# Looking to hook a L.E.D light up to my snowblower



## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

Hey guys I'm new to this forum so please give me a few passes here if I do something or say something stupid. So I have a yardworks/mtd snowblower with a 10.5 hp, 30 inch cut, Tecumseh motor, and I'd like to hook a 18 watt led light to it. When I bought the light I thought the snowblower made DC power but when doing some research I realized that a snowblower makes ac power. Can someone tell me what bridge rectifier I need to run. give me some numbers or even better yet find one 
eBay.ca for me. 
I should also mention that I had a factory light but I lost parts to it one day. 
Thanks for taking some time here to help me.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome:to the forum Kerry


Tonight's reading - - >http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...rading-your-snowblower-lights-led-lights.html 

Do you know the amp or watt output of your engine ??
What are the engine numnbers ?? model, serial, family ...

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## Blackfin (Jan 25, 2016)

Assuming you've got the HMSK110 engine you probably have a single-wire 18W alternator on it. Not sure you can run a full-wave rectifier on that setup. You _may_ be able to connect the AC inputs of the bridge to the wire and to chassis ground and the DC output across the LED.

Keep in mind that there's no regulation on the AC output from the alternator so make sure your LED can deal with the maximum voltage output (~10V at 3600RPM I think.) If necessary, add a series resistor suitably sized to limit the LED current. Unless you build a constant current regulator for your LED lighting brightness is likely to vary quite a bit with engine RPM.

As for the rectifier you might be able to use something like a Fairchild GBU4K:










mounted to the inside of the blower housing (with a screw & nut and some heatsink compound on the rectifier body.) Solder the connections and use adhesive-lined heatshink on all joints.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Wow am I sorry. I didn't notice that the link I originally posted was for a different thread. Posting a link to a used engine block isn't really going to be much help here.

Got that corrected.

You want an LED that's rated for a range of DC like: Operating Voltage: 9-32V DC
They may be advertised as 12 volt but in the specs if it says 12 volts that's not want you want. Because the engine will vary it's output a strict 12 volt light will blow out.
I have some of these but not from this vendor, just an example. If you look at the specs you'll see the "Operating Voltage". http://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-18W-4-Cr...ash=item3d0b971f52:g:WM4AAOSw8-tWYynE&vxp=mtr

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## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

Lucky I bought a led light like that. Not knowing what I was getting into with this install. I thought this was going to be a simple plug and play hook up. I was wrong.


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## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

My machine has only one love wire coming out of it.


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## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> Wow am I sorry. I didn't notice that the link I originally posted was for a different thread. Posting a link to a used engine block isn't really going to be much help here.
> 
> Got that corrected.
> 
> ...


So I got led lights that's rated like yours but now I need to know what rectifier I need to buy. Will the one the guy posted just up the page work? I do have only one wire coming out of my machine for power. I can probably test my machine for watts tonight when I get home, if needed.


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## Blackfin (Jan 25, 2016)

The rectifier I showed above will give you full-wave rectification. You can also try half-wave rectification by using a single diode in series with the single-wire coming out of your alternator (cathode toward the LEDs). An SB540E-G (for example) would do fine.

The only issues would be that you'd get half the power (you're only using half the alternator output) and you may see the LED flicker at lower engine speeds. 

FWIW, an 18W incandescent bulb could be hooked up directly to this line requiring no mods at all...


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

i could sell you the optional incandescent light with a 29" mtd snow blower attached for a mere $50 ! 10.5 hp dual shaft tech that still "runs"....and got me through last winter here in ns ! estart still works, chassis/bucket is toast tho. auger gearbox still good. did i mention estart still works? lol


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

If you were closer I'd grab that. I've got two "ventilated" Tecs that need replacement. :icon-thumbsdown:

Kerry if you read the first three pages of that LED thread it answers most of your questions and give you part numbers and sources (ebay, amazon, ...)
There are other options from different people and they use different parts for the rectifier and different lights. That's the other hundred plus pages :blush:

You can hook up a $10-15 dollar tractor or utility incandescent light to that one wire and then to ground and have lighting now. Make sure it's an 18 watt light as not all are.
I know you have the LED already but if you need light now this would give it to you while you source the parts you need for the rectifier.

This is me answering someone on LED vs incandescent.

_"Halogen is antiquated and can /will fail when you need it most."

_My older machines all have incandescent and I haven't had any problems with bulbs. You just need to keep a spare handy as it will burn out sooner or later. I've had LEDs burn out on my cars so it's not like they live forever either.

The nice thing is you can just mount an incandescent and run a wire to the engine and it will work with whatever the engines able to produce (AC or DC) so you don't need a run to Radio Shack for parts and dig out your soldering gun. That said I have modified two to use LEDs.

I just don't think it's time to toss incadescents under the bus, yet.
For 10-14 bucks and four feet of wire a cheap Tractor Supply, Walmart, Northern tool, Harbor Freight, Auto Parts Store ,,, 18 watt sealed beam gets you some safety out there in the dark, cheap and easy.
.


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## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> If you were closer I'd grab that. I've got two "ventilated" Tecs that need replacement.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





nwcove said:


> i could sell you the optional incandescent light with a 29" mtd snow blower attached for a mere $50 ! 10.5 hp dual shaft tech that still "runs"....and got me through last winter here in ns ! estart still works, chassis/bucket is toast tho. auger gearbox still good. did i mention estart still works? lol





Blackfin said:


> The rectifier I showed above will give you full-wave rectification. You can also try half-wave rectification by using a single diode in series with the single-wire coming out of your alternator (cathode toward the LEDs). An SB540E-G (for example) would do fine.
> 
> The only issues would be that you'd get half the power (you're only using half the alternator output) and you may see the LED flicker at lower engine speeds.
> 
> FWIW, an 18W incandescent bulb could be hooked up directly to this line requiring no mods at all...


Thank you everyone for helping me out. I found the led page that was being talked about here. And that did indeed give me all my answers. Thank you for directing me in direction. Now all I need it the parts to show up.


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## Kerry1234 (Feb 2, 2016)

That be a good parts snowblower. Where are you at


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## coldbear (Feb 8, 2016)

That's what I did for my 1994 MTD without a light. Single wire out of the engine to positive, second wire to ground. Plenty of light at full throttle,


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