LX Forums Forum banner

What internals makes for a quality/reliable HID Ballast???

7K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  xkm121 
#1 ·
Theres A LOT of companies that offer HID retrofits/upgrades/etc.... i've spent the last 3 nights about 4 hours each night reading posts on em, but never found anything definate/solid.

and i always hear of people saying just buy the stock stuff....

and then others swear by this or that kit, while others have flickering problems, and Ballast that burn out....

yet you rarely, or atleast in the time i've looked into em, never ever see posts about the OEM ballasts going out, or failing... no where near as widespread than some of the aftermarket. im sure some prob have, but most have opted for cheaper brands...

i know theres plug and play setups for 100-400$... and then if you get flicker, or random shutoffs, people suggest going out and buying these 35-50$ "harnesses" that tap into a 12v power source.

so my main question is, the DS1 or DS2 ballasts and bulbs, are there any non-b.s. ballasts out there, that are of LEGIT QUALITY, garunteed to hold up at least as long as the stock ballasts would, and not overheat or require extra harnesses and soldering in capacitors because they werent made for our cars???

I'm not picky about the colors matching and being exact. i'm more so, FAR MORE SO, looking for the light output and function. Also RELIABILITY. i really dont wanna go through the issue of being on a road, leaving a country-ish town, travelling dark country areas and a headlight goes out cause of wasted money on a bootleg ballast from a country where it was 10 cents to make and sold to me for 300$.

are there any quality ballasts available outside of the stock ones?
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Regardless of specs, they probably all come from Ballast City, China.
Buy cheap, keep a couple of spares.
Mine have lasted for over 3 years with problems.
i'm guessin ya meant to say "NO" problems? ;)

1 question for ya, which brand did you go with?

thats the thing/my worries... something thats built correctly you shouldnt have to by cheap and keep a couple of spares of... i mean most of us dont buy cheap wheels and keep a couple extra cause you know the ones you have are gonna bend.

maybe its just me with modding, but i'd prefer to buy one thing, install it once and spend money on other mods... not keep buying the same parts over and over. i'd rather pay 300$ for a set that will last, than 100$ ones and buy 3 sets just to keep replacing em... cause either after that 3rd set you learn your lesson and go back to stock, or 300$ turns into 400, then 500, etc... now i understand some parts simply burn out or go bad, etc...wear and tear. however, from reading up on HID ballast, many of the offerings on the market are knock off version of major companies... which i'd prefer to steer clear of if at all possible.
 
#5 ·
Well the external look of an HID ballast can only look so much different than the other ones on the market....

It's just like what I tell my women when they see my ugly face....Its whats in the inside that counts!

lol

The internals is what makes the difference. With every electric product there is always the possibility of them going out or having an issue with them, but it's the customer service and warranty that makes the difference.

I offer a 2-year warrranty on my kits and I do not beat around the bushes. I get straight to the point and take care of things. Plus, I have less than 1% failure rate with my kits.....

Take a look at my thread

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f58/xenon-depot-hid-kits-discounted-price-287914/

Let me know if you have any questions!
 
#7 · (Edited)
i have MANY questions... MANY. Hopefully you can get most of em, i know some may be impossible to answer, but here goes...

1) whats the reason for the majority of failures with cheaper brands vs the OEM gimmicks?

2) i do A LOT of travelling. now currently, i have some projector lights with the halogen style bulbs. the reason why this has gotten so important to learn about the shortcomings of aftermarket HID stuff, is if i go out and get a set of the OEM STYLE projectors, theres only 1 type of bulb able to fit inside, and its not the same mounting style as a 9005/9006. so if a ballast goes out far away from home, i could see carrying an extra bulb. light and color isnt as important as function. but an entire ballast setup... bit overdone...

if i'm out, i can gps a 24/7 walmart and go buy another 9005 bulb for the time being with the current setup. and i usually keep some reg spares. is it worth the gamble in your view to upgrade?

3) i own a 2007, and from doing alot of reading, many of them seemed to have the flicker and cut off/on problems... example:

HID Troubles on 07 300 Base[HR][/HR] First of all, great Forum you have going here, answered a lot of my questions.
The problem I am having is the right headlight is flickering a little bit only when the engine is running, from what i have read, its the computer restarting the bulb due to the 55w 35w issue. That being said, i have 35w ballasts, with NO relay kit. I bought one with my first ballasts before i ran into this forum, but i could never get them to work consistently to drive safely at night.

