SAFETY SITE E-FLARE


Safety Site e-flare, retail $20 (www.priority1lss.com/safetysite.htm)
Manufactured by Whelen (www.whelen.com)
Last updated 05-11-09




The Safety Site e-flare is an electronic, non-incendiary (does not use fire) "flare" designed to be activated and set out when you have trouble with your vehicle and need to pull off the side of the road (or into the "breakdown lane" on the freeway if available).

It has an ULTRA-BRIGHT red LED (a Superbright 1 Nichia type) that flashes in any of four flash patterns you can easily access from a slightly recessed membrane-type switch on the front of the unit. It also features two patches of a retroreflective material that allow the unit to be seen in the beam of automobile headlamps.

It operates from three C cells that you supply yourself.


SIZE



To use the e-flare, install the batteries first (see directly below), and then you'll be ready to rock.

Press and release the membrane button on the front of the unit once for "CometFlash®" mode, press and release it again for slow blink (cycle time approximately 1Hz), press and release it again for a mode where it flashes four times quickly, followed by a brief "off" time, cycle repeats. Press and release it again for steady-on. In this mode, the LED is pulsed rapidly so it appears steady on. Finally, press and release the button to turn the e-flare off.

As it reads on the back of many shampoo bottles, "lather, rinse, repeat". In other words, pressing and releasing the button again turns the unit on in "CometFlash®" mode.

Set the unit upright, aiming it toward the rear if you're placing it behind your automobile, or toward the front if you're placing it near the front of your automobile.

The test unit also came with a metal traffic cone adapter; once I receive the orange traffic cone for the purpose of completing this evaluation (probably by mid- to late-week on the week of May 22), I'll take one or more photographs of the e-flare attached to it via this adapter and post them on this web page.

The e-flare can also be used as a helicopter landing zone indicator; in this case, just set the unit face-up so the helicopter pilot can see it.



To change the batteries in your e-flare, turn it over, and use a medium phillips screwdriver to unscrew and remove the three screws (one near each corner). Set the screws aside. Carefully lift off the red lens assembly. I say "carefully", because there are two wires connecting it to the battery compartment in the greenish-yellow bottom.

Remove the three used C cells, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Install three new C cells, orienting the flat-ends (-) negative with the springs for them in each chamber.

Place the red lens back over the bottom, so it fits properly. If the red and black wires protrude from the seam between the top and bottom of the unit's body, push them inside. Screw in the three screws you removed earlier, and there, you're finished.

Due to the way the product was constructed and due to the intermittent nature of its LED, I am not able to furnish current usage readings for you.
Advertised battery life is "approximately 100+ hours".



Because this is an all-plastic product, "The Smack Test" would really not be appropriate here. But I did smack it two times aganst a steel rod, and caused no damage or malfunctions.

The unit appears to be splash-resistant at very minimum. I threw it in the bathroom sink and then ran the faucet over it for about half a minute. When I dried it off with some bungwipe, no water was visible inside, and the unit did not malfunction.

The unit has four lighting modes: "CometFlash®" mode, slow blink (cycle time approximately 1Hz), a mode where it flashes four times quickly, followed by a brief "off" time, and steady-on. In this mode, the LED is pulsed rapidly so it appears steady on.

This flare is advertised to be visible five to seven miles out. I have no way to test this myself, so I'll have to take the advertising at its word.



Beam photograph at ~12".

Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing the e-flare's blinking patterns.
This clip is ~3.95 megabytes (4,062,156 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.

It will take no less than fifteen minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on the morning of 05-18-05, and was received late on the morning of 05-21-05.


UPDATE: 06-03-05
I received an orange traffic cone today, specifically to evaluate the e-flare with.
As promised, here are two photographs of it mounted to the traffic cone:


Photograph of the e-flare affixed to the orange traffic safety cone.



Photograph of the bracket supplied with the evaluation unit of the e-flare, showing how this bracket just slips over the top of the traffic cone, and stops ~2 inches down.

The bracket is affixed to the back of the e-flare; it is screwed into a threaded brass bushing on the e-flare's body.


UPDATE: 07-02-05
I took this product to the bottom of the front porch, energized it, deployed it on the concrete sidewalk, and did two things: one is that I kicked it on its front so it sailed approximately ten feet away, and two, I hit it with a metal cane as if I were getting a golf ball out of the bunker on a par-4 hole at the local golf course (I think I would have hit it with the golf club's hosel had I been using a real club, hahaha!!!). No damage was found after either hit.


UPDATE: 08-02-05
I decided to rate this product 4 1/2 stars and place it in The Trophy Case on this website, denoting it as one of the best LED products money can buy today.


UPDATE: 05-11-09
A website visitor furnished the following information:

The Safety Site™ SUPER-LED® TRAFFIC CONTROL AND LANDING ZONE SYSTEM is a public safety grade product designed for use by emergency crews in-place of traditional highway flares for hazard marking or helicopter landing zones.

Manufacturer's product detail website-
http://www.whelen.com/details_prod.php?head_id=3&cat_id=11&prod_id=416

Product Flyer-
www.whelen.com/pb/Automotive/ProductSheets/Misc/Safety_Site.pdf
(This is a PDF file; you'll need Adobe Acrobat installed before you open it)





PROS:
Durable construction
Water-resistant
Has a *REALLY FRICKIN' BRIGHT* LED in it
Easily attaches to a standard traffic cone with a very inexpensive accessory
Uses batteries that are inexpensive and readily available


CONS:
Tools needed for battery change
Somewhat directional - you need to specifically face it toward traffic


    MANUFACTURER: Whelen
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED road flare
    LAMP TYPE: High-output red LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Wide flood
    SWITCH TYPE: Membrane on/mode change/off on front of unit
    BEZEL: Plastic; LED protected by plastic "bubble"
    BATTERY: 3xC cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Unknown/probably not
    ACCESSORIES: None that I'm aware of
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





Safety Site e-flare * www.priority1lss.com/safetysite.htm






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