13894: L31-series / L32-series Super-LED Beacon

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Form No.13894K (080118)

Automotive: Beacons

Installation Guide:

L31-series / L32-series

Super-LED® Beacon

For warranty information regarding this product, visit www.whelen.com/warranty

Warnings to Installers

Whelen’s emergency vehicle warning devices must be properly mounted and wired in order to be effective and safe. Read and follow all of Whelen’s written

instructions when installing or using this device. Emergency vehicles are often operated under high speed stressful conditions which must be accounted for

when installing all emergency warning devices. Controls should be placed within convenient reach of the operator so that they can operate the system without

taking their eyes off the roadway. Emergency warning devices can require high electrical voltages and/or currents. Properly protect and use caution around

live electrical connections.Grounding or shorting of electrical connections can cause high current arcing, which can cause personal injury and/or vehicle

damage, including fire. Many electronic devices used in emergency vehicles can create or be affected by electromagnetic interference. Therefore, after

installation of any electronic device it is necessary to test all electronic equipment simultaneously to insure that they operate free of interference from other

components within the vehicle. Never power emergency warning equipment from the same circuit or share the same grounding circuit with radio

communication equipment. All devices should be mounted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and securely fastened to vehicle elements of

sufficient strength to withstand the forces applied to the device. Driver and/or passenger air bags (SRS) will affect the way equipment should be mounted. This

device should be mounted by permanent installation and within the zones specified by the vehicle manufacturer, if any. Any device mounted in the deployment

area of an air bag will damage or reduce the effectiveness of the air bag and may damage or dislodge the device. Installer must be sure that this device, its

mounting hardware and electrical supply wiring does not interfere with the air bag or the SRS wiring or sensors. Mounting the unit inside the vehicle by a

method other than permanent installation is not recommended as unit may become dislodged during swerving; sudden braking or collision. Failure to follow

instructions can result in personal injury. Whelen assumes no liability for any loss resulting from the use of this warning device. PROPER INSTALLATION

COMBINED WITH OPERATOR TRAINING IN THE PROPER USE OF EMERGENCY WARNING DEVICES IS ESSENTIAL TO INSURE THE SAFETY OF

EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AND THE PUBLIC.

Warnings to Users

Whelen’s emergency vehicle warning devices are intended to alert other operators and pedestrians to the presence and operation of emergency vehicles and

personnel. However, the use of this or any other Whelen emergency warning device does not guarantee that you will have the right-of-way or that other

drivers and pedestrians will properly heed an emergency warning signal. Never assume you have the right-of-way. It is your responsibility to proceed safely

before entering an intersection, driving against traffic, responding at a high rate of speed, or walking on or around traffic lanes. Emergency vehicle warning

devices should be tested on a daily basis to ensure that they operate properly. When in actual use, the operator must ensure that both visual and audible

warnings are not blocked by vehicle components (i.e.: open trunks or compartment doors), people, vehicles, or other obstructions. It is the user’s responsibility

to understand and obey all laws regarding emergency warning devices. The user should be familiar with all applicable laws and regulations prior to the use of

any emergency vehicle warning device. Whelen’s audible warning devices are designed to project sound in a forward direction away from the vehicle

occupants. However, because sustained periodic exposure to loud sounds can cause hearing loss, all audible warning devices should be installed and

operated in accordance with the standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.

Safety First

This document provides all the necessary information to allow your Whelen product to be properly and safely installed. Before beginning the installation and/or

operation of your new product, the installation technician and operator must read this manual completely. Important information is contained herein that could

prevent serious injury or damage.

WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Methylene Chloride which is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and

Bisphenol A, which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to

www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

• Proper installation of this product requires the installer to have a good understanding of automotive electronics, systems and procedures.

• Whelen Engineering requires the use of waterproof butt splices and/or connectors if that connector could be exposed to moisture.

• Any holes, either created or utilized by this product, should be made both air- and watertight using a sealant recommended by your vehicle

manufacturer.

• Failure to use specified installation parts and/or hardware will void the product warranty.

• If mounting this product requires drilling holes, the installer MUST be sure that no vehicle components or other vital parts could be damaged

by the drilling process. Check both sides of the mounting surface before drilling begins. Also de-burr the holes and remove any metal shards

or remnants. Install grommets into all wire passage holes.

• If this manual states that this product may be mounted with suction cups, magnets, tape or Velcro®, clean the mounting surface with a 50/50

mix of isopropyl alcohol and water and dry thoroughly.

• Do not install this product or route any wires in the deployment area of your air bag. Equipment mounted or located in the air bag deployment

area will damage or reduce the effectiveness of the air bag, or become a projectile that could cause serious personal injury or death. Refer to

your vehicle owner’s manual for the air bag deployment area. The User/Installer assumes full responsibility to determine proper mounting

location, based on providing ultimate safety to all passengers inside the vehicle.