Got new ballasts from the place i bought the kit from, hooked everything up first with the relay, (i had a 470Micro F cap on the relay as well).... nothing, they would flash a bit and look like they would fire but they wouldn't do much after that. Ripped off the relay harness and connected everything directly. Worked like a charm EXCEPT for the slight flicker i have going on right now. The kit works fine stand alone, I connected it to a 12v battery and my battery charger and ran them on for like 2 hours straight with the relay kit, cap, and with out them too, and they worked perfectly.

I put a little extra bulb (i can post a picture if you would like) idk the bulb size/number, but its the same size as the marker lights on the headlights. I have it spliced onto the right ballast plug. (before the ballast) I put it on to try and simmulate a bigger load so that my lights dont flash

The flashing is not light strobe lights, its subtle, and my camera can hardly pick it up, but when i press on the brake pedal or i hit my Stereo on hard, the right side flickers quite a bit and sometimes turns completely off and the back on again. Neither light has EVER turned off without coming back on immediately or shortly afterwards....... If you got everything i said and have any suggestions i would greatly appreciate it! im at my wits end, im either going to buy another kit, try out some resistors to simulate more load or take it to Chrysler to see if they can use StarScan to disable the feature on the computer, thanks again!!
Dodge Charger Forums - View Single Post - Tutorial : How to install HID lights by DynoXG

with the 2007's being the problem childs, it seems, do your kits have anything specific to address that model year, or is it really even needed at all?

4) you stated the capacitor was plug and play? does this connect inline as part of the harness or where at? also how resistant is it to the elements???

5) some have stated to use the D1S setup...but then others swear by the D2S.... whats the difference between the two if any?
 
#6 ·
If your looking for the most light output, I would suggest getting the 4300K or possibly the 6000k if your looking to get some good light output and a little hint of blue to it.

My kits are all plug and play. The capacitors are also plug and play. No need to have a wire harness all over your engine bay to your battery or positive terminal.
 
#11 ·
Hey Samoan, I think it is time for you to join the HIDPlanet! I am sure when u read through the infomation section you will get all your questions answered.

And a short answer to your question. Nope, not all ballasts are the same quality, although most of them share the origin of manufacture----China!
 
#12 ·
As for your question of flicking, here is the answer.

The ballasts themselves are all able to support the HID bulbs. Problem is our car runs on computers. The Total Integration Processing Module(aka front fuse box) will constantly monitor your headlights power draw.

For LX that come with halogen headlights the TIPM is set to read 55watt for low beam power draw, which is exactly the amount of power used by 9005XS bulbs. When you put in an aftermarket/OEM ballast, they will only draw 35watt power. So the TIPM will consider you have a faulty bulb and constantly try to reignite the bulb. That's how you get your flick problem----the TIPM just wont recognize the power draw.

And yes, I said the flick WILL happen even if you put OEM D1S ballast on your halogen equipped car. You can either short out the feedback loop to TIPM by using CANBus error eliminators, or you can program the TIPM to recongnize the ballast you put in.

The 1st option is the most widely used, provide it is easier to setup. The 2nd option will leave your engine bay really clear of extra wire/harness but VERY FEW people can perform such programming.(And dealers cannot do this) There will be people suggesting you use a relay harness to draw power from front positive end. Not a good idea IMO. That thing is only for jump start, not for powering your HID. I used relay myself in the best and from my experience it is not a hot idea.

So the big question is down to whether you want to go OEM Projector or just pnp HID kit?
 
#14 ·
You do not need a relay kit^^^^

Get a plug and play capacitors....Which comes with my kits.....Which means no extra wiring that you will see in the engine bay....

:)
exactly. the charger's front wire system is more than capable of handling hid systems.

relay are for older cars that have weak headlight wiring. :)
 
#20 ·
alls cool. Gonna stick to upgrading to the HID OEM lamps.

Wouldn't I be looking to get a 9005 (low beam) to D1S conversion HID Setup from you though? Instead of the D2S?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top