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I bought a new Ariens snow blower. I love the machine, it moves fairly quickly down my driveway, it's powerful and the hand warmers are a nice feature. But that factory headlight is worthless. It's aimed too high and it blinds me as I operate the machine, plus I can't see the ground on either side of the machine. To add insult to injury, it burnt up in just 3 hours of use. So I modified the machine.

I ripped out the bulb and painted the head light black. I then installed 2 35 watt seal beams on both sides of the machine. Holy smokes, what a difference! I switched the left one so it will be used only when in extremely dark areas.
The seal beams are found here: For just 8 bucks a piece, they are a great value.

Buyers Products 12 Volt Halogen Utility Light - Clear, Round, 5in., 35 Watts, Model #1492100 : Amazon.com : Automotive

This is what the machine look like before, then now.

Your location is much better than the factory choice. :thumbsup:
I think I would have moved them even farther forward, mounting them on the top of the auger body itself, Light shining On blown snow can be rather blinding... :smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

Your location is much better than the factory choice. :thumbsup:
I think I would have moved them even farther forward, mounting them on the top of the auger body itself, Light shining On blown snow can be rather blinding... :smile:KennyV

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I thought of moving it like you said, but the last storm we had 3' of snow (5' drifts) and the machine is only 21" tall. If I had to go thru snow over the top, I figure the lights would get abused. So, anyway up on the dash works. Best part, I can easily see the tires on either side of the machine. So when I'm doing the side walks, I will know when I'm off onto the grass...

Nothing worse than that original light. It is rated 20 watts, but no light was hitting the ground. Half the light was into my eyes. laughing:

That looks really nice! My snowblower did not come with a light so I bought the only one available that is made for mowers AND snowblowers: Snow Thrower Light : Buy this highly innovative light from Sears.

See my album for some pictures: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/members/lawn-mower-fanatic-albums-equipment-lights.html. :smile:

I would be careful with that modification. With two 35 Watt lamps you are drawing almost 6 Amps. Combine that with the hand warmers, you might be overloading the charging system, which is used to power both. They both use the AC side only. Don't know the size of your system, but most only have a 9 Amp system. You may be pushing the envelope.

lawn mower fanatic said:

That looks really nice!:smile:

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Thanks. It works really well too!

Rivets said:

I would be careful with that modification. With two 35 Watt lamps you are drawing almost 6 Amps. Combine that with the hand warmers, you might be overloading the charging system, which is used to power both. They both use the AC side only. Don't know the size of your system, but most only have a 9 Amp system. You may be pushing the envelope.

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I sent a question to Briggs and Stratton on exactly your point. I haven't got a response yet. I was planning on running the hand warmers only with 1 light. If I want to run more light for the long side walks, then the heaters get turned off.

9 amp system... Thanks I didn't know that. I'll post back if Briggs write me. (watts / voltage = amps) I still remembered! :thumbsup:

I emailed Ariens and before Briggs and Stratton on the wattage question. Briggs as of now never got back to me but Ariens quickly responded. Here is my email back from them.


Subject
Wattage of hand warmers & amps of engine

Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (Tony) 03/20/2013 09:48 AM
Bob,

Thank you for contacting the Ariens Company. I am sorry but unfortunately we do not have the wattage for the hand warmers or the amps for the engine. You are not going to ruin the the charging system by adding that extra light. What you can do is turn the lights on and then turn the hand warmers on and see if the lights dim. If the lights dim then you know that you are drawing to much power from the engine and you will have to turn the lights or the hand warmers off.

Please reply to this message with any further questions or concerns. We are happy to help.

Thank you,
Tony
Ariens Company

Customer By Web Form (Bob XXX) 03/20/2013 06:16 AM
I added extra head lights to my Platinum 30 machine, and I have a simple question on wattage. What are the hand warmers rated at? Also does the Briggs 1650 put out 9 amps?
I don't want to abuse the charging system so if the amps are not sufficient, I will switch off the accessory lighting when the hand warmers are in use. Thank you!

Question Reference #xxxxx-xxxxx
Product Level 1: Snow Blowers (choose one):
Product Level 2: Deluxe/Platinum
Category Level 1: Technical Service / Product Performance
Date Created: 03/20/2013 06:16 AM
Last Updated: 03/20/2013 09:48 AM
Status: Solved
Model Number: 921018
Serial Number: 04xxxx

guys there is another solution w/o having to worry about amperage... led lights. Yes they cost more, however they should last a long time and use much less current.

LED lights will draw less amperage ... but, as they are finding with the LED traffic lights, they do not generate enough heat ... In snow you can get a snowpack over the lights. The halogen and incandescent will melt snow & ice off the lights. :smile:KennyV

Everything is fine here. One thing I need is having enough light to see where I'm cleaning! I will just run with 1 light when the hand warmers are on, just so I don't run 100% on the electrical draw. that's no big deal. I have long side walks out front and that's why I added both lights so I could see both sides of the machine. Sometimes as I snow blow the walks, I go off road and notice too much grass under my wheels.....:laughing:

Oh I found 1 source that claims 20 Watts then another 30 watts on the Ariens hand warmers, so I can't prove anything here. The lights don't dim when everything is turned on currently so that's a good sign. The draw is near 100% but not over. If I was over the amp rating of the motor, I should be having dim lights, right? Any way I will run 1 light with the heaters just to be safe.
Personally, I hope winter is over as I want spring and summer to arrive!:thumbsup:

With my new snowblower engine, the light is dimming when I put ON the handwarmers, which means that it is overcharging the stator, what can it cause?

Baziboune said:

With my new snowblower engine, the light is dimming when I put ON the handwarmers, which means that it is overcharging the stator, what can it cause?

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It's not going to hurt anything.
It's been a terrible winter here this past winter, cold and snow every other day since Jan 2015. (this topic is 2 years old) and that machine worked it's tail off for 2 seasons with no issues whats so ever. Yes I've since switched both lights and I've ran both lights all winter long, with the heaters on when I was blowing -10 below for several storms. No issues at all.

Boy am I glad it's finally spring time over here!:thumbsup:

Baziboune said:

With my new snowblower engine, the light is dimming when I put ON the handwarmers, which means that it is overcharging the stator, what can it cause?

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I wouldn't say its over charging, more likely there is too much draw on the stator

The new Briggs engines put out enough amps to run these lights. But some older engines don't (or different brand ?) put out the amps or you machine is not putting out enough because of a problem in the electrical system. You could replace your light with a LED type, it would draw less and the light won't dim any longer. Or have your machine inspected to see if there is an electrical problem with it.