Riding Mower LED Headlamp Conversion - Easy & Inexpensive

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I've noticed several comments lately stating the "80W is the LED equivalent to an 80W incandescent". Not even close; and I want to make that crystal clear so viewers of this video who read those comments don't get misinformed. As shown in the video, these "eBay 80W 1056's" are marginally brighter but certainly nowhere near the output of an 80W incandescent bulb! By my estimation, they are equivalent to approximately a 25-30W incandescent. The "80W" in this case on these cheap eBay 1156 LEDs is plain and simple marketing BS! I have made a follow up video to this one, with actual light meter values comparing both the eBay LED 1156 and the factory incandescent 1156 to address this very question on light output values. It may be of interest if you want to see the measured LUX/Lumen output values of both. kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPRp6uKaKuge9E The other question/comment that comes up all the time is "what brand or part number?" I have no idea. They and others I've purchased from eBay came in a plastic bag with no product info whatsoever. They are likely marketed under many different brands and model numbers but they all look the same (4 quadrants with 3 Cree SMD LEDs in each for a total of 12 LEDs around the outside and 4 more Cree SMD LEDs under the lens at the top of the bulb). When you search for "80W 1156 LED" on eBay or Amazon and you see those same exact ones, they are no doubt the same ones I got from the same factory. As I also state in the video, I didn't provide a product link to eBay since eBay product links don't last much longer than a month or two. However, here's one for the exact same bulbs from Amazon: amzn.to/35KHmmR

[@chrissmith1569]

John Salt What is the part number of the led bulb?

[@cwmaxfield2000]

So True.

[@MrSticks9999]

True . . bUT . .measuring lumens, you didn't do. So judging brightness by looks is not accurate.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@C Cr I take it you never bothered to read my comment in its entirety or the video description. If you had, you would have seen the link to the update video showing the light meter test. Spoiler alert, the light meter backs up what I said.

[@Mr_Tecumseh]

Where's the link to the ones you bought one ebay?

[@bbrown5887]

Cool that two years after posting this people are still watching and appreciating the info. Excellent straight to the point video with the exact info needed to do this super simple upgrade and what the expectations are. Thanks to your video I’ll be doing the same to my lawn mower and it remided me to upgrade my skid steer lighting as well. Great job.

[@pixely_ninja229]

Even 2 1/2 years later!

[@deluverlee652]

I bought those bulbs. Made a huge difference and the price was cheaper than other ones I tried . Thanks really !

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Great to hear 👍

[@chuckcawthon3370]

Hey John, Thank You for this video. I do alot of night mowing and this upgrade was a really nice improvement. I installed an off road truck light bar on my other mower at a considerable cost but an excellent upgrade too. Well Done Sir.

[@growlith6969]

Finally someone who pulled out the multimeter and explained how much draw.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Glad you found that information useful/important as well.

[@59TURBINE]

One of my bulbs was broken on my 2012 craftsman. looked on amazon and saw these type led projector bulbs. Just installed 2 of the 4 on my lawnmower. Great fun upgrade. plan on using the other 2 for my 88 GMC pick up back up lights. I believe, that's what they were intended for. Saw this video right after i installed them. Very bright. Thanks for the video. I was going to make a short vid myself to spread the word, but you already done that.

[@Buck1954]

I order a lot of led lights for commercial usage. The 80 w rating gives you an idea of the comparative wattage brightness to the incandescent. I don't know how they calculate it either. Lumens is a better method but most folks don't know how to compare a lumen.

[@jimspirnock1184]

I can’t wait till I change my bulbs. Thanks for the great idea

[@seanmckay3392]

those bulbs are really supposed to run on 12v AC but run on 12v DC also

[@jasonbranson4262]

Great video. I started seeing squirrels while watching the light tests to see how much juice the lights were drawing from the battery.

[@mjparts0384]

Great video. Converted mine after watching. Thanks.

[@robswords9955]

Should I just do a 1156 LED headlight search in eBay? or if you could share a link or search phrase please.

[@e954rr2]

Hank hill would be proud

[@brandonyates7371]

I tell you what!

