Whelen red belly beacon LED replacement?

[amillet]

Last year I replaced the wing and tail strobes/nav lights with Whelan Orion’s.  I still have the original red belly flashing beacon (Whelan 90033) with the 150 watt quartz bulb. Passengers with better hearing than me complain about hearing a pulsing beep tone in the headsets.  Is there a remedy for this, or a LED replacement?

[StevenL757]

Ensure that the light is grounded properly.  If you're looking to replace it, you should consider the the Whelen 90724...below (specifically, the 9072411), which I added recently, retiring the 90033 (which is for sale).  Most folks would consider it overkill (it's nearly double the length of the 90033 and half-again the width) and is expensive (list cost:  $1575), but when I converted my other lights to LED, I wanted to ensure this was also retained and converted.  It is low-profile enough that it's very visible, but doesn't stick straight up like some of the other style LEDs.  It really does aid in visibility in daytime and at night.  Many pilots and controllers have remarked about the brightness.

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=12&prod_id=74

@Txbyker has one installed on his Ovation also, so he may weigh in with his own experiences and observations.

Steve

[BorealOne]

Last year I removed and replaced my belly strobe with a LED tail beacon - Whelan Orion OR5002V. Way brighter and more visible, and if I close my eyes, I can imagine I even get an extra knot from the cleaner airframe.

[amillet]

What is the purpose of the belly beacon with all the other lights?  Front & rear position lights; nav & srobe on each wing; tail; taxi & landing on each wing.

[Hank]

My old belly strobe began to blink very irregularly, so I replaced it with an LED unit. No wingtip strobes, and the nav lights are buried in 201-style wingtips, not visible from behind, so I need something.

Here is the old flasher and the new, much smaller unit, with the trim ring from the old one which fits just fine. I think I picked up a knot from reduced drag . . . . .

[amillet]

This is what I have now

[carusoam]

DP...

Best regards,

-a-

[StevenL757]

4 hours ago, Hank said:

My old belly strobe began to blink very irregularly, so I replaced it with an LED unit. No wingtip strobes, and the nav lights are buried in 201-style wingtips, not visible from behind, so I need something.

Here is the old flasher and the new, much smaller unit, with the trim ring from the old one which fits just fine. I think I picked up a knot from reduced drag . . . . .

Damn - what a difference.  :-)

[Andy95W]

4 hours ago, amillet said:

What is the purpose of the belly beacon with all the other lights?  Front & rear position lights; nav & srobe on each wing; tail; taxi & landing on each wing.

So that you can taxi around at night with only the belly beacon, instead of blinding everyone around you like some mook flying a Cirrus.

[carusoam]

 

@NicoN May be interested in this thread as well...

 

Best regards,

-a-

[hypertech]

When the time comes, I was looking at this:

 

http://www.aveoengineering.com/supernova-fs-titania/

 

Although its not immediately clear to me if they have an approval on the part yet.

[jetdriven]

 For a short time I had that same beacon. Some of it is switching noise that migrates up the powerline and into the aux bus and then the radios. Try a  1000-1500 uF radial electrolytic capacitor connected at the power input of the Beacon to ground right there.  This filters out the AC switching noise and dumps it to ground 

Edited December 4, 2018 by jetdriven

[Mooney_Allegro]

The pulsing in the headsets should go away with the LED beacon.  Since the new Acclaims and Ovations do not come with a beacon light, even as an option, I decided to buy the new Whelen Orion belly beacon.  The one with the small base.  It's super bright and very low profile.   I do a lot of night flying, and don't like to taxi around at night with the strobes blinding people.   Here's the link to the beacon.  With the one with the low profile, you need to drill a small hole in the middle for water to drain out.  At least that's what the Whelen instructions say to do.  I'll have it installed in January at annual time.  I think the Mooney cockpit beacon switch is $250, so that little piece of plastic is pricey!  

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=11&prod_id=205

[Txbyker]

On 12/24/2018 at 9:34 AM, Mooney_Allegro said:

The pulsing in the headsets should go away with the LED beacon.  Since the new Acclaims and Ovations do not come with a beacon light, even as an option, I decided to buy the new Whelen Orion belly beacon.  The one with the small base.  It's super bright and very low profile.   I do a lot of night flying, and don't like to taxi around at night with the strobes blinding people.   Here's the link to the beacon.  With the one with the low profile, you need to drill a small hole in the middle for water to drain out.  At least that's what the Whelen instructions say to do.  I'll have it installed in January at annual time.  I think the Mooney cockpit beacon switch is $250, so that little piece of plastic is pricey!  

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=11&prod_id=205

This is the one @StevenL757 put on his Ovation and I copied (mentioned above in this thread).

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=11&prod_id=74

 

Russ

[Jetpilot86]

Bumping this to ask if there is an LED replacement for the Halogen Bulb for my '95 Bravo PN 34-0226010-91 or if the 90724 assembly is a replacement for the 90033-19 assembly my parts manual lists.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/wat_90724series.php

[Pinecone]

@OSUAV8TER  James can help.

I went with this one - Whelen Orion 360 Beacon LED Lights For Sale | Whelen Aerospace Technologies (flywat.com)

 

A lot cheaper than the 90724.

[Marc_B]

Geez, those shark fin beacons really went up in price.  Last I looked it was around 1.5 now 2.1 amu! 

But I've got to say that my old beacon was audible in the headset, while an LED isn't.  That for me is worth it!  But I seriously contemplated removing the beacon but really like the idea of always keeping the beacon switch on so that any time my master switch is on the beacon is on.

[Marc_B]

@OSUAV8TER makes me wonder...Did WAT just dramatically increase prices prior to their 15% off holiday sale??  (let's go up 30% and then offer 15% off!)

[OSUAV8TER]

3 hours ago, Marc_B said:

@OSUAV8TER makes me wonder...Did WAT just dramatically increase prices prior to their 15% off holiday sale??  (let's go up 30% and then offer 15% off!)

No, they did not. You should be getting the 908525D beacon, which looks like the more expensive 90724 series beacons. 

[OSUAV8TER]

14 hours ago, Jetpilot86 said:

Bumping this to ask if there is an LED replacement for the Halogen Bulb for my '95 Bravo PN 34-0226010-91 or if the 90724 assembly is a replacement for the 90033-19 assembly my parts manual lists.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/wat_90724series.php

@Jetpilot86 try the 908525D LED beacon, it is a lot cheaper.

https://www.gallagheraviationllc.com/WAT-28V-908525D-LED-anti-collision-RED-lower-mount_p_92.html

[Marc_B]

Get it from @OSUAV8TER for the win!  Spruce has the 908525D at 2.1AMU and is why I was wondering if WAT recently jumped their pricing.  Geez.

[Jetpilot86]

13 hours ago, OSUAV8TER said:

@Jetpilot86 try the 908525D LED beacon, it is a lot cheaper.

https://www.gallagheraviationllc.com/WAT-28V-908525D-LED-anti-collision-RED-lower-mount_p_92.html

I’m recovering from the other order I just sent you and was hoping for just the bulb for now.