LED Head Light Help

indyseven · Nov 17, 2017

Hi guys, I know this question has probable been asked several times but I cant seem to find the right information I need. I want to put a LED head light on my custom built mountain sled but the stator only puts out AC voltage. I have installed a full wave bridge rectifier right at the headlight but I keep burning out the LED with high engine RPM. I thought that maybe i have a bad voltage regulator but the tach light doesn't seem to burn out (this is the only other bulb on the sled). what else do I need to do, constantly burning LED headlights out is getting costly. Any help is full appreciated guys!

Rosslbz · Nov 18, 2017

Must be from voltage spike at high rpm, you will need a resistor in-line. The resistor will have to be sized according to your led voltage input limit.

indyseven · Nov 22, 2017

Bump :face-icon-small-hap

johnsodo · Nov 22, 2017

use a cat regulator

indyseven · Nov 23, 2017

Do you happen to know what Cat reg to use and the wiring process?

Merlin · Nov 23, 2017

Did you remove the factory(incandescent) headlight when you installed the LED light?

If so, unless you installed a resistor(or similar load to the headlight) the voltage regulator will not likely be able to "burn off" the excess current & the resulting voltage may be too high for the LED light.

That said, I'm not sure why the other lights are still OK(haven't burned out)?

indyseven said:
Hi guys, I know this question has probable been asked several times but I cant seem to find the right information I need. I want to put a LED head light on my custom built mountain sled but the stator only puts out AC voltage. I have installed a full wave bridge rectifier right at the headlight but I keep burning out the LED with high engine RPM. I thought that maybe i have a bad voltage regulator but the tach light doesn't seem to burn out (this is the only other bulb on the sled). what else do I need to do, constantly burning LED headlights out is getting costly. Any help is full appreciated guys!

mountainhorse · Nov 23, 2017

You may have burnt out your voltage regulator from the low load already.... as stated above... you will need a 100W load (true 100W) or the regulator will not work well.

LED's are a challenge in the sleds.... some state that they have had luck... while the majority have had to jump through hoops to use them.

What is the Voltage input spec on the LED's you bought?

Are you using the kind with the fan on them... or the ones with the ribbon heat sinks (best)??

A load resistor would be best ... make sure you use a wire wound, aluminum heat sink'd resistor... in the 2-ohm range... 100W rating min. ... and you will need to attach it to the bulkhead in a way that transfers heat from the resistor to the chassis well.

Good luck.

.

indyseven · Nov 24, 2017

Thanks for the help guys. I purchased a new Arctic Cat 2 wire voltage Regulator today as I have read this is the way to go as far as voltage regs are concerned. One question I have is that the regulator with two wires replaces one with only one wire. Do I only hook up the yellow wire to it like factory Polaris or both yellow and brown from the stator. Also thanks Mountain Horse for the info on the resistor! i didn't know that the system wont work properly without load on it all the time. I have also read that a capacitor on the DC side of the full wave bridge rectifier will help smooth out the voltage and help with the flickering effect. Just not quite sure what size mf capacitor I would need to go with. If anyone has any suggestions based on what has worked for them I would truly appreciate it.

Thanks again for the help :0)

indyseven · Nov 26, 2017

indyseven · Nov 27, 2017

Merlin · Nov 28, 2017

In the abscence of any firsthand information here on a DIY LED light circuit you could try contacting some of the companies that offer LED upgrades specifically for older snowmobiles to see what they have to say.

Another option would be to find a wiring schematic for a new sled that is factory equipped with LED headlights. Then do a little reverse engineering to see if you could build a circuit based off of that.

Search

LED Head Light Help

indyseven

Active member

Rosslbz

Member

indyseven

Active member

johnsodo

Free Member

indyseven

Active member

Merlin

Well-known member

mountainhorse

Well-known member

indyseven

Active member

indyseven

Active member

indyseven

Active member

Merlin

Well-known member

Similar threads