[@rickastely95]

God damnit Bobby, I told you to get the LED headlights not the halogens

[@jimstelljes3925]

I ordered the same LED lights from Amazon. When I installed them they worked great. When I drove my John Deere around in the yard that night, they began to short out, sometime one, then the other, then both. They seem to fit looser than the original 1156 bulbs. Has anyone else had this problem?

[@lancomedic]

Thanks for this. You have a very spooky property there. I was expecting someone to jump out from behind a tree holding a chainsaw.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I'm usually more worried about bears that frequent our yard. I love seeing them, just on my terms in daylight. 🙂

[@backtoshallabal6662]

do they have high beams or fog lights? LO

[@jma24]

The reason why the incandescent is brighter when running, I assume, is because when you rev the engine, the alternator is running harder and the voltage running to the bulb is 14V instead of 12V. LEDs don't change brightness with higher voltage, they emit or don't emit. As far as the brightness, the 4W LED is equivalent to an incandescent 40W bulb, so about double the brightness of the 20W incandescent. It is possible to buy 11W LEDs on eBay/Amazon, which should be about 4x the brightness of the stock bulb.

[@markthompsoncpa]

Great video. I'm glad someone is helping the DIY's.

[@1keykneedeep]

Great video - Even threw in some Ohms Law for the un-informed

[@Lancelot_Jago]

Thanks for the video. Came across this after I’d ordered similar globes. What are the “circles in your lawn at 11.03? Are they goal posts or what?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Septic tank cover lids.

[@MidwestMotor]

I have a JD D130 mower - I have to be sitting on the seat for the engine to run. How do you start the engine without being in the seat?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

You can only start it while off the seat if the brake is set & the PTO is disengaged. See your owner's manual for details.

[@Bradwick1]

Jump the under seat switch with a bread tie wire.

[@mikee5507]

THAT'S GOOD INFORMATION. GREAT VIDEO !!! THANKS.

[@t.caseyclarke7729]

Do these get hot? So many LED's available get super hot.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Depends on your definition of "hot." If you're asking if these specific LED bulbs are hot to the touch, then yes - they run around 60 - 70 C (140 - 160F). If however you are more accurately asking if they run hot compared to standard incandescent 1156 single filament bulbs which run around 180C (356F), these LEDs are barely warm by comparison.

[@abrahamsierra8990]

Do you get some flickering when engage the blades??

[@Rchelicopterfun]

None.

[@sissymurphy9620]

who did you buy your led bulbs from on ebay .I want to change mine on my cub cadet and troy built riding mowers

[@TXSuburbanHomestead]

Thanks for such an informative video. Do you have a link for the bulbs you purchased?

[@ghostduckinvestigations9798]

did you get an answer? OH no ya didnt......................

[@TXSuburbanHomestead]

@@ghostduckinvestigations9798 No, but I found some good options on Amazon.

[@grrizly660]

Nice!!!i wouldn't never plan to cut/or work at night but i would still get them for the price..

[@gordbaker896]

Sounds like a great improvement but not without discord. Where are you in Canada? Hamilton area here. My X320 needs these and also a pair for my backup lights on the Denali.

[@lotlizardlover]

Are the lights still working good for you...

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yep - still working fine in the mower. I've also purchased a fair number more of these bulbs for our low voltage landscape lights; a few have failed in that application however because they are on many more hours. I've opened the failed ones up, and it's not the LED chips that are failing, but the LED driver circuit down in the base of the bulb. I've got the failed ones to work by putting in a single current limiting resistor and small bridge rectifier since the landscape lights are running on 12VAC. They seem to be holding up fine afterward.

[@flatstheflounder9874]

Could be that it's as bright as a 80watt bulb?

[@billkrause4585]

I had new set of LEDs burn out after a one day operation. I had a new 20HP Engine installed and it has gone through two cutting seasons already without any problems. Now, I purchase another pair of LUYEDs LEDS with the frontal lens on the bulbs for $13. I haven't installed them yet, but I was told that the faster RPM for cutting can overvoltage these LED bulbs and burn them out. Can anyone reply to this issue for me. Thanks.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

They (at least the ones I've been using) have built in voltage regulators along with rectification so I can't see that being an issue. I did a separated video on these bulbs and they seem to clip/regulate the voltage just over 12V. Just my own observations of course on that specific set of bulbs.