• For this product to operate at optimum efficiency, a good electrical connection to chassis ground must be made. The recommended

procedure requires the product ground wire to be connected directly to the NEGATIVE (-) battery post (this does not include products that use

cigar power cords).

• If this product uses a remote device for activation or control, make sure that this device is located in an area that allows both the vehicle and

the device to be operated safely in any driving condition.

• Do not attempt to activate or control this device in a hazardous driving situation.

• This product contains either strobe light(s), halogen light(s), high-intensity LEDs or a combination of these lights. Do not stare directly into

these lights. Momentary blindness and/or eye damage could result.

• Use only soap and water to clean the outer lens. Use of other chemicals could result in premature lens cracking (crazing) and discoloration.

Lenses in this condition have significantly reduced effectiveness and should be replaced immediately. Inspect and operate this product

regularly to confirm its proper operation and mounting condition. Do not use a pressure washer to clean this product.

• It is recommended that these instructions be stored in a safe place and referred to when performing maintenance and/or reinstallation of this

product.

• FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS COULD RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE PRODUCT OR VEHICLE

AND/OR SERIOUS INJURY TO YOU AND YOUR PASSENGERS!

51 Winthrop Road

Chester, Connecticut 06412-0684

Phone: (860) 526-9504

Internet: www.whelen.com

Sales e-mail: autosale@whelen.com

Customer Service e-mail: [email protected]

ENGINEERING COMPANY INC.

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L31 / L32 Patterns:

# Pattern Name State

1-3 CA SignalAlert™ A>B>C

4-6 Comet Flash® 75 A>B>C

7-9 DoubleFlash 75 A>B>C

10-12 SingleFlash 75 A>B>C

13-15 ComAlert™ A>B>C

16-18 LongBurst™ A>B>C

19-21 PingPong™ A>B>C

22-23 SingleFlash 60 A>C

24-25 SingleFlash 90 A>C

26-27 SingleFlash 120 A>C

28-29 SingleFlash 300 A>C

30-31 DoubleFlash 120 A>C

32-33 ComAlert 150 A>C

34-35 PingPong 120 A>C

36-37 TripleFlash 75 A>C

38-39 TripleFlash 120 A>C

40-41 ActionFlash™ 1 A>C

42-43 ActionFlash 2 A>C

44-45 ActionFlash 3 A>C

46-47 ActionFlash 4 A>C

48-49 CalScan™ A>C

50-51 ModuFlash™ A>C

52-53 ActionScan™ A>C

54-55 CA Comet A>C

56 50 RPM

57 75 RPM

58 118 RPM

59 250 RPM

* = SYNC Compatible Pattern

Bold = California Title XIII Pattern

NFPA SYNC Patterns (model L31NRFN):

™SignalAlert 75 Phase 1

SignalAlert 75 Phase 2™

SingleFlash 75 Phase 1

SingleFlash 75 Phase 2

SYNC

Patterns

Non-SYNC

Patterns

Beacon 1

Flash State: A

Beacon 1 - Phase 1

Beacon 2 - Phase 1

Style:

Front + Rear + Top

fire simultaneously

Flash State: B

Beacon 1 - Phase 1

Beacon 2 - Phase 2

Style:

Front + Rear + Top

fire simultaneously

Beacon 2

Flash State: C

Beacon 1 - Phase 1

Beacon 2 - Phase 1

Style:

Front + Rear lights

alternate (No Top)

Base

O-ring

Dome

Base

Dome

Screw

Mounting:

This beacon uses a base that may be mounted one of three ways. It is designed to

be mounted in a normal dome-up position.

Permanent surface mount:

CAUTION: Permanent mounting of this product will require drilling. It is

absolutely necessary to make sure that no other vehicle components

could be damaged by this process. Check both sides of the mounting

surface before starting. If damage is likely, select a different mounting

location.

1. Remove the screws securing the dome to the base and remove the dome.

Position the beacon in its proposed mounting location (refer to safety warnings

on page 1).

2. Locate the 3, round mounting holes on the inside bottom of the base. Using the

base as a template, mark the location of the these holes onto the mounting

surface. Remove the beacon and make a mark in the center of the beacon’s

mounted position for a wire passage hole.

3. Using an appropriately sized drill bit (based on the mounting hardware used

and the thickness of the mounting surface), drill the three mounting holes

marked in step 2. The wire access hole should be drilled using a 3/8” drill bit.

Deburr all holes and install a rubber grommet (customer supplied) to protect

the wires.

4. Turn the beacon upside-down so that the bottom of the base is facing up.

Remove protective backing from the base gasket and apply to the beacon

base. It is critical that the gasket be centered on the base with its slot

aligned with the base notch! Make sure the gasket is flat against the base.

5. Feed the wires through the wire access hole in the mounting surface.

6. Align the base with the mounting holes and secure with 3 sheet metal screws.

Position the O-ring onto the base as shown and carefully return the dome to its

mounted position. After visually confirming that the gasket is properly seated,

secure the dome to the base using the hardware removed in step 1.

