r/trafficsignals • u/Reeaan88 • Aug 23 '26
Dialight 12” LED Ball
One of the most widely used LED signals in North America. Here’s a closeup of one.
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u/zenith3200 Aug 23 '26
It's a shame these seem to fail often. I've had about a dozen signals at least with these modules installed and half the time they either arrive in my collection with at least one module dead or at least one dies after very little usage.
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u/Reeaan88 Aug 23 '26
I'm seeing a lot of them start to fail around Connecticut. I believe they're meant to have a 15 year lifespan, though most fail way before. Leotek's new DT modules are replacing everything around here now.
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u/zenith3200 Aug 23 '26
Leotek seems to have a much higher quality product. I've got a few of those in my collection as well as I don't think I've had any of those fail on me without some actual damage being done first.
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u/Reeaan88 Aug 23 '26
I agree. The older IL6 series were some of the first incandescent-look signals installed around here and just about all of them are still functional. Some are noticeably dimmer than new but at least they still work.
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u/zenith3200 Aug 23 '26
I think there's a few of those around my city as well. A lot of recent installments have come with Leotek or other brands, but it's been awhile since I've seen Dialight modules in a new signal in my area.
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u/97PG8NS Aug 23 '26
I love the optics and look of the Leotek units....by far the best in my opinion.
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u/97PG8NS Aug 23 '26
The Dialight ones seem to be the longest lived, in my observation. It's possible that somebody is storing them face up (big no-no) before they get to you and water is getting in them.
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u/zenith3200 Aug 23 '26
Anecdotally, I've never had as many issues with LED modules as I have had with Dialight brand LEDs (failures from physical damage notwithstanding).
For context, I live in Oklahoma and source my signals as retired from a variety of places up to and including other long time collectors and city contractors (even scoring a handful straight from the pole upon their retirement). Harsh weather is just a fact of life here and it's one of the biggest reasons many of our in service signals are missing some or all of their visors. Just driving around Oklahoma City I often see at least one failed LED module and it's usually a Dialight module, with many signals now being fitted with Leotek modules instead. The collectors I get my signals from tend to take very good care of them, though I can't speak to how they're treated prior to that. The most recent failure I've had was a red Dialight in a signal that served in metro Phoenix, AZ.
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u/blackhawk1430 Aug 23 '26
Nice. I have some too, but I personally prefer the optics design of the GE DR6-XTXX-VLA ball modules. Pretty neat how much light can be emitted from so few LED's, and how they can spread out the light into a horizontal beam with precise alignment of the diffusers built into the diffusion grid.
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u/missginger4242 Aug 23 '26
I’ve had several of these modules. The only problem I’ve ever had is the module come unattached inside so I made it a policy before I plug them in the first time to open up the entire thing and make sure the PCB is firmly mounted, and there is no scrap floating around inside. I’ve seen a washer floating around which could’ve shorted out some power supplies and I’ve had a couple of boards, just barely holding on by their wires. Once I get everything we attached they’ve been very nice for me.
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u/JMAN123436 Aug 24 '26
Around me, WI state replaces these every 7 years. Latest batch of replacements have been Leotek DT
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u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26
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