PRODUCT REVIEW

LED-8900D

 

 

LED-8900D

       

 

6/1/11 UPDATE

After talking to the two Companies that we gave this Lightbar too, both agree that it is certainly one of the best and brightest they have seen. In fact one of the Companies is that impressed with it, they have ordered five of them for delivery next month. The only thing that either Company could pick when asked about anything faulty, was a couple of the Modules did get some condensation inside them which then in turn caused them to have a "Dusty" look. However, both Companies also agreed this by no means reduced the performance of the Lightbar itself.

Our Verdict: 

29/9/10

Here it is, the new Linear LED-8900D Lightbar. When we received this Lightbar, we were pretty impressed with the shape of it and how solid it was. Once out of the box, the very first thing we did was fire it up and man we were wrapped! The shear brightness of the Lightbar and also how the Linear tubes were place was fantastic!!

The 6-watt tubes are probably the brightest we have seen on any Lightbar to date and would probably be on the same par as the ever popular Code-3 Excalibur Lightbar. For those who don't know about the Excalibur Lightbar, it is a Halogen light driven by motors and is extremely bright and a fantastic product in its own right. To see a LED Lightbar come out that could come close to the Code-3 product is fantastic because unfortunately, as good as the Excalibur is it does take a lot of power to run it and sometime can suffer from a motor burnout. So after we were dazzled by the shape and then blinded by the brightness of the 8900D, we decided it was time to get to work and start ripping this thing apart.

Picking this bad boy up no was easy feat either weighing approximately 20kgs which is pretty heavy for this kind of product, but it also felt solid and we really did like the solid feel. Although the main chassai was all alloy, we were a little disappointed that the end capping on either side of the Lightbar were plastic and the only reason we found that out was we nearly broke them off lifting it. Another concern we had is just how waterproof it is because the alloy middle is actually two pieces and the end caps sit over the main Lightbar and not against it with a seal of some sort. This will be something we look at when we put it in the field for further testing.

That's pretty much where the bad news stop though. We hooked this Lightbar up to a power supply and left it going for a good couple of hours and it didn't fail us. We were very impressed be the amount of light each 6W tubes generated and how easily it could be seen from a distance which to us, is the most important thing. Each tube is completely waterproofed and dustproof adding to the life of the product though as mentioned above, there are still some area water could do a little damage.

Another big bonus for this product is, it all comes pre-wired and pre-fused! Everything is assembled and ready to go right down to the controller so installation should be very quick. (Depending on the vehicle) After you have mounted this Lightbar on the application you intend to use it for, it's just two wires and you're off and running... a far cry from some older Lightbars where everything was sold separately.

 For the price, (Starting around $1400AUD* 12V 48"), and that includes everything from having takedowns, alley lights and even an arrowstick built into it at the time of construction. Most extra options do not cost any more money for this Lightbar and that is almost impossible to find in any Industry! We know this because we have priced up similar applications and it was going to cost us double just for a standard set up.

Just to be sure though, we have decided to lend this Lightbar to a friend of ours that runs a Towing Company in Sydney. What we are hoping to achieve is to see how the Lightbar performs out in the field with our sometimes harsh Australian climates... especially the heat! Then in about six months, we will see how it's performed and how the driver of the truck concerned thought of it overall.

Until then and based of first impressions, we are pretty happy with it.

 

*Does not include GST

 

Fast Facts:

Model: LED-8900D Linear Lightbar

Length: 48" (1.2m)

Length Available: Up to 2M

Weight: 17kgs

Colour: Silver

Modules: 8 x 6W Linear LED Modules

Colours Available: Blue/Red/Amber/White/Magenta/Green

Options Fitted: Alley Lights

Options Available: TD Lights, Arrowstick, Multiple Flash Patterns

Price: Starts at $1400AUD + GST

Availability: If not in stock, up to two weeks 

Rating: 7/10 - Will be re-rated when 6 month test is done