Grimes Rotating Beacon

[kchansen]

I have a Grimes rotating beacon on the top of my vertical stab. It is lighting up fine, but rotating is hit-and-miss. Had some gears replaced in it not too long ago and it worked great, but now back to its old tricks. Too bad, because that fix was only about $80 for parts. Now I'm looking for a more permanent solution.

My struggle is that I'd like to stay fairly close to "historical" with it, plus a LED replacement is spendy. To be honest, I think the current beacon is an addition to the airplane at some point in its history and I'm not even sure it ever had a beacon from the factory (maybe?).

Any ideas, suggestions? Anyone replaced/fixed a Grimes beacon? Maybe it needs a more thorough overhaul.

[Pacer 24C]

Whelen flasher is light and direct 12V and reasonable (about $120) I never cared for the heavy mass of the rotating beacon up on the rudder.

[Glen Geller]

A modern Strobe or LED is less power hungry than the old motorized rotating beacon. Much better visibility too.
If you have a generator (as opposed to alternator) the r/b will draw a lot of current and at idle or low rpm (landing) it's likely your radio, taxi/landing lights etc will suffer.
The much improved performance of modern beacon is a fair trade off for authenticity.
Or do you still have that 30 pound coffee grinder vhf radio too? ;-)

GG

[pa20]

I need to check, but I may have the lower end of a Grimes beacon laying around. Of course I would have no idea about it's functionality, but you may be able to use all or part of it. If so, I would be glad to send it to you for the cost of shipping. While I do agree with Glen and others about the efficiency and performance of the newer systems, I totally give two thumbs up to a guy who is trying to keep the period look. PM me if this would interest you.

[kchansen]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. We were able to get the beacon rotating again and seems to be working correctly. Yes, LED/modern lighting would be the best, but I'd love to keep things "authentic". Still, I'm pretty sure this beacon isn't original to the airplane... just someone's addition along the way at some point.

Mark: I'd interested in your offer, sure! I'll try to drop you a PM in the near future when I'm not at work.

[$Piker]

Whelen flasher is light and direct 12V and reasonable (about $120) I never cared for the heavy mass of the rotating beacon up on the rudder.

Thread Revival

is this what you are referring to?

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...BoC4FYQAvD_BwE

[Claytonpaul]

I spent some time reviewing this thread and others a few weeks back when I had iatrogenic failure of my grimes rotating beacon. My conclusion was that the wallen flashed has significantly risen in price since originally posted about. I think the link you put there is just to the part that installs on the airplane. You still would have to buy the light. Hopefully someone with some knowledge will answer your question. I wound up buying a used grimes on eBay for 100$. I also bought some LED bulbs for it specifically designed for the grimes rotations beacon. They work great and are super bright. I like that old grinding sounds. Helps me remember when I forgot to turn the master off.


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[$Piker]

I spent some time reviewing this thread and others a few weeks back when I had iatrogenic failure of my grimes rotating beacon. My conclusion was that the wallen flashed has significantly risen in price since originally posted about. I think the link you put there is just to the part that installs on the airplane. You still would have to buy the light. Hopefully someone with some knowledge will answer your question. I wound up buying a used grimes on eBay for 100$. I also bought some LED bulbs for it specifically designed for the grimes rotations beacon. They work great and are super bright. I like that old grinding sounds. Helps me remember when I forgot to turn the master off.


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nostalgia is my favorite feeling also. That said, I’m attempting to replace my beacon with a lighter and more modern option. Without spending my paycheck on an led strobe kit.

[dgapilot]

Looks like pretty much anything available is in the $500-600 range. FS3300 strobe is only about $240, so that might be your best bet.


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[Subsonic]

Looks like pretty much anything available is in the $500-600 range. FS3300 strobe is only about $240, so that might be your best bet.


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Why couldn't you use this instead?
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...be11-13527.php

There were no strobe requirements for my 56 TP under CAR3 and it didn't come with one new. So, why can't you just add this nice little self contained LED unit to the little manhole cover in the bottom and do a 337? Also, for $32 you can get the high vibration mount for it.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/mountingkitrndmk.php


I'd do that for sure.

I guess my question is: Where does it say that you MUST use a PMA'd part on an airplane where NO requirement for THAT PART previously existed. Please comment freely.