HiD's

[Royboy66]

Went over to Tim Wards place yesterday to fit some HiD bulbs to my GT6,  pretty straight forward 'plug in n play'

However,

I went for a drive last night, the lights are v good but... after less than a mile the drivers side went out, i pulled over, turned lights off&on on column stalk,and both lights came on again, drove a couple more miles and same again! drivers side went off, pulled over  lights off/on  and both worked again!  Grr lol

Im going to have a fiddle this morning, will look at all connections, and might run a wire from drivers side earth straight to battery negative post  .

I will persevere for a bit, but if Im not 100% confident they will both stay on for RBRR, then I will swap back to halogen and look at them again after RBRR.  Dont want to get bogged down spending too long on fixing these if you know what I mean!  

will let you know if  I get the drivers side to behave !

Roy (infrequently enlightened of Telford)  8)

[Royboy66]

8)

[James]

You need to make sure your power and ground cables are big enough- or else they'll be a bit flakey.

I'd run new fat power and ground lines direct from the battery (with a fuse on the power, close to the battery) and use the existing power to switch relays directly next to the ballast units.

[Royboy66]

Yeah James that's just what I've done,  ran a fatter 'earth wire from ballast box on 'dodgy' light straight to Bart neg post . Just had car running with light on for 10mins on drive. Lights stayed on!
Test drive now.....

[Jason]

I thought half the point of HIDs was that they drew a lot less current that high output halogens and therefore didn't need relays - or have I got it wring again?

[Stuart Wilson]

Jason wrote:

I thought half the point of HIDs was that they drew a lot less current that high output halogens and therefore didn't need relays - or have I got it wring again?

Thats what I thought as well

[James]

They draw as much or less — but they need a big spike of power to turn on in the first place.

[TimW]

6000k HID's draw 35w total when running along with 20,000 volts.  They need 30,000 volts to arc up when you turn them on.  Always start the engine BEFORE switching on the lights.  The single dip beam kits do not use a relay but the hi/low kit with the solonoid activated main beam does use a relay that is pre-wired in the wiring loom of the kit.  I have just fitted a set to my GT6 and they are fantastic!!  I think i need to have the dip beam level raised but its due an MOT now so will get them to check the beam pattern then.

Hope you have sorted it Roy 8)  That wouldn't be that dodgy earth on the drivers side bonnet would it??????? :P :P

[tiggrr1]

Not wishing to pee on your cornflakes boys but you may pass an MOT but still fall foul of a switched on traffic cop. (not that there are many on the roads these days)

Yeah yeah I know says the man with 2x 150 watt spots on the front of his GT6..............................

Just pointing it out thats all



http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.
The following is the legal rationale:
The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.
However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).
For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.
Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:
1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.
2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).
3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.
In practice this means:
1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.
2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.
3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.
In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above.
If you require any further information regarding the regulations covered by this fact sheet, please contact the DfT at the address below:
Transport Technology and Standards 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR
Telephone: 020 7944 2078
Fax: 020 7944 2196
Email: TTS.enquiries@dft.gsi.gov.uk

[TimW]

dont care!!  they are as bright as the surface of the sun and i like them!!  no such thing as a switched on traffic cop!

[James]

I fitted my HIDs to my inner main beams — still need to get one of them working after all this time — have the same issue as the one I described

[James]

I fitted my HIDs to my inner main beams — still need to get one of them working after all this time — have the same issue as the one I described

[Royboy66]

I stripped the lights out again and swapped the Drivers side ballast box thingy with the pass side one,  put it all back together, checked I had Good earth connections everywhere!  and they seemed ok.

With the engine running, I switched lights on/off/high beam  several times and it seemed ok, but if I moved the column switch up/down very quickly I could get one light to not come on, switched off/on and they would both be back on.
  
It felt like 1 of the ballast box's  was a little'lazy' sometimes, but it got better and less frequent.

Went for a drive last night and they were fine, down some dark lanes so quite a bit of high/dipped beam switching, all worked ok.

Its a Really good spread of bright white with a hint of blue(now that both bulbs are in the right way up  :B ), will take a bit of getting used too!  

Will do a few more Night drives before Im 100%  

8)

[James]

Roy how did you "check for good earth"?

If it was just with a multimeter measuring resistance then that's no indicator.

[James]

Roy how did you "check for good earth"?

If it was just with a multimeter measuring resistance then that's no indicator.

[Richard B]

tiggrr1 wrote:

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling

Quote:

European regulations call for HID lighting systems to come with self-cleaning and self-leveling systems to minimize glare for oncoming motorists.

That could make installation, a bit more awkward  :-/

Depends if the drivers are concerned about causing accidents by blinding other drivers?  :-/

[tiggrr1]

339 wrote:

dont care!!  they are as bright as the surface of the sun and i like them!!  no such thing as a switched on traffic cop!

Tim

I was not trying to be a spoilsport  :P

Just pointing it out, that's all.

Anyway I may try them myself and see if they are any good  ;D ;D ;D

HID's in my headlaps and KC daylighters.............................................................. should be able to dry out wet tarmac  ;)

[thescrapman]

339 wrote:

  no such thing as a switched on traffic cop!

I suspect there will be at least one on teh RBRR....  ;)

[CRAJ]

Do the HiDs illuminate road signs differently to normal Halogens?
The reason I ask is that modern road signs reflect so well off halogens that you can blind yourself, the sealed beams never caused that problem.

Colin.

[Richard B]

Anyone got time on their hands

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/r48r6e.pdf

[Clive]

As a thought, how about using HID's in spotlamps. Not sure what the rules are then? but as they would only be used on high beam dazzling others shouldn't be an issue.
Saying that an improved dipped is always handy too.....

[Nick Jones]

I find that the 5 3/4" Halogens I've got on both cars are absolutely excellent even with standard bulbs  - far better than either of our moderns (even my wife commented on the PI lights recently!) - so inclined to question the need for HiD.  Can't say I particularly enjoy other people HiD lights either.  Maybe you need HiD so you can still see after being zapped by someone elses HiD.....  :-/

Nick

[TimW]

mine were gifted to me and as long as they are set correctly shouldn't dazzle too much.  We will soon find out how many other drivers I can kill in 2000miles :)

[Stuart Wilson]

I'm thinking about getting them for the drive/spot lamps as thought be easier to take out if I do a road rally as not allowd them for those.

[Jason]

Nick_Jones wrote:

I find that the 5 3/4" Halogens I've got on both cars are absolutely excellent even with standard bulbs  - far better than either of our moderns (even my wife commented on the PI lights recently!) - so inclined to question the need for HiD.  Can't say I particularly enjoy other people HiD lights either.  Maybe you need HiD so you can still see after being zapped by someone elses HiD.....  :-/

Nick

You're scarred by Nigel Gair's 4 HIDs on the 10CR - they were impressive but we had more than one dodgy adjuster and struggled to keep them aimed properly - sorry  8)