Adding/replacing the light on my Ariens snowblower

[Blackink]

I am hoping someone here in this radio community with electrical experience can help me out.

I have an Ariens snowblower model# 921018. The light that comes with it isn't very bright and it is lower than I'd like it to be. It also isn't an LED light. I can't really move the light so I'd like to add another 12VDC light and mount it higher on the console.
I can dis-connect the existing light wiring but the dealer thought the unit could handle 2 lights while running.

There are 2 wires to the existing light I have now: one is positive and one is ground.

I'm curious as to what light fixture I can install to make my viewing at night easier and/or brighter to see with very little electrical pieces to install?
I'm thinking all I need is the new light and some electrical tape and a couple of connectors for the 2 wires.

Has anyone installed such a fixture on their small engine equipment with positive results? if so, which light did you install?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[flythunderbird]

The easiest thing to do will be to take your existing bulb to an auto-parts store and have them match it up to an LED replacement. It will most likely be a automotive fog light bulb of some sort.

The question with adding a second light is the alternator on the engine. Most of these small engines have three-amp alternators, five if the snowblower has heated hand grips. As a result, the alternators have little additional capacity. In your case, the 12-volt, 20-watt bulb consumes 1.67 amps. A three-amp alternator leaves you with 1.33 amps of alternator capacity ... not much to add another light. Obviously, a five-amp alternator would give you more, but then the heated hand grip question comes into play (I think your Ariens unit has heated hand grips?).

Here's a video of a guy who did an LED swap on his Ariens snowblower ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq9OVfQr9mo

Snowblowerforum has a thread dedicated to this very topic that may prove helpful.

Upgrading your snowblower lights to LED lights - Page 42 - Snowblower Forum : Snow Blower Forums

Note that a full-wave bridge rectifier may be needed if your Ariens unit doesn't power the light off of a battery - the LED bulb may flicker without the rectifier. The following link will take you to the top of the LED thread.

Upgrading your snowblower lights to LED lights - Snowblower Forum : Snow Blower Forums

I ran into this alternator issue when I replaced the engine in my Cub Cadet. The alternator on the replacement engine was rated at 9 amps, which was not enough for the lights and the electric PTO. The alternator on the original engine was 18 amps, so I installed the original flywheel on the new engine. Voila, I have enough amps to power all of the lights and the electric PTO - but a flywheel swap may not be realistic for your application ...

 

[mmckenna]

www.superbrightleds.com

I've purchased a few LED lights from them over the years and all have been good performers.
I've purchased $100 each 10 watt LED spots from other dealers and purchased $25 identical looking lights from superbright and I cannot tell the difference between them.

A small LED flood light will work well. Something like this: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ct-off-road-led-light-bar-7w-500-lumens/1994/

I'd probably avoid something too bright as the glare off the snow might create some issues.

As for taping into existing wiring, an additional 7 watts for the above LED light probably isn't going to be an issue. If it is, just leave the bulb out of the stock lamp.

 

[Blackink]

So now that I've had a chance to test the wiring on my snowblower, it seems the existing light works off from 32 VAC.
There are 2 wires coming out from the engine: red and black. Those are about 4" long and then there is a white plug and now the wires are yellow and black. The parts catalog says the yellow wire is A.C. Lighting.

I unplugged the light and when I put my meter on the plug end of the harness, I get 32 VAC.on the yellow wire and nothing on the black (it's ground). If I try testing DC voltage, I get nothing on either wire.

I see Toro snowblowers have a light on them that's replaceable. I'll do some research on that and see if it'll work with my wiring.

 

[DJ11DLN]

A lot of small engines have dual alternator windings, one for battery charge which is rectified, one for lighting which isn't rectified because incandescent lamps don't care if current is AC or DC. I've seen a few with just the AC winding if they were hand start but had lights.

I'd suggest using your existing light to put a load on the AC lighting circuit to get a better idea of the actual voltage, it will probably pull down closer to 12-14 volts under load. You might actually be better off with some kind of rechargeable LED light that you could mount to the unit.

 

[slicerwizard]

Mountable 12VDC LED light housing with a switch, wired to the battery, done and done.