# Easiest way to add a supplemental headlight?



## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Preparing to transition into another New England Winter and looking for the easiest way to hardwire an extra headlight to my 2013 Platinum 24. The stock halogen isn't quite adequate in my opinion.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

You need to figure out if the engine can support an additional light or you might end up with two lights being dimmer than the original one.

I'd check the wattage of the stock halogen and get the same LED off ebay or amazon that will work on AC or two that together are the same as the one original. It's nice to have two to cut down on shadows.
The other thing to do would be to find out from the engine numbers if you might have an engine that's capable of producing more watts for brighter lights. OR ... getting a little crazy and seeing if that engine manufacturer might have an optional higher output coil but that's a lot of trouble and more $$$.

You can also use a headband headlight as they are pretty helpful in illuminating where you're looking without having to have the machine pointed in that direction to see.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

just try changing your halogen with an LED. much brighter.


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## Ferret (Oct 4, 2016)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> You need to figure out if the engine can support an additional light or you might end up with two lights being dimmer than the original one.
> 
> I'd check the wattage of the stock halogen and get the same LED off ebay or amazon that will work on AC or two that together are the same as the one original. It's nice to have two to cut down on shadows.
> The other thing to do would be to find out from the engine numbers if you might have an engine that's capable of producing more watts for brighter lights. OR ... getting a little crazy and seeing if that engine manufacturer might have an optional higher output coil but that's a lot of trouble and more $$$.
> ...



Another vote for the Headband light. Have used one for a couple of years. Pretty handy for other projects when it's dark.


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## tre (Oct 2, 2018)

Why does Ariens still use a halogen? They were fantastic 15 years ago but it would be nice if they updated that. On my pro/con list, it is one of the cons of the brand. I'm looking to at a new blower and if I do get the Ariens, swapping that light will be the first thing I do.

I also love the idea of a headlamp and can't believe I did not think of that since I own a bunch of them. My favorite by far is the Zebralight brand. They are spendy but completely worth it. H53w AA Headlamp Neutral White


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Nice thing about the headband headlight is if you get to the street and you're looking right and left before going out there not only can it help you see but help you be seen at a distance when the blowers light might be masked by the discharge.

My only thought on the Halogen bulbs is that they are cheaper than the LEDs for the manufacturers to buy. I guess most buyers are just happy to have a light so until they get enough negative feedback about the halogens it's just easier and cheaper to keep using the same old, same old. The worst part is that 25-30 dollar cost to get a replacement bulb that costs 8-10 at an auto parts store :surprise: I sure like everything I've updated to LEDs be it blowers, riding mowers, cars, ... . I just recently did the conversion on my 95 SuperCoupe to LED headlights and they are great. They do work in the OEM housings unlike an HID conversion where the OEM housings don't control the beam properly and you blind oncoming drivers. For us old guys it's also a nice crisp white light compared to the yellower stock incandescent. Price on ebay was really good too.

.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> Nice thing about the headband headlight is if you get to the street and you're looking right and left before going out there not only can it help you see but help you be seen at a distance when the blowers light might be masked by the discharge.
> 
> My only thought on the Halogen bulbs is that they are cheaper than the LEDs for the manufacturers to buy. I guess most buyers are just happy to have a light so until they get enough negative feedback about the halogens it's just easier and cheaper to keep using the same old, same old. The worst part is that 25-30 dollar cost to get a replacement bulb that costs 8-10 at an auto parts store :surprise: I sure like everything I've updated to LEDs be it blowers, riding mowers, cars, ... . I just recently did the conversion on my 95 SuperCoupe to LED headlights and they are great. They do work in the OEM housings unlike an HID conversion where the OEM housings don't control the beam properly and you blind oncoming drivers. For us old guys it's also a nice crisp white light compared to the yellower stock incandescent. Price on ebay was really good too.
> 
> .


ya. i got a 2 pack for 27 bucks and have changed mine out. What's nice is that these LED's work on the blower without a rectifier and all that stuff. just plug it in and go. someone brought up that the LED does not heat up like the halogen so maybe snow buildup on lamp? I won't know until it snows.


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

+1 on the headband light. You can also get a very nice handlebar mounted LED bike light that uses 18650 rechargeable batteries (full kits are available online in the <$25 range). Those are super bright, and if you go that route I’d suggest you choose a zooming lens so you can adjust beam width.


