Write-Up: HID Conversion

i keep reading about these hid kits and their related ballast problems what gives? cant one buy a kit where they dont burn out? is this a grounding issue?

I did some reading and found that when HID lamps get old, the voltage necessary to maintain the light can exceed the voltage provided by the ballast. This causes a condition called cycling, where the lights turn on and off repeatedly.

robotennis61 wrote:

i keep reading about these hid kits and their related ballast problems what gives? cant one buy a kit where they dont burn out? is this a grounding issue?

i think it's a quality control and variation in manufacturing issue.
I have HID's and would gladly pay for a new kit if these all die. That said, HID kit parts are cheap. you can buy the whole kit for $50 and may not have any problems. if you loose a bulb you can buy then alone for like $12. if you loose a ballast (much more common than bulb) you can buy a new one for $18. the parts i have received either as single units or as replacements have been beefier than the originals.

Aaron, i havent heard that but it explains why zzp and other site sell hid rewire kits to elevate that problem. Mine are fine but Devin's driver light in his regal flickers at startup sometimes.

Matt, where can you find ballasts for $18? I sold my kit to nigelf with the 2 older ballasts I had because replacements for those would cost $40 each. If you tell me, I can let him know where to buy from.

ebay
i cant remember the exact seller, but i could look it up if needed. as long as they are for 9006 bulbs, 35w (or w/e yours are) it should work with your bulbs.
if he needs more than one ballast they he may be better off getting a whole new kit for 50.

Quote :

Aaron, i havent heard that but it explains why zzp and other site sell hid rewire kits to elevate that problem. Mine are fine but Devin's driver light in his regal flickers at startup sometimes.

This is one of the things that turn me off about HIDs. You have parts that can go bad, causing malfunction, and they aren't always cheap to replace; whereas a halogen bulb just burns out, and is replaced. But if you want the best, it may be worth it to put up with the added maintenance of HIDs.

robotennis61 wrote:

i keep reading about these hid kits and their related ballast problems what gives? cant one buy a kit where they dont burn out? is this a grounding issue?

Uh, my bet would be that these are $50 versions of something that costs $500 from the factory...

http://shop.3bspecialties.com/9006-Kits_c34.htm
still on all original bulbs, ballasts, and anything inbetween. NO issues whatsoever in the almost 3 years of use. i drive my car everyday and a lot of that time is at night. less than 20 min to install and havent touched them since.

Tempting, Tyler. Very tempting...

I found this image showing the color differences, for anyone interested:

definitely something you wont regret, i believe this company also has some sort of warranty that i never ended up needing anyway. and when (if) the time comes that i need to fork out another $30-$50 for a replacement ballast or bulb, you wont hear me complaining one bit, they have more than payed for themselves compared to the yearly (sometimes twice a year) replacement of halogens. and if i ever need another HID kit, ballast, or bulb i will be doing business with 3bspecialties hands down. oh yea and not to mention i ordered them on a tuesday morning and they were at my door wednesday after school. i live in northern MN, and IIRC theyre warehouse is somewhere in TX. definitely the best shipping ive dealt with period, car parts or not.

Yes cheers Lian i got an order in for 1 balast at $16 free shipping! the ones you gave me were fine but one has a problem when starting the car if it hasnt struck correctly or to full brightness it cuts off and you have to cycle the lights off and on. no worries as they are much better for night driving.

One thing i may consider doing is the dip and brights on at the same time as they take a few moments to get bright if you have been on brights for a while and go to normal lights.

i love em ...
Nigel

Glad to hear it! Since you're good with relays and stuff, Snowdog posted a diagram on how to wire the lights up so that when you put the brights on, the HID's still stay on. It should work on our '95's since there's no extra current coming from the daytime running lights...seeing as we don't have them...


Click for link to the topic:

Ok, well after researching everything I'm torn between getting the PIAAs and possibly springing for the HID conversion kit. For those who have the HID conversion kit, where did you get it, how hard is it to put in, and how does it work overall?

I found these on ebay. I heard philips is a pretty good maker of HID tech.

Link

My cynical 2 cents' worth:

If they were genuine Philips I'd say go for it... As a licensee, it probably doesn't mean a lot. It is also interesting that the before and after photos are of different roads - what else was "different"?

GMFreak8 wrote:

Ok, well after researching everything I'm torn between getting the PIAAs and possibly springing for the HID conversion kit. For those who have the HID conversion kit, where did you get it, how hard is it to put in, and how does it work overall?

i would not go back to regular bulbs unless i had to. go back to page 8 for a comparison pic of silverstar vs 6000k HID. got them off ebay. if you dont want the hassle of replacing defective ballasts spring for a more expensive kit ($100). if you want to save some money and chance the ballast being good, get a cheapo kit ($50). i had both ballast go bad, one was replaced for free the other i bought on ebay from someone else for $18.

i'd be interested in a pic like mine comparing silverstar to piaa, and piaa to hid.

