Snow and Ice build-up on my LED lights .. it's a pain

[hmskl’dParticipant 6406]

Things are getting to the point where almost everything has LED lighting .. and that now includes my day to day life.
Even my snowblower has LED lights and I find myself spending lots of time pausing to wipe the snow off at night so I can see where I’m going .. my headlamp I wear working at night has LED and also gets snow covered .. same with one of my work vehicles ..

I know that some companies have heating kits for LED that activate at certain temp .. but, other than the cost and energy savings .. I miss the old lamps that had some heat and the last thing I used to worry about was snow or ice sticking to the bulb.

I’m going to .. at the very least .. install some traditional fog/driving lamps on vehicle .. and a traditional lighting system ..
along with LED on my plow and other snow removal equipment. This loss of lighting in the ice and snow is a real safety issue for me. Thanks for listening and letting me rant!! … and have a nice day!

[iMickey503Participant 12465]

Hmm.. I’m going to have to send you one of my custom LED kits. How about 200W of real LED power.

If I was you? for your snowblower?

Get 2 6 inch H-3 Spot lamps from Hazard Fraught.

2 75W ACME HID ballasts with Morimoto H-3 3ooo Kelvin HID Bulbs

A pair of sunglasses.

They RUN HOT! THey give out a STUPID amount of Brightness. Around a real 13,000 lumens output.

If you got one hell of a good electrical system?

GO to wallmart.

Get some fog lights Piolt Brand for about $10 bucks.

GO to amazon, pick up the 130W H-3 bulbs. Or get the Harbor Freight 6″ kit above. Again, DO NOT USE ANY OF THE WIRE THAT COMES IN THE BOX!

Get some 4AWG wire with about 20 feet.

2 40 amp relays with built in fuses, or standalone fuse kit.

Solder and crimp each connection and seal them water tight.

If you have a GM alternator, that puts out about 200Amps, you should be able to stay at about 13.8 at the bulbs. That would be on par with 55W hid bulbs. If you can squeeze 14.4 at the bulbs, you will get the Maximum amount of light out of those capsule.

For a Snow Plow? You only got about 80 amps to work with.

so, in that case, my LED kit would be perfect. They get HOT. So best to use it in cold weather. THe driver will work with voltage as low as 11.5v input as long as the current is there from the battery. and will give the LED’s 110W total each. Slightly overdriving them, but OH BOY, a real 18,000 lumens. Nominal is about 13,000 lumens. (depends on quality of LED CHip. )

Either way, they blow those cheap Light bars out of the water.

I actually helped Build a custom lighting solution for a movie set. Halogen was the only way to go. But it HAD to be mobile. So what was the next best option? FOr a TON of light in a small space? And Color index as well? All on the CHEAP?

Harbor freight 500W lamps with 110v halogen Bulbs. get about 4- 6.

4000W 120V inverter. THe CHEAPEST Square wave nasty output kind they have. Most have a voltage adjust. Just crank that c~~~ to about 150v. Some will let you do that. Won’t hurt the inverter as voltage is easy. Current is hard to come by. Most caps are the 250v kind inside to keep costs down and to be also used for the 240v market.

Plug the lights in and enjoy

Each bulb puts out on average with a real solid 125v input about 11000 lumens on average. The Hazard freight bulbs can do as much as 13000 lumens since they are rated at 110v. (normal voltage drop from the load and extension cord)

Get about 4-6 of them, and you got enough light output to pretty much tackle anything. At the 150v output, the bulbs are going to go pretty fast, but you can get them for a DOLLAR!

Who cares.

Not only do you have enough light to light up a small stadium. Ice or snow is not going to be a problem at that point.

You are all alone. If you have been falsely accused of RAPE, DV, PLEASE let all men know about the people who did this. http://register-her.net/web/guest/home

[iMickey503Participant 12465]

One more thing, does your tractor use a Denso Alternator? Or a GM style?

If you Tractor uses the GM style, go to the junkyard and grab one of those latter model GM alts. They look like this:

In cold weather and with an overdrive pulley, at about 3000 RPM the stock ones you get from a junkyard for $35 bucks will do 250 Amps COLD. The built in regulator should keep it at 14.4.

