We like lights, lots of them. We wanted to be able to illuminate the back of our truck and the scene to which we respond. Thanks to Fire Research Corp. our wish has come true. FRC has supplied us with their Focus brand D30 dual halogen scene lamp and a ‘through the roof’ mounted telescopic pole. This unit will be installed in the driver’s side at the rear of the service body so that it is accessible from the rear compartment. The light unit operates on 12vdc and draws about 25 amps. Since we will be on scene anyway, we can reduce our emergency lighting down to a few strobes and halogens, leaving the LED’s on full blast and we’ll have plenty of juice to keep this Focus lamp burning brightly.
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Installing the FRC Focus light was a fairly simple project. Only a few minor modifications were necessary to complete the installation. First, we had to determine which compartment was to receive the light. The driver’s side was chosen since the rear compartment will hold the turnout gear and there will not be any shelves installed. Next, we need to reinforce the roof of the body since the light is fairly heavy and in the raised position, could buckle the sheet metal.
We had a special bracket made at a local machine shop, Simmons Tool & Die. The bracket was then drilled with four holes with which to mount to the back wall of the compartment. Once the holes were drilled in the body and the bracket in place, we then drilled the four ¼” mounting holes for the Focus light’s base. We temporarily bolted the bracket to the roof to drill the large hole for the pole and tube. After the holes were drilled, they were dressed with a dremel tool to remove the burrs. Now we were able to fasten the base to the roof using stainless allen head bolts. Next, we inserted the outer tube and locking mechanism and then installed the inner post. Once in place, we were able to splice in the electrical connections to the Focus lamp head and secure the light to the pole. Lastly, we routed the leads for the lamp through the back wall of the body and out to the rear power distribution center.
The installation is complete and we have a rock solid scene light that will light up most any operation. The FRC Focus scene light is the right light for the job.