Whelen says they will not PMA or TSO the new product as directed by the Boston MIDO. They will only pursue the STC process. Im worried that they will not include the aircraft I'd like to have on their AML. Just like they have not included aircraft on their AML's in the past. i.e., there is no STC or upgrade path for any lighting on the 525 citation series available. I'm working on a 337 or letter of authorization from OKC that might be in a form of an existing AC... My FSDO has been extreamly helpful but has not granted blanket approval yet. The new Chroma lamps are AWESOME!!! Here are come pictures. The dim one is of the stock lamp

C'mon it's a lightbulb!!!!

For the record, I removed them prior to flight...

-Matt

[DXB]

2 hours ago, bradp said:

Dev in some cases you need to keep an incandescent or some sort of other resistor in line if you have your gear indicator lamp dimmed by your nav lights.  I'm in the same boat as you.  My other hoskins is about to die (it literally takes 10 minutes for the right strobe to start firing up), so may be needing to do a replacement power supply or bite the bullet and do the expensive LEDs.  For the amount of effort it took to build a shelf for the Whelen power supply I have in my other wing (fabricating, finding h/w, alodining, priming, etc), it may be just better to do away with both and do the 650/600 wingtips.  

Thanks- Good to know that converting to the conventional Whelen power supply is a pita - I had considered this.   Someone did that for one side on my plane the year before i bought it, and now the vintage '74 Hoskins hardware on the opposite side is dying slowly.  You've finalized my decision go with Whelen 650Es at the tips.   Luckily my  J-bar gear light is just manually dimmed by a mechanical shutter in the housing.  

The prior owner also put enclosed wingtips on my plane, so I need to get my tail light replaced with the Whelen 500 flasher for the 360 degree light coverage  required to remove my old belly light. It's going to be an annoyingly big bill for lighting ($1282 for hardware alone from Spruce), but I will appreciate one less hassle to worry about in the maintenance realm. 

I'm curious if anyone here has  guidance here on appropriate install costs and any install pitfalls with the Whelen LEDs.  I'm guessing it's very simple since everything is self contained in the unit?

[Raptor05121]

Matt, thanks for checking back with these. I have been checking Spruce weekly and the in-stock date keeps getting pushed back.

I cannot believe Whelen wont be able to attain PMA for these! Cmon!

[bradp]

I have seen some great examples air to air where I was able to see another aircraft for >10 miles (they were a decked out Cirrus).  But it does make a difference in the see and be seen category.  I'd put adequate lighting - visible in daylight - up there with all the electronic traffic gizmos that everyone pays beaucoup bucks for.  

[MB65E]

2 hours ago, Raptor05121 said:

Matt, thanks for checking back with these. I have been checking Spruce weekly and the in-stock date keeps getting pushed back.

I cannot believe Whelen wont be able to attain PMA for these! Cmon!

You bet!! They are filling orders. I was backordered on my three sets. Finally got the 14v for my airplane. They were the last to come. They shipped each 28v lamp seperatly. 4 little boxes. Lol.

The 28v lamps on the CJ only last about 200hrs and always fail right before night flights when you didn't do a post flight. 

I don't think I've ever changed a 14v nav lamp.

-Matt

[MIm20c]

My strobes are currently working like new. Any idea what the lifespan is on the bulbs and powerpacks?  Anyone have a link to the strobe bulbs?  I don't have a rotating beacon so the switch is on anytime I'm moving.  Thinking it might be a good idea to have an extra bulb in the aircraft to avoid AOG issues. 

[bradp]

I wish they had made a plain white bulb too - would have been great for the coffe grinder and tail lights.  

[Raptor05121]

Well at this point, there is very little difference, legality-wise, about these $115 Whelen LEDs and the $25 white LEDs on eBay.

[Skates97]

What are the options to adding wingtip strobes on an old 1965 M20D? Every time I see someone with strobes on their wingtips and top of the vertical stabilizer I'm a little jealous because I know they can't see me as easily as I can see them. 

[tigers2007]

What are the options to adding wingtip strobes on an old 1965 M20D?

My '64D is running the Whelen HDACF with Whelen strobe/nav tips. I would think that you are able to get a used set up fairly cheap with the fancy new LED models out now. It looks like a simple installation for your A&P. Make sure the supply is "jumpered" to alternate wingtip strobes - it is waaaay brighter. I think it's brighter than LED strobes.


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[Raptor05121]

Yeah I've been browsing eBay for them. I have a top fuselage and belly strobe. I'd love to get wingtip strobes and just go crazy! haha