LED light installation

[MATTS875]

So I took advantage of the great pricing today on new wheels Orion led lights and wanted to know what would be reasonable for installation costs associated. Here is what I ordered Whalen Orion 6502ge, 6502re, o5000v2, and the Orion 360 red beacon. I would think I would want them synced to flash at the same time but that could be personal preference. What are your thoughts on installation?  Thanks for the advice

[Niko182]

4 minutes ago, MATTS875 said:

So I took advantage of the great pricing today on new wheels Orion led lights and wanted to know what would be reasonable for installation costs associated. Here is what I ordered Whalen Orion 6502ge, 6502re, o5000v2, and the Orion 360 red beacon. I would think I would want them synced to flash at the same time but that could be personal preference. What are your thoughts on installation?  Thanks for the advice

Do it yourself instead of paying someone to do it. you learn how to do it and its quite enjoyable.

[MATTS875]

22 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

Do it yourself instead of paying someone to do it. you learn how to do it and its quite enjoyable.

I’m not mechanical savvy unfortunately. Wish I had the knowledge to do things like this and even basic tasks of changing oil. Most do it themselves but I’ve never tried. Might be something to consider

[Niko182]

With sync between 3 lights and using new cables plus adding an additional tail nav cable id say give or take 8 to 12 hours. Running the sync wires take a lot of time. Adding the new cable to the tail since youll now have a nav and strobe light in the tail will add a decent amount of time too.

 

[MATTS875]

13 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

With sync between 3 lights and using new cables plus adding an additional tail nav cable id say give or take 8 to 12 hours. Running the sync wires take a lot of time. Adding the new cable to the tail since youll now have a nav and strobe light in the tail will add a decent amount of time too.

 

Thank you. Hopefully it will be all worth it in the end. I didn’t realize the installation time. The mechanic here charges $115 hour. Might have to try it myself and just ask a ton of questions.. thanks for the help

[Niko182]

Just now, MATTS875 said:

Thank you. Hopefully it will be all worth it in the end. I didn’t realize the installation time. The mechanic here charges $115 hour. Might have to try it myself and just ask a ton of questions.. thanks for the help

It adds up quick.

[Joris]

@MATTS875 I'm also looking at replacing all my lights with LEDs. Wingtip and tail strobes are like yours (ORION™ 500 and ORION™ 650E), but for the belly flashing beacon, I can't decide what I need. What I don"t want is a round beacon. I now have a oval, low-profile red beacon.

From the Whelen website It looks like I have two choices, the 90350 or 90724 SERIES.  The 90724 seems a good option, but it's nearly 2K euros! For the 90724, I'cant find any reference to a Mooney installation.

Are you going with a round beacon? Does anyone have here have any advice on replacing the oval belly beacon?

/J

Edited July 27, 2020 by Joris

[PTK]

8 hours ago, MATTS875 said:

I would think I would want them synced to flash at the same time but that could be personal preference.

There is a synchronization wire in the wings already. It is the yellow wire and syncs the wingtip strobes. If you want to sync the tail strobe with the wingtips you'll need to run a wire back to the tail strobe. I don't find it necessary imo but if you want that a wire needs to be run to the back. 

[StevenL757]

7 hours ago, MATTS875 said:

Thank you. Hopefully it will be all worth it in the end. I didn’t realize the installation time. The mechanic here charges $115 hour. Might have to try it myself and just ask a ton of questions.. thanks for the help

Echo @Niko182 remarks.  Don't worry about how much time you'll  need if you "DIY" this.  Enjoy the experience, ask questions if you aren't sure what's happening, don't shortcut anything, and you'll enjoy the finished product.  I did run a separate NAV light wire to the tail, and also sync'ed all three of the white anti-collision lights, and couldn't be happier with the whole arrangement.  Make sure you're using molex connectors to connect everything up...much cleaner job that way.

Also get your old strobe power supplies out of the loop as a first step, mark your wires before removing them, then inventory what wires you have and what you'll need to pull fresh.

[MATTS875]

1 hour ago, Joris said:

@MATTS875 I'm also looking at replacing all my lights with LEDs. Wingtip and tail strobes are like yours (ORION™ 500 and ORION™ 650E), but for the belly flashing beacon, I can't decide what I need. What I don"t want is a round beacon. I now have a oval, low-profile red beacon.

From the Whelen website It looks like I have two choices, the 90350 or 90724 SERIES.  The 90724 seems a good option, but it's nearly 2K euros! For the 90724, I'cant find any reference to a Mooney installation.

Are you going with a round beacon? Does anyone have here have any advice on replacing the oval belly beacon?

/J

Yes. I’m going with the round Orion 360. Not sure about the oval one.  The 360 was priced high enough for me not consider anything else that was more expensive. He said I definitely needed the one with 3.75” base and only gave me the 2 options. I think the other one was the 7108 model which was not as bright

[MATTS875]

45 minutes ago, PTK said:

There is a synchronization wire in the wings already. It is the yellow wire and syncs the wingtip strobes. If you want to sync the tail strobe with the wingtips you'll need to run a wire back to the tail strobe. I don't find it necessary imo but if you want that a wire needs to be run to the back. 

Thanks. I was really wanting just the position lights synced so hopefully this will cut down on the installation hours

[MATTS875]

21 minutes ago, StevenL757 said:

Echo @Niko182 remarks.  Don't worry about how much time you'll  need if you "DIY" this.  Enjoy the experience, ask questions if you aren't sure what's happening, don't shortcut anything, and you'll enjoy the finished product.  I did run a separate NAV light wire to the tail, and also sync'ed all three of the white anti-collision lights, and couldn't be happier with the whole arrangement.  Make sure you're using molex connectors to connect everything up...much cleaner job that way.

