I initiated my first post on this Forum to figgure out what I could do to upgrade the standard sealed beam accessory light that Honda sells for its snowblowers to an LED version, here is what I learned, and did in the end should any other Honda Owner wish to upgrade his light.
The Kit that Honda supplies for a ballpark cost of $60 bucks includes plain steel bolts that have either an anodized or zinc electro plate which rust readily, not a good idea on a snowvlower. I swapped them out for Stainless Steel bolts and washers
The bracket in the kit fits perfectly, and is powder coated dull black. I painted mine gloss red.
I talked with the tech rep for PM who makes both the OEM light (PM 507F) and the LED upgrade(PM 907). Anyone wondering about the engines power being adequate does not have a worry. The LED evidently draws only .51 amps while the halogen 50 watt OEM light requires 2.54 amps, so even factoring in the extra wire up to the ON-OFF toggle switch, and the switch itself, the electrical output of the engine is considerably more than what is required by the LED unit.
The OEM accessory light itself is a sealed halogen beam lamp( Bulb = GE H7614 Flood 50 W 12V ) that mounts into a rubber housing simply by a friction fit, making it extremely easy to remove. That entire rubber mounting that includes the GE sealed beam are manufactured by a company named, " Peterson Manufacturing " and the stock unit is model 507 F (F is for Flood). This housing has been slightly modified by PM for use on the Honda snowblower. The ground wire within the unit is secured to a rivet within the rubber housing that holds the rubber to its metal mounting base, this is necessary to make the light work properly. If you only purchase the 507 F yourself you will need to create a mounting bracket, which would be somewhat difficult for most of us, and also run a separate ground wire outside the rubber housing or solder a connection to the rivet inside. For this reason purchasing that Honda kit is a wise move even if, like me, you intend to upgrade the light itself.
Petersen makes an LED light unit, sealed and made to simply swap for the sealed halogen because it mounts in the same rubber housing as the 507. It has 10 LED (light emitting diodes) that produce a very bright white light that is very much brighter and whiter than the halogen lamp. That light unit is unnecessary to purchase for the upgrade IF you own the Honda Kit. Go to: www.pmlights.com and look under NEW items for the unit number 907 a PAR36 lamp and then locate the LED lamp which they also sell separately (without the rubber munt) through PM distributors. If you buy the 907 unit you will need to run the ground wire yourself or solder it to a rivet inside the rubber housing to mimic the Honda kit unit.
I made an additional modification that is unnecessary, I added a weatherproof toggle switch to the snowblowers control panel that allows me to turn the light on or off. The stock kit results in a light that is on so long as the engine is running because it has no switch.
The LED unit uses less power than the halogen 50watt unit, and it provides more light. The LED unit (bulb if you will) that replaces the sealed beam halogen bulb has a 100,000 hour expected life. It comes sealed with two wires coming out and it contains all that is needed to make it work with the same wiring as the stock halogen bulb. I assume that means a circuitry that stabilizes the voltage coming from the engines stator..
So that is how to swap out the stock unit for a modern LED light, and if you desire a switch to operate it. The total cost of the entire thing runs $ 200.00 including te Honda Kit, The upgraded LED unit, and the switch, SS bolts, extra wires, connectors etc. I expect this would work on the other models, but mine is the HS 928TAS model for 2010.
The Rep for PM told me the LED has a 700 Lumen output, (a sales rep had previously told me 1000 lumens )the 50 watt halogen 400 Lumens, plus the LED is white light unlike the halogen bulb.
This message was modified Jan 7, 2011 by New_Yorker
