Problem with aftermarket HID conversion kit.
#1
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Problem with aftermarket HID conversion kit.
I bought and installed an HID conversion kit (from eBay, low beam). After that my passenger side light is flickering and I have to turn on and off the lights couple times before the right one will turn on. The driver side is working fine. I changed the ballast for that digital one, but it didn't help. Can anyone tell me how to fix this problem, or give me a link to the conversion kit that works GOOD. I would rather buy new kit than spend more money on this one. Please HELP.
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I've had to change the fuses to stronger/bigger fuses before but that was always on cars that did not come with HIDs...
Check all the materials to make sure there's no corrosion anywhere and also look into the fact that they need more power to turn on initially i believe...after that they use less power.
Check all the materials to make sure there's no corrosion anywhere and also look into the fact that they need more power to turn on initially i believe...after that they use less power.
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whenever you get an hid kit u need to change your fuses to 20 amps for each headlight. and if they still flicker, you will need a relay kit especially if you have a 35w hid kit. the 55w hid kit do not need a relay kit to power up.
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Sometimes the Ebay kits just suck.
I bought one for my TBSS and had the ballast go out. I replaced that then had the other bulb go out....
I ended buying another kit and that hasnt given me a problem since.
I bought one for my TBSS and had the ballast go out. I replaced that then had the other bulb go out....
I ended buying another kit and that hasnt given me a problem since.
#6
I also noticed that trend of HID kits advertising as "digital" ballasts. I work in the lighting business and never heard of that so I researched it to see what was the deal with this. What I found is that digital is the same thing as an electronic ballast, just with a fancier name. I can't imagine a car beeing equiped with a big core and coil magnetic ballast before, so that means every car ballast in existance is electronic (digital).
Your problem is probably with the wiring. My ebay ballasts tend to shut down if the voltage drops below a certain level, for instance when I stall the car. If your's are hard to start all the time, voltage getting to your headlights might not be right. And since the stock wiring may not be designed to cope with the high current a ballast require at startup, I would suggest tu use a relay kit. That way your ballasts will get all the current and voltage they need without the risk of overloading the stock wiring.
If you want to test this, try to plug each ballast directly on the battery to see if they light up correctly.
Your problem is probably with the wiring. My ebay ballasts tend to shut down if the voltage drops below a certain level, for instance when I stall the car. If your's are hard to start all the time, voltage getting to your headlights might not be right. And since the stock wiring may not be designed to cope with the high current a ballast require at startup, I would suggest tu use a relay kit. That way your ballasts will get all the current and voltage they need without the risk of overloading the stock wiring.
If you want to test this, try to plug each ballast directly on the battery to see if they light up correctly.
Last edited by Lookalike; Jul 10, 2009 at 09:01 PM.
#7
Your problem is that the system is not getting the necessary power to start up properly. An HID system uses almost 3 times the power as a halogen system on start up then it settles down and uses a little a little more then half of a halogen system.
The way to fix this is you need to wire up a system that uses a relay and a couple fuses and draws power directly from you battery and uses the stock headlight harness as only a switch. They sell these wire kits on ebay or if your good at wiring there is a few websites on how to wire them up.
Do not put larger fuses in to replace any stock rated ones. This will result in burnt up wires and a fire later on down the road.
The way to fix this is you need to wire up a system that uses a relay and a couple fuses and draws power directly from you battery and uses the stock headlight harness as only a switch. They sell these wire kits on ebay or if your good at wiring there is a few websites on how to wire them up.
Do not put larger fuses in to replace any stock rated ones. This will result in burnt up wires and a fire later on down the road.
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#8
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I also noticed that trend of HID kits advertising as "digital" ballasts. I work in the lighting business and never heard of that so I researched it to see what was the deal with this. What I found is that digital is the same thing as an electronic ballast, just with a fancier name. I can't imagine a car beeing equiped with a big core and coil magnetic ballast before, so that means every car ballast in existance is electronic (digital).
Your problem is probably with the wiring. My ebay ballasts tend to shut down if the voltage drops below a certain level, for instance when I stall the car. If your's are hard to start all the time, voltage getting to your headlights might not be right. And since the stock wiring may not be designed to cope with the high current a ballast require at startup, I would suggest tu use a relay kit. That way your ballasts will get all the current and voltage they need without the risk of overloading the stock wiring.
If you want to test this, try to plug each ballast directly on the battery to see if they light up correctly.
Your problem is probably with the wiring. My ebay ballasts tend to shut down if the voltage drops below a certain level, for instance when I stall the car. If your's are hard to start all the time, voltage getting to your headlights might not be right. And since the stock wiring may not be designed to cope with the high current a ballast require at startup, I would suggest tu use a relay kit. That way your ballasts will get all the current and voltage they need without the risk of overloading the stock wiring.
If you want to test this, try to plug each ballast directly on the battery to see if they light up correctly.
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This happens on my POS S10 occasionally, but none of my other cars that I've installed aftermarket HIDs into, unless the balast was dying. KnightRyder is correct, you need more power going to the HID system during startup.
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i had a similar problem with my kit. i had installed the relay connected directly to the positive terminal, ensuring it had enough juice. still a problem with the left not always going on. turns out my earth cable was not properly earthing. i ran another earthing to the negative and one to the chassis, issue resolved. oh i did change to 20amp fuse as well but that wasnt the problem.
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I installed a kit on my integra awhile ago and had no problems at all. Didn't change fuses or anything...obviously it's a different car but headlights are headlights. Sounds like you have a crappy kit. I was told by jdmlighting I believe was the name that the difference between the regular kits and the digital kits is that the ballast actually maintains a steady voltage so your headlights don't flicker or you have one headlight brighter than the other ect. That's what I was told when I asked the question, I'm sure there's more advantages but that's what I remember.
#12
Well, a normal electronic ballast already does what you described, and much more. To start up the lamp, the ballast has to send very high voltage to strike the lamp and vaporize the metal halide salts. After that, the voltage drops until the lamp reaches it's full output. Then the current is maintained steady even when the voltage from the car fluctuates. They also usually come with protections in case the lamp burns, the ballast wont try to strike endlessely the lamp until it burns itself up. Now that's the theory behind the electronic ballast, so that's why I didn't get the "digital" thing (didn't know about the size diffrence though).
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All this talk of improper voltage is boulder dash...you more than likely have a faulty bulb on your hands. Switch the bulbs around and see if the problem switches to the other side of the car. Do the same for your ballasts, that will help you diagnose the issue..close thread