# LED's Nova or Whelen / Amber or Clear



## swtiih (Nov 30, 2008)

I am looking to outfit my 08 superduty with hide-away LED's using either the Whelen vertex or Nova x1100. I want an amber flash because that is the only color allowed by law.


1) Which will be brighter and better quality,Whelen or Nova?

2) If I go with the Nova's:
should I use the Amber LED mounted in the clear portion of the headlamp or 
the Clear LED mounted in the amber turn signal housing?

According to the Nova website the Amber LED is rated at about 358 lumens & 
the Clear LED is rated at 1100 lumens. Even though the Clear LED is rated higher lumens installing it behind an amber lense may decrease the light output significantly.

Any information from the experienced guys out there would be greatly appreciated.



I will probably install some lin3's or linz6's just not sure where.


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

as far as leds, colored leds are brighter behind their matching lense color. Clear leds behind a colored lense will decrease the light output. Clear strobes are fine for putting behind colored lense. If your using these as primary warning id go with the strobe hideaways.


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## kitn1mcc (Sep 15, 2008)

personally i would go with grill mounted leds in the front like linz6 or lin3 the newer style super duty head lights have a double wall and they cost alot of money 
go whelen no matter what u do

example


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## plowman4life (Jan 16, 2008)

go whelen. as for haws youll have to put a 1 inch hole in the first wall of the lense and then the 3/4 inch into the reflector. so the light can mount properly.

anyway. for grille lights go with linz6s they are much brighter and will be better suited for your application.

also with the hideaways match the led color to the lense. amber behind amber wont necessarily be brighter but will produce a much better amber color while the clear behind the amber will wash to a bright yellow.


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

Grill lights are cool and all, but really not needed. hideaway strobes are great, hit full 360 degees around the vehicle. then an amber on top for primary warning. Stick with federal signal and whelen.


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

most definitely not the whelen for the amber......they use clear led under a yellow lens. 

nova uses real amber leds....much nicer....


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## maelawncare (Mar 4, 2004)

Dissociative;806045 said:


> most definitely not the whelen for the amber......they use clear led under a yellow lens.
> 
> nova uses real amber leds....much nicer....


Well dont know if you talkn about the grill lights or hideaways. But your wrong on both accords. Just take a look at them. And i know because i have both. Amber LEDs on the whelens buddy.


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## larryhd (Sep 2, 2007)

*leds*

these are very bright
http://ledguy.net/store/index.php?m...id=383&zenid=f62575ab31fdd85bc3f8d569f373e06e


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

maelawncare;806060 said:


> Well dont know if you talkn about the grill lights or hideaways. But your wrong on both accords. Just take a look at them. And i know because i have both. Amber LEDs on the whelens buddy.


Im pretty sure george is right


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## kitn1mcc (Sep 15, 2008)

149 is a bit expensive


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## maelawncare (Mar 4, 2004)

I have just taken my whelen mini justice apart. I broke one of the strobes when it flew off the truck. Believe me they are amber leds not amber lenses. It has both LIN3s and TIR3s in it.

And how the hell could you say they use amber lenses. Just look at them. Their CLEAR!

And look at this one. Clear lens
http://www.sirennet.com/led-haw-builder.html


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## maelawncare (Mar 4, 2004)

kitn1mcc;806390 said:


> 149 is a bit expensive


Actually thats really cheap.


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

:waving:


maelawncare;806441 said:


> I have just taken my whelen mini justice apart. I broke one of the strobes when it flew off the truck. Believe me they are amber leds not amber lenses. It has both LIN3s and TIR3s in it.
> 
> And how the hell could you say they use amber lenses. Just look at them. Their CLEAR!
> 
> ...


Hes talking about the vertexs man. Same with the LAWs. The amber comes with a colored lense. The leds are clear and thats why theyre a yellowish color. The link you posted of the clear ones are that of a clear light.:waving:


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## maelawncare (Mar 4, 2004)

ultimate plow;806659 said:


> :waving:
> 
> Hes talking about the vertexs man. Same with the LAWs. The amber comes with a colored lense. The leds are clear and thats why theyre a yellowish color. The link you posted of the clear ones are that of a clear light.:waving:


OMG :angry: Wheres the bang head agaisnt wall smilie. You can chose amber with those. They show clear on all their hideaways cause their brighter. Blues have the least amount of light output.

I have never seen a whelen LED that uses a clear LED under amber lens. Even their responder series has a amber lens but is a amber LED.


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

maelawncare;806713 said:


> OMG :angry: Wheres the bang head agaisnt wall smilie. You can chose amber with those. They show clear on all their hideaways cause their brighter. Blues have the least amount of light output.
> 
> I have never seen a whelen LED that uses a clear LED under amber lens. Even their responder series has a amber lens but is a amber LED.


All the lightheads and lightbars use amber LEDs dude. Again, were talking about the vertexs and LAWs. Im pretty sure these use a colored lense over the white led.


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## 2tonsoffordfun (Nov 15, 2008)

swtiih;797077 said:


> 1) Which will be brighter and better quality,Whelen or Nova?


out of those 2 choices my choice would be Tomar ussmileyflag


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

geeze....some people.......

learn a little bit about what your talking about......go buy a vertex dude...NOBODY EVEN USES THE LAWS ANYMORE...those are OLD STOCK....nobody uses them....

that junk is first generation garbage....you don;t even NEED A DRIVER ANYMORE.....IT'S ALL RAN ON JUST A 12V SIGNAL...


don;t listen to me....i don;t know anything........


THE POSTERS QUESTION HAS BEEN ANSWERED CORRECTLY ....arrrg...


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

thanks for the props ultimate......at least somebody has trust for me....LOL


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

threads like this make me think of things like this...


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

use the pause feature..........


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## swtiih (Nov 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the responses. I decided to buy the amber vertex's and some amber linz6's to start with.
I bench tested both with a power supply and they are bright. 
Started working on making some custom brackets to get the linz6 mounted. I've got 50% of the wiring done and am anxious to complete the job.


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

now lets see the same LEDS under a clear lens......not a amber one....

i knwo this because i color the lens all the time with amber sharpies for guys who want yellow. same thing whelen does.,....its a clear with a yellow lens......FACTS


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

these are the best leds out there....WATCH THE VIDEO all the way BUT 
[NEVER SHOP AT S & JUNK...ITS A BAD BAD PLACE.../COLOR]






THESE LIGHTS OUT PERFORM THE 1100 imo...and way way outperform the vertex as well......watch the OFF AXIS light output....they ROCK


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## 2tonsoffordfun (Nov 15, 2008)

dude you gotta relax


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## swtiih (Nov 30, 2008)

so who do you recommend buying these w600's from


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## salt dogg (Nov 15, 2008)

so i know it is a year later, but i am in the process of trying to decided on either led or strobes. It seems to me that the vertex's now are colored led's not lenses. Is this a new line of the vertex, if so are they better? if not what are the best led's or do guys think strobes are better. i am trying to do some research before buying. thanks


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## Bruce'sEx (Sep 16, 2006)

I'd give Nova a recommendation any day. I've not had any problems with the slultras that we run.


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