HID retrofit discussion
 

Are the fire related issues more to do with the housing the bulbs are put into, versus the bulbs/kits themselves? I see a lot of aftermarket headlights that say "NOT FOR HID." A friend's 2002 3 series BMW burnt to the ground with aftermarket headlights and HIDs.


His actual car!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/...6704bf.jpg?v=0

Re: Hid Group Buy!!
 

The problem is, non-HID equipped from the factory cars don't have housings designed to withstand the added heat of HID bulbs which can cause melted housings or worse as mentioned above. I've also heard of fires due to faulty/low-quality wiring. How comprehensive is the 18-month warranty and if something were to happen would someone be there to stand behind the product and cover the related damage? Most people of course never experience any negative side effects but it never hurts to be informed just in case you're one of the unlucky few.

HID retrofit discussion
 

Discussion for HID retrofit kits to clean up Primo's GB thread.

Posts moved from here:

http://mitsustyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21503

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

That is scary shit, I will keep my reg. headlights.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

No shit me too.
Joe

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Most of the fire-related incidents involving HID I have heard was started by too small of wiring to handle them. I put some plug and play HID kit on my old eclipse using ebay projectors and never had any problems. I bought a wiring kit though that used bigger gauge wiring.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

In response to...
"I've heard a lot of horror stories of cheap kits burning down cars and that's the one thing keeping me from converting."
Most of the horror stories you have heard about the "cheap kits"
are attributed to poor wiring done by inexperienced users.
The other portion of the stories come from users who don't have a plug and play kit, and use a model of bulb that does not fit correctly in the bulbs slot and use whatever means they have i.e. super-glue/tape/zip-ties/ect.
to mount the bulbs, I have seen this may of times the bulb gets loose and contacts the plastic headlight assembly and there you have it a fire.
no good.

I took it upon myself to test if HID's burn hotter than incandescent bulbs..
Here are some photos from my test.
I took 3 surface temp. samples from each style bulb.
Each test utilized the shops beater 626, engine running,
Each photo was taken from the initial start of bulb,waiting 10 min,then waiting another 10 min.

The first set of photos are with the incandescent bulb.
The second set of photos are of the HID bulb
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00422-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00423-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00424-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00425-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00426-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...C00427-900.jpg

Results...
incandescent bulb(9006)
*surface temp #1 -857 degrees
*surface temp #2 -913 degrees
*surface temp #3- 970 degrees
HID Bulb(H7)
*surface temp #1 -658 degrees
*surface temp #2 -738 degrees
*surface temp #3 -823 degrees

Conclusion:
HID's run cooler than Incandescent's

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

When products are labeled with "no HID" the products lens assembly is correctly matched to the light output of a regular bulb, when a HID is installed the lens basically fractures the light incorrectly making you "beam pattern" worse, and also blinding oncoming drivers making it unsafe for others and you.
It typically has nothing to do with bulb temp, HID bulbs create less heat than a conventional (incandescent) bulb.
and to prove this I did the test stated above.:woohoo1:

Re: Hid Group Buy!!
 

please read above post.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Do you know of a good housing for the DSM specifically 1G? Also is the stock housing ok?

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Do you mean Headlight Housing? or is this for a flip up headlight?

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

So HID will NOT cause a fire. They run cooler and they draw less current.
If the wires for the stock headlights can handle the 55W halogen bulbs they will beable to handle the 35W HID bulbs with ease.
So if you purchase a plug and play HID kit then there should be no worries.
But throw in some crappy wiring job by a hack with a non plug and play HID kit and flames away.

In Jareds case, who knows what happend, Maybe it was not made for his car and he wired it up wrong.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I disagree.

When you go to ignite the HID bulb, the current can double or even triple the amount needed compared to when it's completely on. This load can, over time, melt the wiring jacket around the stock wiring. This happens so fast that it will not blow the fuse. That is why you should install larger gauge wiring hooked up the battery and use a relay to tap into the existing wiring for the headlights.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Housing, B body.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I have heard good things about the Ebay light housings, Projector and non projector units, ask sleepydsm, he has a set,