HID's are not difficult at all to "install", if you even call it an install. All you do is pull the old bulb out, put the hid bulb in. Plug the HID bulb into the ballast and plug the factory wire into the ballast. Tape down or mount the ballast so it dosnt fall. that's it.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

GMFreak8 wrote:

Ok, well after researching everything I'm torn between getting the PIAAs and possibly springing for the HID conversion kit. For those who have the HID conversion kit, where did you get it, how hard is it to put in, and how does it work overall?

i would not go back to regular bulbs unless i had to. go back to page 8 for a comparison pic of silverstar vs 6000k HID. got them off ebay. if you dont want the hassle of replacing defective ballasts spring for a more expensive kit ($100). if you want to save some money and chance the ballast being good, get a cheapo kit ($50). i had both ballast go bad, one was replaced for free the other i bought on ebay from someone else for $18.

i'd be interested in a pic like mine comparing silverstar to piaa, and piaa to hid.

HID's are not difficult at all to "install", if you even call it an install. All you do is pull the old bulb out, put the hid bulb in. Plug the HID bulb into the ballast and plug the factory wire into the ballast. Tape down or mount the ballast so it dosnt fall. that's it.

Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I was looking at that post on ebay, and I'm not sure about the seller, but I did find what looks to be the same thing here for a significantly higher price. I'm not sure what to go for.

Here's the link: http://www.hidxenonlights.com/9006-hid-bulbs-c-654/philips-hid-conversion-kit-4300-6000k-p-262

I really want HIDs. It's be awesome. What color did you go with? Something closer to 4300K or 6000? I just watched the install videos on that site and you're right, it isnt difficult at all. What about aiming? Should it be fine just inserting the bulb or does putting HID bulbs in requiring reaiming?

Edit: Noticed you mentioned reaiming (and that I got a negative for saying something). I assume it's just using the basic light adjustments provided with the OEM lens?

not sure why someone neg'd that, but i canceled it out for you.

i went with 6000k color. Devin had 8000k and they are noticable bluer than mine. i like the nice pure crisp white of mine now so i know 4300k would be too yellow for my taste. i have a pic of the lights on while looking at the car if you want to see the color difference.

if you dont mine opting for a better kit, zzp has them for $90 and i bet they will hold to the warranty better than most of the ebay ones. looks identical to my xentec kit though.

Kelvin scale for reference





Personally, I like the slightly warm-white, mid-3000K of the stock bulbs, I just wish I could aim the lows separately from the highs...
Another disadvantage of those stylish, expensive aero-lights.

you know, i always thought sunset orange looked more like "High Pressure Sodium".

seriously though, thanks for posting the kelvin color chart.
HID's can be bought in a wider range of colors, but less options than shown above. normally it's 3000, 4300, 5000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 15000, 30000.

4300 being close to stock color.

30,000?!?

Obviously for undercover operators wearing ultraviolet lenses...

they are not legal, but very popular with euro and ricer crowds.
30000K - deep purple


3000K - yellow as they come

[img(720px.540px)]https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/i/img0976if4.jpg/[/img]

Hmmm... Stock halogens are supposed to be under 3500K, aren't they?

Doesn't seem possible if those yellows are 3000K.

This might be a better chart for our purposes:

yes stock lows are around 3500, silverstars are like 4000.

both of which are too yellow for me.

in the pic above they are fog lights, so that car may have a yellow lens too. i should have found a better pic to rep 3k.

I think I'd go with the 6000K color for my HIDs.

I'm dreaming of when I can finally get and install the HIDs. I just upgraded my foglights to intense white xenon bulbs, and it's amazing the extra distance and clarity those provide. I can only imagine what HID lights would do. I have the fogs aimed so they act more as driving lights than fogs.

Mr Riv, what kit did you buy again? You seem to have good luck with it.


I've been reading about Kensun kits and they seem to be pretty good. They have a two year warranty and are on Amazon for 79.99 right now.

I live in a very rural area with a lot of back roads. I'm wondering if I'd be better off getting the 4300K bulbs instead of the 6000K bulbs. Am I right in assuming that you can just change the bulbs to change the color? If so I could try both colors and go from there...

The 6000K temperature is what I had, they're perfect. 8000K's look like 6000K's that haven't warmed up, and actually look pretty nasty. The 10000K's are obnoxiously blue so you don't want to go there.

6000K looks professional, go for that.