Hid gurus need help

[8thLS6]

Basically my passenger side does this slight dimming in and out ever since I switched from 6000k bulbs to 5000k bulbs. I figured it was due to the 5k being cheap ebay replacements, so I trashed em. Plus they didnt match my led fog bulbs, so it was no biggie.

Now I have 4300k bulbs from a reputable brand, and I noticed the same issue tonight but not as bad as the 5k (u could notice it while driving). This is my first night using them, they're a day old.

So having tried a different brand and kelvin in bulbs, I'm wondering if it's that sides ballast.

The 4300k bulbs I have now are ac and the ballasts are dc I think..I'm not to familiar with all that stuff. But the 6k bulbs I used to use were ac, and I don't recall any issues.

I appreciate any ideas. Gonna try switching out ballasts with a ballast from an old kit in the mean time .

[oakrdrs187]

Dont get your ac and dc twisted up, there's no way you can feed dc current to an ac bulb and expect it to work or vice versa. Forget about all that, 6000k 5000k or ebay bulbs are bulbs and ballasts are ballasts.

Now a few things, ballasts are 12V DC input and convert to some ridiculous 5 digit AC number, so if the problem persists after a bulb swap you can simply try swapping sides to rule out the culprit before buying anything. For example, you have flickering bulb, dimmed bulb or its completely out you just take the bulbs in the car and switch sides, if the problem moves to the other side its a bad bulb if the problem remains on the same side its a ballast problem. So, since it happened with different bulb to the same side its likely to be the ballast.



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[8thLS6]

Gotcha, thats exactly what I was thinking. I never noticed it with past bulbs such as the 8k and 10k I had. I wonder if the light being more white with the 5k I tried and the 4300 I have now, its more visible and I took notice.


I've had the ballasts since 2011 with no real complaint. Bulbs always came on and stayed on with a just a small flicker on a cold start, but steady after.

Its weird though, its like that side randomly dims a very small amount and then back to full intensity. With the 5k it happened rapid and consistent, almost looked like flicker but not the typical strobe effect.

But anyway im gonna give one of those spare ballast a shot, just gotta figure which is the bad one. I had it labeled but the label came off smh. Thanks for the advice

[oakrdrs187]

Do you have a relay harness? Or are you plug and play to the stock wiring? If so that's part of your problem.

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[8thLS6]

You know the first kit I got for my car (which is where the spare ballasts come from I mentioned), I had an issue with a ballast. Company recommended a relay harness. All that did was take me from having one working ballast, to no lights at all. And thats when i just ditched it and got another kit which supplied the ballasts I now have.

I ordered some anti flicker cancellers since my last post. Will it help, who knows. But they're not expensive. And if they don't solve things I can keep incase I get a newer car in the future where it has a bulb out error using hids, sell them, or just leave em. Definitely less hassle removing or installing than the harness imo.

If I still have the harness (I think), for giggles I might give it another go. But after cancellers

[oakrdrs187]

No offense but in the past you have mentioned wiring is not your forté.

Those canceller shits, throw them in a blender and hit frappé.

On your first install, something probably went wrong in the wiring process, a relay harness powers both ballasts using only one harness on the side closer to the battery. I would never plug and play HIDs and absolutely hate to see it on cars, if you see it as a hassle then my suggestion is to not run them at all. The reason for the harness is to supply direct battery power for the start up demand. Also, its made so you ground directly to the metal on the car to insure a proper circuit at the same time eliminating the flicker alot of people who plug and play get. The flicker is a way for the bulb to tell you its being starved of power.

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[2002BlackDragon]

I had plug and play HIDs and never had an issue. They didn't flicker or anything. Strong steady light out put in both heads and fogs.

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[8thLS6]

Lol no I meant wiring from scratch, like if you had to solder etc. The harness was simple plug and play, I really saw no wrong way to hook it up. Especially with the instructions, and connectors being one. Not to mention wire colors (red+ & blue ground).

I put that spare ballast in today and assume I installed the working of the two since I had no issues. I just have to wait til the next time I drive at night, because the dimming in and out isnt visible during the day. Thats how miniscule it is.

One thing I did notice in removing the old ballast the backing fell off the ignitor. Its external but I had it zip tied down, but I might have knocked it off cutting the zip tie off. The spare ballast is slim too but all internal.

[8thLS6]

Also oakrdrs187 I'm sure knows what im talking about, but incase any others reading don't, the ignitor is the part shown here circled.
http://lumenshid.com/hidparts/ballast_comp-slim.jpg
The backplate on the underside fell off while removing the ballast. I wonder if it had been loose prior and exposed to moisture, and if enough to cause my problem

[oakrdrs187]

Yes, moisture is not good for it. Even if dry it can potentially arc to metal causing the bulb dim/flicker.

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[oakrdrs187]

I had plug and play HIDs and never had an issue. They didn't flicker or anything. Strong steady light out put in both heads and fogs.

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While that may be fine for you and most, I, as someone with strong electronics background, years of experince with circuits, wiring, shorts and problem solving would never run HIDs on any of my cars by plugging the little pins into the stock connector and then walk away from it and call it installed.

Not only do I make my own harness,I choose my wire gauge, ground points and only use Bosch 30A relays to ensure a good circut but also to prevent the dinky splices and connectors from coming loose.

Put it this way, would you install an audio amplifier with a wiring kit or the stock wiring from your cars radio?

Ballasts are like small amplifiers. So like amps they need their own wiring kit

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[2002BlackDragon]

Oh. Well mine had full ballasts, not little pins.

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[2002BlackDragon]

It had full ballasts and a full kit. It wasn't little pins. Full out wiring harness.

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[oakrdrs187]

So yours had the hi and lo function right?

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[2002BlackDragon]

Yep...

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[8thLS6]

I have the hi lo myself with the small halogen bulb for highs.

Anyway bad news. I now realize both sides do it. And its more of a fluctuation in beam than flicker. Only way I could tell was sitting looking at the car parked in front of me tonight and on the ground. You could see the beams cut off line moving and not steady. I don't know if I should refer to it as cut off line while not using projectors, so correct me if I'm wrong.

So feeling like I'm dragging this on, I see a few options. Either gonna try the cancellers when they arrive cause I have nothing to lose. Run the 6000k bulbs again since they didn't seem to show the fluctuation. Or ditch hids and source a whiter halogen since I kinda been wanting to jump off the bluish lighting bandwagon (exterior).

[oakrdrs187]

Yep...

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Hi/Lo function HIDs are plug and play and the set of plug and play wires is a wire harness and the little box that all the wires go to is a relay, which is why you haven't had issues.

When I say plug and play I mean with the cheap crowd who go low beam only HIDs and just tapped into the stock connector.

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[oakrdrs187]

Get a quality kit from the retrofit source with a harness. Done.

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[8thLS6]

Well the first I kit I got was from retro solutions. I got their lower grade kit, cause I felt if I was gonna pay more for their higher grade kit I might aswell go all out and retrofit. When I had issues with the kit, they suggested the relay harness which I bought from them. Like I said, that never worked, so I just got another kit.

Anyway, I put my 6000k bulbs in about 20 mins ago and they are flawless still. I contacted the seller of the 4300k bulbs to see if I can get a refund. Seens ordering those cancellers might have been for nothing now, but hopeully a refund on the bulbs will reimburse my efforts.

Thanks for the help, I made a mental note of everything discussed

[oakrdrs187]

I've never had an issue with kits from vvme.com and ddmtuning. Strongly recommend either for anyone reading.

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