School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Members | Search | FAQ
 All Forums
 Professional Garage
 Enter Forum: Professional Garage
 Auxillary warning lighting
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

Oldiron
Active Member

23 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  07:06:26 AM  Show Profile  Visit Oldiron's Homepage  Reply with Quote
With all of the stop arm violations these days I am curious as to other districts and states policy on additional warning lighting on the front of the bus. I was at a plant tour at the Thomas C2 plant and was looking at the buses coming off the line. I noticed a bus with flashers mounted on the grill area of the bus, and cannot remember the state or district this bus belonged to. So I wanted to get everyones input and see if I could locate the districts that are using it to see how effective it is.

Thanks for everyones anticipated response

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  09:04:50 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
http://www.akronbrass.com/supplemental-warning-light-kit is this the item you saw?

I'm running 6 buses with this system, all on our very dangerous state and federal routes. These same buses all have strobe effect LED warning lights also. They do seem to make a difference being that they are super bright and at eye level.

There are two operating modes, a fast, alternating red and white flash and a strobe effect red-white flash. I've set mine to strobe, but I see the latest Ohio rules say I can't do that anymore.

They tie into the stop arm deploy signal for a constant power source when the reds are on. Install was pretty simple, everything I needed was included. I pay $395 per kit from TAC. Yes, it's a lot of money, but given how many close calls we have had I believe it's well spent.

Here's a video from the testing phase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmTqpizGqc Since then they have been changed to having only two on the front and two on the back, the red portion inboard, and the red-white portions alternate in unison.

I'll see if I can have a buddy of mine take video of how these operate.
Go to Top of Page

aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member

538 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  09:31:51 AM  Show Profile  Visit aaronwilmoth80911's Homepage  Reply with Quote
There is a system called Gaurdian Angel and I believe Unity has some info or a video on their website. It has extra flashing lights on the grill and also a spotlight on the front bumper. We don't use them, and I'm not sure what states are allowed to use them, but may be worth looking at strictly for the information.
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  10:01:04 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmFb-rbZUU video of that guardian angel system. It looks pretty cool, just not approved here (yet)
Go to Top of Page

Oldiron
Active Member

23 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  10:45:38 AM  Show Profile  Visit Oldiron's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Thanks for all the info everyone you once again have been a great help! This I don't believe was the specific kit that I saw but it is the same principle as to what was on the bus. We knew about the Guardian system but not the Weldon/Akron Brass kit. Thanks again for all the info!
Go to Top of Page

bwest
Administrator

United States
3820 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  12:23:09 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Thomasbus24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmFb-rbZUU video of that guardian angel system. It looks pretty cool, just not approved here (yet)



Interesting. Too bad it's just approved in three states.

Bryan
Go to Top of Page

Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member

USA
4177 Posts

Posted - 10/15/2014 :  5:57:52 PM  Show Profile  Visit Thomas Ford 85-16's Homepage  Send Thomas Ford 85-16 an AOL message  Reply with Quote
With any of these systems, will the states in which they are approved allow you to run the extra wire so they will flash in unison with the overhead lights (ie: get alternating power, not constant power from one wire)? I cannot stand the look of the lighting chaos like a police car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye1btFN6XiY

In that video, even though they are incandescent, the fact that they are flashing together over a wide area I think grabs attention over a larger area.
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 10/16/2014 :  03:45:59 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
The Weldon system acts very erratic if you tie it into a side of the warning lights, it needs constant power to operate. All lights have three wires, +12VDC, Ground, Common. Tie all the commons together and the aux lights work in unison.
Go to Top of Page

kd4jfd
Top Member

USA
1168 Posts

Posted - 10/17/2014 :  4:09:46 PM  Show Profile  Click to see kd4jfd's MSN Messenger address  Send kd4jfd a Yahoo! Message  Reply with Quote
DeKalb County, Georgia has something like this on some of their buses. Reds work as additional brake lights until door is open, then alternately flash.

539 - Repair work in progress!
Go to Top of Page

dferrell
Senior Member

102 Posts

Posted - 10/20/2014 :  09:04:31 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I'm pretty sure that here in California, we can't add any lights but I have replaced the original crossover lights on a few of our busses with these: http://www.directbus.com/product_p/07-38001.htm
They are LED and have the option to strobe. Compared to the originals, they are much brighter and really grab your attention.
We have also replaced most of the older (pre LED) stop arm bulbs with these: http://ultraledlighting.com/fleet-vehicle-lighting/warning-lamps/product/17-gx6-led-stop-arm-bulb
This combination - with everything strobing, seems to have helped for us.
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
 


School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums © 2022 School Bus Fleet Magazine Go To Top Of Page
This page was generated in 0.06 seconds. Snitz Forums 2000