Headlamps

[kajamo240 3]

I am looking at getting some lights on my tractor but not sure if I should go with the mounted in the hood or do some sort of modification of my own.

I see online, just the housing is over $200 per RCPW and the lens is just $25. I would obviously not want to go that route due to the price. There are some parts on ebay that I could buy/use but fear that the quality wont be there.

Has anyone rigged up a "in hood" head light assembly? I am hoping to use some LED's to get the best illumination as possible. I would like to keep it looking stock though...

Thoughts? Suggestions? Pics?

[MikesRJ 552]

I PM'ed you.

[KB9LOR 4]

You know, I have been wondering, what about replacing those standard 1156 lights with the LED type that replace those old 1156's? I wonder if they are brighter? anyone tried this yet?

[can whlvr 991]

i made a bracket that bolted in the factory holes in front of the motor in the frame,then i bolted the lamps on the bar,if you want i will take a pic,its not pretty but works and could give u some ideas

[Buzz 502]

Didn't Duke do that on his ultimate snow blowing machine?

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=13093

[bdanie7 0]

1156 bulbs put out light all the way around, led's are directional. to replace the existing bulbs with led's would require remounting the socket assembly.

[MikesRJ 552]

1156 bulbs put out light all the way around, led's are directional. to replace the existing bulbs with led's would require remounting the socket assembly.

I agree that LED's are uni-directional, but they do make 1156/1157 LED repalcements which are designed to fit a standard 1156 base. This makes your statement not necessarily true...

Take a look at the following:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...%2F1156-x30.htm

[KB9LOR 4]

That is what I was thinking, replace them with direct LED that are made to replace those old 1156 bulbs, hmmmm...may do just that.

[buckeyebill440 0]

The led's I looked at would have projected the light straight up, they were about $18.00. Found a pair of Silverstar 1156 replacements for $8.00. Have at least twice the light of a regular 1156, and it's nice, bright, and white! Clean the grounds and sockets.....

[W9JAB 156]

DID SOMEONE SAY HEADLAMPS?

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[rickv1957 70]

That is a nice headlight setup,even has a smile!!,Rick

[MikesRJ 552]

Looking at that picture you can almost hear it saying ...

Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh ....... Helllooooooooo Willlllbuuuuur!

[kajamo240 3]

Thanks W9JAB, this picture got me wondering, instead of using the two lamps in one housing, can I buy two single housed lights?

Has anyone done this? Is there one out there that can just bolt in being the same size as the factory ones? I can image WH would have made their own specific size housing for their lights... would they?

[MikesRJ 552]

You can pretty much do anything you'd like to do and are capable of performing the work on. Below are two examples of the several types of WH lights used between 1961 and 1990-something. I too was originally skeptical about the amount of light the two 1156's would throw, that is until I installed a 8-0813 Head/Taillight set as "sort of" pictured below in the second picture (the taillight portion is not shown in that picture).

The standard headlights will put out an incredible amount of light, much more than you'd expect from a pair of 1156's. If you paint the inside surfaces of the light "can" (part #1 in the second picture) with "chrome" paint, they will throw off even more light than normal. This would keep you from having to drill holes in your machine. If that is still not enough light for you, then I would suggest you go ahead and drill a few holes in the sides of the hood and install a set of aftermarket driving lights.

The first is the original "bug" lights used on the '61 ~ '69 machines

The second is the one you are contemplating.

[kajamo240 3]

:thumbs: Thanks Mike for all the great info!

I think that I will try out the "In Hood" lights opposed to the "bug" like ones. I think that the inconspicuous look is pretty cool. And if need be, I can always add more too if its just not enough light.

I was thinking about maybe lining the housing with the inside of pop cans to produce that "Chrome" finish. Or would the Spray paint be better you think?

[MikesRJ 552]

One thing I noticed on the http://www.SuperBrightLED.com website is that they have panel's of LEDS. Each unit is square and you could always "gang" several (my example using 5) of these together to make a 1-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip of lights, and use one or two of their 1156 pre-wired bases to wire them into the existing electrical system. I'm not a big fan of customizing and hacking machines, as you can probably tell.

The two best features of LED's is that the light is very white, and they draw far less power than the incandescent equivalents (120 mA for a 1-1/2" panel vs. 1.5-2 Amps per 1156). The down side is that they are expensive; It would cost you $80.00 to do the example I described above.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...s%2Fpcblamp.htm

[KB9LOR 4]

One of these days when I get time, I am going to fabricate my own LED base that will swap right into where the original fit. :thumbs:

[wh500special 2,055]

One thing I noticed on the http://www.SuperBrightLED.com website is that they have panel's of LEDS. Each unit is square and you could always "gang" several (my example using 5) of these together to make a 1-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip of lights, and use one or two of their 1156 pre-wired bases to wire them into the existing electrical system. I'm not a big fan of customizing and hacking machines, as you can probably tell.