[@jk3738]

Thanks for taking time to make this video. How have these held up? Do they cover left to right and out front of mower better then stock?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Still working fine, although the mower wasn't used much over the winter and up here in the great white north, the grass just started growing again in the past month. The mower has about 4 hours more on it now and I've been keeping the headlights on every time I'm running the machine to see if any of the LED's in the bulbs give out. So far, all good. As for light dispersion... About the same pattern from what I can tell, just brighter & closer to daylight temperature. The are not so bright to be an annoyance however.

[@MrMicklethal]

*_"And after he drove into the woods he was never seen again"_*

[@William.Shakespeare]

mowing his way clean across these united states.

[@MrMicklethal]

@@William.Shakespeare LOL, yes indeed! ^5!

[@viralvideoman]

BIg fan of the LED conversion on any equipment. Allowing you to see far better, while also being able to use less power from the machine. All good things!

[@mazzitech9363]

Will this work on a d140?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Will work on any riding mower that has standard 1156 headlamp bulbs (including the D140).

[@iONsOffroad]

Good video

[@ryanwalsh5305]

I ordered the ones you provided the link to and they did not meet expectations. They don't seat in the socked property so they never stay on. Even with a way to get them to stay the light quality was horrible. My cell phone was brighter.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Then I guess you best contact Amazon since they sold you a defective set of bulbs - not me.

[@FreedomWon20]

Well I changed my bulbs and WOW what a difference on my John Deere D130. The only problem is the lights will go out after about 5 min when they get really hot. I tested this with the mower sitting still and just timed it and sure enough about 5min. they go out for about 10sec. and then come back on, then off after about 20 sec.. Anyone else getting these results. Not much help when they keep cutting out. I put my old ones back in... I ordered the exact ones you have on here.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I've had a few do that. It's actually the voltage regulator/rectifier circuit in the base of the bulb that is cutting out when it gets hot. I've purchased around 25 of these bulbs now (replaced all the 1156 bulbs in our low voltage landscape lights), and one thing you might try doing is unscrewing the top bezel off the LED bulbs so you can remove the exterior clear tube that goes around the bulb along with the 4 little reflector plates. This will allow better cooling direct to the LED chips so they won't heat up as much and thus keep the voltage regulator cooler in the process. That worked for a couple bulbs in the garden lights that were cutting out. A couple more however, that extra cooling fix didn't cure it either so it would seem a few of these bulb must have bad regulators out of the bag. You could get another set and they would be fine, but I would certainly try removing the clear tube to improve cooling before ordering another set. Incidentally, on those couple that still kept cutting out with the clear tube removed, I took the 1156 bulb base off, pulled out the faulty regulator & rectifier circuit, and soldered in a current limiting resistor. No issues with them afterward and they have lots of hours on them now, but that is on a fixed voltage landscape 12VDC transformer - likely wouldn't work as well on the mower due to the fluctuating voltage at different RPM's where the voltage regulator in the bulb is very handy as it keeps them at a constant brightness.

[@FreedomWon20]

@@Rchelicopterfun RGR.... heading out now to take some reflector off,,, this one doesn't have a tube around the light so that's good.. hope it works,, of to do it now

[@ericr5561]

Hi There! So, I installed these into my riding lawnmower (in fact, I think the bulbs are identical). When installed they were GREAT! I used them literally once for a night snowblow. Went out again last night and both were not working. My light bar (I connected to headlights) works fine, but both LED bulbs were out. I replaced the standard 1156 bulbs just to see if I blew a fuse or something was wrong but both lit up perfectly. Any ideas on what my issue could be? Am I missing something?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Really hard to say without bench testing them. That fact that both failed so quickly suggests a bad product run. Perhaps the tiny voltage rectifier & regulator circuit inside the base of each has failed? Just a guess of course...

