Please enlighten me (pun intended)

[Chrisgoesflying]

It's time to upgrade my 1960 Piper Comanche 250 to brighter and more modern lights, hence replacing all the regular lights with modern LED lights. However, the more I research about this, the more confused I get.

1. Landing lights: Those are straight forward. I will replace both sides with Whelen PLED1L. I looked it up on the Whelen website and it seems like they're eligible via PMA for the PA-24 250. Did I read this correctly?

2. Rotating beacon: I have two of those. One on top of the fuselage, one on the belly. First question is, do I even need two? Most planes I see only have one. If I indeed need two, is it possible to simply swap the bulbs inside the current unit with LED bulbs (if so, which one?). If not, do you have recommendations for rotating LED beacon lights for the PA-24 that are legal to install? If I only need one (the top one would be my guess), what do I do with the hole of the bottom light?

3. Red and green position lights: I have the wing tips where the position lights are behind a glass near the leading edge of the wing. Question is again, do I simply exchange the bulbs with LED bulbs or do I need some light assembly?

4. Tail position lights: There are two white position lights on the tail of the plane. Those seem pretty straight forward, being simply bulbs. Which LED bulbs would I need to change those with?

5. Interior lights: Inside, I have the following lights:

- The red instrument panel light: Is there an LED replacement for this? If so, is it worth it to replace it or does it not draw a lot of current anyways?

- The white/yellow dome light: Same here, is there an LED replacement for this? If so, is it worth it to replace it or does it not draw a lot of current anyways? I rarely use that light to begin with so probably moot.

- The gear indicator lights: Is there an LED replacement for those? If so, is it worth it to replace them?

 

[chemgeek]

I don't have Cherokee-specific answers, but in general the wingtip position lights are relatively simple to replace with LED equivalents, although you might have to do a bit of digging to get bulbs with the correct connectors. Some cheap replacements might cause avionics or magnetometer interference, so be aware of that. The flashing beacons are a different animal, as they are different types of bulbs that are attached to a flasher circuit. These may require removal of the flasher circuitry, and installation of new circuitry to run the LED replacements. It MAY be possible to find drop-in equivalents for the panel/eyebrow lights, but you will find they will not be controllable with a rheostat dimmer that is common in our planes, since LED lamps work differently than incandescent lamps. So this can be a bit more complicated than you think.

LED lamps draw quite a bit less current than their incandescent equivalents (around 1/5th the current draw), and have longer operational lifetimes. They are also a LOT brighter. Where drop-in replacements are available (wingtip position lights and landing/taxi lights) they are well worth the investment. The landing lights have a long enough lifetime that you shouldn't have to worry about leaving them on all the time if desired for enhanced visibility.

I replaced the landing light and wingtip lights in my Grumman. This was very simple, owner-allowed maintenance. The flashing beacon and tail position light are a bit more complicated to replace or do not have drop-in replacements, so I've left them for now because of the expense of re-wiring/re-configuring them. The panel lights don't draw that much power, and I do like the ability to dim them properly, but am considering replacing them with LEDs and just leaving them at full brightness, since they are pretty dim anyway.

 

[Magman]

You may want to begin with understanding what you currently have.

I’ll guess and say at least one of the beacons was installed in the field.

This would likely be done via STC or Field Approval and be documented by

a 337. This doc ; in turn, probably makes reference to AC43.13-2 which

deals with alterations. A proper Anti-Collision System must have a

Acceptable Field of Vision that the beacons illuminate. This is to assure

your aircraft will be visible from many positions. Removing one of the

beacons may mean you no longer meet that requirement.

The Landing Gear Indicator Lights are a different matter. They are dimmed

when the nav lights are ON. Originally they were too dim in one

configuration ( day? Night?) and Piper issued a Service Letter to install

a resistor in parallel to brighten things up. I don’t sure how the dimming

resistor will play with LEDs.


Can’t help with bulbs.

 

[iamtheari]

I replaced a bunch of interior lights with LEDs recently. If you can get a parts manual for your plane, it will tell you which bulbs are supposed to be there. Or you can just remove the bulbs and look at them to see. Then go to this website and find suitable replacements, or email them for help. They have been very responsive to my questions. https://www.aero-lites.com/web-store

 

[Bell206]

However, the more I research about this, the more confused I get.