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I concur. I purchased a solid plug and play kit from the guy that sells on the NSX forums (the name of the company slips my mind at the moment), and the instructions specifically say that the ballasts require more current, especially during initial ignition. The wiring harness was well built with thick and insulated wires, and they specifically say to wire the ground and positive straight to the battery because they need a clean and strong connection. I thought about purchasing the cheaper kits, but I'm glad I spent a little more to get something with legitimate quality. So far I'm happy, and nothing has melted in my stock housing so far. I think the heat problems have a lot to do with how well the kit is made as others have stated.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I will post up a spec sheet on our product,
1 cold starting electricity 6.5-7.0A
2 stable electricity 3.5A/12V
3 hot starting electricity 3.6A/12V
4 stable power 35W
5 open circuit protection automatic protection in 1s
6 short circuit protection automatic protection in10s
7 over voltage protection automatic stop working reaching18v
8 low voltage protection automatic stop working reaching 8v
9 lighting test no ignition in 23kv anywhere
10 flashing test turn on and off in every second ,every time the bulbs can
11 aging test work continuously 24 hours normally
12 ignition test normal
13 high temperature test work normally reaching 105 centigrade
14 low temperature test work normally reaching minus 40 centigrade
15 waterproof dustproof test immerged in water for 12 hours,
16 anti-vibration test good
17 salt fog test good
18 anti-electromagnetism test meet regulation requirement
19 ignition voltage 23kv 20KV-23KV
20 time to stable in cold starting process 4s
21 isolation function ≥300megohm the power is isolated to outer shell≥300 megohm

if you need an explanation please ask.
Thanks,
Jesse

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I remember this, but did jared ever say for sure it the fire started from the HID's in his aftermarket projectors? Did his car get inspected at all after this.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I can easily see a sloppy wiring job that isn't tied down vibrating and rubbing and eventually shorting out.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I tried talking to him about it, around then,
but he really didn't have a great explanation of what happend.
though if I had done a shoddy wiring job and burned down my BMW, I don't think I would have admitted it either.
-Jesse

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Looks like another test will be done tomorrow. ARGH! lol.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Maybe I will call jared and see if he actually found out that it was the Lights that caused the fire..

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I have had a number of HIDs hooked up to an oscilloscope and have yet to ever see one with a startup current draw as low as mentioned in your post.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I will test this tomorrow. ;-)

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

With? What will the sampling frequency be?

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Let's see if I remember my statistics: so you mean that he will have to find a sample size or number of samples that will give him an accurate reading? And then he'd have to make like a bar chart or a scatter plot and all that good stuff? Because one or two readings is not technically accurate since you have variability; the more samples the better. Dang.. I can't believe I remembered all of that.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I'm guessing he meant actual frequency since he mentioned using an oscilloscope. Though I'm not sure why, thought that was for AC only.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

meh guys, that's why there's car insurance! :)

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

holy! ppl he's just trying to get every one a good deal on them, if you are worried then pass on the sale! it's a simple as that

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

That's pretty much what I'm saying. I've had "cheap" HIDs in my car for two years and it's been fine. I'd buy a few sets from him just cause but I'm broke right now.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Agreed.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

When I am talking about sampling frequency, I am referring to how often is the measurement device taking a measurement. I have found a couple different multi-meters at work that do not sample fast enough to catch the initial current surge that HID ballasts have. That is why I ended up using a current transducer with an oscilloscope.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

My DVOM is has a High sampling rate, with a Min max function, so If the readings are below 10A I will catch it, or blow my fuse, we will see Ill get it done soon.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I have the ebay black housing headlights, with the hids..wired wrong when I got them, but fixed it, and it works just fine now. Yet to have any issues.

-A. Swift

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

I need to question this method of measurement. Did you use an optical temp sensor, like infrared stuff? If so, this can't possible represent the actual temperature of the surface, you could just as well be measuring the temp of the filament in the incandescants, and the gas or whatever it is in the HID's. You need a non-optical reading for surface temps of glass.

My guess is that it will be very different (lower for both). If my headlights are reaching 900 degrees, my car would have caught fire a long time ago.

And it was already addressed, but I would think poor wiring would be the culprit, not the bulbs or ballasts themselves.

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

agreed to the point of accuracy, just to prove the point that the HID bulbs run cooler,

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

agreed to the point of accuracy, just to prove the point that the HID bulbs run cooler,

Re: HID retrofit discussion
 

Did you ever get around to this test? This thread is making me nervous about the 55w DDM kit in my Bimmer. They sure do spark bright when turned on...