XeVision® XeTREME™ LED LANDING LIGHT (par-36/46)

[MikeOH]

@FastGlasair

Let's take those one at a time:

1) I view a thermal monitoring and power reduction circuit as a GOOD thing!  I would hope your product has the same in case that fancy cooling fan fails!  Is ridiculing a typo really the best you can do?  Think there are none in all of your documentation?

2) WOW! "COLD FORGED" in bold...curious what the actual reduction in thermal resistance is versus presumably mundane extruded 99% aluminum?  Also, the idea is to design a heatsink to minimize delta-T, NOT make it large!  But, hey at least that statement isn't a typo

3) You keep citing this magic 180F number...hard to believe that's the "number" for all your competitors.  My point being, you are completely neglecting AIRFLOW that will be present when the aircraft is moving.

4) Well, hermetic and "air tight" are pretty synonymous: From Wikipedia, "A hermetic seal is any type of sealing that makes a given object airtight (preventing the passage of air, oxygen, or other gases)"  I'm pretty sure water vapor is another gas. So, sounds like moisture CAN enter.

5) I'm sure you must realize that the blue/pink humidity indicators only show the PRESENT humidity; not historical.  Further, they are usually a card, not a 'salt pouch' which sounds more like a desiccant pack that was included to try and absorb the moisture that ingresses past the non-air-tight rubber O-ring, and included an integrated humidity indicator.  Finally, Ogen, Utah is considered a pretty dry climate (not Phoenix level) versus, say, most of Florida.  Time will tell...

6) Hmm, not sure why you bring up where the product is made?  I like to buy American as much as the next guy, but that ship sailed LONG ago.  Are you going to certify that EVERY part in your product is made in the U.S.?  How about that microprocessor IC, TSMC in Taiwan, perhaps?  Do you shop at Walmart or Costco?  Think you are buying American there?  That's another pretty cheap shot at your competition, IMO.

7) For the >$800 difference you can have your 5% delta in efficiency

 

Bottom line, I view the original PAR46 filament bulb, my $150 Aerolite LED, other lower cost LED offerings, and your $1000 product as LIGHT BULBS!  That is their function.  My Aerolites is way superior to the filament PAR46 that it replaced.  My main criteria was I was tired of changing out the damn bulb.  That problem was solved with the added benefit of better illumination...all for $200, installed.

As I said earlier, good luck with your $1000 solution.  No doubt there is some market for the incremental, IMHO, benefits your product offers.

[FastGlasair]

1. Already told you we monitor fan rotation, ie tach. We also have thermistors for such. Don't need to dramatically reduce output performance to prevent thermal runaway as yours must. Only a backup for us.

2. Extruded aluminum can't be made into a similar optimized shaped heatsink. 99% pure is required for cold forged parts. The length of the pins was optimized by testing, including infrared cameras. A large ∆T in fact is desired for efficient thermal extraction performance.

3. The 180+ F number was found to approximate the temps found from 3 other competitors units with less wattage than yours within 10 minutes of on time in a 70 F ambient environment. What kind of beneficial airflow (none) is found in an engine cowling without a blast tube "focused" on the heatsink of the unit ?? 

4. A well and suitably compressed o-ring is making a great seal and no, there is no passage of anything in spite of your insistence. We use the same o-ring technology on our HID waterproof handheld searchlights that are certified for scuba diving to 50 meters. Those have been in use for about 20 years now, without a single water pressured or otherwise water intrusion issue.  High dollar Rifle scopes and Spotting scopes use the same to keep argon or nitrogen contained within for many 10's of years as previously stated. We also have a vacuum chamber for testing altitude internal pressure variable effects.

5. Yes time will tell, we offer a 5 year warranty, even with a lens breakage failure we can easily repair the unit for a relatively very low cost. I often fly through rain and our customers are in many humid and rainy places around the world, not a single warranty claim of any kind so far in 3 years. Once the salts, mentioned earlier, turn light blue or even pink, the only way to change them back to dark blue is high temps in an oven (225-300F for 2 hours plus for the moisture to cook out and escape not remain), not the relatively low temps. occurring in the optical section. Thus they do show evidence of historic humidity or lack there of.