Also get your old strobe power supplies out of the loop as a first step, mark your wires before removing them, then inventory what wires you have and what you'll need to pull fresh.

Does a wiring schematic come with the lights? 

[StevenL757]

No.  Just the mounting diagram and a wire key code here for the wingtip assemblies...

https://www.whelen.com/install/147/14743.pdf

...and here for the OR500 (tail)...

https://www.whelen.com/install/147/14710.pdf

[PTK]

1 hour ago, MATTS875 said:

Thanks. I was really wanting just the position lights synced so hopefully this will cut down on the installation hours

Position lights are either on or off. There are two types of lights: the white strobes on the wingtips and tail (aka anti collision or ACL), and the nav lights, (aka position lights), red on left wingtip, green on right wingtip and white on the tail.

Synchronizing refers to the strobes and as I said there is the yellow wire there for that purpose for the wingtip strobes. You can if you want add a wire to sync the tail strobe with them as well. The position lights are on separate switch and either on or off.  

[MATTS875]

23 minutes ago, PTK said:

Position lights are either on or off. There are two types of lights: the white strobes on the wingtips and tail (aka anti collision or ACL), and the nav lights, (aka position lights), red on left wingtip, green on right wingtip and white on the tail.

Synchronizing refers to the strobes and as I said there is the yellow wire there for that purpose for the wingtip strobes. You can if you want add a wire to sync the tail strobe with them as well. The position lights are on separate switch and either on or off.  

Ok. I understand now. Would be nice to have the ACL lights synced. Thank you 

[gsxrpilot]

90% of the time involved in this install, will be running wires through the wings. It is a simple, but very tedious job. It helps if you have a young kid, about 8 years old, who can reach up in the wing to pull wires through. 

But seriously, if you ran the wires, you can then pay the shop for the last hour or two, to hook them all up.

[MATTS875]

12 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

90% of the time involved in this install, will be running wires through the wings. It is a simple, but very tedious job. It helps if you have a young kid, about 8 years old, who can reach up in the wing to pull wires through. 

But seriously, if you ran the wires, you can then pay the shop for the last hour or two, to hook them all up.

I’m debating on giving it a try. So probably first step is to remove the access panels on the wings and what are the best connectors to use for connecting the wires?  Thanks Paul for the advice

[gsxrpilot]

Just now, MATTS875 said:

I’m debating on giving it a try. So probably first step is to remove the access panels on the wings and what are the best connectors to use for connecting the wires?  Thanks Paul for the advice

I'm not qualified to speak about the connectors... I'm sure a proper A&P will be along soon with that information. But that would be the last step. 

So yeah, first step is removing all the panels. You can also remove the existing power supplies. Then figure out where to run the wires and how many to run. You won't put connectors on anything until after the wires are all run.

[MATTS875]

3 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I'm not qualified to speak about the connectors... I'm sure a proper A&P will be along soon with that information. But that would be the last step. 

So yeah, first step is removing all the panels. You can also remove the existing power supplies. Then figure out where to run the wires and how many to run. You won't put connectors on anything until after the wires are all run.

Perfect. Thanks. 

[OR75]

running a wire is simple but a contortionist exercise.

Opening the panels is easy.  

Safety wire can be a mechanic's best friend to pull / push the wire from one bay to the other through the holes.

Making a "clean" install by bundling the wires can be challenging (and you do not wan the wire to interfere or chaff  with the control rods.

I don't believe this is an pilot's preventative maintenance task .... so before going there I would find an A&P willing to sign off on your work .... and not wanting to be be paid even for the hours you put it  

just my 2 cents 

[carusoam]

Invite for Shawn... @shawnd

A thread regarding install of lights... that may be of interest to you.

Best regards,

-a-

[shawnd]

6 hours ago, MATTS875 said:

I’m debating on giving it a try. So probably first step is to remove the access panels on the wings and what are the best connectors to use for connecting the wires?  Thanks Paul for the advice

@MATTS875, from what I am told by others, first step is determine how long it will take, then account for 3x that of downtime while you go through this. It will definitely be a fun process but don't rush and also don't expect to go flying right away.

@carusoam thanks for pulling me in. Now if only there was an easy way to replace the recog lights...

 

[Niko182]

Also important to figure out if your plane has 1, 2, or 3 power supplies for the strobes. My 1999 eagle had 2. One behind the seats, and one in the tail. Some have 3. And i think some have 1. You can figure it out by first looking in the tail section. If you need help shoot me a PM and i can walk you through it. All it is, is a bit of wire crimping. The lights fit with ease.

[shawnd]

Just now, Niko182 said:

Also important to figure out if your plane has 1, 2, or 3 power supplies for the strobes. My 1999 eagle had 2. One behind the seats, and one in the tail. Some have 3. And i think some have 1. You can figure it out by first looking in the tail section. If you need help shoot me a PM and i can walk you through it. All it is, is a bit of wire crimping. The lights fit with ease.

+1

Does the LED supply require at least one power supply?

[Niko182]

Just now, shawnd said:

+1

Does the LED supply require at least one power supply?

It requires no power supplies. You need to figure out how many you need remove. If you connect the LED's and forget to remove a power supply out of the cuircut, im pretty sure itll blow the LED set up. The power supplies shoot out a high amount of power for a fraction of a second and causes a regular light to strobe (pretend youre turning your house light on and off really quickly). The LED's take in 28 volts consistantly, and through the cuircutry within the Orion light, gets turned on and off. Someone please correct me if im wrong. Also take advantage of the useful load getting rid of the power supplies. It wont be much, but 5 lbs here and there adds up after a while.