One thing to keep in mind what can be a simple replacement south of the border may not equate to the same on your side. Perhaps PM Dan T or talk to your AME on how you can replace those lights. But to get you going here are some answers.

1) Whether it’s a PMA or not it would still be a minor alteration. I didn’t see any specific PMA number but if it is then a pilot could perform the change as a replacement under prevent mx on a N reg.

2) The recommended route is to replace the beacon all together with an LED beacon or anti-collision light system. Here’s one beacon version from AeroLEDs.

3/4/5) depending on your existing system there can be a number of options to include items falling under “standard parts.” Your AME would be the one to give you the best input as I do not know if TCCA requires additional requirements for nav and cockpit lighting. Just keep in mind some LEDs can induce electrical noise. However, IMO I wouldn’t mess with the gear lights since they are an advisory light.

 

[Gary Ward]

Post some pictures of of your lights.
There is a Comanche next to my buddy's hangar I could look at that is flown often.
Like said not all LEDs are suitable.
Some make EFI.
Some the light distribution is wrong for some that are used in the cabin and can be to bright and glaring.

Landing and taxi lights I would spend the money for WAT leds although you can get some really cheap tractor lights that might fit but I wouldn't use em.
My nav lights are WAT leds in the original fixture, they are nice and bright but not cheap. If you can get them into the original sockets then you are go to go without STCs

 

[Mikey52]

Just be aware that aero-led may not meet regulations. From their FAQ page.

Are any certifications provided with your products?
Our products are NOT delivered with any application specific certifications. NO product we distribute is approved via FAA-PMA, TSO, STC, DOT or any other certification basis. In general, the LED bulbs we offer are designed to perform as LED equivalent direct replacement bulbs for the respective filament-type incandescent/halogen commercial bulb codes. Each bulb is designed to conform to OEM-design specifications and performance standards including fitment, luminance and working voltage. By installing any of our products, you agree to the "Terms and conditions" set forth herein.

 

[jelecroy]

Four years ago I upgraded the PAR36 taxi and landing lights in our R182 to Whelan ParmetheusPlus lamps. The LED lamps will likely have a longer service life and definitely draw less power. I am not convinced that they are noticeably brighter than the old halogen lamps. On the Whelan site they have a chart that shows stock incandescent PAR 36 peak brightness at 98,000 candelas, and the Parmetheus Plus at 60,000. That is partly because the incandescent PAR36 has a real hot spot in the center of the light beam, but the LED light distribution is more even. Probably still some safety benefit - I am now willing to keep the lights on most of the time when in the vicinity of an airport at night, because of the expectation that a few more hours operation won't burn out the bulbs.
That said, the old PAR36 lamps had glass envelopes, and the new Whelan's are plastic. I have seen enough fogged plastic headlight covers on cars to have some concerns about how long the landing light lens will endure. Also, the Whelan lights have a dozen individual LED emitters. The Whelan ICA (instructions for continued airworthiness) require replacement of the light if even one LED goes out.
Last year I replaced our old wingtip lighting (Grimes incandescent nav light and AeroFlash strobes) with AeroLed Pulsar units. I like the AEROLED nav lights and the new position lighting (rear-facing white LEDs). The ACL LED peak brightness is not close to the old strobe peak brightness. I imagine that the Pulsar ACL may produce more total light output than the AeroFlash strobe, but the flash energy is spread over 200 msec instead of 2 msec, so the peak intensity is far lower. I haven't seen any study that suggests whether a longer or short flash duration may be easier to see in the air. The LED ACL has one unexpected benefit. When flying in rain or snow the strobe lashes would illuminate the precipitation, so the individual drops etc stand out. I don't see that with the LED illumination, so it's a little less distracting.
I have NOT changed our interior lighting (flood lights, panel lights, gear indicator etc) to LED. This is mainly because I don't want to spend several dollars on LED replacements and then find out that the new lamps don't play well with our old lighting dimmers. This is mainly an issue with instrument lights, where it would be a chore to replace all the NuLite recessed instrument lights (incandescent) and I don't want to think about trying to replace the lamps in the engine gauge assembly.