[N316RV]

I know there are several people using these LED panel indicators. Are they bright enough to be seen in direct sun light? Price is certainly right!

https://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16969+LE

Thanks
Alan Jackson
Hartselle, AL

 

[Ironflight]

Hi Alan,

I've been using them foe several years, and they are plenty bright. Even in diect sun, you can tell the difference between "on" and "off". Make sue to build a dimmer circuit, or you might not like them at night....

Paul

 

[BuckWynd]

Ditto

I'll piggyback on what Paul said... I think they're plenty bright. They are defintely not super-bright like some of the LED annunciator lights I've seen on people's panels, but they're just fine for me.

And yep, a dimmer is essential. I ran the ganged ground leads through a potentiometer -- works great.

 

[Harold Lanfear]

Putting Labels on the MJ LED lamps

By the way, you can easily add labels to these units if you like. Use a sharp knife point to pry out the colored part (alternate side to side until it's loose) and a milky white insert.

Use your computer to print on clear labels (I use Avery, but any will do). You can get two lines 4 or 5 characters each in Arial 10 font.

Peel the label off and hold it up to a window and with the light behind it, you will be able to center everything. If you miss, peel it off and try again. Use a razorblade to trim the excess and put the insert and colored lens back in the lamp and you're done. This saves the requirment to add separate labels to the lamps.

 

[dedgemon]

Nope

I know there are several people using these LED panel indicators. Are they bright enough to be seen in direct sun light? Price is certainly right!

https://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16969+LE


Thanks
Alan Jackson
Hartselle, AL

FWIW Alan, I used them for a couple of flights and then round filed them. I replaced them with an indicator from spruce that uses an incandescent bulb, much better.

Evidently some of the guys on this list are CATS, they can see anything, in any light!!!

 

[DakotaHawk]

A picture is worth a thousand words

Here's my panel with MJ LED lights on the annunciator panel in the top center. In the picture, the amber "Master Caution" lamp is lit, all others are off.

 

[az_gila]

Or you can use...

By the way, you can easily add labels to these units if you like. Use a sharp knife point to pry out the colored part (alternate side to side until it's loose) and a milky white insert.

Use your computer to print on clear labels (I use Avery, but any will do). You can get two lines 4 or 5 characters each in Arial 10 font.

Peel the label off and hold it up to a window and with the light behind it, you will be able to center everything. If you miss, peel it off and try again. Use a razorblade to trim the excess and put the insert and colored lens back in the lamp and you're done. This saves the requirment to add separate labels to the lamps.

...a cheap label maker with a black text on a clear background tape.

Same effect as mentioned above, and gives professional looking results. I prefer bigger letters and less text...

 

[vic syracuse]

I have these installed in my RV-10. Four of them:
ALT
ENG
DOOR
DOOR

I actually do find them bright enough during the day. The DOOR warning lights are wired as per Van's instruction, except I ran the power lead through a micro switch on the throttle quadrant. This allows for taxiing with the doors open without the lights being illuminated, so I don't get used to a red light and take off without the doors secured. Once power is advanced the lights come on if the doors are not secured.
I also used the clear plastic label maker tape with bold black lettering, and am very pleased with the results.

Vic

 

[idleup]

Are these things really 10 x 14mm total? that seems pretty tiny to put words on, maybe not...

I do see that they also offer them in 12 x 16mm.

Which are you guys using?

 

[tim2542]

MPJA LEDS

Im using them and to me they could be brighter, but my main complaint is they are not lasting. I keep replacing them and its getting old. Looking for a god replacement that will keep the same hole centers

 

[Dan Langhout]

Raw Material

I kind of considered the MPJA lights as "raw material" to make what I really wanted. What's useful about these are the lenses and diffusers and the mounting body. They come apart really easily. Just a little prying with an Xacto knife and the terminal end cap along with the LED and dropping resistor come right out of the barrel. The lens and white diffuser at the other end pop right out either with gentle prying or you can push them out from behind after removing the LED.

The lights in the photo below are actually the 8x11mm (smaller) lights from MPJA.

These things as they come from MPJA are even dimmer than the larger ones (they have a 3mm LED). After removing the guts from each housing, I made up some new LEDs and dropping resistors using flat top (wide angle) high brightness 5mm LEDs from superbrightleds.com. The LED/resistor/wire combos were heat shrinked and then inserted in the MPJA housings with a little black silicon rubber to hold them.

The Text/Images on each light are merely inkjet printed on some Avery clear mailing labels, lightly sprayed with some clear to make them moisture proof, and then adhered to the top surface of the white diffuser. The diffuser goes back in the lens and the lens goes back on the light housing. This photo is a bit out of focus in places but you get the idea.

Much, much brighter than even the larger MPJA lights. It's really not hard to do if you have just a little soldering skill.

BTW - I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with the symbols on some of the lights or change them out to text.

 

[cln1owner]

Im using them and to me they could be brighter, but my main complaint is they are not lasting. I keep replacing them and its getting old. Looking for a god replacement that will keep the same hole centers

I had the same issue while testing, specifically the green indicator. I burned out two. The specs on the web site indicate a 3-12VDC operating range. The brightness of the indicators seemed to max out at about 9VDC. I stepped the supplied voltage down with resistors, so the LEDs would never see more than about 10.5VDC. Hopefully they will last.

 

[vlittle]

The primary feature of the MPJA lamps is that they are cheap. It looks like modifications (replacing the LEDs and resistors) is a wise choice for reliability.

Why not use these indicators? They are available in a number of colors, round, square and rectangular bezels.

Better yet, you can get versions that have pushbutton switches built into the lamps (useful for testing the lamp operation for example). IDEC also makes rotary switches and keylock switches in this product line.

At about $6.52 per light, they are economical. Downside is the size (plan on 1 inch centers). Upside is the quality.