Alphabeam vs. Whelen

[BGF_Yankee]

So I received an email about a 10% off promotion for the Alphabeam LED Taxi/Landing light from Aircraft Spruce. I went to their site to take a look and see what the pricing was like. The Alphabeam unit looks to sell at normal price for $275.00 ($247.50 during promotion). I was just about ready to pull the trigger when I thought I'd better see what the pricing is like for other models. It looks like Whelen sells a similar model (PARMETHEUS LED REPLACEMENT) for $228.95.

So my question now is who do you prefer and why? Is the Alphabeam worth a few extra bucks? Is there another option that works better?

 

[schmookeeg]

I use a whelen because it was the only LED PAR46 I could find at the time. My PAR36 light is a Grote tractor light. They seem identical to me, even though the whelen was 3x the price.

 

[SteveCanyon]

The Alphabeam's dispersion pattern is meant to be suitable for both a landing light or taxi light.
I use it for a taxi light. When I wanted to evaluate an LED bulb for night flights it was cheaper than others in the running. I'm happy with it but will probably try the landing light version of the Parmetheus Plus when the landing light needs to be replaced.

 

[BGF_Yankee]

The Alphabeam's dispersion pattern is meant to be suitable for both a landing light or taxi light.

This is the exact reason I decided to go for it. It will still be a good source of light to taxi with when at some point I upgrade my wingtips to include landing lights.

 

[Stewartb]

Don't care. I bought Whelen because my local shop had them in stock, they're PMA'd, and my plane's on the AML. I wanted LEDs because they work better in wig-wag function for recognition than 100w halogens. Who's brand doesn't make any difference to me. I went for the path of least resistance. And I'm happy with my Parmetheus landing and taxi lights.

 

[Kiddo's Driver]

I bought the Parmetheus Plus bulbs for my Tampico. $205 each on a group buy from the Socata.org group. The vendor was local, so no shipping. No sales tax on aircraft parts in Kansas.
STC'd for my aircraft. The bulbs ARE PMA'd, but the PMA is for the modified part, not as identical replacements for the original GE bulbs so you MUST apply the STC.

Jim

 

[Ted]

I have PAR46 Whelen Parametheus landing lights in the tip landing lights and a taxi light in the nose, then I have Alphabeams in the nacelle lights.

I like the Alphabeams better. The color is better, they're brighter, and it has the width of a taxi light with the reach of a landing light. I haven't tried the Parametheus Plus so I don't know about those, but I definitely recommend the AlphaBeams.

 

[ahkahn]

Can't speak to the Alphabeams, but my wingtips are Whelen Parmetheus's and the landing light is the newer Whelen Parmetheus Pro. They say the pro is brighter, but I've never paid attention. Either way it blows away an incandescent bulb. I can tell you that since I replaced the landing light the power draw dropped incredibly.

 

[Kiddo's Driver]

Can't speak to the Alphabeams, but my wingtips are Whelen Parmetheus's and the landing light is the newer Whelen Parmetheus Pro. They say the pro is brighter, but I've never paid attention. Either way it blows away an incandescent bulb. I can tell you that since I replaced the landing light the power draw dropped incredibly.

By wingtips do you mean Nav lights or are there taxi/landing lights in the wingtips? I just paid $20 for an incandescent bulb for my red nav marker and they estimate it will last 300 hours. I would love to put in LEDs and never have to worry about it again.

(BTW, by Parmetheus Pro you mean Parmetheus Plus, right?)

 

[ahkahn]

By wingtips do you mean Nav lights or are there taxi/landing lights in the wingtips? I just paid $20 for an incandescent bulb for my red nav marker and they estimate it will last 300 hours. I would love to put in LEDs and never have to worry about it again.

(BTW, by Parmetheus Pro you mean Parmetheus Plus, right?)

Yes and yes. Sorry about that. I have both wingtip taxi/landing lights and a center one in the cowl. I did mean Plus, not Pro.

I also just replaced my NAV's with LED's. Much cleaner light (not brighter... about the same), and the power draw dropped even more. My draw only goes up about 3-5 amps now fully loaded vs. something like 25-30 amps before.

Much safer when there is significantly lower power running through (and heating up) those electric wires. The other safety benefit is if you your alternator starts to go out (or does) you'll last a whole lot longer than otherwise.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Thanks for the heads' up. Picked up the Alphabeams on the special, and the MaxPulse controller. At one ounce installed, it beats the heck out of the heavy heat-sink PulseLite unit.

 

[ahkahn]

Yeah, I also have my wingtip landing lights on a PulseLite. No comments positive or negative on that... FWIW I haven't hit any birds yet...

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Thanks for the heads' up. Picked up the Alphabeams on the special, and the MaxPulse controller. At one ounce installed, it beats the heck out of the heavy heat-sink PulseLite unit.

Oh yea, the 16oz Pulselite, that's going to kill your W&B

 

[Stewartb]

MaxPulse works great with LEDs. Very simple to install. There's nothing wrong with PulseLight but if you have LEDs there's no advantage. MaxPulse has more control options, too.

The only con about MaxPulse is the cardboard back plate. I had a local engraver make me a phenolic one.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Oh yea, the 16oz Pulselite, that's going to kill your W&B

Make that decision 10 or 20 times, then lets talk. Every ounce counts. This is how you end up with planes that are now 200# more than when they left the factory. 15 ounces at a time.

Happens with people too! Ask me how I know!

 

[philiplane]

The Alphabeam is far superior to the Whelen in width and depth of light. Not that the Whelen is bad, it't not, it's far superior to the incandescent lamps it replaces. But the Alphabeam is the closest you can get to an HID light at half the price.

 

[Ted]

Make that decision 10 or 20 times, then lets talk. Every ounce counts. This is how you end up with planes that are now 200# more than when they left the factory. 15 ounces at a time.

Happens with people too! Ask me how I know!

Exactly.

 

[dmikkelsen]

Hi Ted,

I was wondering what LED Nav lights you used as replacements. I own a Piper Warrior II and am considering replacing the incandescents with LED's to reduce my power draw.

 

[James331]

If you're going to do it, get HIDs, way more light, at least HIDs for landing and LEDs for short range taxi or recogs, but if you need to really light something up HIDs are the way to go.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Hi Ted,



I was wondering what LED Nav lights you used as replacements. I own a Piper Warrior II and am considering replacing the incandescents with LED's to reduce my power draw.

Are you replacing just nav lights or nav,strobe combo?

 

[3393RP]

Make that decision 10 or 20 times, then lets talk. Every ounce counts. This is how you end up with planes that are now 200# more than when they left the factory. 15 ounces at a time.

Happens with people too! Ask me how I know!

I know it's an old post, but I had to make an observation. With people those weight gains are sometimes made 12 ounces at a time, not 15.

 

[Ted]

Hi Ted,

I was wondering what LED Nav lights you used as replacements. I own a Piper Warrior II and am considering replacing the incandescents with LED's to reduce my power draw.

I went with Whelen Orion OR650E nav/strobe lights for the 310. On a Warrior I believe you'd want the OR650 (not E), which is designed for external mounting (the 310 mounts them in the tip tanks).

One thing to consider is that the Whelen nav/strobes can allow you to remove the other nav or strobe/beacon lights on the plane. Read the manual carefully for more info on this. I removed the tail beacon and the belly strobe, which reduced current draw further and I picked up a couple knots.