run 3 XM-L in series at 1A (or 1.5A max), bolt them onto the biggest CPU heatsink you can find and use 20mm elliptical optics. That’ll get you 7-900lm OTF and give you a manageable 10W of heat to dissipate within the confines of the existing headlight. The ellipticals should give you a wide beam that throws far enough for you to avoid the dog/ garden gnome/ etc but without wasting a whole load of light by throwing it up into the sky.
I’d go with a single mode driver and wire it into the existing switch set up. Buy several and rubber mount it where it’s easy to replace if a voltage spike kills it
What i did was also from automitive batt (dunno if it make sense for your case).
Previously, i use car batt, wire out to my flashlight (tf-3t6) to be use as floody light for house in plantation. So far over 20 time, each time bout 9hours run.
**Buy a flashlight, remove the head (drivers+xml intact), connect + and - into it…
(Of course i do not know if that will be bang for buck in your case, i do it cos i do the easiest way w/o buying seperate & hv to solder them back)
Or, if u feel u need some light that shine towards your back, you can also direct run 12v wires to power SD 01 - 12v MR16 3w led (same as the light posted by dchomak), its only 270 lumen ber bulb. i am also powering 10 piece of them using 12v car batt only, no alternator, each run 10 hours, quite ok.
Could you just bike mout and wire too the dropin and body with a toggle switch where the tailcap was? Or drill a whole in the body and run the negative to the tailcap and positive to the dropin spring? Would the tailcap handle the amps?
Sorry to go way off topic, but that looks like a cheap and cheery maglite mod waiting to happen. Could you measure the diameter of the heatsink at its widest, and the depth of the heatsink and that plate together?
Thanks, dchomak! Worst case, the mag head needs a little trim at the bottom, it seems.
I’ve been staring at one of OldLumens’ 1d beauties for the last couple of days, and one of those might be just the thing. (Not that I’m too cheap to buy a ‘proper’ heatsink or nothing, but this is the land of budget, right? And if we’re going for full disclosure, it does hurt just a little to think about spending $15 on a spun hunk of aluminum.)
IMO, this is by far the best and most obvious solution. DX and many others have them as well. Dirt cheap, mega-lumens per watt, huge choice of tints and wattage, variable voltage tolerant, vibration resistant and simple installation. How many amps is your alternator rated for?
Buy a couple of the cheapest 10W Chinese wall wash floodlights that you can find (say $10-$15) and mount your LEDs and drivers in them. The housings are really nice for these sorts of things.
BTW, E1320’s Kaidomain driver link says it is only 1A…
Automotive supplies are notoriously ‘noisy’, full of voltage spikes that can fry electronic components. Im not sure exactly, but I think that a Transient Voltage Suppressor between the mower and led driver circuit will help protect.
Im sure the more electronic savvy members will be able help with this, maybe….
I have no idea. I wanted to stay under what the stock bulbs were pulling. Now I can't remember what stock wattage was, but I am using (2) 27 watt bulbs now. So that's roughly 54 watts/12volts = 4.5A. Right?
That's an idea that came about after this thread was posted and I already purchased the KD drivers, emitters, and optics. Have done nothing with them yet, but I have them! :) Maybe some day! I even thought about those chinese MR16 LED bulbs as-is (highest rated output I can find), but I don't think they'd be bright enough.
I do need to take a closer look at the voltage being fed to the current bulbs and do some monitoring.
Now, nowhere have I read anyone of you asking what really should be the most important Q’s in this thread… One, how much HP does the tractor have and how big is its cutting deck radius?
for stuff like this i use a 5v regulator from radioshack and resistors. you could use a 3-way toggle switch and two sets of resistors for high/low… that’s about the easiest way
This should work. You can get them in many different voltages and amperages. I used this guy’s write up and its worked pretty well so far. I used it on an old dirt bike to step down the voltage for some off-road lights. I didn’t go the high/low route though. I’m guessing you could just get a lower rated resistor/regulator to wire to a 3 way switch for the low.
Actually I have extras too. I have a 5v, 6v and 8v. They are all rated for 1.5 amps. If you want I can mail them out, they are no use to me anymore.
I used some magnetic clamp LED lights that I bought from Northern Hydraulics on a very old and ratty tractor. Worked great, not as budget though. We also used some pipe clamp adaptors to add more lights on the back as well. He effectively has a $1000 light system on a $500 tractor.
Next project like yours is LED on my snowblower - do I need it, no. Do I want it, yes!
Haha I didn’t even think of putting them on a snowblower, that would be awesome. There are tons of these things with Cree XMLs on ebay. If you search for 10w cree work light you’ll turn up a bunch.
I use a bicycle clamp accessory w a number of SF, UF501 size lights, more for fun than need, as the snow really reflects back even the anemic output of the little auto lamp in my blower. Been using a MC-E drop in, wish I had a few more.
But the mind is always working, wondering…wanting more.
