LED headlights???

[sesjptj]

From experience, I love my Truck Lite 81360's. I have them on my Gator and my CJ7.
They come in flood and work beam patterns both in LED. They’re very durable with the metal housing. Also on my CJ I have modified their 24v 7" Round LED Headlamp to wok. It's awesome, high and low beams and bulletproof. I ran into a tree really hard and it didn't even affect them. They're used in the military so you know they’re strong.

 

[RussMan]

EnLIGHTen me guys. I have read this entire thread and it seems to say LED lights are nice, pricey and perhaps unnecessary.

I have a Kubota B3030 (new in 2006) I simply want to add 2 forward facing work lights (high on the ROPS) and one rear facing worklight. So my question to you light/electric gurus is can my tractor/alternator support the "regular" lights or do I have to be concerned about power draw? If it is an issue, how much in the way of "spare" amps do I have to work with.

 

[PILOON]

do I have to be concerned about power draw? If it is an issue, how much in the way of "spare" amps do I have to work with.

You need to do an analisis of your loads.

You would typically need the alternator output and convert to watts.
Then total all the wattage when running with lighting on, not forgetting things like fuel solinoids and dash lighting.
Typically you want full running loads to be about 75% of the rated alternator output as you need to have reserve to charge the battery.

Not that I have worked on a whole lot of tractors, but was surprised to find that many alternators were not all that high in output! (like 25/30 amps).

Those sealed beam work lights draw a fair wattage!(like 35-50 watts! and a rotating yellow light maybe 80 watts)
A snow plow with sealed beams up front, 2 work lights back and a yellow beacon on top can easily eat up all of an alternators capacity with the heater running. I know!--had to walk home a few times! and that truck had a 75 amp alternator.

A heater really eats up amperage (at any setting=all same)

 

[Redneck in training]

Bright white LED has approximately 3.4 V voltage drop. Multiply it by the current it draws and you get a heat generation per fixture. In example the light draws 1.5 A. That is about 5W that needs to be dissipated while keeping the temperature of the LED at less than 100F. Therefore LEDs will not work reliably in ambient temperatures over 125F regardless of quality of the heat sink. Relatively low heat generation is potential problem for example in traffic lights equipped with LEDs. Old lights with incandescent bulbs melted snow or ice deposited on them by weather but LEDs do not.

The original article explaining all this is at
L.E.D Basics; gaining an understanding of how to work with L.E.D.s

 

[RussMan]

Thanks Piloon for your info (#43). So how do I check my alternator output? My guess is I check it with a voltage meter - am I thinking correctly? And do I check it with the lights on or off or does it matter? (Sorry for such elementary questions .)

 

[MJPetersen]

Your tractor manual should have that info--that what amp rating is on your alternator and even what load draw you should have in stock condition for each circuit. The question will come from those tractors which have been modified by previous owners etc. You can get the model number of your alt and take the info to a parts store or alternator shop and they can tell you the specs on your alt.

Mike

 

[PILOON]

Thanks Piloon for your info (#43). So how do I check my alternator output? My guess is I check it with a voltage meter - am I thinking correctly? And do I check it with the lights on or off or does it matter? (Sorry for such elementary questions .)

Voltmeter will only measure the voltage and most hand held meters only have a 10 amp range.

Voltage is measured in parallel while amperage is measured in series.
Parallel is like across the battery posts while series is between the load and a battery terminal and the load (item being measured), respecting polarity of course.

As another poster suggested, your owners manual should give you the alternator specs.

Generally load analises is a paperwork exercise using specs.
You just want to have everything on a common basis, eg all in amps!
(watts=volts x amps)
I have noticed that lots of CUTs use motorcycle bulbs as they generally use less amperage than auto sealed beams.
That fact in itself is suggestive of borderline alternator outputs.

 

[RussMan]

I stopped into the local Kubota dealer today to find out about my alternator output. They looked it up and said the output was 15 amps (B3030 model - no cab). The guy also said they don't usually see problems with adding 2-3 worklights, and only run into problems with 4+ big lights, heaters, etc.

Based on the above, 15 amps X 12 volts - 180 watts. He had no idea what the two headlights would draw. Any ideas on that - maybe 75-90 watts total?

 

[Ductape]

I recommend the 40a alternator upgrade.

 

[MJPetersen]

I recommend the 40a alternator upgrade.

180 watts is not much. If you reserve 60 watts (5 amps) for battery recharging, normal head lights will be 50-90 watts, and that does not leave much. If you have a heater the blower will draw up to 20 amps by itself. This illustrates why we are looking into LEDs for the lights. Lower power draw.

Mike