How's the paint on this, McCains tend to have problems with the paint flaking. Nice job with the retrofit though, what brand were the LEDs that came with it?
Two were GE and one module was McCain. All were pixelated. Te state of Colorado favors McCain lights over any other, I saw some brand new McCains getting installed today in favor ofr enewing the poles. The old span wires had McCains on them as well.
The paint is in great condition, the paint isn't flaking off at all, in fact I dunno if it is painted. Cause the traffic signal is polycarbonate, not Aluminum.
McCains are the cheapest thats why states love them. They're all made outside the US and imported. Aluminum ones are junk, the plastic ones are a little better but are not finished properly. Yours isn't painted...the plastic is molded of yellow resin. The underside of the visors are painted black. Yes those are McCain reflectors. Nice head
Answering your questions:
Best signals made today production wise are Eagle and Econolite as far as well known companies. Intelight also has one of the sturdiest built signals out there. But with quality comes a higher cost. Intelight heads are $1,880 each versus a basic LED signal head being about $350 each.
With polycarbonate signals, fiberglass is added to the plastic to increase the strength and rigidity.That rougher texture is the fiberous material. At Eagle for instance, theres a finishing production line that smooths out this structure and glosses the housing. McCains have a shine when new but not to the extent of the Eagles or Econolites due to their simplifying of that production line. This simply means Eagles retain their "new" look longer.
Plastic is not a new material to make traffic signals out of. Safetran/Lexalite/ICC and Eagle's first generation of DURASIG in the early 1970s were some of the firsts. Plastic is a very easy material to work with and can be molded into any shape fairly easily. I come from a plastics background where I worked for several years. Plastic signals are also lighter in weight to hang but overall dont have that same strength as aluminum heads
I believe aluminum heads were always used here. I currently see Eagles get installed in new installations. most of the signals here are Eagle, with a few PEEK, and others. I'm sure they're are a few spot replacements done wit poly heads though...
I believe aluminium heads were used here back in the incandescent days, mostly made by CGE/Fortran. Nearly all of them were scrapped and replaced with poly signals when they changed over to LED.
I guess these days Polycarbonate traffic signals are most common? I don't see many aluminum traffic signals in our area... I did see one though in the scrap metal place... Too bad I couldn't save that little guy, it was an incandescent 12-8-8 signal.
The 12-12-12 are the most common type that are used today, almost all are already LED, I dunno of many incandescent ones left, just in the Littleton area where span wire intersections still dominate the streets. The part of town that never got upgraded to newer pole-type intersections, they are upgrading SOME of it, but they haven't gotten to a lot of it yet. Most of those intersections got upgraded to LED (why I have these incandescent reflectors) but some are still incandescent...
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The paint is in great condition, the paint isn't flaking off at all, in fact I dunno if it is painted. Cause the traffic signal is polycarbonate, not Aluminum.
How are they not finished properly? What do you mean? This light has a bit of a rough texture but it seems pretty good to me.
Why are traffic signals made with plastic now anyway?
Best signals made today production wise are Eagle and Econolite as far as well known companies. Intelight also has one of the sturdiest built signals out there. But with quality comes a higher cost. Intelight heads are $1,880 each versus a basic LED signal head being about $350 each.
With polycarbonate signals, fiberglass is added to the plastic to increase the strength and rigidity.That rougher texture is the fiberous material. At Eagle for instance, theres a finishing production line that smooths out this structure and glosses the housing. McCains have a shine when new but not to the extent of the Eagles or Econolites due to their simplifying of that production line. This simply means Eagles retain their "new" look longer.
Plastic is not a new material to make traffic signals out of. Safetran/Lexalite/ICC and Eagle's first generation of DURASIG in the early 1970s were some of the firsts. Plastic is a very easy material to work with and can be molded into any shape fairly easily. I come from a plastics background where I worked for several years. Plastic signals are also lighter in weight to hang but overall dont have that same strength as aluminum heads
The 12-12-12 are the most common type that are used today, almost all are already LED, I dunno of many incandescent ones left, just in the Littleton area where span wire intersections still dominate the streets. The part of town that never got upgraded to newer pole-type intersections, they are upgrading SOME of it, but they haven't gotten to a lot of it yet. Most of those intersections got upgraded to LED (why I have these incandescent reflectors) but some are still incandescent...