Let there be light...please!

[HorseFixer 2,013]

Thanks, Duke!

[Save Old Iron 1,573]

All good stuff.

But Joe, remember, there comes a point when adding more lights gives you a chance to propel yourself way beyond just "thinking safety".

Kind of like when you see that pencil neck guy down the street driving his yellow Corvette way too fast thru your neighborhood - blaring his stereo.

I guess he does what he does "just to drive a safe car and enjoy quality audio equipment."

Yep, that's what we all think. :ychain:

[Save Old Iron 1,573]

Joe, almost forgot, and my friends at NASA reminded me to tell you.

The LED lights throw considerably less heat forward thru the lense than incandescent bulbs.

From a safety standpoint, if you mount smaller LED's for side lights, etc, the heat produced by the assembly may not be enough to keep the snow and ice from building up on the lenses of the lamps. This may negate the purpose of having them there. If snow covers up the cool running LED's and nobody can see them, they are not safe !

Lots of truckers are beginning to complain about LED running lights having this issue.

[COMMANDO1 23]

When i am ready for lights i am goint to try to figure out away to mount them with rare earth magnets. Then no holes.

[Operator 7]

Joe, almost forgot, and my friends at NASA reminded me to tell you.

The LED lights throw considerably less heat forward thru the lense than incandescent bulbs.

From a safety standpoint, if you mount smaller LED's for side lights, etc, the heat produced by the assembly may not be enough to keep the snow and ice from building up on the lenses of the lamps. This may negate the purpose of having them there. If snow covers up the cool running LED's and nobody can see them, they are not safe !

Lots of truckers are beginning to complain about LED running lights having this issue.

You are right on Chuck on the complaints by truckers! Just watch the tailights on the trailers to compare lights - snow will melt off on the incan. ones but builds up on LED ones, which is safer? Headlights will build up with ice and snow too slowly.

Randy

[HorseFixer 2,013]

Yeah if yer out there 24 hrs that might happen :ychain:

[chesbaycruiser 83]

Joe,

Here's the info on the lights I recently added to my 1975 B-80. It's a 55W Halogen Driving Light Kit that I purchased at Advance Auto for $20.89. They have several mounting options, which I found handy when installing.

As folks here have pointed out, energy consumption is a consideration. To be honest, I can't find the actual specs for the amperage draw for these lights, but I can tell you that I have used them while plowing at night for 2-3 hours without issue, and I'm certainly not running any heavy duty battery...just a 165 CCA Husky from TSI.

I can tell you that I REALLY like the way they work!

Here's some photos:

Good luck!

[HorseFixer 2,013]

As folks here have pointed out, energy consumption is a consideration. To be honest, I can't find the actual specs for the amperage draw for these lights, but I can tell you that I REALLY like the way they work!

Those are some nice looking lights

amperage X voltage = wattage sooo we need to find amperage so reverse the formula. or at least thats what they taught us in the electronics prgm in the Navy.

55 / 12 = 4.58 X 2 = 9.16 + rear light + coil so yer probably close to 10 amps but remember the 10 amps most likely is at full throttle. The reason you can accomplish this is your most likely drawing off the battery. Yer close but will be okay! where in the heck is the Wizzard when ya need him? :D

[theoldwizard1 2]

amperage X voltage = wattage sooo we need to find amperage so reverse the formula.

Ohhhhh ,,, Math I love it !

... where in the heck is the Wizzard when ya need him?

Over in the electrical section doing Ohm's Law and then taking a nap !

[Cleaverkid 15]

You guys are the GREATEST! I never expected this to turn into the lengthy discussion and encyclopedia of information and advice that it's become! Thank you again!

Duke, I hear ya about the lights and safety. An uncle of mine nearly got killed driving a nice "big" JD utility tractor down the road with seatbelt on, flashing lights going, and broad daylight when he was run over by a old guy! Not pretty.

Chuck, thank you over and over! As much as I love the look and function on those LED's, I've pretty much ruled them out because of cost. And I really appreciate your formula's and knowledge on the wattage/amperage issue.

Chris, love those lights...maybe a trip to Advance Auto is on the horizon!

Wizard, welcome to the discussion!! I'm really glad to hear another idea!

:ychain:

[Save Old Iron 1,573]

Chuck, thank you over and over!

[Save Old Iron 1,573]

To be honest, I can't find the actual specs for the amperage draw for these lights,

Chesbaycruiser,

that setup does "lite up the night" real nice. Gets the job done without waking up the neighbors or having any Fed Ex planes try to land in your driveway.

The simplest way of finding amperage draw is to hook up one light to a battery charger - look at the indication - then multiply by how many of the same lights you mount to the tractor - pretty simple.

You might find that Wally World Watts don't actually equate to real world watts. If they don't, I'll bet they clock in less than calculated watts !

