Headlight bulbs

[California]

I think the difference is people who plow snow or maybe rototill etc at night, and need lots of light, vs someone (me) who just needs to find their way back to the barn after working a little too late into the evening.

YM2000's original alternator was 5 amps and the manual says to put a charger on it every few months. They didn't anticipate night snow work!

 

[bmaverick]

I would much rather have drop in bulbs. That's why this thread caught my attention.

:thumbsup:

Yes, that was the original intent of this thread. A drop in LED replacement bulb for the original Yanmar headlamp units. This way, you get the LED effect, no re-work of any hardware, no re-work of wires either.

I still like the open discussion with the images from others as well.

It's common for threads to go off on bunny trails often no matter what the forum is. Glad all of the rabbits still stuck to a general theme, LEDs on a Yanmar. It's all good feedback. Who knows who would be reading this in a year or two. Maybe even further out.

Our bulbs are the P15D-25-1 in the bulb industry standards. If you are in the EU, it goes by another standard that cross references over. It maybe the H6M if I recall.

As for the low/high beam types, I use the high beam 35W all the time. Why? Car bulbs are more on low beam at 55W and the highs are 65W. A mere 10W difference. Just like the Yanmar bulb being a 10W difference too. 25W is almost a night light.

 

[bmaverick]

YM2000's original alternator was 5 amps and the manual says to put a charger on it every few months. They didn't anticipate night snow work!

What? No Yanmars at night clearing snow off of Mt. Fuji ???? :laughing:

 

[tomkatohio]

Thanks for the great comments bmaverick and the advice on wiring. I wonder if there are filters that would change the harshness or wavelength of the LED light. Would wires with these specs be available at auto parts stores?

The OEM headlight fixture on my 1401 does have a glass lens with "diffusers" molded in. The lens fits in to the headlight reflector/bulb holder which then mounts with two studs to the backside of the grill. I don't see an easy way to just attach the lens in front of the LED.

Now that I think more on it, there are now some pretty powerful single LED "cobb" bulbs out there like the replacements for the old 1157 or 3157 incandescent brake/turn signal bulbs. It might be possible to replace the OEM Yanmar socket with a 1157/3157 socket and bulb combo and get pretty good illumination. I'll check out the Yanmar bulb connector tomorrow!

 

[bmaverick]

Thanks for the great comments bmaverick and the advice on wiring. Would wires with these specs be available at auto parts stores?

Autoparts stores would carry this type of SAE J-1128 wire for automotive use. There are a few grades. SXL is too weak. I consider this for speaker wire and wimpy. TXL is mostly used inside the vehicle cabin. GXL is for outside the vehicle and under hood.

I wonder if there are filters that would change the harshness or wavelength of the LED light.

Yes, and they are expensive. Cheaper to just replace the LEDs or bulbs.

The OEM headlight fixture on my 1401 does have a glass lens with "diffusers" molded in. The lens fits in to the headlight reflector/bulb holder which then mounts with two studs to the backside of the grill. I don't see an easy way to just attach the lens in front of the LED. View attachment 636157

Is it possible to make a plate with a cut-out hole. Then 2 studs as a replacement frame to hold just the lens in place?

Now that I think more on it, there are now some pretty powerful single LED "cobb" bulbs out there like the replacements for the old 1157 or 3157 incandescent brake/turn signal bulbs. It might be possible to replace the OEM Yanmar socket with a 1157/3157 socket and bulb combo and get pretty good illumination. I'll check out the Yanmar bulb connector tomorrow!

The 3157 comes in LED bi-color switchback. That means, a regular white light and the amber when the turn signal is activated. Or just the 4114 should you want a long life parking and brake light white bulb behind a red plastic lens. But, for the tractor, behind the clear lens.

Here's the issue with the 3157 and it's comparable bulbs for the same socket. These are only a mere 10W. A nightlight glow at best.

Coy said he used the H3. These have the base ring, short height and stubby fog light halogens. Wattage varies from 25W to 70W range. These would be the ideal pick due to size in the Yanmar OE headlamp assembly.

