oowah

Background info:
Alright, so I just got my 3rd gens in a few days or maybe a week ago. I have 6000k hid low beams in. The guy I bought the setup off of had it hooked up plug and play style, so for now I have it hooked up the same way. I'm going to hook up power relays this coming week as well as doing the ultimate high beam mod. I also like long walks on the beach and easy-listening music.

The problemo:

The hids are a little intermittent at igniting. 80% of the time it's fine, but occasionally the passenger one neglects to light up on the first try. So I turn the lows on/off a few times and it usually lights up. I had this pegged to either a voltage issue, or a lazy ballast on the pass. side. This morning for the first time it was the other way around, driver's side was being difficult.

So this makes me think it's just a voltage issue and installing the relays should solve it since it will be getting power directly from the battery.

Does this sound like a reasonable fix, or is there a problem with something else here? I seem to remember other people having a similar issue, but at the time I didn't have HIDs, so I didn't care to read about it.

DaBuzzard

You got it, the ballasts are pulling too much power at start up.

Relay setup should solve that, and the "super high beam" mod will take care of your hid's going out (and having to reignite) every time you switch to high beam.

oowah

Cool, thanks for the reassurance.

I tested out the bulbs and everything tonight and I have a bad ballast as well now. Seems like some water got in it somehow (bought the setup used, so i suppose it could just be old). Figure I might as well replace the whole kit since the price difference between kits and a pair of ballasts is pretty small.

My next question is do I need 2 relays (one for each light) or would a single 40amp relay be sturdy enough to handle powering both HIDs? What's the peak current draw of these lights at start up?

05RLS2

iTrader: (1)

What is this super high beam mod?

DaBuzzard

A single 40a would probably be enough but I would run 1 for each side for this reason: If a relay fails (and they do sometimes) do you want to loose BOTH your headlights?
Murphys Law states that when these things fail it's at 2am on the darkest twistiest road you have ever seen 2 relays ftw imho.


Just a way to keep the low beams from shutting off when you switch to high beams. I have seen a how to on this site, search the how to section for "super high beams"

Just a caveat - the mod won't make your high beams any more effective (you won't be able to see any farther really) but it will fill in the area close to the car better on high.
It is a must (imho) if you are running aftermarket lights with seperate high and low beams, even more so if you run hid's for your low beams.

oowah

Yeah, fair enough with the Murphy's law point. I only have three relays on hand (excluding the one for the high beam mod), so maybe I'll run one for each low beam, and one for both fogs together.
...or I could stop being a lazy ass and just buy another relay. lol


And just a point to add in response to 05RLS2:

Another benefit of this mod is to extend the life of your HID bulbs since switching to high beams would normally shut off your low beams. Switching HIDs on and off more than necessary shortens the lifespan of the bulb, so this just keeps them running when your high beams are on instead of igniting them every time an oncoming car causes you to flick off your highs.