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## Mbinoakland (Sep 25, 2018)

My thinking on the halogen bulb is because it is simply a piece of wire that heats up white hot and produces visible light. There is very little circuitry required and because of that the manufacturer doesn't need to work about rectifying the alternator output. Simple and cheap. I'm going to purchase a 2018 30 deluxe EFI this week and I want to add lights to it before the winter also. Watching this thread. By the way I am a journeyman electrician and specialize on working on home standby generators.


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

I just removed the junk light off the machine and added two LED's. I tapped the original light wires and connected them to bridge rectifier then from that to a pair of LED's. Much better. You can see the picture on my avatar of one of my machines with the new lighting.


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## Mbinoakland (Sep 25, 2018)

Very nice!!!!! Good work.


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

On YouTube I have a stupid video channel and I got the videos up on how I wired them up. Also another showing how bright they are. Also a link to the lights I purchased off of Amazon.
I'm on my phone, the copy and paste thing on the phone sucks to use, just look up 007connecticut and on that channel you will see the snowblower movies.


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## CalgaryPT (Dec 7, 2016)

I've done maybe half a dozen over the years, including the bridge rectifier/diode and capacitor approach for AC. But with the advent of lower power LEDs I'm a convert to the battery pack + LED approach. I like the fact that I can fire up the light w/o the engine as I prep in the early AM. I use it to focus on the EOD stuff I work on with a shovel or door steps with a broom when the blower is off. Win win for me.

Best of luck


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

A little lawnmower battery is $45 or so. That would last perhaps a few storms. Just add a trickle charger to it to recharge the battery when the machine is parked.
They say it's going to be a cold wet winter in New England area. 
My machines will work hard again this winter.....


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## CalgaryPT (Dec 7, 2016)

Yup - Battery Tender Jr is cheap and comes with a pigtail you can hardwire to your battery.


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

If you can find a way to mount a battery to your machine, you can do the bridge rectifier setup with a voltage regulator and then use that as a power feed to the battery. Put the light(s) on a switch and power them from the battery. 

Provided the machine has enough charging output, it'll power the lights when running, but you can run them from the battery if needed / desired when the engine is off. Just make sure to top it off with a battery tender between uses if you're not sure the engine is able to keep up with your power draw 100% or if you're running the lights with the engine off. This also means the lights won't dim if you drop the machine back to idle to talk to a neighbor or something, they'll just draw a bit from the battery if the engine isn't supplying enough power at lower RPM. 

That's basically the setup I'm converting to on my blower, although I'm also upgrading the charging coil to make sure I've got enough power that I won't draw the battery down when running lights + hand warmers. And there's a 12v starter available for the engine on my blower, so I'm converting it to battery start as well (might as well if I'm putting a battery on it and IMO it's more useful than plug-in electric start anyway).


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> You need to figure out if the engine can support an additional light or you might end up with two lights being dimmer than the original one.
> 
> I'd check the wattage of the stock halogen and get the same LED off ebay or amazon that will work on AC or two that together are the same as the one original. It's nice to have two to cut down on shadows.
> The other thing to do would be to find out from the engine numbers if you might have an engine that's capable of producing more watts for brighter lights. OR ... getting a little crazy and seeing if that engine manufacturer might have an optional higher output coil but that's a lot of trouble and more $$$.
> ...



Is there any simple way of doing this? I'm looking through the operator and engine manuals but seeing no mention of wattage. I have the Ariens AX 291cc engine, and searching that in Google I find a few parts diagrams that list the engine as 120V/60W. So 60W, does that sound right? I guess I'd have to figure out the wattage of the handwarmers and see how much of the 60watts remains if I were to add brighter lights.

I do like the idea of the headband light for being visible to passing vehicles. I actually have one but it is tucked away in a drawer and always gets forgotten. However, I would prefer to have a hardwired option directly mounted to the blower as the primary light source.


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

The stock headlight plus the handwarmers should use up almost all of the 60W available. But if you put the stock headlight on a switch, you can run 20W of LED which will throw much more light than the stock 20W halogen. And on days where you don't need the handwarmers turned on, you can run the stock light plus the LEDs.


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

Both of my Ariens blowers run a pair of 18W LED's with hand warmers. Neither machine has dim lights or cold grips when the engine is running a full rpm. The platinum machine grips burn thru the gloves I wear. I have to turn them off at times. The pro machine the hand warmers don't get real hot. I thought of changing them out with another pair, but they work.
Led lights are the way to go. Only bad thing is the lens don't get hot so you may find yourself wiping the lens off with a glove so you can see.


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