Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

HONDA makes a halogen round light for 60 bucks.  It's OK, but lets be real here, LED's are the Future, and they have lots of light for a little juice, so why isn't the Honda Snowblower equipped with one ?   I found a LED that has 5 - One Watt LED's, and throws 400 Lumens that would look great, if it'd work. It is a 12 Volt  utility light, for about the same price as the Honda OEM that I don't like.  I'm no Electrician, so I'm looking for advice here from somebody who is.  Also if not this light, is there one that would work that is an LED ?

I live in the middle of the woods and it's pitch black here at night, especially during a storm. I've never had visibility problems during nightitme clean ups with the stock light package from Honda. Not saying there is not something better but why go outside the box for marginal benefits? I guess if I needed a bit more light I'd probably use a headlight/strap set up just to be able to see in the direction you're looking. The only issue I would see here is that it might not work that good when using the hood of your coat - which I use quite often as it keeps the snow out of your back and protects your face.

borat wrote:

LED lights use a heat sink to draw the heat away. If they have a bad heat sink you'll know it very quickly as the bulb will burn out fast. The reason we don't have LED lights in our homes is the cost and teh heat sinks required are quite large. I've seen the BIG ones they have and at 13 watts they put out a boatload of lumens. Cost per light is ~$140 each.

Bur if you go on Candlepower forums as I've listed you will find the enemy is heat. Heat is relative to size and power. My Husky 4 watt produces a lot of heat but is insanely bright for a 2 D cell $25 flashlight. best $25 I've even spent. My Nitecore D10 I carry everywhere and it's a great light too.

So many lights are sold that can be used on a snowblower. I use Sanyo Eneloop batteries for all my AA needs and nothing is better.

First let me thank everyone for their input.  I can, obviously, buy and use the Honda OEM Light kit.  I was simply trying to learn if anyone can explain the problem with installing an equally expensive LED utility light that has 5 One watt LED's that willl put out 400 lumens of light.  I have new 2010 car with LED headlights, the old car had High Intensity Discharge headlamps that were not as bright, and a lot more prone to failure.  LED's have proven to be very efficient, durable and powerful light sources, hence my interest before forking over the buckaroos for the old technology Halogen Honda light. Finding an explanation of how these lights are powered with a one cylinder engine, would be useful, but even that does not seem to exist. The 9 HP Honda GX 270 engine is first rate, and well proven for durability, and dependability.

The heat that the LEDs produce is not the same heat as a conventional bulb produces. A filamented bulb produces heat in the filament that produces light. An LED produces heat as a byproduct. High power LEDs NEED to be properly heat sinked if they are to be operated any where near their maximum output.

Read around candlepower forums.

JimmyM wrote:
Do you think the OP needs a "high power" LED on his snow thrower.   That's something altogether different than anything powered with A A cells or D cells wouldn't you think?   I have a K2 LED lamp that generates a great deal of light, generates no heat and gives great battery life.  Something in that class would be all that's required for a snow thrower.   I doubt that  LED lights that generate a lot of heat could be powered by a snow thrower.

borat wrote:

I think heat is a relative term. My Nitecore D10 actually produces a lot of heat for it's size, which is a single Sanyo Eneloop AA battery. That doesn't mean much compared to a human hand. But if you take off the heat sink the bulb will not last very long without burning out.

This OP should ask this question in Candlepower forums. No doubt they will have the answer about any LED related light. The factory Halogen will likely be cheaper.

I think the comments about leds producing a lot of heat in this application are totally misleading. I have quite a few led lights including Vector 26 bulb work light. It produces no heat. The bulbs are set in a plastic, the lens is plastic. I was discharging it the other night and it was on for 3 hours. There was no heat being generated by the light. Maybe there are some application where the leds do produce a lot of heat. But I have never seen a 12V DC unit that produced any.

http://vehiclelight.com/39993.html   Here is the light I am interested in using, if possible.  I am not concerned about heat, I am concerned that the stator on the one cylinder 9 HP Honda  engine, that generates the electrical power,  may produce too much power for a light unit that draws less than 2 amps.  Anyone who has used a battery powered LED would wonder that heat could ever be a problem.  I use a head band light with three LED's when I am out at night with the snowblower and it is very effective.  The unit I am intending would mount on the panel above the engine, between the handles, and flood the area ahead with 400 lumns of light.  In th end I may just have to gamble, and buy the light, connect it, and see what happens.  Thank you all for your opinions.

New_Yorker wrote:

Go here  http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php  and ask these guys. They really know everything about LED lights and what you will need for your application. They may have a better solution or tell you how to make that light work with your snowblower.

jrtrebor wrote:

Ok here goes: http://patmullins.com/ledlightmyths.html#toc2

"LEDs produce more light per watt than an incandescent bulb.  But most of the watts they consume is still converted to heat, and if not dissipated, will drastically shorten their life.  Heat doesn't radiate from an LED, so it must be conducted away, usually into an exchanger to free flowing air.  The LED junction must operate below about 85°C."

And from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

"Like other lighting devices, LED performance is temperature dependent. Most manufacturers’ published ratings of LEDs are for an operating temperature of 25°C. LEDs used outdoors, such as traffic signals or in-pavement signal lights, and that are utilized in climates where the temperature within the luminaire gets very hot, could result in low signal intensities or even failure.^[36]

LED light output actually rises at colder temperatures (leveling off depending on type at around -30C^{[citation needed]}). Consequently, LED technology may be a good replacement in uses such as supermarket freezer lighting^[37][38][39] and will last longer than other technologies. Because LEDs emit less heat than incandescent bulbs, they are an energy-efficient technology for uses such as freezers. However, because they emit little heat, ice and snow may build up on the LED luminaire in colder climates.^[36] This lack of waste heat generation has been observed to cause sometimes significant problems with street traffic signals and airport runway lighting in snow-prone areas, although some research has been done to try to develop heat sink technologies to transfer heat to other areas of the luminaire."