Whelen Nav light LED replacements

[OSUAV8TER]

16 hours ago, Ryan ORL said:

Red nav light on my 84 J is burned out and needs replacement.  Appears like from a cost point of view, it's nearly the same cost to just go to LEDs.

Based on the parts catalog, I think I need the Whelen W1250 compatible ones like these:

https://www.knots2u.net/whelen-led-position-light-whelen-71379-series/

Does anybody have any experience with these?

I've seem many people go with the 'full' replacement that also takes care of the strobes, but that seems much more involved (not to mention much more costly), and as I fly often at night, I don't really want to wait for the downtime.

Would it be foolish to try and just do the LED nav lights only?

You don't need to replace that entire nav light fixture, you can upgrade to the Whelen Chroma series LED navigation lights for $125 a piece. They are FAA TSO for an approved night position light source. If you want to do the whole thing you can upgrade to the Orion 650E, which will get rid of your strobe lights. It's not a complex installation and you can plan on 2-3 hours max with an A&P to swap them out. 

Email me at gallagheraviationllc@gmail.com and I can get you straightened out

https://www.gallagheraviationllc.com/whelen-aircraft-lighting.html <--- Visit my website here

[PeteMc]

I'm hoping Whelen will finally get around to releasing an LED replacement bulb for their recognition lights.

 

[OSUAV8TER]

Just now, PeteMc said:

I'm hoping Whelen will finally get around to releasing an LED replacement bulb for their recognition lights.

 

I make sure to keep that project on their radar. 

[MB65E]

The Chroma lights are awesome!! I’ve run them in 4 airplanes. Great Drop in.

-Matt. 

[ZuluZulu]

2 hours ago, OSUAV8TER said:

I make sure to keep that project on their radar. 

If they're not already on there, we need to add the white rear wingtip position lights to the list too...

[OSUAV8TER]

3 hours ago, ZuluZulu said:

If they're not already on there, we need to add the white rear wingtip position lights to the list too...

Baby steps! Yes there is a need for that too. 

[Steve W]

3 hours ago, ZuluZulu said:

If they're not already on there, we need to add the white rear wingtip position lights to the list too...

Those are bog-standard halogens. It should be trivial for someone to find an auto-style LED and certify it. The fit might be a little tight for the needed light output is the only problem I could see. So probably only $500/bulb. 

Edited to add: Assuming yours has the service bulletin applied to convert from pin base to wedge base.

[OSUAV8TER]

19 minutes ago, Steve W said:

Those are bog-standard halogens. It should be trivial for someone to find an auto-style LED and certify it. The fit might be a little tight for the needed light output is the only problem I could see. So probably only $500/bulb. 

Edited to add: Assuming yours has the service bulletin applied to convert from pin base to wedge base.

I think these are your ticket: https://www.aero-lites.com/product-page/whelen-a508-led-replacement-360-degree-beam-preorder-ships-august-18 

[EricJ]

13 hours ago, tmo said:

Stupid question, but would replacing the gear annunciation lamp with a dimmable LED bulb solve the issue?

One downside of that is inadvertently having the gear lamps dimmed the next day after a night flight.   This is a fairly common problem on rental airplanes, and I've had this happen, too.   I didn't get three green, I got no green, on a rental Arrow and asked the tower if the gear was down.   They said it looked like it, and while doing another trip around the pattern I happened to figure out that whoever flew it last left the panel lights dimmed.   Turning them back up made the three green lamps visible in the daylight.

 

[StevenL757]

22 hours ago, PT20J said:

I don't see a white position light for the wingtips. Is there a replacement for that? That's the little sucker that gets hot.

How much rewiring did you have to do?

Skip

You don’t have to deal with the wiring to the trailing edge white steady lights...they’re wired separate from the ACL and NAV lights that go to the tail and wingtip leading edges.  The only wiring changes I made was running a separate wire for the NAV portion of the OR500 to the tail, and a sync wire to the ACL portion of all three.

[OSUAV8TER]

Just now, StevenL757 said:

You don’t have to deal with the wiring to the trailing edge white steady lights...they’re wired separate from the ACL and NAV lights that go to the tail and wingtip leading edges.  The only wiring changes I made was running a separate wire for the NAV portion of the OR500 to the tail, and a sync wire to the ACL portion of all three.

The AeroLites are not FAA TSO approved as a night position light but the Orion 500 is, which serves as your authorized night position light. The wingtip lights I’d just do a minor alteration. As long as one white position light is TSO approved, you’re G2G IMO.