ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Led Traffic Light ?

I got an LED traffic signal from Ebay 12" Lenses three new LED lenses $145 free shipping was it worth it? I just have a wiring ? since I don't like the way it came wired (2 prong plug it's metal should be grounded right?). On the LED signals which is the hot and which is the neutral?
The red has a Red and a white wire
The Yellow Has Yellow and a White Wire
The Green has a brown and a white wire
I think the colored wire is the hot but just want to make sure. Thanks

Oh pics

I assume that these LED signal heads have a transformer fitted to each lamp assembly to enable it to be used as a "drop-in" replacement for a conventional 120V filament lamp.

If that's the case it sounds logical that the white on each would be the common neutral, although not being involved with traffic signals (and certainly not U.S. types ) I wouldn't be sure.

Maybe the guy at www.signalfan.com could provide some information.

The whites will be your neutral wires.
You could have some fun with switches on this one.

I think that these lamps are series-parallel wired. I've seen a couple with "sections" that are burnt out. A nice thing about these is that when only a section burns out, they can be replaced before the whole lamp goes, leaving you without a traffic signal.

ah, a hacksaw a ladder and a little bit of nerve and you can be an entrpeneur on ebay

While on the topic of LED traffic signals, check this one out:
http://lanecontrols.com/trilights.cfm

3 colors in one unit...

As mentioned, connect the White wires to the system's Grounded Conductor (AKA "Noodle" or "Neutral").
This will reduce the hazard of being bit from a live screwshell.

Curious to the actual output color of the center "amber" dot ("yellow light") with the LED array. Is it:
"Orange",
"Gray-Orange",
"Gray-Yellow",
or
"Yellow".

Reason being is the first generation of amber LEDs in my area were very much orange. Newer ones were flat orange (gray-orange), then flat yellow (gray-yellow kind of like an HPS lamp).
Saw a signal head today, with very yellow output from an LED array. These were also 12"

Scott35

They are just yellow with a slight hint of orange and there is no screw shell at all no socket either just the LED Lenses. although I have seen some that just screwed in and they did not have to remove/rewire the light/socket

I assume, seeing your handle, that you may want to computer control these through a logic circuit at some point. If that be the case, you may want to consider programming in some international as well as domestic aspects.

In the UK, Iceland and Argentina (there may be more) the sequence goes:
R, R+Y*,G,Y*,R. (* a few seconds at most). Legally you can only proceed on green – the R+Y is only a warning. I remember in grade 12 (long time ago!) , with modular logic units (AND, OR, NOT gates, etc) , making an assembly that generated those aspects – is was quite fun.

Then there is Vancouver BC with its flashing greens – any local care to explain that aspect. There may be more out there …

Hi Hutch

The flashing green is for a pedestrian controlled crosswalk.Last week we had two male teenagers killed at one of these crosswalks. the 84 year old gentleman did not see that the light was red and that the crosswalk was occupied. http://www.kamloopscity.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=561

[This message has been edited by dougwells (edited 02-25-2004).]

The yellow phase when going from green to red varies a little in its timing, but in my experience it's generally shorter in the U.K. than on most American signals. Our peculiar R+Y phase seems to be fairly constant -- I'd estimate about 2 secs.

We also have lights which are not at an intersection, but instead are located in the middle of a road to allow pedestrians to cross. The sequence on those is different: G, Y, R, Flashing-Y, G. The flashing-yellow phase is longer than the normal R+Y phase, and corresponds with the time when the pedestrian light is flashing before going back to red.

The pedestrian light signs and sequences are different as well, but I'd better not get into that!

I remember just such a project from "Radio & Electronics Constructor" magazine in about the mid-1970s. There were similar projects for railroad signals. That was all at the time when TTL and CMOS logic chips were becoming much more mainstream.

There aren't too many traffic lights around this rural area, but I've noticed a few LED types appearing in the city, about 20 miles away. They really grab your attention for the smart way they "snap" from one aspect to another.

LED lights seem quite popular in France for the repeaters -- The small set of lights that they use mounted low down on the pole so that driver at the front of the line can see more easily.

[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 02-25-2004).]