[@ericr5561]

@@Rchelicopterfun thanks for the reply. I was more curious if there was a need to install anything to control voltage to those sockets - but it doesn't seem like that's necessary. I've contacted the manufacturer for the bulbs and they're warrantied for a year so I'll get replacements and we will see! Take care.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Glad you are able to get warranty on them - that's always a plus. Nothing should be needed as they have a fairly broad operational voltage range. My guess is they are faulty and have simply failed very prematurely. These bulbs actually have a built in voltage regulator and rectifier (at least if they are same ones I've been ordering for all kinds of little projects around the yard). I talk about these features more in the 1156 LED update video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPRp6uKaKuge9E

[@ericr5561]

@@Rchelicopterfun Thanks. These were the bulbs I had ordered and installed: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PK9H6M/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They claim they're suitable for constant use - I even indicated what the purpose for them was and they agreed they're suitable. Likely a fault in that batch maybe. I did go ahead and purchase additional LED's and have already installed and used them (about 45 min) and so far they're great. Not bad for that price. Will be interesting to see how many hours I get out of them. We have a storm coming this weekend (which I'm excited about) so I will be doing a lot of night plowing. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017386GLS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Nice to see someone else into this sort of stuff as I am! I converted my entire 30ft RV last year to LED lighting as we boondock and run off 2 marine batteries. The difference has been astounding. Should have done it years ago. But years ago it would have cost 250% more. :)

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Those are actually different bulbs than the ones I've been ordering (the ones I'm using have 3 PLCC LED's on each quadrant, not 12). Regardless, I'm sure the "guts" inside the base are similar. Those ones you have with the 12 PLCC's per side must be very bright I would think :-)

[@muddy1ish]

What brand led?

[@davetownsend821]

Rob H. luyed

[@haydenschneider3]

My stock lights on my 2012 d120 looks brighter lol. Maybe not idk

[@ghostduckinvestigations9798]

Whats the brand name of these?????

[@Rchelicopterfun]

As stated in my pinned comment: I have no idea what brand. They and others I've purchased from eBay came in a plastic bag with no product info whatsoever. They are likely marketed under many different brands and model numbers but they all look the same (4 quadrants with 3 SMD LED's in each for a total of 12 LED's around the outside and 4 more SMD LED's under the lens at the top of the bulb). When you search for "80W 1156 LED" on eBay or Amazon and you see those same exact ones, they are no doubt the same ones I got from the same factory. As I also state in the video, I didn't provide a product link to eBay since eBay product links don't last much longer than a month or two. However, here's one for the exact same bulbs from Amazon: amzn.to/35KHmmR

[@rdlowman6]

The 85 watts is a rating not watts pulled. It puts out the light old a 85 watt old style bulb

[@DoucetteMichael]

Incandescent lights also throw off a pile of heat that led lights do not!!!

[@carlosg1165]

Awesome 👏

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks

[@randybeard6040]

The Main Problem, JD does not Seal their Headlamps, mine is Full of Dust and Trash....

[@Rchelicopterfun]

So clean them out - problem solved.

[@whiskey1mantis357]

Use thin foam insulation with one sticky side that goes around loose doors.

[@dadgad1046]

Amazon has lots of these at good prices.

[@ghostduckinvestigations9798]

Lots of what ?what is the brand name???

[@dadgad1046]

@@ghostduckinvestigations9798 Just run a search on amazon for 1056 LED bulb... or what ever flavor you need for the salad..

[@ghostduckinvestigations9798]

@@dadgad1046 thanks for replying. so 1056? this guys saying 1156? its just that Id' like to get the ones Im looking at in this video. They look good but he dosent seem to answer anyone on what brand they are? lol!

[@dougmorgan3059]

Add some strobe lights to it

[@cwmaxfield2000]

I belirve they mean equivalent yo an 80 watt bulb.

[@Rydrdg]

Lol mowing at night

[@bbrown5887]

The striping might be a little off come daylight but boy those headlights made it so much fun!🤣🤣

[@Rydrdg]

@Justin Jones early morning

[@tankimus]

Put them on mine, didn't work. Tried every polarity on the planet

[@jamesbomar3903]

RahrRahrRahr.........

[@js-wq6zy]

Why, that is the question.