Look what I picked up today

[70pumpkin]

Very cool 

[Burdar]

There are a bunch of electronics inside.  After doing a little reading, this style traffic light has a sensor that reads the ambient light and adjusts the LEDs to compensate.  At night, only part of the LED board lights up.  In full sun, the entire board lights up.  This explains why only part of the board lit up in my garage.

Well, I was wrong.  The fact that only some of the LEDs light up has nothing to do with the ambient light sensor like I thought.  A little more reading shows that this style of traffic light is known as a ESB style light made by Intelight.  ESB stands for Electronically Steerable Beam.  The light passes through a diffuser called a "fresnel" so the entire dome is illuminated.  By changing which LEDs are lit, the light output can be moved left/right/up/down.  Have you ever driven up on a light that looks off from a distance but as soon as you get closer to it, the bulb illuminates.  That is this style of light.  You can only see the light from a certain angle and distance.

I posted pictures of it on a Facebook group.  It seems like this style light is fairly rare and doesn't come up for sale often.  I was planning on installing colored bulbs so you can see the different colors when the unit is off, but now I kind of want to keep it original.  According to the Facebook group, a standard controller will work just fine with this light.  They were made from 2003-2015 when they were discontinued.  The later models had sealing issues and water would leak inside damaging the electronics.  They are no longer supported by the original manufacture so cities have started replacing them.

Yes I have two.  The seller had an extra one and a buddy of mine is taking it.

[70_440-6Cuda]

Like really I need another cool thing to put on the wish list....  great idea, would love to have one in the garage just because it would be fun to get it working

[Burdar]

I took the mounting arm assembly off last night.  What a PITA.  There were 6 stainless bolts screwed into the aluminum mounting arms with no anti seize.  Yep, 4 of the 6 broke off.  That's going to be fun.  I couldn't use any heat because the main body is plastic.  There were some stainless square head set screws on it as well.  I was able to use heat on those and slowly loosened them up and removed them. 

[Burdar]

The controller arrived the other day.  I programmed it and hooked it up temporarily to see if it worked.  It does.  I just need to mount it permanently inside the box.  Over the weekend I disassembled the Fresnel lenses and cleaned them up.  I also used Meguiars PlastX polish and cleaned up the outer clear plastic pieces. 

Yesterday I picked this up.  I might have developed a problem.  I seem to be obsessed with traffic signals now. I need to find another one so I can have both WALK and DONT WALK signals.  I've done some searching online and I haven't seen another just like this.  It may be hard to find.  Just like the traffic light itself, this is much larger than you would think.  The lenses themselves are 12" x 12".  The overall length/width is 14" x 14".  It uses a standard incandescent bulb which gets hot.  I should put an LED in it.  This one was cheap at $35. 

[GrandpaKevin]

I found this one at a resale shop over the weekend.

The wifegod said I looked ecstatic just like the guy with the leg lamp when I installed it. 

I ordered a controller and hope to get it working properly.

[MoparCarGuy]

I picked up this traffic light about ten years ago. It was missing the yellow eyebrow hoods but I got those online later. Added a TS Controls traffic light controller to it and a motion detector so it only activates when you enter the garage. Cool stuff.

I have considered using a traffic light to signal how far to pull into the garage. Green, yellow, red/stop but that would need some additional controls or sensors to pull off so the light will just cycle like a normal traffic light.

Another setup that I want to either construct or buy is a drag racing christmas tree. The build is not an issue but the sequencer/controller may be hard to find. Anybody build one?

[Burdar]

I got the light mounted and working.  I'll try to get a video of it posted soon.  The controller/sequencer is really easy to wire and has 38 different pre-programed functions.  I have it set up to sequence like a real traffic light.  Due to space restrictions, I mounted the it horizontally.  When I get my new garage built, I'll move it in there and mount it vertically.

I've searched online for the last week trying to locate the other half to my WALK/DONT WALK sign.  I found a couple complete units but no halves. For now, I ordered a combination WALK/DONT WALK LED board that should fit inside this single housing.  Over time I can still try to piece another housing/shade assembly together.

Over the weekend I drove past a flee market and garage sale.  Something told me to turn around and go back.  I came away with two cool signs.  The Weight Limit sign had some reflective stickers over the original #s.  A half hour with a head gun and scraper took them off.  It looks much better now.  That thing is all steel and heavy.  The railroad sign is aluminum.

[anlauto]

I pity the bridge or whatever that went from 15 tons to 4 tons

[Burdar]

It's cheaper to change the sign then fix the bridge I guess.

[Burdar]

This has become a sickness.  I'm done collecting things until I get my garage built.....unless something really cool pops up.

I picked up some more lights yesterday.  I bought a couple 12" housings but without any guts or lenses.  They came with extra mounting pipes and hangers.  After I got home I really looked at what parts were there and I think I got a good deal.  The hangers I've seen listed separately online for decent money.   Hopefully I can piece together the other half of my WALK/DONT WALK sign eventually and one of the bare housings will help me do that.

The guy also had some smaller 7" flashing yellow lights on a pole.  I picked up those too thinking that I could take it apart and make another functioning traffic light with the parts I already have.  After researching it online, I think it's pretty cool by itself and will tie in nicely with the traffic signs I want to display as well.

It looks like it was used to warn of an upcoming intersection on a fast moving roadway.  Another possibility is for a school zone, sharp curve or closed roadway while flashing type of thing.  All I need to do is find a sign to mount in between the lights.

[blown motor]

It's not a sickness, it's a love. That makes it all ok.

[chaos254]

Can't beat free! I've been wanting to get one for my garage. I found a few on Facebook  marketplace but they are in all rough shape for the money they want.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[Burdar]

I got the lights on the walls.  Not where I want them in the long term but they are off the ground at least so they aren't taking up space.  I also found some great deals on signs...both on Facebook and at flea markets.

[Burdar]

My friend who took the other light has been busy working on it.  He painted the doors and hoods yellow.  He also added colored vinyl to the lenses so there would be color showing with the lights off.  I think he did a great job with it.  He is setting it up in his garage and is hooking it up to a parking light sensor.  When he drives into the garage, the green light will turn on followed by the yellow.  When he is at the correct parking possition it will turn to red.  That is going to be pretty cool.