Finally found a radio silent H3 LED PAR36 bulb pair for $40

Auxbeam H3 Led Light Bulbs, 46W 12000LM 6500K with EMC Anti-interference H3 LED Fog Bulbs, F-Z9 Series H3 Led Conversion Kits with Fan, Halogen Bulb Replacement (Pack of 2) $40.

IF you have the Duckworks leading edge style landing lights in the holder reflectors that use halogen H3 bulbs- I found a drop-in LED upgrade after a few tries.

If building new or refitting a non-H3 bulb, I am a fan of FlyLEDs by Paul.

These H3 LEDs appear brighter and at least equal throw to my Rigid 1800 Lumens at $120 each some years back. The power supply attachment is the 12V draw of the pair.

PM and I can email a 1.5 MB video of ATIS 3 miles away NOT being interrupted by static, there is only a little pop as I flash them IF my fingers were slow reconnecting the leads.

Edit- uploaded the 1.5 mb video:

https://ufile.io/ciu0x668

If you click on it it will show an ad and ask if you want to download
InShot_20211110_154524070.mp4

Again, PM me and I will gladly share it via email if you don't want to click a link.

Where did you buy them from, have a link? Do you have pictures of how they compare to the stock Duckworth lights from a brightness standpoint?

Looks like the mfgr website has a $4 coupon, I got them off the big A.

I'll put them up next to my 1800 lumen Rigids and try and get a bright vs throw check. Any of them are at least as good as a 55+W halogen H3 bulb.

For less current than halogen you can find brighter LEDs, but finding no radio noise and a drop in to an old PAR36 round bulb holder reflector was a hunt.

Edit to add a 20 foot shot, The Rigid 1800 lumen on the left and Auxbeam on the right. Then Black fence at 100' and building wall at 200'

The Auxbeam draws 10% less current and is about that equal to the Rigid R Series 36 spot. Not dramatic like the 3000 plus lumen PAR36s or 4x Paul's FlyLED 1000 lumen each spots. The pattern on the Rigid spot is nicer, not much spillage, the Auxbeam is a bit spottier and has a bit more spillover, not a perfectly round hotspot, but not bad.

Enough to give the $40 Auxbeam pair some flights since they don't make radio noise and you may want to move up from halogen H3 bulbs via drop-in. These use half the current for a bit better lighting.

For serious night work in black holes you need another 1000 lumens and all the throw you can get. The 3200 lumen Aero-lites in PAR 36 spot are likely a good jump up from these, and FlyLEDs a lttle more work for the most light and custom fit.

Wigwag?

Are there any issues wigwaging (is that a verb?) these bulbs? Looks like a good find, thanks!

No issues wig-wagging, mine is a solid state, not a flasher.

Thanks for sharing

IF the attached photo of reflector holder is the rectangular option for Duckworks mods, this LED option could be a great drop-in.

There are 55 and 100 watt halogens- the LEDs are MUCH better compared to 55w halogen at 1/3 the current and about equal to 100w halogens at 1/5 the current.

To get 100w from a halogen bulb I had to turn up the power supply voltage to a full 14.6V - 6.7 amps. The LEDs were fully bright at 12V and 1.6 Amps/20 watts. Photo of the 100w halogen in a round PAR36 spot holder below the Auxbeam LED H3 at 20w. Nice hotspot and the yellow cast of halogen actually works better than whiter LEDs in the rain.

Photos and glare don't work perfectly, the LED looked better than captured.

In round holder reflectors there are more options that are radio silent. In rectangular, the other best option is make a new mount plate or buy the ones that fit the Duckworks and inset Fly LEDs. Each of Paul's LED spots draws about 1.1 amps and 2 of them are a bit better than the 1800 lumen each Rigid R36 or the each of these Auxbeam LED H3s. If retrofitting I'd get the plates for Fly LEDs into Duckworks and use 3 or 4 spots per wing, aiming one with the taxi difuser as needed for taildraggers.


I tried cheaper Auxbeams- they are NOT radio silent- this version IS radio silent.

Rectangular H4s

If your Rectangular lights are H4s, The double spots and plates per wing listed/kitted here are likely the way to go.


http://https://flyboyaccessories.com/product/flyleds-triple-spotlight-kit
updated links.Fly Leds option - if 6A rectangular-Flyleds Triple Spotlight Kit SKU 705-0014 Categories Aircraft Lighting, Fly