1” N.P.T. Pipe Mount (optional):

1. Turn the beacon upside-down so the bottom of the base is facing up. Remove

the base gasket from the base and discard. Install the grommets (included with

the kit) into the three, square mounting holes in the bottom of the base.

2. Feed the beacon wires through the pipe mount base plate. Secure the base

plate onto the beacon base using the provided hardware.

3. Feed the beacon wires through the pipe and connect the beacon wires as

outlined in the Permanent Mount section.

4. Install the plugs (included with kit) into the unused permanent mounting holes.

5. Screw the strobe beacon onto the pipe, being careful not to pinch or strain the

wires. Hand tighten the unit onto pipe.

Operation:

This beacon features variable intensity cruise light operation, low power operation,

Scan-Lock pattern control and SYNChronization capabilities. These functions

operate as outlined below.

NOTE: THE TWO BRIGHTEST CRUISE LIGHT DISPLAYS WILL BE

TEMPORARILY DISABLED WHILE FLASHING PATTERNS ARE ACTIVE!

Cruise Light - Activate the WHT/ORN wire to turn on the cruise light. There are 4

intensity levels that are selected by momentarily activating the WHT/VIO wire.

Low Power - Activate the VIO wire to put the beacon into low power operation.

Disable this wire to restore normal, high power operation.

Scan-Lock™ - Activate the RED wire to turn on the beacon. Activate the WHT/VIO

wire for less than 1 second and release to cycle forward through patterns. Activating

the WHT/VIO wire for more than 1 second will cause the lighthead to cycle backward

through patterns. When the desired pattern is displayed, allow it to run for more than

5 seconds. The lighthead will now display this pattern when active. To reset to the

factory default pattern, turn off power, activate the WHT/VIO wire, then turn power

back on.

See below for pattern information:

All lightheads configured to display the Phase 1 mode of a given pattern will flash

simultaneously. Any lightheads configured to display the Phase 2 mode of a pattern,

will alternate with any Phase 1 lightheads with the same pattern.

Sync - To sync two lightheads, configure both lightheads to display the same Phase

1 pattern. With the power off, connect the GREY wires from each lighthead together.

When the lightheads are activated, their patterns will be synchronized. To configure

the two lightheads to alternate their patterns, advance the pattern of either lighthead

to the Phase 2 mode of the current pattern.

The following example will demonstrate how to use the SYNC feature with more than

2 lightheads. In this sample system, there are 4 lightheads. 2 are mounted on the

rear, driver side of the vehicle and 2 mounted on the rear, passenger side of the

vehicle.

With all the wiring complete, turn on the 4 lightheads. As shipped from the factory, all

the lightheads will simultaneously display the same pattern (SignalAlert 75 Phase 1).

To configure, for example, the passenger side lightheads to alternate with the driver

side lightheads, change the flash patterns for either the passenger or driver side

lightheads to Phase 2 mode of the same pattern. Do not SYNC more than 8 (eight)

beacons!

The beacon wires function as outlined below:

Color

Function Connect to: Switch Type Fuse @

RED . . . . . . . Power. . . . . . . . . +VBAT . . . . . . . . . . SP/ST . . . . . . . . . 5 Amp*

BLK . . . . . . . . Ground. . . . . . . . Chassis Ground . . . n/a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N/A

VIO . . . . . . . . Low Power . . . . . +VBAT . . . . . . . . . . SP/ST . . . . . . . . . .1 Amp

GRY . . . . . . . SYNC . . . . . . . . . See text . . . . . . . . . n/a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N/A

WHT/VIO. . . . Scan-Lock™ . . . +VBAT . . . . . . . . . . MOM (N.Open) . . . 1 Amp

WHT/ORN. . . Cruise Light . . . . +VBAT . . . . . . . . . . SP/ST . . . . . . . . . . 1 Amp

*use 3 Amp fuse with 24V models

WARNING! All customer supplied wires that connect to the positive

terminal of the battery must be sized to supply at least 125% of the

maximum operating current and FUSED at the battery to carry that load.

DO NOT USE CIRCUIT BREAKERS WITH THIS PRODUCT!

Refer to the “Operation” section for wire function information.

Temporary Mount (Magnetic, Suction Cup, etc.)

WARNING: The use of any magnetically mounted warning device on the

outside of a vehicle in motion is not recommended and is at the sole risk

and responsibility of the user.

Magnetic/suction: Thoroughly clean the proposed mounting surface prior to

mounting. For suction cup mounting, wipe the suction cup clean, place the beacon

onto its mounting surface and apply gentle pressure to ensure a good seal has been

achieved. The Magnetic/Suction Cups mount the same way as standard suction cups

but are best suited to a flat, steel surface. Magnetic: Simply place the beacon onto

the mounting surface and plug it into the vehicle cigar lighter.

NOTE: The magnetic mount model does not offer Scan-Lock™, Cruise Light,

Low Power or SYNC.