Just purchased a used tractor....Headlight issue

[KanakaRick]

The sealed H4 headlights seem to have had a leak which allowed moisture in the lights. Upon closer observation, along with water on the inside of the lens, it appears the silver coating of the lens has turned black pretty much everywhere; thus when the headlight is on not a lot of light is projected outside of the lens. I looked up a replacement sealed headlight, and was floored when I read it was $465!!!. Gold plated, I guess. So, plan b.... I went online and found out how to split the case on a "sealed" headlight. Now that I have got it apart, I am wondering other than having the lens re-silvered (somewhat expensive I hear), what color would be a viable option? Since the tractor won't be travelling any faster than 20 mph, its probably not THAT important to have the headlights throw light out THAT far in front of me (and I have the LED worklights too). The only reason I am even considering even bothering with the stock headlights is if I ever have to drive it on the county road after dark, so it would look somewhat legal. Not utilizing a shiny reflective surface, I am thinking a high temp bright white may work. Any recommendations?

 

[George2615]

You can buy chrome spray paint to recoat the reflector. For a tractor I think it would work fine.

 

[CCWKen]

I don't think any are silvered these days. I think they use an aluminum vapor deposit process. Cheaper than silver but still pricey to have one redone. Ditto on the "tractor paint". How often do you use the lights? Most folks add LED supplemental lights that are brighter than the H4s anyway.

 

[Creamer]

About 12 years ago I added some Harbor Freight halogen lights because the normal headlights are on the rear fender and hit the back of the loader. They have been great but if I was going to replace them now it would be with LEDs.

 

[KanakaRick]

actually, I am replacing the work lights with LEDs this week. The old 13 year old lights just didn't put out much light. I was figuring if I ever drove it on the county road in the evening, the LEO's would frown on me using my work LED Flood lights as headlights. I certainly wasn't going to pay $465 for a new headlight lens, so I figured the cheapest way out was to seperate the lens from the body, and put something else on the body that was more reflective than the black oxidation. I was hoping I could use steel wool to rub the black off the silver body, but it was the silver that was eroded off the black surface. I will try the chrome spray paint to see how it does. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Well if you have the lights apart anyways why wouldn't you just mount a LED into there somehow and forget about redoing the original reflector?

 

[3930dave]

actually, I am replacing the work lights with LEDs this week. The old 13 year old lights just didn't put out much light. I was figuring if I ever drove it on the county road in the evening, the LEO's would frown on me using my work LED Flood lights as headlights. I certainly wasn't going to pay $465 for a new headlight lens, so I figured the cheapest way out was to seperate the lens from the body, and put something else on the body that was more reflective than the black oxidation. I was hoping I could use steel wool to rub the black off the silver body, but it was the silver that was eroded off the black surface. I will try the chrome spray paint to see how it does. Thanks for the heads up.

Around here, ag equipment on the road still seems to get a fair amount of slack from LEOs. My :2cents: - you are on the right track though - depending on the auxiliary floods used, you can end up blinding oncoming traffic at dusk/night, and creating a safety hazard. (Ironically, the last time I saw this problem was approaching a local police RIDE stop, AND coming from a parked police vehicle ).

Chrome paint may do it for you, or if that doesn't stand up, you may need to go to a high-temperature paint - something for bbq's might work, though most of those I've seen are black. If you go for a brake caliper or exhaust header paint, note that they have a stepped (as in temperature) curing process - at least the ones I've seen.... That curing process may not matter with only an H4 for heat, you'd have to experiment.....

I'd start with chrome paint, and only lightly reseal the lenses (or mechanically hold them together) until I knew the paint was going to hold up to the heat.

Rgds, D.

 

[KanakaRick]

Regarding putting LED's in the place of headlights- i considered it, but for public roadway use, I am sure the LED's would blind anyone coming my way, not to mention- I don't really need that bright of a light on a tractor!! It would only be travelling 20 mph, tops. I am more interested in floods lighting up my work area (which I am currently adding to my tractor today). In my view, a long range lighting arrangement would only be a waste of money. THis way, it costs me a can of spray paint. Thanks for the feedback gang.

 

[M5farms]

chrome paint works very well to redo lights , Before LED I refurbished several halogen lights with this method as well as using foil tape if the surface is not to concave

 

[KanakaRick]

chrome paint works very well to redo lights , Before LED I refurbished several halogen lights with this method as well as using foil tape if the surface is not to concave

What kind of foil tape? That may be worth a try

 

[M5farms]

look for the kind used in Heating and cooling duct repair its very reflective and very sticky

 

[PILOON]

Had to replace mine for the few times I run a night.
I found a LED lightbar that the center 4 were spots with 2 outer 4's being flood.*
\I mounted on the cab roof and adjusted carefully so as to not have the center spots aimed too far ahead.
The bar was in the $20.00 range and very robust.
Nite driving is as nice as daytime.
At the rear I use 4" LEDs fastened to magnets for ultimate positioning.

In my case the factory headlight bulbs were simply not available without modifying motorcycle bulbs.

*if I wanted to dim them I could always add a resistor to drop the voltage and a switch to introduce the resistor into the circuit.

 

[KanakaRick]

Found the heating and cooling duct tape and it works like a charm. Can't tell the difference from 5' in front of the tractor. Another quick question.... on my work flood lights I am replacing with LED's. The front two floods have only two wires going to them (no problem), but the back two (on a separate switch) have 3 wires going to them. Any idea why there are 3 wires? They are separate from the fronts and I don't believe they are related to any other system on the tractor. The tractor is a '04 Kioti DK50, if that helps. I assume I can use the same 2 colors as the front to hook them up, right?

 

[countrybumpkin]

Check and see if it's a backup wire, the dk45s I worked on a few weeks ago had three wires and one was for that.

 

[KanakaRick]

You nailed it! Thanks for the heads up! I am sure you are right about the backup wire.

 

[countrybumpkin]

If you don't want to mess with the backup wire, just cap it off and pull the fuse from the fuse box and you'll be good to go. You should really like the LED lights , such a big difference.

 

[PILOON]

Regarding putting LED's in the place of headlights- i considered it, but for public roadway use, I am sure the LED's would blind anyone coming my way, not to mention- I don't really need that bright of a light on a tractor!! It would only be travelling 20 mph, tops. I am more interested in floods lighting up my work area (which I am currently adding to my tractor today). In my view, a long range lighting arrangement would only be a waste of money. THis way, it costs me a can of spray paint. Thanks for the feedback gang.

Considering that LEOs ignore the powerful halogen lighting that many have on their BMW's and SUV's (mostly upgrades and not OEM) I would doubt they'd ticket you.
The laws are based on wattage and not lumens as it should be however they wrote them B4 the technology became available.