[Coadster32 793]

I just got in the set of lights TT recommended. They are pretty darn bright, and draw 2.5 amps each at 12volts. Thinking I should use a 7.5 amp fuse. :D

[Save Old Iron 1,573]

I just got in the set of lights TT recommended. They are pretty darn bright, and draw 2.5 amps each at 12volts. Thinking I should use a 7.5 amp fuse.

Coadster,

given the three most common failures in the light circuit will be

1/ a blown bulb (2.5 amp draw) or

2/ a shorted wire to the tractor chassis resulting in current draw well over 20 amps - in this case, you wish to not damage the wiring by overheating, so insert a fuse sized to allow 10 - 15 amps of current draw thru your 16 - 14 AWG wiring.

3/ open circuit to lamps which would result in 0 amps draw.

The 7.5 amp fuse sounds Ok buy may need to be swapped out if you choose to add more lights in the future. If you already have a 7.5 in there - leave it. If not, I would go with a 10 or 15 amp fuse for safety margin and room to grow a little.

[Coadster32 793]

Thanks Chuck. I haven't wired anything as of yet, but I do like the backup light idea hooked into a microswitch by the tranny shifter. :ychain:

[Coadster32 793]

Well, I got the lights put on and wired up last night. I was going to custom make a bracket for them, but decided not to. I went against my normal train of thought, and put them on the hood. (I figure that considering all I've done to it to get it nice, a couple of holes won't kill me)

They are nice and bright. Driving it to work this morning, it was like a car.

They are a little bigger than I expected, but the light from them are impressive. They also only draw 2.5 amps each.

I like the look of this switch. It also illuminates a small red dot when the lights are on. Listening to Chuck, I went with a 10amp inline fuse. The switch is rated at 10amps also. I soldered the wires, and put in a connector for hood removal. A little wire harness, and walla. I tapped the power from the run side of the ignition switch, so I can't accidentally leave them on. Thankls for the help, and certaily hope this helps Cleaverkid.

[Operator 7]

Looks good! By mounting them sideways like that your beam pattern is also sideways, you can take bulb retainer ring off and turn bulb. The beamm pattern will be better.

Nice tractor.

Randy

[theoldwizard1 2]

Looks good! By mounting them sideways like that your beam pattern is also sideways, you can take bulb retainer ring off and turn bulb. The beamm pattern will be better.

Nice tractor.

Randy

Great suggestion :banghead:

[Coadster32 793]

Never thought of that, (or knew of it.) Thanks for the tip! :banghead:

[TT-(Moderator) 1,169]

They're the rubber housings, correct?

Two little screwdrivers will pop the sealed-beam out if you can't get them to twist while they're still in the housing. (a little soapy water helps on the new ones)

Sorry about the "big" part, but I knew you'd be able to see in the dark. :banghead:

[COMMANDO1 23]

iM LOOKING TO ADD 2 55 WATT HOLOGENE (SPELLING SUCKS) ON THE FRONT AND 1 SMALL RED BEHIND THE SEAT. WOULD THIS BE OK FOR MY COMMANDO 8.

THANK FOR ANY HELP, PROB WILL BUY THESE THIS WEEK END

[Coadster32 793]

iM LOOKING TO ADD 2 55 WATT HOLOGENE (SPELLING SUCKS) ON THE FRONT AND 1 SMALL RED BEHIND THE SEAT. WOULD THIS BE OK FOR MY COMMANDO 8.

At 12Volts, that'd be a 5 amp draw approx. plus the red light. Should be OK. I'd go with a 10amp fuse.

They're the rubber housings, correct?

Two little screwdrivers will pop the sealed-beam out if you can't get them to twist while they're still in the housing. (a little soapy water helps on the new ones)

Sorry about the "big" part, but I knew you'd be able to see in the dark.

Don't sweat the big part. I knew how big they were before I mounted them. You're right on the rubber housing. I was able to pop them out easily, and turn them 90deg. definatly bright enough to do the job. Will prob. get a little less light deflection off the back of the plow also. Thanks again for the lead. Looking forward to a little night ride tonight. :banghead:

[rjr 0]

After all that work restoring your tractor I can't believe you drilled holes in it. My Father's 1045 came with a 1/2 inch diameter bar bent in kind of a "U" that was bolted to the frame. The ends had a 1/4 - 20 thread that the lights bolted to.

As an aside Auto Zone had an LED fog light set that looked like it would fit in place of the plastic insert on hood of "C" Series tractors. I am thinking of trying that.

[chesbaycruiser 83]

Chris,

Lights turned out great...very clean install. Congrats!!!

But did I read your post correctly....you drove it to work?

You da' man!!!

[Coadster32 793]

But did I read your post correctly....you drove it to work?

Yup, that's correct. It's about 1/4 mile all in the same residential neighborhood, (literally the next street over). Not even a stop sign! No road raging for me. Thanks for the comps.

After all that work restoring your tractor I can't believe you drilled holes in it.

I know, not an easy decision. I was thinking and working on a bracket arrangement, (actually a bit over the top for the tractor), and decided to wait untill they came in to see how big they actually are. Glad I stopped.