Has Anyone Correctly Installed xenon/Hid system?

[one2spooku]

I read through the threads from the past. I see a lot about xenon bulbs not operating correctly. i see a lot about hot wiring. i see a lot about melting stuff. WTF?

When installed Correctly. Xenon bulb should run cooler that halogen.
Also, Less power consumption. Xenon bulb runs on around 85 volts after warmed up. that 85 volts is what ballast is needed for. Ballast acts as amplifier. Putting xenon bulbs into normal halogen system will not work correctly. Im not understanding the problem. I read about lack of light output. i read about wiring issues. Was everyone using a ballast? xenon puts out 4x the light than standard halogen. (assuming you are in the normal 4000-6000k range) Consumption should be around 35 Watts at 12volts. Am i missing something? New cars that run xenon are also 12 volt cars. I highly doubt a nice new bmw has 4 gauge wiring for the head lamp system. I will be swapping all my stuff in the next week. Can anyone clue me in on how all the problems coming around?

I am constantly trying to save electricity. I am an Audio Nut. Anyway I can save ten amps draw, I am on it. I believe these will help power and provide better lighting. I really don't understand the difficultys maybe in a few days i will. after swap i will Add info to this thread.

[Donn29]

I understand that any light with a ballast should have new wiring and be triggered via a relay on the original wiring. Most of the reason is that the ballast should NOT see any voltage drops, spikes or noise.

Also you'll need something to direct the path of light correctly.

That is my limited knowledge.

[one2spooku]

I have been looking for a projecter style light shell i guess you could say. the only ones i have come across are ebay junk. i had thought of that. with the ballast??? voltage spike destroy them? that is also something to keep in mind thank you. with the optima i bought my voltage stays pretty consistant. but i will take a meter to it with music running and see just exactly how consistant it really is. Thanks for input donn

[dannymk2]

dont have them in the supra but i have them in my truck. i have 8000k hid's. they are white with just a hint of blue. installing them is as simple as plug and play. i do not use projectors. i personally dont like them. now before anyone starts going all "your blinding everyone else on the road", im not. when you put in HID's into a factory headlamp, you have to adjust the aim of the light. you have to point them down a little. this will focus the light on the ground, where it should be, and out of the eyes of those in front of you. i hate cars with projectors. they beam the light right into my rear view mirror and right into my eyes. yes true projectors have a cut off line to prevent this, but it still happens to me too often for my liking. factory projectors annoy me more then aftermarket HID kits. ebay projectors are just about the worst thing you can use. so stay away from those. aim your lights properly and youll be fine. you also shouldnt have to run bigger wire because once they warm up, they will be using less power then standard halogens.

[one2spooku]

Sweet

[Donn29]

I have been looking for a projecter style light shell i guess you could say. the only ones i have come across are ebay junk. i had thought of that. with the ballast??? voltage spike destroy them? that is also something to keep in mind thank you. with the optima i bought my voltage stays pretty consistant. but i will take a meter to it with music running and see just exactly how consistant it really is. Thanks for input donn

Changes in voltage(mostly drops and noise from what I understand) will reset the ballast(cheaper ones will trip easier). Not what you want while cruising at night! As they take a second to turn back on, or you may have to turn them off and then back on! EEK!


installing them is as simple as plug and play. i do not use projectors. i personally dont like them. now before anyone starts going all "your blinding everyone else on the road", im not. when you put in HID's into a factory headlamp, you have to adjust the aim of the light. you have to point them down a little. this will focus the light on the ground, where it should be, and out of the eyes of those in front of you.

Plug and play? if your not using a ballast they are not a real HID, they are just an expensive normal bulb.

[84ptype]

i got a set from somewhere like euro dezigns or something from ebay (just some bulbs...) and threw them in my fogs and took out the box thingy in the fogs and they are hella bright white/blue...now for the headlights..the yellowish headlights are ruining it...
or just the foglight mod because they are plenty bright...ill try and get pics...
I also got some 6bulb LEDs for the little side lide in the fog that are Really bluish and help the look.

