OT-snow blower light

CKain(MI) · Feb 9, 2018

My Husky snow blower has a headlight that is not adequate! I do not know what voltage it receives but there should be a much brighter kind available. Like an LED spot light ?? Anyone knowledgeable with this issue ? Thanks

SVcummins · Feb 9, 2018

You test for voltage is it a battery start snowblower

CKain(MI) · Feb 9, 2018

No, it has no battery.. the ignition spark must be rectified and 'maybe filtered' to provide for the lamp.

roy prins · Feb 9, 2018

check your RPM-s -- more rpms the brighter it gets -- Roy

David G · Feb 9, 2018

It probably has an alternator on the flywheel like a motorcycle, I would bet it is 12V, but check the existing buld.

Gene Davis (Ga.) · Feb 9, 2018

That is usually 8-14 volt A.C. current generated by a lighting coil under the flywheel magnets. It is not rectified nor regulated It varies with the engine RPM. Alternating current works OK for the lights, just doesn't have the battery reserve in line for making steady output to the lights.

Bob M · Feb 9, 2018

My blower (older Craftsman, 8HP Tecumseh engine) has a flywheel alternator for the headlight. Under load it produces a nominal 12 volts AC at governed RPM.

The headlight is a standard #4411, 30 watt tractor sealbeam. It produces more than enough light for snowblowing.

Could yours have the wrong lamp installed? Somewhat counterintuitively, with a flywheel alternator a higher than spec wattage lamp will burn DIMMER.

I'd be leery of using an LED lamp. Most LED's do not tolerate AC. Further, the flywheel alternator output is unregulated. Open circuit it can exceed 30 VAC which may fry an LED lamp.

steve_in_mo · Feb 9, 2018

A multimeter would be a good thing to work with. That will let you know if you have AC or DC, and give you an idea of the voltage.
The owner's manual (probably available somewhere on the internet if you look for it) would give you the original wattage of that headlight.

CKain(MI) · Feb 9, 2018

Thank you for replys.
I agree a DC LED would not survive long.....

Russ from MN · Feb 9, 2018

Ours did not come with a light, but there was an extra wire hanging out of the engine. I bought a inexpensive driving light and mounted it and it works great.

Steve@Advance · Feb 9, 2018

It may be more trouble than you want to go through, but I believe you could add a bridge rectifier, which would give DC voltage.

The voltage on some LED lights is forgiving, this one works on 9-32 VDC.
LED

kcm.MN · Feb 10, 2018

One idea might be to take a battery and wire it in to a new LED light. Make the battery where it could be easily removed for charging, or could charge in place.

Also, if you had some old cordless drills where the drill went bad, you could cut off the hand grip, eliminating the motor and chuck. Then wire that to an LED light. When you want to use, just pop in a charged battery and go. When done, remove the (former) drill battery and pop into charger.

And finally, you could simply use a good headlamp. I like the more powerful of the Energizer headlamps. The one I like most of all is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Pr...13&sr=8-6&keywords=energizer+headlamp This thing is [b:1b66405fb8][u:1b66405fb8]far[/u:1b66405fb8][/b:1b66405fb8] brighter than the headlights on my Husqvarna riding mower!

OT-snow blower light

CKain(MI)

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SVcummins

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CKain(MI)

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roy prins

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David G

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Gene Davis (Ga.)

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Bob M

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steve_in_mo

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CKain(MI)

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Russ from MN

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Steve@Advance

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kcm.MN

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