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

O-K, the light kit that is sold as an 'Accessory' for the Honda Snowblowers comes with a standard 12 V sealed beam, like the old car headlights of yesteryear. But it IS Halogen as Honda says, a $10.00 dollar GE Par36 50 Watt bulb that puts out 300 Lumens.  It is in fact manufactured for this and many other applications by a company named (PM) Peterson Manufacturing, (www.pmlights.com)   They list the light in its rubber weather and vibration resistant mount as a Model 507, and if you go to www.foxtaillights.com they sell it for about 30 bucks, without the special HONDA snowblower bracket you need to mount it to the Honda snowblower, for the kit that Honda sells that includes this expect to pay $ 60.00 buckaroos.   Now IF, like me, You want to install a light more modern, capable and bright here's what you do.  You again go to FoxTailLights.com, and buy the PM model 907 light with 10 LED Diodes to light your way and an estimated 100,000 hour durability and an output of 1000 Lumens  . . . that light with the same rubber mount sells for $ 72.00 plus shipping and anything else they can add. 

The light kit, like the Commercial Skid Shoes is supplied with the electroplated zinc, Guaranteed to RUST in record time, bolts, nuts & washers.  If you don't like rust on your new snowblower go to www.allensfasteners.com and replace the HONDA QuickRust hardware with some Stainless Steel.

Incidentally the Peterson Manufacturing (PM) Technical rep said that the OEM accesory light they supply Honda, the 50watt 12V sealed bean requires 2.54 amps, the new LED unit needs just  .51 amps to operate, so the extra power to run the switch is not going to be a problem.  Just make sure the unit gets as good a ground contact as you can or it might  not work. 

PM makes a stick-on reflective in either amber or red they call them "Spitfires", IMHO they are the brightest reflectors I've ever seen should anyone need such a thing.

Just be careful about installing LED light on your snowblowers.  LED requires steady and tight DC voltage source and not sure the DC supplied by the snowblower is that steady without going thru a voltage conditioner.  Analog light is not that finicky and can handle some voltage imperfections.  My bike has NightRider bike lights and it comes with a Li battery supply.    So be careful about changing the light before checking the power source.

You can't pump your own gas in Oregon either. njal wrote:

snowmachine wrote:
What gets me is that you can't pump your own gas in NJ, but it's still cheaper than gas in NY, CT, and MA. It's about the same price as gas here in Maine but we have to pump it ourselves.

So much for the lie that you pump your own to save money.

Bill_H wrote:
Actually, I rather pump my own gas not so much to save money, but to avoid gas station attendant installed scratches.  I also declined those hand dry at those automated car washes at gas stations.  Who knows how many cars that towel has been used on and how many times it has been dropped on the ground.  No thanks.  I use touchless car wash for a reason. 

kderobertis wrote:

The 507F,( OEM accessory) will have only 1 wire coming from it which would 'plug-in' to the only wire unconnected on the side of the engine.  (mine was folded behind the electric starter motor out of sight so you may need to look for it).  My advice is before doing anything test that wire to make sure it is working, mine was not and needed the dealer to replace it.  (Test with a two wire circuit test light by attaching one lead to the socket for the light and touching the snowblowers frame on some unpainted place, like a bolt head.)  the test light should tell you by lighting up that the machine is producing power. (of course the engine must be running to do this test). 

The 907  (LED version) will have two wires coming from it, a white (Ground) wire and the red power connection wire.  The wire is a braided copper 16 guage, so buy a plug in connector that can be crimped onto that 16 guage red wire.  The rubber mount holds the lamp in place by simple friction, so you can easily remove it in both the 507 or the 907.  The white wire can be connected one of two ways. 1- open the rubber housing and solder it to the rivet inside the rubber housing same-same the old light,  so when you are finished it connects by the bolts and brackets to the frame and grounds the circuit OR 2- leave it outside the housing of the 907 which is the way it arrives (it still says 507 on the rubber) and run it to a frame bolt and fasten it. (you will need some 16 guage wire and a snap connector from Radio Shack to extend the wire.) Either works, so long as the circuit on the machine does.  I added a switch, but that is not needed unless you want to do it. 

The stock bulb requires, according to Peterson Manufacturing, almost 4 times the amps that the LED unit does, so there is not only plenty of power to operate the light, I was able to run a wire to the control panel and back to install a switch as well.  Peterson told me the new LED light only draws .51 amps, which seems incredibly little. No Flickering just bright white light.

Once you overcome the cost, the rest is fairly simple.  Best of Luck, it looks awesome.

MN_Runner wrote:
This advice has no validity on the swap of the PM 507 and PM 907 lights.  Peterson Manufacuring designed their 907 LED unit to work in such applications as the Honda Snowblower and has provided whatever circuitry is needed within the LED lamp itself.  A simple call to Peterson Manufacturing who makes Both the OEM Accessory unit and the LED UpGrade unit will reassure anyone needing such reassurance.  The same LED lamp in this model 907 is used for and sold by PM for many other applications, like stop lights, turn indicators etc. and it has a wide range of voltages it will accept.   I would never have suggested the idea if I was not certain the light works perfectly.  The LED also has a 100,000 hour life expectancy according to PM.  Have a great day.

Show me the pictures of your setup.  LED lights can only handle so much current so you need some way to control current going thru the LED otherwise you will burn out the LED light.  A resistor is typically added to limit the current going thru the LED.   I am not sure how current  regulation is accomplished with the snowblower power source.  If you (New_Yorker) have the specs for the snowblower power supply, please share the information with us.

I decided the standard Honda light kit is fine for me, not worth the possible aggravation.

Stock light does the job for me.

njal wrote:
Ditto. I live in an oak forest and it gets real dark when the it's overcast or there's no moon. I honestly never thought about an upgrade until I read this thread. I guess it all comes down to personal choice but the stock light kit provides plenty of visibilty and works fine for my needs.