hella 100 worklights..

bigballer · Oct 30, 2007

i know this has been covered quite a bit lately and i have seen all sorts of installations but wanted to see if anyone else was using the hella 100 round lights? i bought 2 of them on amazon ($8.97/ea) to "demo" and they appear to be well built (thick rubber housing and glass lenses) and very bright (think stadium lights). the coverage is excellent even though they are "long range". i should have my second set tomorrow and hopefully will complete the installation project this weekend.

<btw, i am not the seller of these so this is not a promo>

BigE_ · Oct 31, 2007

I'd be curious to see how well they work out for you.

kennyd · Oct 31, 2007

How many watts are these lights?

bigballer · Oct 31, 2007

hey kenny - these are 55watt H3 bulbs

Hella Oval 100 H3 Long Range Double Beam

BigE_ · Oct 31, 2007

If you only get one set and mount them on the rear fenders, you'd be able to swivel them front to rear as needed....

bigballer · Oct 31, 2007

was actually thinking of adding a 3rd set to do just that but for side viewing.. i'm probably taking it a bit too far but i like to brainstorm.

i am not sure my alternator would handle a 3rd set though.. it's 40AMP let's see.. 28AMPs for the 6 worklights and ~9 amps for the stock lights puts it right at the edge.. i suppose i could not use the stock lights.. don't really need them anyway.. hmmm..

BigE_ · Nov 1, 2007

I would definitely disconnect the stock FEL illuminaters. I also would have a different set of switches for the 2nd or third set. You don't want all three on at the same time, even if the stock lights are disconnected. Your battery still needs to charge, and you'd end up killing your alternator.

A really cool project would be to design a switching power supply so you could dim some of the lights as needed and at the same time lower power consumption. (Most DC dimmers just dump the load across a resistor instead of across the light, so the current consumption stays the same).

Heck, I might just go ahead and build something like that myself.....

Tororider · Nov 1, 2007

BigE,
If you build it...
You could sell it to all us yokels without the skills to do so.

BigE_ · Nov 2, 2007

Couple of questions then, on the design:

First, there are a few options: panel mounted or on a per light basis, at the light itself.

Panel mounted would make the wiring a bit more complicated, and make installation a bit harder, but it would obviously be easier to control
Mounted at the light itself would be very easy to install, but a tad harder to adjust
The third option is mount at the light itself, but run a control wire back to the dash

The second set of options is control type: can do push button or rotary

Rotary is easier to adjust, but I know after a few days left out in the rain would corrode, unless I found a potentiometer rated for outdoor use
Push button would be very easy to mount on the dash. You would have 3-4 settings of brightness.
Cost is similar between the two designs, but they are very different: rotary uses a switching power supply, whereas pushbutton requires a microcontroller and programming. I could do both in my sleep....

Myself, I'm leaning towards a design that mounts at the light, and you have the option of running a pushbutton back to the dash.

-Steve

bigballer · Nov 6, 2007

i like the dimmer idea but for now i am just going with the standard on/off.

i finalized my installation tonight and had a chance to get out in the woods and try 'em out. they work pretty good, i would say for anyone thinking about adding lights make sure to consider REAR lights as well. these make all the difference. i was able to do some brushogging which required me to back into a thicket of blackberries and having the lights made it a breeze. i attached a couple pictures of my escapade around the property. these were taken around 7:30 pm longer after the sun had set, if i turned the lights out it was pitch black (no moon tonight), my digital camera doesn't do to well in the dark without a flash but you'll get the idea.

mjncad · Nov 6, 2007

Nice!

bigballer · Nov 6, 2007

mjncad said:
Nice!

thanks - i hope you don't mind, i poked around the pics on the link in your sig, now that is a nice lightbar, where did you obtain the unistrut components? that's exactly what i was looking for.

canoetrpr · Nov 6, 2007

Nice project bigballer. I might muster up the courage to get lights going on my L3400 as well.

TCBoomerCT · Nov 6, 2007

bigballer,

Lights look to be doing the trick!

Check with your local Electrical, Plumbing, or HVAC contractor supply houses. Some brands are Unistrut, Superstrut, Kindorf, and B-Line. They're pretty much all interchangeable.

diyDave · Nov 6, 2007

One quick bit of advice-Turn them OFF, after you run over a hornet's nest!

mjncad · Nov 7, 2007

bigballer said:
thanks - i hope you don't mind, i poked around the pics on the link in your sig, now that is a nice lightbar, where did you obtain the unistrut components? that's exactly what i was looking for.

I don't mind at all as I put the link in my signature with the intention of sharing the photos.

I think I got the strut at Home Despot, or a local electrical supply company. The fittings and spring nuts I probably got from the electrical supply company or McMaster-Carr McMaster-Carr . The green end rubbers I got from McMaster-Carr. Since its been a while since I did the rear light bar, I don't recall exactly where I got the stuff.

Another place I get strut and fittings is Fastenal Home | Fastenal and they have a number of stores in my area. Their selection isn't as extensive as McMaster-Carr's or MSC Direct's; but they have stuff Home Despot and Doh's (Lowe's) would never carry.

I've got my high mounted front light bar done, and I just need to wire up everything. I'll post pictures once I get done.

Thanks for the Attaboy, I appreciate it.

westbrooklawn · Nov 7, 2007

bigballer,

I ordered and received 2 hella 100 worklights... you just can't beat that price for hella quality. Since the lights only have one wire, did you you use the mounting bracket to frame as a ground, or did you somehow add a ground wire to the lights? Just curious how you did it.

bigballer · Nov 7, 2007

westbrooklawn said:
bigballer,

I ordered and received 2 hella 100 worklights... you just can't beat that price for hella quality. Since the lights only have one wire, did you you use the mounting bracket to frame as a ground, or did you somehow add a ground wire to the lights? Just curious how you did it.

hey wbl - yes, they are a good value, they might not be the sexiest lights on the block but they are good performers. for the ground, i did exactly what you said, i made a connection between the mounting bracket and frame, no problems.

on a side note, i wanted the flexibility of being able to remove the light bar easily so i used a 4 wire flat trailer connector between the switches and the light wires. the two connectors meet at an area between the fender and seat on the left hand side. it worked out pretty well.

i also wired in an auxilary 12v plug for things like my spotlight, etc.. i mounted this on the right hand side of the fender just above and behind the PTO lever. I wired it to the factory worklight harness just under the fender.

bigballer · Nov 7, 2007

mjncad said:
Another place I get strut and fittings is Fastenal Home | Fastenal and they have a number of stores in my area.

hmm i just happened to drive by one of these today on my way to work - i'll stop by tonight to see what they have.. thanks for the info.

look forward to seeing your front light setup..