HID Shorting, euro ellips

[blueapplesoda]

i retrofitted the HIDs to use the stock wiring along with the stock cap, and it seems that everytime i try to fire up the HIDs, instead of a spark arcing inside the light bulb, it arcs across the two little metal connectors on the plastic back cap for the ellip. right before the bulb....anyone ever encounter this?

[NC325iC]

sounds frightening

[asubimmer]

what brand?

[YAN-3]

keep us informed man. im about to do a 6K conversion in the M3 and wanna make sure i work out any bugs

[smonkbmw]

thats not a good way to wire it at all. if youre doing what i think youre doing (need pics to verify). the stock wiring inside the cap is good for the standard wattage of a normal halogen bulb. what you dont know is that the ballast of a hid system outputs a lot more wattage to that bulb. youre lucky it didnt catch the plastic on fire.

[Van Westervelt]

It pulls more wattage on initial startup or ignition but mine pulls less wattage once ignited than h1's. As do all my other HID setups.

Take pictures. If it doesnt ignite, do not continue trying to turn them on for the love of pete. Pull them. Perhaps you crossed the wires somewhere. Also, some ballasts are not strong enough to ignite the bulbs through multiple splices. One connection/splice between bulb and ballast is all you should have. If you have 2, eliminate one and your problem should be resolved so long as you dont have the wires bare and touching.

[smonkbmw]

e30 groupie: are you saying that its ok to have your hid bulbs spliced to the stock wiring thats held in by a dab of solder on the inside of the stock cap? i think thats what he is referring to and is getting shorted between the dabs of solder. then hes got the output of the ballast spliced to the thin wires leading to the plug leading into the cap.

im pretty sure theres a reason why they have those big clips that go from the ballast to the bulb, and its not to cut it all up to splice it.

[bimmer8604]

most people drill a hole in the back of the cap(thats what i did) and eliminate those two wires. Its easier, and just put a rubber grommet in there to keep water out.

kyle

[backtrail69]

I just left the backing plates off on the low beams...

[bimmer8604]

I just left the backing plates off on the low beams...

they're there for a reason...

kyle

[MR 325]

they're there for a reason...

kyle

Mine were not installed on my old car.

Choke on that! <3

[backtrail69]

They have been through washing of the engine, rain, snow etc and havent had any problems... I am not worried about it. Those caps (which I still have) are really there for the Halogens, they have nice pretty connectors.

[golde30]

most people drill a hole in the back of the cap(thats what i did) and eliminate those two wires. Its easier, and just put a rubber grommet in there to keep water out.

kyle

FTW. i have done it like this on a couple cars with euro ellips, and it has worked out great through the rainy season. the kits i used came with a rubber grommet already on the wires, worked out beautifully.

[smonkbmw]

most people drill a hole in the back of the cap(thats what i did) and eliminate those two wires. Its easier, and just put a rubber grommet in there to keep water out.

kyle

weird i tried that using the grommet on the lights (prolumens) and the bulb was too long, ya couldnt fit the grommet in cause the light would pop it back out.. maybe ill try again.

[bimmer8604]

hrm, my kit fit no problems. I bought it off of a BF group buy for like 200 shipped or something like that. Its not ZKW but like DWK or something like that. For the price I paid I think it is a great kit, and very clean installation.

Kyle