Optronics Offers Temperature-Sensitive Heated LEDs

Optronics International has released its TLL75 Series LED flood beam work lights and STL13 Series 4-inch round LED stop, turn, tail lights.

The TLL75 Series LED flood beam work light is also being offered with an amber lens that is less reflective in snowy environments.

The company said dome-heated LED lighting units use resistors to heat themselves, and as long as the light is on, the lights continue to generate heat. Because heat affects LED lifespan, and because these lights are exposed to excess heat year-round, their service life can suffer.

Optronics said its new lights take a different approach.

“Unlike many other lamps that are constantly ‘cooking’ themselves to death, our heating technology only comes on when necessary,” said Dustin Smith, vice president of sales for Optronics.

“Our lamps are smart, and our microprocessors are programmed to start heating only when temperatures begin dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit in preparation for ice and snow, and as the environment warms again, they stop heating.”

Heating Process

The company said most heated lamps on the market use filaments embedded in their lenses, much like a rear-window defroster. Optronics’ heated lamps begin the heating process at the core of the lamp, at the level of the circuit board. The heat then emanates throughout the lamp, quickly warming the entire body of the lamp, including its housing.

“The tiny filaments many manufacturers rely upon to heat their lenses can be easily damaged and, once compromised, will fail to defrost their lamps,” said Smith. “Just like Optronics’ other lamps, our TLL75 Series LED flood beam work lights and STL13 Series 4-inch round LED stop, turn, tail lights employ a solid-state, surface-mount device (SMD) design that protects their electronics, including their heating elements, against moisture, shock and vibration.”

Because this method better protects the lamps, Optronics said, the comany is able to offer a lifetime warranty.

The lamps are designed for commercial vehicles operating in a northern climate with harsh winters.

Flood Beam and Tail Lights

The TLL75 Series LED flood beam work light and STL13 Series 4-inch round LED stop, turn, tail light heat up quickly to melt ice and snow from their lenses and housings.

Performance results in environmental test chambers show rapid, whole-lamp heating. Starting at 22 degrees below zero, with 5 millimeters of ice on their lenses, the lamps heated to 3 degrees after one minute, 43 degrees after five minutes, and 100 degrees after 15 minutes.

Work Light

The TLL75FHHB work light features a 4,500-raw-lumen output and an effective lumen output of 2,800, while the TLL75AHHB work light offers a 2,300 raw lumen output and an effective lumen output of 2,000.

Both lamps are IP69K rated and come with heavy-duty, powder-coated, die-cast aluminum housings, polycarbonate lenses, and stainless-steel mounting hardware. The lamps are compatible with 12- and 24-volt electrical systems and are available in bulk and polypack packaging.

Lifetime Warranty

“We’re certainly not the first to offer a heated lamp, but no other lighting manufacturer has a heated LED lighting family with a no-hassle, one-diode lifetime warranty protection that will replace a lamp if even one diode fails,” Smith said.