Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here

[straight6]

Originally Posted by praJEEP

No problems then go ahead. but i am again asking where are you going to fix the ballast kit. battery will get charged when hid is on, but make sure you upgrade the battery before.
EDIT: upgrade the rectifier also..

I will be using only one ballast so it shouldnt be such a big problem but I'll look for a discreet place for it. I was told that I must upgrade the battery to atleast 5.5 Ah for an HID kit. My CBR had a 8.5 AH battery. Any idea where I can get an upgrade for the rectifier?

[praJEEP]

Originally Posted by straight6

I will be using only one ballast so it shouldnt be such a big problem but I'll look for a discreet place for it. I was told that I must upgrade the battery to atleast 5.5 Ah for an HID kit. My CBR had a 8.5 AH battery. Any idea where I can get an upgrade for the rectifier?

No idea brother, contact a well known famous auto electrical guy in mumbai. any mumbai bhpians should help you out in this matter.
any ways hope this helps

Source : Xbhp

What is HID ?

COLOR=HID stands for high-intensity discharge, the technical term for the electric arc that produces the light. Automotive [COLOR=#ff6600]HID[/COLOR] lamps are commonly called 'xenon headlamps', because of the xenon gas used in the lamps. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate amounts of light immediately upon startup and speed the warm-up time.
The warm-up may take 5-10 seconds depends on voltage and colour. Sample video (connected to car battery in example): Video - TinyPic - Share the Experience!™

Socket types available: H1, H3, H4 (High/Low Beam), H7, H8, H10, H11, H13, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007, D2C, D2S & D2R
Color temperatures: 3200K, 4300K, 6000K, 8000K, 10000K & 12000K Color temperature is not an indicator of brightness. Usual output of 4300K bulb is 3200 lumens. This is the maximum output. Higher temperatures will have lower light output. As a comparison a 130W halogen bulb will generate 1600-1700 lumens of light.
Anything above 4300K is for show. Human eyes see well with color temperature <5000K. Light >5000K have a blue tinge, higher you go with the temperature range will tend towards purple. Also studies have proven that light closer to sunlight is best, bluish light causes rider fatigue with longer usage. Not to mention the glare to oncoming vehicles due to higher color temperature (more scatter as temperature increases).
You also get colored Xenon. I've seen blue, purple even gold colored ones. Stay away from them unless you intend to be cop magnet and cause inconvenience on road.
Types of bulbs:
1. Single Xenon: Most common package with 1 tube per bulb focused to low beam.
2. Bi-Xenon : May not be available for all socket types. Has two HID tubes, one for each high and low beam.
3. Xenon/Halogen: Usually found in H4 socket configuration. tube is focused to low beam and additional 55W halogen for high beam.
4. Single Xenon hi/lo: Usually for H4 socket configuration. It has a single HID tube, but with an additional magnetic arrangement to switch between high and low beam. Useful for cases where you don't want to loose the extra warm-up time required when switching between low and high beam. The electromagnetic arrangement with bulb moves the tube to adjust focus distance.




Typical package contents:
-- 2 x Xenon Bulbs (Extra 2 Halogen Bulbs for H4 H/L) or 4 x Xenon Bulbs for Bi-Xenon model
-- 2 x Ballasts with Buit-in Starter/Igniter
-- All Necessary Wires & Installing Accessories (fuse/ cable ties)
Couple of pictures of 4300K H4 hi/lo (Halogen/Xenon) kit:




I had got a couple of sets of H4 Xenon kits for installing in bikes. The four individual bulbs and ballasts were meant to be used in:

1. Karizma (mine)
2. Comet GT250 (hisunil)
3. CBZ * (praveenkm)
4. Pulsar 180 (nfsnfs)

Of this 3 have already been installed (CBZ* is pending installation this week). The pictures of the kit are available here:

Plogger Gallery


The cost of the set worked out to about Rs.7500 per pair of bulbs and ballast. The Low beam is bulb and the High beam is 55W halogen.

Installation is pretty straightforward.

1. Place the ballast close to the headlight assembly (lower electrical interference and loss). The ballasts are usually water and shock proof and pretty sturdy.

2. Replace existing bulb to replace with bulb and complete the ballast to HID wiring.

3. The HID runs on DC only hence its better to provide it with a steady DC power. Hence connect the Ballast to the battery with a fuse of 15A in series. and an additional relay for switching the ballast on/off.

Basically the wiring is as follows. Start from the positive terminal of the battery through a 15A fuse and then to the terminals of the relay. The existing wires from the headlight swtich would be used to switch the relay on/off to complete the Battery->Fuse->Relay->Ballast->HID circuit complete.

Since the High beam is just 55W the existing wiring can also be used for that purpose.

Once the ballast, are placed and the wiring is complete, the setup is done. You are now ready for a shining light experience.

Some additional info and FAQ:

1. Never leave headlight in ON position and switch off engine (so that I don't accidentally switch it on like with on). It will put too much load on the electricals with the starter and the on.
2. Wait for 5-10 seconds after electric start to switch on the since the starter would have drained initial power.
3. Have a powerful enough battery. Bare minimum 7Ah, but a 9/12/14Ah would be better.
4. Avoid regular switch on/off cycles for . Its better not to switch on/off the rapidly. The Xenon charged gas particles need a proper warm up/cool down cycle for long life. That doesn't mean that the has low life. Its life is rated 10 times longer than Halogen at about 3200 hours. But I'd like to take precautions rather than suffer.
5. The HID is very powerful hence causes a lot of glare if installed incorrectly

Details of on Comet by hisunil:
Thanks To Sri My Comet Has a Xenon now - xBhp

I will answer questions which are not directly answered or implied from whats written above.

Q&A

1. Can be put in place of High beam?

Ans: Technically no. High beam is called so because the beam is focussed higher than the low beam which is due to the relative positioning of the filament inside the bulb. You can focus the existing Low beam of [COLOR=#ff6600]HID[/COLOR] to that of Hi beam distance, but I would not suggest doing that as it is too bright and you can be sure of getting swears each time a vehicle passes by you. Not to mention the police mama's it will attract.

2. As u said, it takes time to light up... Then, will it be effective as high beam?
Ans: Even at its lowest brightness it will be brighter than any Halogen bulb. Much better than stock and the spread is good so it is close to hi beam.

3.What battery have you go on your ZMA? Stock or upgraded?
Ans: I still have stock 7Ah battery. But would upgrade to 9Ah.

4. Will the 12/14 Ah batteries fit in the stock battery location?
Ans: I have not tried the batteries myself so can't comment. for comarision of size you can refer to the following links:

http://www.exideindustries.com/eil/a...rs/ENFIELD.html
http://www.exideindustries.com/eil/a...lers/BAJAJ.html
http://www.exideindustries.com/eil/a...eelers/LML.html

Compare the size and judge for yourself. It might not be a straight fit, but you may be able to fit it in. You can also look for SMF batteries (also called UPS batteries by some dealers) which are compact.

[jkdas]

Altos comes with Halonix as OEM?

[smith]

hi, i need to upgrade stock headlamp bulbs on my ohc1.3 - had zeroed down on philips vision plus after reading various opinions on this forum( dont want to fiddle with oe settings to add 90/100 with relay). now i have come to know about this new addition in philips lineup the extreme vision - can someone throw light on the diff. b/w the two including price & availability in ncr

[straight6]

Prajeep, thanks a lot. Will do some more research so I dont end up wasting money in trying to do this. I have also PM'd Sri & Sandeep on xbhp for more info about how to do it for my bike.

[rrnsss]

I am awaiting delivery of my Getz Diesel. ALl the cars I have had so far have had glass reflectors and glass lens. The getz it seems comes witha plastic lens and reflector.

I usually change my lights to 130/110 W . This generates a lot of heat . Will such a high wattage bulb damage the getz's lens/reflector?

If so, what is the safe wattage?

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by rrnsss

I am awaiting delivery of my Getz Diesel. ALl the cars I have had so far have had glass reflectors and glass lens. The getz it seems comes witha plastic lens and reflector.

I usually change my lights to 130/110 W . This generates a lot of heat . Will such a high wattage bulb damage the getz's lens/reflector?

If so, what is the safe wattage?

Definitely it will fade your reflectors in long term, as your reflectors aren't meant for 130/110 W, thought the safe wattage is one recommended by the manufacturer but still you can bet on 90/100 W.

[Epic]

Hi Guys,

After many a posts on Team-Bhp and alot of questions to different Auto Accessory shops with regard to installation of HIDs on my Swift; i have finally come to a conclusion to fit HIDs in my fog lamps only and presently using 90/100 Narva white H4 bulbs in my headlights.

I have come to the above conclusion due to the following reasons as mentioned below: -

After going through this thread it was concluded that HIDs are illegal unless installed in a projector setup. I am not keen on installing projectors as my headlamp levelling device will not work and i will have to focus the headlights manually which may not be as per company regulations and i would not be comfortable with that.

Besides i was also advised against installing HIDs in projectors available for Swift as these projectors are not original from Suzuki and made in Taiwan or some place. There have been complaints of part of the projectors peeling off when fitted with HIDs and so normal halogen bulbs are fitted instead.

I will be fitting Bosch H8 HIDs in my fogs.


Epic

[akshay1234]

the headlamp levelling device works perfectly on my innova even with hids.

[rrnsss]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Definitely it will fade your reflectors in long term, as your reflectors aren't meant for 130/110 W, thought the safe wattage is one recommended by the manufacturer but still you can bet on 90/100 W.

Are there driving lights that can take 130/110 bulbs that can be fixed in a bull bar? If the stock reflector/lens cannot take that wattage , I want to fix separate lights on the bull bar(crash bar) and have a separate high-dip switch with which I can safely operate the new lights?

The Bosch driving lights take only one 100 W bulb . Also the beam pattern is a scattered beam pattern.

[n_aditya]

Any ideas as to where I can get my headlights focussed?

Called MRF Tyredrome on cathedral road, Chennai but they have stopped that service temporarily.

Apparently only other person having equipment to perfectly focus headlight beams is concord motors in ambattur, chennai (previously sundaram motors) according to technocrat (not our tbhp member, but an ICE installer in chennai).

so guys please suggest. The MASS is not able to satisfactorily do the job.

[razor4077]

Have you tried to DIY? This thread might help:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ght-beams.html (how to adjust headlight beams...)

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by rrnsss

Are there driving lights that can take 130/110 bulbs that can be fixed in a bull bar? If the stock reflector/lens cannot take that wattage , I want to fix separate lights on the bull bar(crash bar) and have a separate high-dip switch with which I can safely operate the new lights?

The Bosch driving lights take only one 100 W bulb . Also the beam pattern is a scattered beam pattern.

Definetly you can always procure flood lights/separate fog lights from your local market along with the dip switch, also all these type of light will have a scattered beam type only unless the light's holder is focused type (which is hard to find)

Cheers

[RufRoc]

Originally Posted by Epic

I will be fitting Bosch H8 HIDs in my fogs.

Hey Epic, have you already got them installed? If yes, then please let us know the price and your review on the product. What were the other brands (H8 HID's) that you considered before settling for the Bosch's?

[s0uljah]

Originally Posted by Epic

Besides i was also advised against installing HIDs in projectors available for Swift as these projectors are not original from Suzuki and made in Taiwan or some place. There have been complaints of part of the projectors peeling off when fitted with HIDs and so normal halogen bulbs are fitted instead.

Actually the projectors running in our market are of a pretty high quality standard compared to other stuff thats available. The confusion arises because HID's are illegal in Taiwan and so the manufacturer of the projectors is required to print a warning stating "Only for use with Halogens"

If anything the issues will arise with the Angel eyes in the projectors.

Originally Posted by Epic

I will be fitting Bosch H8 HIDs in my fogs.

I finally did some jugaad and installed the H7 kit in my fogs, heheh. H8 will be a perfect fit. How much is the kit costing you?