Next up would be the H7. It's a tad taller and would need to compare the height and room in the Yanmar headlamp assembly for space. This too is a fog light. It's designed to carry more amp load for up to a 100W bulb. Typically used in the halogen fog projector fog light assemblies.

As most of the Yanmars' have low/high beam, the HB DOT series is possible to use too. HB2 (9003) looks as if it's short height would work. And it can be wired in with it's mating socket to use the low/high beam tractor setup.




Or, looking at the Honda off road charts, the H6M is the equal to our P15D-25-1 as OE in the Yanmar. These range from a mere 25W to 80W and are drop-ins to the existing tractor headlamp assemblies and wire-harness connector. :thumbsup:





To save time for everyone looking for a bulb chart and specs, here is the wiki.
List of automotive light bulb types - Wikipedia

 

[bmaverick]

Now, before LEDs took over, there were various takes on the P15D-25-1 bulb. Look at the chart. I find things in Japan can get very fancy or into the BLINK range of my bulb has more BLING than yours.

PS015 true halogen type. Brighter. The best one to find being non-LED in the 50W to 70W.

PS017 & PS036 fit in the Yanmars with the 25W to 35W.

The others are wild colors or the ring has tabs or the ring has slots. Then there is the fat head one on the end.

So, not all P15D-25-1 bulbs are the same. We would like to think they are. I've taken a Phillips and a Hella of the P15D-25-1 bulbs side-by-side. The glass shapes are different like the stated 17 & 16 flavors.

 

[PILOON]

Hey guys, get rid of those bulbs and simply go to LED's.
Do whatever to mount them and you'll never look back.
In my CUT I even eliminated my cab light in favor of a strip of LTD's.
Front sports a LED spot/flood combination light that makes night look like day.
Rear for snow duties, have 2 flood/spots to see what I don't want to hit.
And my measly alternator/battery loves this combination.

 

[CoyPatton]

And my measly alternator/battery loves this combination.

And this is the very best reason for conversion to LEDs. The power draw for LEDs is so much less that the dyno can keep up with them. The greater output for less power draw is just gravy. When I put headlights on mine, LEDs had not gotten as affordable as they are now. My work light has been converted and 1 fixture gives much greater output than my upgraded halogen bulbs for headlights, and they are much brighter than my friend’s OEM headlights.
My next lighting upgrade I believe will be to LED blinkers and flashers.

 

[tomkatohio]

This may be a bit off topic but bmaverick did bring up some comments about the potential for eye damage with LED bulbs on page 3. I Googled a few articles on this and they are interesting at the least. I've replaced all of my home/shop lights with LEDs and work in an office with them all day!!

 

[bmaverick]

This may be a bit off topic but bmaverick did bring up some comments about the potential for eye damage with LED bulbs on page 3. I Googled a few articles on this and they are interesting at the least. I've replaced all of my home/shop lights with LEDs and work in an office with them all day!!

The less harmful LED lights are the 3000K or less. K as in Kelvin. I do have LEDs, but they are the 2700K.

Also, even if you find the right 3000K or less, the RFI/EMI effects are the next thing to test for. Nearly all of these are made in Asia. Nothing about quality control either. To test for bad emissions, take the average battery operated AM radio, tune to 530 or 540 freq, and move it slowly towards the LED when it's on. The more cracking or loud buzzing, the worse the dirty power emissions it's putting out.

The other thing I do with LED bulbs, they are typically housed in a frosted glass fixture dome cover. 60W or 75W projected light (LEDs run at less wattage.)

Otherwise, it's the normal 43W and 65W halogens.

Animals get spooked too easy with LED lighting. And some of the LEDs do flicker at a rate the human eye may think is smooth, yet their eyes pick up a different view of the LEDs.

I'm not a ban-the-LED type person, I'm just careful how to use the technology.

I do use the HD Vision yellow polarized driving glasses for day and night driving. It helps soooo much. Kills the LED glare instantly from on-coming traffic. PLUS, I only paid $7 on clearance at Walmart. :thumbsup: