"Federal Signal Viper S2" knockoff

[vonirkinshtine]

I saw one of these things are a regional training event, and I thought it was pretty bright. So, I wandered down into the bowels of ebay and bought the cheapest one I could find. On the listing, it never mentioned "Federal Signal". The description was "16 LED warning light". I think one of the pictures in the listing showed a FedSig label. I figured they just used a picture from FedSig's website. I paid a whopping $18.

After a couple of weeks shipping from China, the following is what I got.

Packaging: LOL yeah, right.


In the box: 1 warning light, 1 flashback shield, 1 mounting bracket, 3 suction cups.
[Broken External Image]:http://[URL=http://s1148.photobucke... firefighting/20170413_151615_zpsogwozbax.jpg


Close up of LEDs: Solder joints look good enough. The diodes don't look that great. A lot of surface imperfections on the lenses.




I have it running on a lab power supply right now. I'll turn it off for the long weekend. But when I get back to work next week, I'll let it run for a full day and see how it does.

Initial impressions are that it is friggin' bright! Video to come soon.

 

[PanHandleStan]

i just saw this one on Facebook

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Yeah, I saw a similar picture on an Amazon review. No question it probably uses the cheapest material possible. But, if I know that going in, I can adjust to improve its survival (thermal shielding, good ventilation, etc). I will do a full deconstruction after today's 8hr run test.

I turned it on around 6:30am. I'll get some thermal imaging readings a bit later to check on PCB resistance and chassis heat dissipation.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Also, a link to the exact item from ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/272573422806?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Super generic listing. No mention of Federal Signal, except you can see the FedSig logo peeking out in one of the pictures.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

I tried really hard to get some quantitative data on how "bright" it is. We have a test hood at work that can give me brightness in Candela, but the light doesn't have a steady-burn mode...so I couldn't get super accurate readings.

In a double-double flash, the sensor recorded a median value of 24.2 Candela. In a "ludicrous flash" (it's like a really bright flicker), the sensor was consistently recording higher than 60 Candela. In my world, that's not very bright on paper. But I don't think our test rig is well suited to this type of product. This Viper knockoff has reflectors, and optics, and it's line-of-sight brightness will be much higher than it's overall brightness.

Typically, I see manufacturers advertise the power of the diodes in "Watts"...which is admittedly a bit deceiving because each diode is really only using a fraction of a watt each. If someone can clue me in to an actual industry standard of warning light brightness...I would love to know.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Here are the thermal imaging results:
No hot spots. No areas of increased resistance on the PCB. I think I'm ready to install it and see how she runs in action.

 

[Jsherman88]

Any difference between your product and this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPGGZNS/?tag=elightbars-20 ? Seems to be the same style knockoff that can be bought from many places

 

[Tony P]

Please stay on topic. This thread is about the Viper knockoffs and is a user's personal review of it. Please create unique threads if you wish to review a similar (or different) product

 

[Kendreth]

Please stay on topic. This thread is about the Viper knockoffs and is a user's personal review of it. Please create unique threads if you wish to review a similar (or different) product

my mistake thanks

 

[vonirkinshtine]

I'd bet the farm the light you linked to is the same as what I bought on ebay. I found ZERO identifying markings on any of the components on the PCB. It would be impossible to distinguish one from another.

Update:
I sent two lights to Wilson to do an LED swap (turn a white/amber and red/red into a red/amber and red/white). Once I get those back, I'll install them and update further.

 

[strobecrazy]

Any updates? Thinking of maybe picking one up.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Yeah, I got everything back from Wilson (that guy is amazing).

Still haven't installed yet. Dept. SOGs say I'm good, but I want to clear it with Chief first.

 

[JazzDad]

... If someone can clue me in to an actual industry standard of warning light brightness...I would love to know.

If you can get a real S2, you could put it through your same test procedure (assuming you could get a similar pattern on it).