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So far I hate HIDS

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    #1

    So far I hate HIDS

    So, my vert had sealed beams on it and I became concerned about the lack of safety resulting from shitty lights. I bought a set of US ellips and figured it would be a good idea to buy some HIDs. I decided on the xentec 5000k setup - and I regret it. First of all, they are way too blue. Otherwise, one of the ballasts was dead upon arrival and I've been struggling to get the driver's side to work regularly.

    After reading on here I thought a relay harness would solve my problem - but it didn't. I still have the same problems on the driver's side after installing a new ballast and harness. So, all I have left to try to replace are the bulbs. If my $90 morimoto bulbs don't work I guess I'll be pot committed so to speak and will have to buy better ballasts. If that doesn't work I'm throwing it all in the blender and putting regular bulbs in.

    This has seriously been the most annoying project ever.
    "We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."
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    #2
    Make sure the reflectors inside the ellips are clean and polished too. Most are cloudy now, which severely dimiahes light output. I couldn't ever get mine to not sporadically flicker every so often. I think it was cheap ballasts.... couldn't ever see it while driving so I never cared.
    Originally posted by Gruelius
    and i do not know what bugg brakes are.

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      #3
      Originally posted by KenC View Post
      Make sure the reflectors inside the ellips are clean and polished too. Most are cloudy now, which severely dimiahes light output. I couldn't ever get mine to not sporadically flicker every so often. I think it was cheap ballasts.... couldn't ever see it while driving so I never cared.
      The best I can say is that they don't flicker with the relay harness - but the lows never did. Only the highs. Now they are steady but they don't always fire.

      Am I going to ruin my bulbs with cheap ballasts?
      "We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."

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        #4
        not likely to damage the bulbs with bad ballasts.
        I saved 15% on my Bimmer parts by switching to ...



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          #5
          Here are the factors working against you:
          - Cheap Xentec hardware (this is like the 3rd thread I have seen in a month about bad ballasts from them)
          - Possible wiring issues (it isn't too hard to wire ballasts in properly, but people mess it up frequently)
          - Super cheap ricer bulbs
          - US ellipsoid lights with reflector dishes that have 20+ years of heat & oxidation damage (I assume you bought used ones)
          - It sounds like you put HIDs in the high beam housings. This is a HUGE no-no. For one, it is unnecessary. Second, HID bulbs have a ~30 second warm-up time, so attempts to flash highs or use them for brief periods are utterly useless. Put halogen bulbs back in there. OEM Xenon high beams actually use the low beam bulbs and have a movable shutter inside that allows the low beam bulb to project light up higher when activated.

          Here's how to deal with this stuff:
          - The ballast issues are fairly simple. Once you get ones that work, even if they are cheap, you will be fine.
          - Sounds like you worked the wiring out.
          - Morimoto bulbs are better than a lot of other after-market crap (I have tried a bunch of brands). Hopefully you ordered 4300K or 4500K ones. 5000K is unnecessary and won't give as good of light, but if you already ordered them then you will be OK.
          - There's nothing that can be done about tarnished reflectors. Polishing will just go right through the coating.
          - Put halogen bulbs in your high beams. As stated above, Xenon lights take ~30 seconds to get up to operating temperature / brightness.

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            #6
            Id go with hella h4s

            -Blame my typos on my fat fingers & Droid Charge

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              #7
              Yeah, I'm going to move the other set of bulbs/ballasts to the fog lights and put stock bulbs in the highs. I ordered 4300k bulbs this time. Also, how do you wire a ballast wrong? 3/4 lights work regularly and I swapped ballasts on the 3rd one and still have the same problem. The only variable left is the bulb. If the new bulbs don't make a difference I'm going to order morimoto ballasts for the lows and keep the xentec on the fogs.

              As far as the housings are concerned - I'm not a perfectionist. I know I'm not getting the best light output but it's sure as shit better than the sealed beams that I had. If I wanted max output I'd have to buy a new set of US or euro ellips and retrofit a bi-xenon setup. To me that's way too much work for the extra lumens. Perhaps if I lived in a pitch black and deer infested area I might - but I live in the city.
              "We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."

              Comment

                #8
                Originally posted by Turf1600 View Post
                Yeah, I'm going to move the other set of bulbs/ballasts to the fog lights and put stock bulbs in the highs. I ordered 4300k bulbs this time. Also, how do you wire a ballast wrong? 3/4 lights work regularly and I swapped ballasts on the 3rd one and still have the same problem. The only variable left is the bulb. If the new bulbs don't make a difference I'm going to order morimoto ballasts for the lows and keep the xentec on the fogs.

                As far as the housings are concerned - I'm not a perfectionist. I know I'm not getting the best light output but it's sure as shit better than the sealed beams that I had. If I wanted max output I'd have to buy a new set of US or euro ellips and retrofit a bi-xenon setup. To me that's way too much work for the extra lumens. Perhaps if I lived in a pitch black and deer infested area I might - but I live in the city.

                as long as the system works with halogen bulbs (get a 9006 to test with) the wiring is correct. possibility that the wires are backwards, but im not sure that would affect the system.

                The xentec ballasts are complete plug and play with the 9006 connector, so there is very little chance of screwing it up if the system worked fine before adding the HID's
                I saved 15% on my Bimmer parts by switching to ...



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                  #9
                  your problem is xentec. worst hid's i've ever used. i would suggest getting a better kit. i got new ones from hidextra and they work perfect.
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