If you install the GM AD260? on that snowplow, Running lights becomes a non issue. Its very good at staying at 14.4 when cold outside.

Depending on the TRuck you got, If you have a DEnso alternator, I STRONGLY recommend getting the smallest overdrive pulley you can get. They are about 14 bucks and worth every penny. My car NEVER falls below 12.8 volts With every electrical device on in my car at idle. I mean both seat heaters, Both front and read and side mirror defrosters, both blower fans, Cars lights, my 700w inverter pulling about 30 amps at idle. That is a hell of a lot of load at about ~650 engine idle RPM for a stock Denso 130-140 Amp surge rated alternator. and about 2-3 batteries.

You are all alone. If you have been falsely accused of RAPE, DV, PLEASE let all men know about the people who did this. http://register-her.net/web/guest/home

[Ranger OneParticipant 16836]

iMickey503 wrote:

…

You have some serious know-how.

If the SHTF, it’d be useful to have a group of everyone like that.

All my life I've had doubts about who I am, where I belonged. Now I'm like the arrow that springs from the bow. No hesitation, no doubts. The path is clear. And what are you? Alive. Everything else is negotiable. Women have rights; men have responsibilities; MGTOW have freedom. Marriage is for chumps. If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart-R'as al Ghul.

[hmskl’dParticipant 6406]

Thanks for the great info ..
sounds like exactly what I’m looking for .. I need to “bust-through the snow and ice that build up on my lenses” with some real light power .. as much as I can get. I also need side lights .. more of this better lighting off to the sides because I often work at night and even with the set-up that comes on original equipment giving me some light to sides and back.. I have many blind spots .. while turning
especially along right side when turning around. My worst fear is sliding into a narrow ditch along side in middle of night .. for the reason I didn’t see the edge .. something this better lighting can easily save me from.

[Secret Agent MGTOWParticipant 22508]

hmskl’d wrote:

Things are getting to the point where almost everything has LED lighting .. and that now includes my day to day life.Even my snowblower has LED lights and I find myself spending lots of time pausing to wipe the snow off at night so I can see where I’m going .. my headlamp I wear working at night has LED and also gets snow covered .. same with one of my work vehicles ..
I know that some companies have heating kits for LED that activate at certain temp .. but, other than the cost and energy savings .. I miss the old lamps that had some heat and the last thing I used to worry about was snow or ice sticking to the bulb.
I’m going to .. at the very least .. install some traditional fog/driving lamps on vehicle .. and a traditional lighting system ..along with LED on my plow and other snow removal equipment. This loss of lighting in the ice and snow is a real safety issue for me. Thanks for listening and letting me rant!! … and have a nice day!

Old lamps/some heat….

The old lamps were 95% heat. 🙂

Women want everything, but want responsibility and accountability for nothing.

[iMickey503Participant 12465]

hmskl’d wrote:

Thanks for the great info ..sounds like exactly what I’m looking for .. I need to “bust-through the snow and ice that build up on my lenses” with some real light power .. as much as I can get. I also need side lights .. more of this better lighting off to the sides because I often work at night and even with the set-up that comes on original equipment giving me some light to sides and back.. I have many blind spots .. while turningespecially along right side when turning around. My worst fear is sliding into a narrow ditch along side in middle of night .. for the reason I didn’t see the edge .. something this better lighting can easily save me from.

Bro send me an email, or just post the kind of tractor you got. I got a S~~~ TON of LED’s. If you ask me,.. I might get off my lazy ass, and build you something.

Depending on model of tractor, I can give you some real world recommendations. I got some HID kits just laying around. And bulbs. And FOg lights. etc. L:et me know bro. I’ll send them out to you if they will work for ya.

I need to upgrade my back up lights. And make holes in the rear bumper. You would be doing me a favor.

Drop me an email. Working at night is a bitch. You get hurt? That’s not going to be good for anyone.

You are all alone. If you have been falsely accused of RAPE, DV, PLEASE let all men know about the people who did this. http://register-her.net/web/guest/home

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