Let There Be Light! (Duckworks HID Conversion kit)

[flickroll]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the lights, the kit, and the choice - If you really need light, HID seems to be the way to go! (More light, less power - better than a beer commercial)l

Paul -

I am going to change out the wing tips on my -8 to the latest Van's style. I want to use a wig wag flasher in the wing tips; the airplane already has the leading edge Duckworks landing and taxi lights. The wig wags will stay on all of the time and will be used only for recognition. Question: do you think the one bulb arrangement that you have in your airplane is enough light for a wig wag recognition light system? If so I'll use the CreativAir light kit which has one bulb per side, if not I'll use the Van's light kit which has two bulbs per side. Either way, whether it's 2 bulbs or 4 bulbs, I'll be using a 35w HID light kit and not halogen lights.

By the way, I installed a Duckworks HID conversion on my leading edge landing light this afternoon. I did not have time today to put a kit on the other side but will do so tomorrow. With the rectangular relector that is part of the Duckworks kit all I can say is WOW!!! That puppy puts out an incredible amount of light. And...I am hearing no noise over my radio/intercom system . I do wonder if a single smaller bulb/reflector would provide enough light for the wig wag hence my question in the paragraph above.

Thanks

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by flickroll

Paul -

I am going to change out the wing tips on my -8 to the latest Van's style. I want to use a wig wag flasher in the wing tips; the airplane already has the leading edge Duckworks landing and taxi lights. The wig wags will stay on all of the time and will be used only for recognition. Question: do you think the one bulb arrangement that you have in your airplane is enough light for a wig wag recognition light system? If so I'll use the CreativAir light kit which has one bulb per side, if not I'll use the Van's light kit which has two bulbs per side. Either way, whether it's 2 bulbs or 4 bulbs, I'll be using a 35w HID light kit and not halogen lights.

By the way, I installed a Duckworks HID conversion on my leading edge landing light this afternoon. I did not have time today to put a kit on the other side but will do so tomorrow. With the rectangular relector that is part of the Duckworks kit all I can say is WOW!!! That puppy puts out an incredible amount of light. And...I am hearing no noise over my radio/intercom system . I do wonder if a single smaller bulb/reflector would provide enough light for the wig wag hence my question in the paragraph above.

Thanks

I've never played around with Wig-Wag Jim, although I have seen some very nice bright ones, and they are very noticeable. I believe that you can wig-wag the Halogens alright, and I suspect that a single bulb would be OK - but two would be better. The thing about the wingtip lights is that you can see them from straight ahead, but get off to the side a little, and they are probably invisible - they set back inside the tip a ways. That might argue for two bulbs. That's about all I can think of - not sure I am qualified to make a recomendation - just give you data and things to think about.

Paul

[tacaruth]

Paul,

Where on Van's site does it list these conversion kits? I have some original Duckworks leading edge lights but have not changed to HID's because of the cost. $250 for a pair of HID bulbs/ballasts seems like a very good deal. I could not find these on Van's site. All I could find was the 50W complete kits.

Thanks,
Tom RV-7A N175TJ Flying

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by tacaruth

Paul,

Where on Van's site does it list these conversion kits? I have some original Duckworks leading edge lights but have not changed to HID's because of the cost. $250 for a pair of HID bulbs/ballasts seems like a very good deal. I could not find these on Van's site. All I could find was the 50W complete kits.

Thanks,
Tom RV-7A N175TJ Flying

I think I went directly to Duckworks - don't have the website, sorry.

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

I think I went directly to Duckworks - don't have the website, sorry.

http://www.duckworksaviation.com/

[Bob Axsom]

With my racing tips I have to limit my flying to daytime. I've been thinking of one leading edge light and some home grown lens to enclose the nav lights and strobes in the tips. I do not like the wavy edge of the existing lens between mounting points so I am thinking that the clear lens should be installed permanently inside the fiberglass and removing the tips for the rare need to replace a burned out lamp. Thanks for the information on the leading edge lights.

Bob Axsom

[flickroll]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

I believe that you can wig-wag the Halogens alright, and I suspect that a single bulb would be OK - but two would be better.

Paul, I'm going to be wig-wagging HID, not halogen. Do you think one or two HID's for this application? In other words, for your wing tip HID installation, are you happy with one bulb, or do you think two bulbs is the best way to go? Thanks.

Jim

[Ironflight]

I have a single bulb in each tip Jim - I replaced the Halogens with HID's, but still just have a single bulb. I'd think that for recognition only, a single bulb would be enough.

[RV7Factory]

Originally Posted by flickroll

I installed a Duckworks HID conversion on my leading edge landing light this afternoon. I did not have time today to put a kit on the other side but will do so tomorrow. With the rectangular relector that is part of the Duckworks kit all I can say is WOW!!!

Got any pictures of the install? I have the rectangular lights and I'm just curious to see how this all goes together. Thanks.

[flickroll]

Originally Posted by RV7Factory

Got any pictures of the install? I have the rectangular lights and I'm just curious to see how this all goes together. Thanks.

Brad, I should have taken pictures when I did the project but unfortunately I did not. What I did was mount the metal ballast on the aft side of the Duckworks light bracket using the screws that come in the HID conversion kit. There's also a black rectangular plastic box that's part of the ballast circuitry. There is no elegant way to mount this; what I did is mount it to the inboard side of the outboard nose rib using Adel clamps around the top and bottom cables that come out of the black box. The box generates no heat, so I wrapped it in thin dense foam as a cushion against vibration induced abrasion of the nose rib. I will be pulling my wingtips soon as I am going to upgrade to the latest Van's style. When I do I can provide a picture of the installation if you'd like, but it might be a week or two. I installed the kit on the taxi light today and am amazed at the amount of light two of these suckers put out. And I get no noise over the intercom. Well, there is a barely perceptible whine for the first 10 seconds or so on power up as the lights heat up, but it completely goes away in short order.

I also installed an AERO LED SunTail combo nav light/strobe light on the rudder fairing and again WOW. That dude puts out a lot of light too. In fact the strobe is noticeably brighter than a Whelen flash tube on the wing tip. I'll write a separate post about that installation later this evening or tomorrow.