The two best features of LED's is that the light is very white, and they draw far less power than the incandescent equivalents (120 mA for a 1-1/2" panel vs. 1.5-2 Amps per 1156). The down side is that they are expensive; It would cost you $80.00 to do the example I described above.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...s%2Fpcblamp.htm

LED's aren't as efficient of a lighting appliance as we'd like to believe. They do throw a nice, focused, 20-degree beam of high intensity light whereever the are pointed, but they don't actually work as well as you'd expect as flood lighting.

The biggest problem you WILL have if you put too many of these LED panels in your headlight housing is heat.

Yes, heat.

I know we hear all the time at how cool LED's are and how they are the answer to our future lighting needs, but they do dissipate a significant amount of heat. But unlike a traditional incandescent bulb that blasts out a good share of IR radiation (heat) with the generated light, LED's don't. So whatever heat they generate in the base must be conducted out thru the back. With a couple bulbs the heat is inconsequential, but add too many together and it can cause problems.

If you gang too many of these panels in your lamp housing it is going to get incredibly hot inside and your individual LED's are going to start burning out rather rapidly. And, you'll probably melt the plastic housing and lens. Literally, it's an Easy Bake oven.

Seriously.

LED's are great for many applications, but they still aren't ready for prime time in headlights without some form of heat management. If you look at commercially available units that are designed for long service life you'll find that the lamp housing is made of something that will dissipate this heat to the environment. Often it will be aluminum with a bunch of fins.

I too find the standard WH lighting arrangement to be sub par, but have gotten used to it. You can optimize its performance by replacing the bulbs with whiter versions of the 1156 (resist the urge to increase the wattage). Clean and paint the reflector housing's interior WHITE or SILVER.

With snow on the ground reflecting all the light from your headlamps and environment it doesn't take as much light to serve you as it would if you were mowing in the middle of nowhere on a moonless night.

I'd personally avoid the direct replacement 1156 LED's just due to cost. I you elect to go with the panel type, just use 2 of them and every once in a while check to see if the housing is getting too hot inside.

lighting is a topic that pops up a lot. When WH restyled the tractors and replaced the old 1056's with sealed beam and (later) halogen bulbs the issue pretty much died.

Not deliberately trying to rain on your LED parade, just trying to save you a couple bucks and heat problems.

Steve

PS - I think Duke might have mentioned this in his snowblower automation build and he eventually had to cut the backs out of his floodlights to allow the heat to escape. I warned him beforehand and he proved me right (which, alarmingly, doesn't happen very often...I'm wrong a lot)

[kajamo240 3]

I remember his post about having too much heat with grouping them together.

Looks like I am going to go with the normal two light housing with the 1156's in them and see how that all comes together.

Would I be better lining the inside of the housing with aluminum or rattle canning it white or silver?

[MikesRJ 552]

I call Bullsh!

You need to verify your facts wh500special. You need to go back and read the specifications of the LED's I quoted.

The LED's I specified are 100 degree forward radiance, not 20 degrees as stated. So you pretty much get a 50 degree sweep left and right of the center-line.

You physically cannot generate more heat with five banks of LED's ganged together, drawling roughly 0.7 Amps (123 mA each x 5 = 0.615 Amps) of power, when a pair of 1156's draw almost 4 Amps. Most of the LED heat will be drawn away from the LED's into the ceramic/steel circuit board (1-1/2" Sq.) and be dissipated much more efficiently than any incandescent would ever be able to do. Sure, if you gang ~28 squares together you might exceed the 4 Amps of the incandescents, but only Duke would do that! But then again, the tops of the light cans are wide open, so you're not containing the heat in a confined space like was done in Duke's application.

http://www.theledlight.com/technical.html

[KB9LOR 4]

You know, I tend to think the DO NOT generate as much heat as incandescent bulbs, I am not going to bank a ton of them, I am going to experiment and see just how this is going to work and then build my set-up, patent it, then go from there. :thumbs:

[porkchop 1]

I have the led 1156 bulbs in my tractors and love them they are plenty bright enough to plow snow at night and don,t get hot.

[tgranthamfd 28]

These

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...F1156-x18-T.htm

Are Not directional, they work just as the old style minus the heat and extra power consumption. They come with 1156 or 1157 bases, and they are plenty bright. I think some other members have these in as replacements, so do I.

[MikesRJ 552]

I have the led 1156 bulbs in my tractors and love them they are plenty bright enough to plow snow at night and don,t get hot.

Which ones, might I ask? If you have a link that would be great.

Just curious as to whether the 90 degree style would have a wide enough beam pattern.

[MikesRJ 552]

These

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...F1156-x18-T.htm

Are Not directional, they work just as the old style minus the heat and extra power consumption. They come with 1156 or 1157 bases, and they are plenty bright. I think some other members have these in as replacements, so do I.

Can you take a picture of one 1156 Incandescent and one LED 1156 from about 25 feet away? That would indicate a good comparison.....