Flashing lamps?

Join Date
May 2010
Location
London
Posts
689
It has long been my belief that warning or fault lamps flashing at 1 second on/off intervals are generally ignored - or at least don't cause immediate response.

But, seeing as most PLC's have a 1 second on/off special bit it's just too easy to use that as a method of pulsing a warning lamp.
And if it's a relay output, going any faster than that would quickly wear it out anyway.

But there are times where we want immediate action, a sort of - 'come quickly, something is very wrong' warning lamp.

I saw one the other day on a machine and was impressed. It did say to me 'come now or I will explode' And, the operatives rushed to rectify the fault.

I wasn't working on this machine but I did go over to have a look and the fault was an over-temperature sealing bar (that was by now smoking even though it had been turned off)

The warning lamp(s) were 1 red and 1 blue and they were (i'm guessing here) the ultra bright LED type. And they were very bright, you could see them from anywhere in the factory.
They flashed much like the lights on top of a police car.

I didn't get a chance to look at the program but from what I saw (again think of a police car) it was something like 4 very fast flashes from the red then the same from the blue.

It got me thinking that at some time, some clever 'bod' worked out that these colours flashing at these speeds on top of an emergency vehicle got other motorists attention.

So....... my question is (as I would like to incorporate this is some future project) 1, where can I get these Ultra bright LED type lamps? And what are the timings for the flashing?
 
Ronnie,

had a quick look at the RS Catalogue, at their LED tower beacons. They are quite happy to sell Red/Amber/Green flashing, but it looks like the Blue are all static.
Edited : Found part 700-9215 that is a flashing blue beacon.

Although Curtis do individual blue beacons that flash at 90 flashes per min.
There are a couple of manufacturers that do towers - Schneider, Werma in the catalogue.
 
Last edited:
Eaton has strobe (1.4Hz) and flash (2Hz) for all their colors in their new SL line. they are pretty bright but no way to compare to what you saw for sure.

<disclaimer - I work for an Eaton distributor>
 
As far as timings go, you can easily use a single timer and use its bits as the frequency at which you energize a light; you'd have the flexibility to use an otherwise 'solid' LED as a beacon, or as both!

In RS5K, for example:

XIO Timer_Flash_Light.DN TON Timer_Flash_Light 2000 0 (continuously count)*

XIC [ready condition] XIC Timer_Flash_Light.ACC.10 OTE Green_Light (1 flash per second)

XIC [running condition] XIC Timer_Flash_Light.ACC.9 OTE Yellow_Light (1 flash per half-second)

XIC [alarm condition] XIC Timer_Flash_Light.ACC.8 OTE Red_Light (1 flash per quarter-second)

See the bit-to-time pattern? You can flip the accumulator permissive to have alternating lights at the same frequency or to flip the interval at which a light is energized.

*Using a single timer in this way can only guarantee the flash *duration* after the timer has reset itself.
 
Last edited:
These lamps weren't on a light stack, they were 22mm illuminated pushbutton types.

They were so bright, it hurt to look at them directly and the flash bounced off walls so you could see them from anywhere. It did look like the cops had arrived.
If they'd put a siren on as well half the operatives might have legged it out of the door :)

I have tried looking for these lamps to no avail.... I'm beginning to think they might be custom jobs.
 
Just look online for Emergency vehicle leds, many of them are not all that expensive and have pre-programmed patterns built in, just they need 12VDC. Should be rather simple to implement controller voltage trips a relay allowing the 12VDC to flow to the LED.

Many are made for being outside the vehicle so they do withstand some abuse.
 
Not the 22 mm style you are looking for but I have been using "Signal Guys" for my audible / visual signaling products and have been very pleased with their price and quality.

http://www.signalguys.com/

So far all I have purchased from them for visual is the AST-2 type.
But they have an Epoxy finish on them and hold up very well. (Even in salt water wash down situation).
And they are super bright, like what you describe. ( they come in 6 colors and many voltages) (but they are much larger than 22mm, LOL) (and they are only 60 flash per minute)

http://www.signalguys.com/p/AST-2.html

For the 22mm you saw I wonder if they are not the old bayonet incandescent type with a super bright aftermarket LED bulb installed.
You did not happen to see what manufacturer they were did you?

BCS
 
Last edited:
The 22mm type more than likely use BA9 fittings, so take a look at automotive LED's, specifically those used for fog lamps.

Steve
 
That is the point of my post. I want to annoy or irritate the operative into some action. More on the physiological level like a baby crying.
They will attend to the problem if only to stop the lights.

Look apart from having a mandatory instant dismissal rule nothing you do will work
As the operator will flood it glue it break it smash it.
And you will never know who or how it was done.
Don't waste your time other than physically locking the machine in a fault that only the supervisor has the ability to reset.
No password system. That fails very quickly. .

Good luck
 
I once suggested to a customer (off the record), who had operators sitting in the lavatory when timers finished or alarms went off to let me wire a transmitter to a delay on timer (say 10 seconds allowed to respond to the alarm) wired to the red light & make the operator wear a corresponding dog training collar. I think after one alarm he would be more attentive to his duties.

He liked the idea too.
 

Similar Topics

Hello all. I have a remote that uses a 1734-AENTR series C. We had to change it to a new one and, after adjusting the IP and number of slots...
Replies
16
Views
436
Hello all! I have a 5069 -L310ers2 plc that has A1 and A2 Ethernet port. I connected to A1 port while flashing the plc and it was successful. The...
Replies
8
Views
203
Hi All, I am new here , I am trying to flash AB plc 5380 safety guard logix Freeware 32.012 which is our program and old plc, but It does accept...
Replies
11
Views
359
I was looking for this function, so that i doesn´t need to do it in the PLC. If there are an alarm in the alarm list, i want to flash the...
Replies
2
Views
402
About every 5 minutes we are seeing both network and point bus status lights on our 1734-AENTR blink red simultaneously for about 30 seconds, then...
Replies
13
Views
1,267
Back
Top Bottom