Whelan A500A temperature

[PH-SCP]

Hi,

My RV9 is equipped with a old style (non LED) Whelan A500A tail strobe/nav unit. After a recent flight I touched the outer aluminium fairing that holds the transparant bubble and almost burnt myself. Are these units supposed to get this hot ?

I am considering replacing this unit with a LED style. Any plug and play advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Tankerpilot75]

I have no idea what the European rules are for strobe lighting but I was told by a Whelen sales rep that their cheaper experimental Microburst II led light set does not meet FAR 91.205c certification for night flying and therefore will limit people who install that set on their experimental aircraft to day VFR flying. He said that my airplane being classified as ?experimental homebult? does not exempt it from having to meet night time FAR lighting requirements. I suspect that?s the situation with a number of these less expensive LED lighting systems.

Since I?m not yet willing to part with the money for a FAR 91.205c qualified LED lighting system I?ll just keep my Whelen Xenon strobe system - and yes they do get quite warm.