[Angkistrodon]

I've installed them in the fog lights and just used the factory wiring...my alt died but that was due to a pwr. steering leak. No problems since except that I removed the diffuser(sp?) in the fog housing and the HIDS are bright as hell...so no more driving with them on.

[assassin10000]

I dunno if you'd consider this proper... but this is what I did on my AE86 before the readily available sub $150 aftermarket kits.

Copied/pasted from my thread:
http://www.hachiroku.net/forums/showthread.php?t=700

Andrew


Ok, I ended up getting a good deal on a set of Nissan 350Z headlights complete w/bulbs and ballasts. I removed the bulbs and ballasts from the headlights

Which I sold on ebay! Got lucky, got the complete headlights for 250, removed the bulbs and ballasts and sold the housings for 150.

So cost for my conversion: 100 bulbs/ballasts, 35 adapters, 2 bucks guitar wire = $137 not bad at all, definately worth it IMO.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


HID bulbs and ballasts.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/350zbulbsandballasts.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/350zd2rbulbs.jpg

Connectors to wire in the ballasts - available from nissan, usually in stock as they are also the same connectors used for fog lamps (which get broken pretty often I guess. Free to me through a hook up)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/connector1.jpg


Installed Ballasts, only need to be held in place with zipties @ the moment. No need to ground the ballasts (they aren't from the factory!)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/HIDinstall1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/HIDinstall2.jpg


How the connectors are currently wired into the factory wiring.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/powerconn.jpg


I purchased adapter/'Glare Shields' from ebay: they allow you to plug the d2s/d2r bulb into an H4 housing, in my case i made some modifications detailed here.

A little customization of the glare shields, I clocked the bulb in the shield the way I wanted. Marked the rotation where there is a 3/4 moon cut out in the plastic and drilled with a 3/32" bit. I went by the hardware store and grabbed 2 Allen head machine screws/bolts 3mm x .5 thread and I think 6-8mm long, tapped the hole to hold the bulb in the position I want when clipping the D2R connector on. I also put some blue loctite on the machine screws/bolts to prevent them from backing out.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidbulbinstall1.jpg

After doing that I took some .062" steel/guitar wire and bent my own custom clips to hold the headlight bulbs in. I also took some rubber from an old tire innertube and made it so it held in nicely, and may even provide some vibration dampening. The regular h4 bulb clips dont work too well as the adapters with the bulb installed bring the back level with the clip, which is designed to be inset with the H4 bulb base. It may even provide some vibration dampening :) (The only thing I'm worried about, is how much will the clips rust? As it is steel)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidbulbinstall2.jpg


Installed housings... Direct cut-off picture and one from further away.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidinstalled.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidinstalled2.jpg


A few daylight pics of the housing with bulbs/shields installed.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidinstalled3.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidinstalled4.jpg


A cut-off and on the road picture, sorry for the crap pictures, both taken with my cell phone.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/Cutoff2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/Cutoff1.jpg


So far I haven't been flashed once, no complaints from anyone I've asked on whether or not its hard to look at when driving. And I find it easier to look directly at the HID bulb now than when I had the H4's installed. Glare is pretty minimal.

Enjoy!

Andrew
And.

HID updates:

After going through a car wash water got into the hids/ballast at the connectors and caused my HID's to not work for about 5-10 minutes one night. To fix it I wrapped electrical tape around the opening and connector, one layer thick. Then I coated it with hot glue. I also put a cover (cut up ziploc bag) around the connector that goes on the bulb to prevent water from reaching that connection, it's held together with clear silicone and fitted to the bulb housing using the old rubber surround. It should solve all my water/moisture problems for the coming rain :)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidwaterproofing.jpg

I also decided that even though my glare was low enough no one ever flashed me, it wasn't close enough to perfect. So I bought some ultra cheapy h4 housings off ebay with shields. Unfortunately when they arrived they were rhd angled and not usable. But that's ok, I figured out a better way. I unscrewed the bulb shield that keeps you from seeing the filament on h4 bulbs, And altered them for my glare shields. The black/paint you see is 1200 F rated black krylon grill paint. It's there to prevent the reflection from the top half to the bottom of the h4 housing (high beam portion/glare area)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hiddirectglareshield.jpg

Again I used some 3mm x .5 thread x 8mm long allen head machine screws - this time to hold the bulb shield to the glare shield. I drilled and tapped a hole for them to thread into - on the right glare shield you can see the punch mark where I would drill the 2nd hole.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidshieldglareshield.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidshieldglareshield2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidshieldglareshield3.jpg

I'll get some installed in housing and night shots of the light soon.

