Hid Kit Install

[seventytwo]

Dont see why diodes would not work and be a fair bit simpler than relays.

As a diode only allows current to flow in one direction if you connected the Hi beam to the Pos ends of a diode and the low to the positive of the other diode, then connected the negs of the diodes together with a wire to the Hids.

Each circuit would be isolated from the other so no chance of a short the only thing is that light circuits will be powering the hids and not a separate Hi-current (30a rated) circuit as with the relays. I dont think this would be a problem but it is some thing to keep in mind.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Or 1 diode between you hi and low hid ballasts lo ---|<---Hi Low beam circuit power low beam as usual. High beam powers Hi and diode provides current path from high to low. But not low to high when on low beam.

Dunno how the headlight combo switch would cope with the in rush of 4 hid's tho?

[tab]

Would you need the second diode (on the low side) 72?

[seventytwo]

A 35w hid should pull about 3a but I am not sure what their start up current would be.

[seventytwo]

Would you need the second diode (on the low side) 72?

Yes a diode for each circuit with the negative ends common (joined together)

[Ralph Wiggum]

In the tests i carried out on my Four'b i was seeing 3.5 to 4 time the "warm" current at start up 56 to 64 amps is a lot to be putting through a combo switch, but if you where to install the diode down at the relays for hi/low it would work well.

[seventytwo]

Ok an update on the Diode mod, I have installed the diodes and am happy to say they work very well, with about 90% less wiring than the relays.

Using four PX6007 Diodes, rated at 6A/1000v as Suggested by F6R and obtained @ Jaycar

Here is the wiring diagram for the Diode curicuit for each HID and as you can see two diodes are required for each light.

I took the two diodes and attached the cathodes (negative or the end with the line) by twisting the leads together and then soldering, a female Blue spade connector was then slid over the leads and crimped, when soldering use a small amount as any large blobs will make it hard to slide the connector on.

The two anode leads (positive) where trimmed down then folded over to form U, a short length of wire with a male blue spade connector was solder on to each loop.

At this point you should have something that resembles a Y, now using heat shrink or electrical tape cover any exposed leads to stop any chance shorting out, but leaving the diodes uncovered and you should end up with some thing like this.

Diodes get quite hot when working so leaving them uncovered and it will help them shed heat, also when finding a place for the diodes, try to keep them in the air stream that comes under the head light as this will help to keep them cool as well

The Cathode/ Female connector is attached to the red lead of the HID Ballast and the two Anode/ Male connectors are slotted into the light plug of the original loom.

With the black lead from the ballast slotting into the negative terminal of the light plug

As you can see in the final pic there is a bit of excess red wire, so in the final fit I trimmed the wire back and recrimped a connector on so it would fit flush with the black wire and make it easy to tape the whole lot up.

All up it took about two hours to do and cost about $20

If you dont have a soldering Iron, they and the soldering wire can be gotten cheap from any electronics store.

a bit of wet sponge will also help to keep the tip of the iron clean as well.

[George66]

Even easier put a single diode between the 2 coils on the factory (lo beam & hi beam) relays. Buy a 3 amp diode, solder a red wire to the Anode and a black wire to the cathode, cover in heat shrink.

Open relay box under the bonnet and pull the Hi Beam & Lo Beam relays out.

The relays are energized by switching the earth. With a multimeter find which connection on the Hi Beam relay connector is the one giving earth to the relay coil (sorry can't remember the number on the relay), connect the Cathode of the diode (black wire) to this connector I just jammed the wire into the connector when I put the relay back in.

Connect the Anode (red wire) of the Diode to the earth connector on the lo beam relay coil. Now when you hit the hi beam the lo beam will stay energised coz the diode will suppy the earth to the lo beam relay. uses bugger all power also.

[HID XR]

Hi guys,

Just thought I would add to this post as I do have a fair bit of knowledge about HID's. I have been importing and selling Hid's for the last 5-6 years. It is my business and it is all I do, we sell on average 150 kits / month and it is my passion. I hope I can help you make informed decissions.

The original photo posted is a H4 hi/lo kit so it is designed to run halogen on low beam and HID on high beam or vice/versa depending on the wiring. It is designed for a single headlight application it is not actually meant to be parklight and is usually a 55 - 60w globe. (it is not required for dual headlight as in the case of the xr's. That said it is a H4 globe and does still work if you remove the halogen bulb, or if you wire up the halogen on high beam it will turn on with the high beam when the hid low heam turns off. the XR runs a H4 in the outers and a H7 in the inners so you only need a single beam kit. (And reversed for the FG). With the kits we supply there should be no need for any rewiring (they are straight plug & play) and we even have a single ballast option that can run the 2 globes at once, without the need for any rewiring.

Generally regarding HID's.

They run much cooler than halogen appox. 30%

They draw fewer amps. (our 35w kits on start up draw 8 - 10 amps / globe with a running draw of 3.2 - 3.4 amps). We have custom made 160w HID kits that still only draw up to 45amps per unit on startup.

The brightness of the light output increases untill you reach about 4800k - 5000k. After that the colour increases in blueness but the actual light output decreases. A 6000k globe puts our 12% - 15% less lumens of light than a 5000K globe.

The start up time for HID's is not instantaneous, but our kits have reached 90% of their light output in 3 seconds and full brightness in 6 seconds. If you can keep low beam on when high beam is turned on all the better. The longer the lights are on the less time they will take to heat up. If they are takeing more than 10 secs to warm up to full intensity there is something wrong.

There is no burn in time for HID's so if you are getting a flicker there is something wrong (either in the wiring or a faulty kit.)

If it is a decent quality kit turning you hid's on and off will not hurt them so you flick from high to low as many times as you want.

A Hid globe will last approx 2000 hrs (compared to 400 hrs for halogen) so generally a hid kit should last for the life of the vehicle.

hope this helps

Steve

[NYT-SKY]

Hi Steve,

Good information there.

Do you have a website? PM if you feel the need.

CHEERS