Landing Light Performance

[Boatguy]

I’m only familiar with ballasts in the context of fluorescent lighting. Are the factory lights LED or incandescent?

That depends on the vintage of your DA40, older ones had 2 very weak incandescents, in just the last couple of years they have again weak but LED's from the factory.

It's a 2023 DA62.

[mfdutra]

Are the factory lights LED or incandescent?

No, they are HIDs (xenon).

[XeVision]

Are the factory lights LED or incandescent?

No, they are HIDs (xenon).

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's and I'm "working on" a DA50RG too at the moment.
about 20 of the DA40's have made this change to 50 watt ballasts from the old incandescents and even the newer LED's
www.xevision.com

[ememic99]

Are the factory lights LED or incandescent?

No, they are HIDs (xenon).

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's and I'm "working on" a DA50RG too at the moment.
about 20 of the DA40's have made this change to 50 watt ballasts from the old incandescents and even the newer LED's
www.xevision.com

Can this be done on EASA aircraft and who does this in Europe?

[Fred Claus]

Are the factory lights LED or incandescent?

No, they are HIDs (xenon).

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's

Have you ever managed to get the factory in either Austria or Canada to install these ballasts on a new build, skipping the swapping process altogether?

[XeVision]

Have you ever managed to get the factory in either Austria or Canada to install these ballasts on a new build, skipping the swapping process altogether?

We approached Diamond AU about this some years ago, but they showed minimal interest. I believe we even sent them a sample 50 watt ballast.
It's the same PCB inside, just a different (higher) output setting and a taller fined heat-sink aluminum top case 1/2. The swap is plug and play. Working with someone in Norway on this at the moment. We pass RTCA DO160 for EMI and RFI (EMC) fot this 50 watt ballast.

[Boatguy]

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's and I'm "working on" a DA50RG too at the moment.
about 20 of the DA40's have made this change to 50 watt ballasts from the old incandescents and even the newer LED's
www.xevision.com

What does 65% more mean in terms of seeing the runway? At what distance will the runway be illuminated to what level of illumination? How does that compare to the distance and illumination of the factory lighting?

[XeVision]

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's and I'm "working on" a DA50RG too at the moment.
about 20 of the DA40's have made this change to 50 watt ballasts from the old incandescents and even the newer LED's
www.xevision.com

What does 65% more mean in terms of seeing the runway? At what distance will the runway be illuminated to what level of illumination? How does that compare to the distance and illumination of the factory lighting?

.
I would let some of the others on here that have done the conversion comment to that. You should ask on the DA-42 forums here as well, the 2 light system is identical there to the DA-62, more 42's have been converted than 62's.

[Boatguy]

We offer a 65% increase in lighting output, a simple ballast swap to 50 watt ballasts. XV4D-24-50-THS-WT
A number of users have made this change on DA42's DA'62's and I'm "working on" a DA50RG too at the moment.
about 20 of the DA40's have made this change to 50 watt ballasts from the old incandescents and even the newer LED's
www.xevision.com

What does 65% more mean in terms of seeing the runway? At what distance will the runway be illuminated to what level of illumination? How does that compare to the distance and illumination of the factory lighting?

.
I would let some of the others on here that have done the conversion comment to that. You should ask on the DA-42 forums here as well, the 2 light system is identical there to the DA-62, more 42's have been converted than 62's.

So no objective data is available?

[bdbogle]

What does 65% more mean in terms of seeing the runway? At what distance will the runway be illuminated to what level of illumination? How does that compare to the distance and illumination of the factory lighting?

.
I would let some of the others on here that have done the conversion comment to that. You should ask on the DA-42 forums here as well, the 2 light system is identical there to the DA-62, more 42's have been converted than 62's.

So no objective data is available?

I've converted my DA42 to the higher ballasts and with, more than likely, the original ballast/bulbs in 2007 airframe, the difference was great. Before, I could barely see the runway centerline more than 50ft. Now I can see down probably 3-4 centerline markings making that about 300ft- 400ft. Had a tower easily see us from 5 miles out as well when approaching an airfield. For the investment, well worth it IMO.