6. Well at least we assemble in USA and no, not every part is made in USA. 

7. Yes better efficiency and one hell of a lot more as I have and our website indicates. Obviously you love "your" product that's great. Equally lots love ours too. Obviously not everyone does or will want to pay a premium for what we offer in distance illumination and other capabilities, those that do will.

8. We will shortly have STC approvals making installation simple and friendly for everyone. 

Until you can provide additional metrics of performance ie, Candela (Candle Power) or Lux output values and a graph similar to what WAT shows for output degradation over time as the unit heats up, there is no apples to Apples comparison at any level.

Good day sir, I rest my case. The sparing session has been challenging yet "fun". We've been in the aviation lighting industry since 2002, no neophytes here. You aren't the first and won't be the last for a joust. We here are all experienced pilots, experimental aircraft builders ( 4 aircraft between 2 of us,  2 Glasair RG's, 1 Lancair 4P & 1 Nemesis NXT Reno Racer) as well we're seasoned engineers, Optical, Mechanical, Aeronautical and Electronics. One of 4 now retired being a PE in 3 states, NJ, NY and Utah.

We occasionally try to use lay terms to help the understandings for others.

Edited December 29, 2023 by FastGlasair

[Niko182]

Do these have a sync wire so the left and right lights pulse or sync up when in the strobe configuration?

[FastGlasair]

13 hours ago, Niko182 said:

Do these have a sync wire so the left and right lights pulse or sync up when in the strobe configuration?

Niko,

We did quite a bit of research regarding maximum effectiveness, wig-wag, steady, strobing, irregular strobing. The most effective attention getter (the ultimate goal for wig-wag etc.) is a "wild" pattern. See the light pattern video below for a pair of our LED landing lights in strobing mode out at the wing tips. Note this pattern is especially effective for avoiding bird strikes too.  (garnered from data)  USDA Research - National Wildlife Research Center -  Effectiveness  of Aircraft Mounted Lighting to Reduce Bird Strikes.

Our net conclusion, syncing the lights had no performance benefit for this strobing pattern we offer, in fact the opposite is true. https://www.xevision.com/led_aircraft.html

Note if the 2 lights are quite close together, such as the cowling, we recommend only strobing one of them at a time, the other being off.

Thanks for asking,  Dan Blumel

www.XeVision.com

801-622-7000

 

 

Edited February 20, 2024 by FastGlasair
additional clarification comment

[OR75]

5 hours ago, FastGlasair said:

Niko,

We did quite a bit of research regarding maximum effectiveness, wig-wag, steady, strobing, irregular strobing. The most effective attention getter (the ultimate goal for wig-wag etc.) is a "wild" pattern. See the light pattern video below for a pair of our LED landing lights in strobing mode out at the wing tips. Note this pattern is especially effective for avoiding bird strikes too.  (garnered from data)  USDA Research - National Wildlife Research Center -  Effectiveness  of Aircraft Mounted Lighting to Reduce Bird Strikes.

Our net conclusion, syncing the lights had no performance benefit for this strobing pattern we offer, in fact the opposite is true. https://www.xevision.com/led_aircraft.html

Note if the 2 lights are quite close together, such as the cowling, we recommend only strobing one of them at a time, the other being off.

Thanks for asking,  Dan Blumel

www.XeVision.com

801-622-7000

 

 

I trust what you are saying regarding the effectiveness ...

however, let's face it, for pilot/owners who are installing those, the appeal/look is a big factor (if not the biggest factors !!) 

[Niko182]

17 hours ago, OR75 said:

I trust what you are saying regarding the effectiveness ...

however, let's face it, for pilot/owners who are installing those, the appeal/look is a big factor (if not the biggest factors !!) 

This is where my mind was at

[FastGlasair]

27 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

This is where my mind was at

Well up till now, that's not been the feedback we've gotten, regarding just the strobing mode appearance.

Most have been relieved, that a cross-feeding sync wire, often difficult to implement (wing access and labor) was not required or needed at all.

In fact everyone prior to this, has stated they "loved" the uniqueness and effectiveness of the dual light strobing pattern.

Additionally, they all were in fact mostly concerned for collision avoidance benefits in high density traffic areas, low visibility (pollution or haze) and equally for the evident bird strike prevention.

All of this on top of the superior output 1/3 mile+ effectiveness for landing, in the normal steady mode.

Thanks, Dan

Edited February 21, 2024 by FastGlasair
spelling edit