Snowblow Light Mod...

GasHog369 · February 6, 2011

So with all this snow we have had lately, ive put our ariens 926 to the test and its kicking ass..

old pic when first bought....

Anyway my only gripe with it is the headlight seems weak especially after i am all about LED's and HID's.. So my thought was to swap in a HID conversion kit , just one of the cheap ones (dosent have to be precision aimed since its for aiding in where im blowing the snow so light scatter would help here)..

The only info i can find on the headlight / bulb is ... 37w and a halogen part #...

Question is , if i swap in a 35 watt HID ballast / bulb and make it fit in the housing, will the snowblower be able to handle it? I would assume it would have not problem since it is 2 watts less required power as the stock halogen. And the housing should be ok since it is less wattage also...

Main thing that worries me is when the snowblower idles down , or at start up, is the reduced power going to affect the ballast / and bulb? As of now when you idle down the halogen bulb just dims. I could put a switch on the power wire so i would only have it on when i need it anyway.

OR. would i be better off trying to find a LED bulb to go in housing that would work?

Heres some diangrams from the manual- thanx in advance for advice.

BTW- i dont have the hand warmers, so no extra power taken there..

700 sportsman · February 6, 2011

I think you may be asking a bit too much of the charging system. It seems like a good idea, and I put one on my klr 250 dual sport, and at idle it would pluse and flicker slightly also, so I ended up taking it back off. It was great, but as soon as you were at idle, or hit the turn signal it would pulse real bad. But you have no other lights drawing, so I guess you could try it?

GasHog369 · February 6, 2011

I'm game to try it... Now i just gotta find the same type of base that this halogen 862 has...

Knowklew · February 6, 2011

Why not just put a high power LED in there?

GasHog369 · February 6, 2011

I thought of led to... but not sure if it would be bright enough... i have led flashlights that give off some amazing light.. But they are police lights / designed for the output. do you know of a HP led that would work? Im open for all suggestions here.

Knowklew · February 6, 2011

I thought of led to... but not sure if it would be bright enough... i have led flashlights that give off some amazing light.. But they are police lights / designed for the output. do you know of a HP led that would work? Im open for all suggestions here.

What type of bulb is it?

got a picture or bulb number?

GasHog369 · February 6, 2011

Knowklew · February 6, 2011

been trying to find something that will work... its considered an 862 which looks similar to the 880 series of bulbs for cars.

I know you can get a 880 HID kit, just want to make sure it will work.

I will keep looking and see if i can find anything specific. You might have to do some fabrication to get something to work.

GasHog369 · February 6, 2011

Thankyou for looking! I appreciate it!

Nytemare · February 6, 2011

I thought of led to... but not sure if it would be bright enough... i have led flashlights that give off some amazing light.. But they are police lights / designed for the output. do you know of a HP led that would work? Im open for all suggestions here.

LED probably would be worse than what you have. LED light quickly dissipates in darkness.

HID is likely your best choice, and it should pull less current than the current halogen light...

Another type of light that would work good is a Krypton bulb. Same deal, it draws less energy and there should be Krypton replacements out there for that Halogen.

Knowklew · February 6, 2011

just make sure you use a relay to power the ballast.

louie730 · February 7, 2011

So with all this snow we have had lately, ive put our ariens 926 to the test and its kicking ass..

old pic when first bought....

Anyway my only gripe with it is the headlight seems weak especially after i am all about LED's and HID's.. So my thought was to swap in a HID conversion kit , just one of the cheap ones (dosent have to be precision aimed since its for aiding in where im blowing the snow so light scatter would help here)..

The only info i can find on the headlight / bulb is ... 37w and a halogen part #...

Question is , if i swap in a 35 watt HID ballast / bulb and make it fit in the housing, will the snowblower be able to handle it? I would assume it would have not problem since it is 2 watts less required power as the stock halogen. And the housing should be ok since it is less wattage also...

Main thing that worries me is when the snowblower idles down , or at start up, is the reduced power going to affect the ballast / and bulb? As of now when you idle down the halogen bulb just dims. I could put a switch on the power wire so i would only have it on when i need it anyway.

OR. would i be better off trying to find a LED bulb to go in housing that would work?

Heres some diangrams from the manual- thanx in advance for advice.

BTW- i dont have the hand warmers, so no extra power taken there..

It may not work since your light terminal is off the AC output. Any light the uses a filiment will work on AC or DC. I'm not sure a HID ballast will work on AC.

You might want to check this out.

Metro12 · February 7, 2011

Thats gotta be DC power. There is no converter listed in the schematic, to switch it to AC.

http://www.autolumination.com/headlights.htm

At the bottom middle of the page is a drop down. It should be an 800 series light, probably angled I'm guessing. I'd try replacing it was the 37w. I'm sure the 70-100w would fit, but it may get a bit warm, even though it is LED.