HID Conversion Kit

[Locutus]

energy output in what form Dann?

i'm quite certain that the wattage stamped on any light bulb (or any other electrical device for that matter) should be the maximum power draw of that device, provided that the device is working as the manufacturer intended.

I most definitely agree with your math but i wonder if the warnings they gave me had more to do with heat and the UV stabiliser that is used to stop the plastic lenses
from braking down and going cloudy?

Thoughts ?

t

good point - i didn't think of that. i had a quick look and the philips HID bulbs have a UV filter on the quartz tubes, so i would hazard a guess that any half decent automotive HID bulb/ballast would have the same.

then again, shouldn't the plastics used in headlights and headlight protectors be UV stable anyway? perhaps the UV filters are more for skin and eye protection.

[NitroDann]

Sorry sat night ive had a couple beers. Its like electric motors, 200W motors draw 500 watts or whatever depending on their efficiency. But im no sparky.

Dann

[Mr Morlock]

the lenses on headlamps are normally Poly carbonate and are hard coated. Hardcoat is applied either by a rain lacquer process or sprayed. If a PC lenses is not hard coated it will fail very fast. Halogen bulbs have been UV cut by the major manufacturers - Osram and Philips for at least 15 years and the reason for this was the switch by the set makers and demand from car co's to produce headlamps with plastic lenses. Like all plastics the quality varies and a good set maker only uses approved materials. A bulb shield is often used on bulbs but it is not related to UV cut. One thing that was always warned against was using high wattage bulbs in headlamps beyond legal spec and one of the reasons was excess heat to say nothing of reduced life. HID are lower wattage than std halogens.

[Locutus]

scan/draw up a diagram of the wiring that came with your kit and i can help you out.


you're doing it wrong though:

- car headlights are pretty high powered, so it may not be a good idea to fit these on your own if you don't know what you're doing. worst case is engine bay electrical fire.

- your car does not have projector lamps, so HID bulbs will completely ruin the light pattern and potentially blind oncoming traffic, even with your reflectors aimed at the lowest setting.

- the inside of the headlight shroud gets pretty wet when it rains. the front isn't sealed in any way. i would hide the ballasts in a dry place in the engine bay.

[Mr Morlock]

an auto elect can do it though since these kits are not legal they may decline. I suggest reading Daniel Stern's website for an insight to this subject.

[Locutus]

if you purchased the correct kit for your car, you should not need a multimeter and you should not need to fiddle with the car's wiring harness. it should just be a matter of mounting the ballasts (which is actually the hardest part), then it's all plug and play.

are you sure the HID light output pic you saw was from an NA MX5? physics dictates that it's impossible to get a good light pattern without spending $500+ on new projector lamp housings.

[Regie]

i have had a look at Borked's HID kit

i spent a hour or two trying to figure out how it worked. There are separate relays and wires as his is a High/Low kit.

and as for the beam cutoff on the standard reflectors. The hot spot on the HID globe is ever so slightly longer than the one on the std globe. So no amount of adjusting will get a good cutoff beam. It will just throw the light everywhere..

id love to see a set of full HID projectors modified in to the NA housings... aka Fonzy's celica style

when i get my NC thats the first thing ill be doing. Ive got the HID projectors and good globe setup sitting here ready to go

[Mr Morlock]

You cannot design a lighting system in your backyard- and backyard companies are not designing OE lighting systems. These retro systems are not legal and there is a risk in ignoring the advice of engineers and legislators- probably 95% of vehicles are still not running legal HID systems and most find their halogen lighting fully functional and economical.

[manga_blue]

You cannot design a lighting system in your backyard- and backyard companies are not designing OE lighting systems. These retro systems are not legal and there is a risk in ignoring the advice of engineers and legislators- probably 95% of vehicles are still not running legal HID systems and most find their halogen lighting fully functional and economical.