EDIT/update:


In housing.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidshieldglareshield4.jpg

From the side on - not too good of a shot, it has very little glare.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidcutoff2.jpg

Good shot showing how little glare there is.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/assassin10000/hidcutoff.jpg

[dannymk2]

Plug and play? if your not using a ballast they are not a real HID, they are just an expensive normal bulb.

aftermarket HID kits are specific to whatever bulb you want. so all you have to do is plug it into the factory harness and mount the ballast's and igniter's and your set. and yes, mine are real.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/danny501/Ram%20Pics/DSCN0487.jpg

[Angkistrodon]

WOW....One hell of a write-up....good job.

[Donn29]

I wouldn't consider anything with a ballast a plug and play, due to mounting...

[dannymk2]

I wouldn't consider anything with a ballast a plug and play, due to mounting...

i think it took me 20 mins to install 4 kits. really not complicated. i used heavy duty 3m lock tape and thats it. no drilling or anything.

[assassin10000]

Or zipties work too...

Andrew

[one2spooku]

I was going to write up when i was done but looks like we got write up already. Right on. Yea ballast = real hid system. not just bulbs. Wiring is plug and Play. Mounting ballast may take some creativity but im also thinking definatly worth it. Thanks for info. Can't wait for my sets. If glare is not problem that is even better. one more question What housings are you using? i got hellas on the way. maybe e code will have a bit more glare but nothing an adjustment cant fix.

[one2spooku]

One more thought. Maybe since fogs seem to be excessive i will go back to defusers. will have to try both.

[Angkistrodon]

I've been building up a collection of bulbs/housings/ballasts at the shop. @ 300+ dollars a bulb they are worth saving. Right now I'm up to 6 sets. Need to do something with them...mabey HID fogs AND.....now headlights.

[assassin10000]

one more question What housings are you using? i got hellas on the way. maybe e code will have a bit more glare but nothing an adjustment cant fix.

Ebay e-code housings.

E-codes IF you make sure to purchase ones designed for LHD cars/roads should have less glare than SAE/DOT approved. A lot of european roads have lighted roadsigns and don't have the same laws SAE/DOT approved lenses have. DOT lenses are designed with 'more' glare to light up U.S. roadsigns (iirc)

Some info:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/codes/codes.html

Anyways, I'm sure the HELLA's are better than my ebay ones. The only other ones I'd think would be better are the Cibie housings which are $$$. And I'm too likely to break them to spend that much.

Andrew

[one2spooku]

Got the fog lights done today. Look bad ass. Get my h4 kit tomorrow. wont get my hella set untill probably monday. so for the time being, run around with just fogs. They look sweet and put out a lot of light.

[cdr_913]

I know this may be a noob type of question, but im not too sure about how exactly this works. My question is the electrical connector that plugs into the original light, how do you plug that into the ballast, because I believe the connectors are a little different with flip up lights in older Toyotas then they are in other lights in other cars? Thank you for whoever helps me out with this.

[one2spooku]

Holy Thread Revival.

Ususally the wiring will be different. I didn't use connectors for the ballast. I used 2 or 3 wires plugged into original harness. If you wanted, it would be easy to get spare connectors and splice/solder stuff together to properly connect it.

[54dollarMKII]

Just installed the fogs today. H3 kit and holy crap dont even need headlights now and they dont blind anyone.. These kits are kick ass and with just a little work to make sure everything is water tight they are awsome. Headlights this weekend...