# Police warning lights -- dash lights



## Toydeluxe (Jan 16, 2007)

Tell me what you guys think of this............

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=200067382844&rd=1&rd=1

This guy can custom make lights, to your specs, including length, color, and the amount of bulbs per inch.

Here's my deal. My cruiser at work has halogen rotating lights on top, unlike our newer Impalas with a LED bar.
I've noticed a few nights when working wrecks that the halogen just doesn't cut it for visibility.

Now here's the deal.....................alot of you on here know about flashlights, and the pros and cons between LEDs and halogens in providing light to a given space. I think this issue is entirely opposite......it's about the light itself being seen.

What I want to know is how important the bulb density is (bulbs per inch), what colors work the best (day and/or night......blue, red, or clear), and if you guys know of readily available sources where I might be able to make one of these setups myself.

I'm kinda thinking this guy on Ebay is offering a pretty good deal. 

I'm looking at getting a 12 inch stick for the front, and two 10 inch sticks for the rear. All of this with a flasher would run me a little under $200. In comparison, Galls offers a "Signal" brand with three 9" sticks for $300.


Let me know what you guys think.


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## coldsolderjoint (Jan 16, 2007)

Welcome to CPF. 

I'm an EMT in NJ with blue lights in my Personally owned vehicle. 

Personally, I would buy stuff from Whelen. They make quality products and are really bright. Because your life depends on these. I would not waste my time with 5mm LED's. I would go with the TIR series. or possibly the new LIN3 series. 

Galls is a great company, and offer 100% customer satisfaction. But their prices are high. 

www.sirennet.com is the cheapest place I ever found online, and there customer service is good. I ordered my personal lights from them. 

I'm not a light engineer, but from experiance, I have found that yellow lights tend to grab my eye better then any other color. 

You can sometimes get the older 5mm versions of the whelen yellow/yellow slimlighters for kinda cheap on ebay. 

If you do go with this guy, and get his flasher. DO NOT SHORT one of the output leads accidentally. Be very careful in wiring. I have the same flasher for the leds on the back of my truck, and I blew out one side of the flasher with a short I didnt know I had. 

http://batboard.batlabs.com/ here is a forum that mainly deals with mobile radio stuff, but on the bottom, last forum subsection, is a place dedicated to emergency vehicle warning equipment. These guys can sometimes be a bit harsh, but they also seem to know what they are doing. They claim to be professional installers, like the guys that turn a stock crown vic into a police car. 

Sorry, I wasnt much help in building your own. But, please take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable. What kinda flashlights ya got?! :huh:


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## USSS (Jan 17, 2007)

coldsolderjoint said:


> Welcome to CPF. Personally, I would buy stuff from Whelen. They make quality products and are really bright. Because your life depends on these. I would not waste my time with 5mm LED's. I would go with the TIR series. or possibly the new LIN3 series.


 
+10 on Whelen, especially their Linear 8 Super series.

I've had a TLN2 dash light for more than a year, and it has proved very effective, although I don't run hot with it very often (more for motorcade/diplomatic escort).

Apply that $20 toward a proven/tested product. Nothing wrong with experimenting on your own, but obviously you need to be wary of DOT regulations with this stuff. And I see no mention of that on the eBay seller's site, so I would be cautious.


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## dw51 (Jan 17, 2007)

I'd have to agree with the TIR leds. We recently outfitted a new unit with both TIR's and 5mms. There is no comparison. You may look here: http://www.strobesnmore.com/They have some pretty good prices and selection.

As for colors, the most important question is what is legal in your state? Many states require certain colors for emergency equipment. I would check there first.

Good luck and stay safe!


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## coldsolderjoint (Jan 17, 2007)

http://www.sirennet.com/whelslimmver.html

heres a good light for the back. $200 bucks plus shipping. Suction cups and ciggerette lighter, easy install and easy disassembly if you ever get moved up to a new car. 

My friend has one of these, and actually likes it better then the dual talon. The thing is very bright. 

The downside of this light however, is that it offers slightly less off sided view. 

Look on ebay, and you'll see that even used whelen lights go for a pretty high price compared to new. Its a good thing for if you get moved up to a new car, you can recover most of your funds.

There are alot of undercover cars around here that run two of these lights, and two strobes in the reverse lights, they have no lightbar. And these officers seem to feel safe enough to do traffic stops at night on busy roads.


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## PursuitSS (Jan 22, 2007)

Toydeluxe, one of the problems I've encountered is NONE of the LED emergency light manufacturers will tell you what the MCD rating of their leds are.

The brightest I've seen by far are the ones manufactured by Sound Off Inc., Their Predator II series, NOT the Predator series is extremely bright. I've seen all of the majors at trade shows and the Predator II smokes everything else. I'm currently working on making my own lights using these *25,000 MCD* leds:

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-PC-Megabright-Red-LED-5mm-25kmcd-Free-Resistor_W0QQitemZ320023818982QQihZ011QQcategoryZ26207QQcmdZViewItem

PursuitSS


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## RAF_Groundcrew (Jan 22, 2007)

coldsolderjoint said:


> http://www.sirennet.com/whelslimmver.html
> 
> heres a good light for the back. $200 bucks plus shipping. Suction cups and ciggerette lighter, easy install and easy disassembly if you ever get moved up to a new car.
> 
> ...


I totally agree, the TIR6 Slimlighters are AWESOME, I just got a Red/Red for the rear screen of my POV, and I am so impressed, I have sold my Dual Talon that was fitted there. The increased spacing between the TIR6 modules gives a much better warning impression with a side to side pattern than the Dual Talon I think. 

You may lose out a little on the off axis output, and some people on elightbars.org have done comparison tests on this, but the flipside of this is a very concentrated long range warning beam for greater perceived output at longer distances. If side output could be an issue, then fit some TIR3s on the sides of your vehicle somewhere.


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## Bogie (Jan 24, 2007)

www.rimindustries.com

The do LED's by the inck in better housings I have a number of them in my PV's both LED & strobe color depends on what you are authorized to ues I have Red/Blue/Whit to the front & Red/Blue/Amber to the rear.


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## coontai (Jan 24, 2007)

+1 on whelen. check out the reviews on galls.com. I would go led its worth the extra (no more bulbs, less current draw, etc)


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## Sig229 (Feb 19, 2007)

check out www.elightbars.org TONS of information along with a forsale/trades sectino

Bill


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