... or put another way: HIDs bulbs have different geometry from conventional halogen bulbs. If you stick HIDs in lenses which were designed for conventional halogen bulbs then you might be very, very lucky and get better lighting but it's much more likely that you'll get worse lighting for yourself, dazzle the oncoming traffic and risk being booked for having an illegal setup.

If you just want to see better at night then just put in higher efficiency, DOT legal conventional halogen bulbs. Philips and Osram are the main two makers. They effectively double your range and spread of useful vision.

[Locutus]

^yep. when i put a new set of philips visionplus bulbs in my NA and was pleasantly surprised at the difference. i wasn't expecting much, but the marketing spiel on the pack is actually true!

[Hjt]

The Sp I recently purchased came with 8000k(?) HID kit consisting of 2x HID Ballast and 2x globes with a plug and play wiring set-up. After driving for a few nights, including one night of heavy rain I found I cannot see anything on the road, and i already knew it wasn't mounted correctly so before I caused or had an accident I removed the kit.

Currently i'm staring at the kit, pondering its worth, possible reuse and if i should jus bin it?

I have a whole new headlight on its way, should I bother with these or sell them and move on.

I'm considering dropping the globes to 4000k or so, no more as it's just to blinding (and blue)

[Locutus]

yeah i would suggest that you try 4300k bulbs.

there was an s2k behind me today with 8000k bulbs - looked purple

[slimx]

10,000 is purple..

4300 will be dead set white i assume..

HID KIT IN RAIN - IS sh*t doesnt matter if you have a 230W BOSCH KIT, A/C Powered headlights just dont do it in the rain you must stick to D/C halogen for rain lol.

p.s. FOG LIGHTS ARE LEGAL TO USE IN THE RAIN (i have no proof of this but i asked a highway patrol officer) . GET THEM AND USE THEM!!!

[Mr Morlock]

you can use fog lights in the rain ie inclement conditions but they offer comfort more than any real performance- you eyes are essentially looking ahead not in the immediate foreground. The comments about K etc is academic- cheap poorly made light sources can be anything and you have no way to measure them. I have seen high wattage H4 Indian made bulbs measured against standard 60/55w quality products and the latter were far and away better performers on tolerance and output. Incidentally Manga blue is quite right in his observations.

[slimx]

let me conclude and close this topic

-looks much nicer
-kit looks bad if you do not have projector headlights and may SLIGHTLY blind others (SLIGHTLY just as any jeep behind you does)
-brighter only if you have a 55W and a projector headlamp setup (nb8b/nb8c)
-lights up the road better in the night
-looks nice at day time when they are on
-very sh*t in the rain
-HIGH BEAM IN HID IS sh*t and absolutely useless as they are made for spreading out light not pushing it into one area/directing it
-230W BOSCH kits are used in STOCK HID KIT SYSTEMS WHICH ARE THE BEST AND ARE GOOD IN ALL SITUATIONS (LOW BEAM, PROJECTING, RAIN, FOG
-HID KITs CAN interfere with RADIO not sure about mx5s but most cars with really HEAVY duty electronics (fancy fuel pumps etc..) e.g. CX7 CX9 SP23

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Just like a front lip .. or ANYTHING its BETTER not worse.. it has its downsides just as a front lip would.
Front lip SCRAPES EVERYWHERE.. DOES NOTHING adds weight, but looks better, supposedly helps aerodynamics.

AIM THEM PROPERLY NOT UP IN THE SKY THAT WILL BLIND PEOPLE

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They are great..
If you want one get it, if you dont shut your mouth.

They are illegal, so is a pod filter, so is TINT below 35% (above 35% DOES NOT DO ANYTHING nor does 35%), technically if a cop wants to get you OIL LEAKS ARE ALSO ILLEGAL as are EXHAUST LEAKS and ANY KIND OF EXHAUST MODIFICATION EVEN TIPS. Tinted tail lights..
FIND ME A MOD that is legal without a $550 engineering certificate ?

very few.