HID Plug and Play WARNING!!!!!!!!!!
09-12-11, 10:57 PM
#16
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Listen all I'm trying to say and what everyone here is trying to say is take the steps necessary weather its a relay harness or installing it professionally, or reading whatever TechGeek posts to install properly, to prevent my situation from happening to someone else! Hopefully no one else goes through this!
09-13-11, 12:13 AM
#18
For the fifth time I've had to say that on this website about HIDS. I really wish that the mis-information would STOP popping up.
I deal with electronics all day, there's a zero chance when a properly installed HID system could cause a fire unless the power and ground inside the unit short together which would melt the harness, not burn the freaking car down.
I custom soldered my DDM HID kit into my STOCK harness for my fog lights, it's a 55W kit by the way but during the process I purposely left the connections lose to test this theory and could hear the set shorting out but it never over heated the harness.
If your HIDs could not provide enough voltage due to old and worn wiring, it simply would not turn on or flicker on and off.
http://theeshadow.com/files/volvo/hidcomp.html
A relay harness is good if you've got wiring issues/low voltage in our cars, but that's not anyones fault but the owners for not repairing and band-aiding the issues instead...
Guys, the high voltage alot of you are talking about starts from the ballasts, the ballasts work like a transformer or an amplifier, so if you'd notice your stock/OEM wires connect to your ballasts first before the bulbs. It needs to convert or transform the 12volts first to a higher voltage that the bulb needs to ignite the xenon gas inside the bulbs. So all the high voltage is only between the ballast and the bulb, your stock wires don't even feel it. And if you'd look and study the connections of your HID's, the insulation they used for manufacturing those are high tension insulations, similar to your spark plug wires. It absorbs the extreme heat created by the ballasts to the wires and if you try touching it when the HID's are turned on you won't even feel a thing. I'm studying electronics engineering so I know about this stuff.
And also, relay is used to keep the current/amperage flow correctly in a system. It helps the electricity flow properly instead of it fluctuating which causes the lights flickering. So it doesn't have anything to do with the system heating up nor prevent it from catching fire if the system does heat up.
Last edited by OG Dada; 09-13-11 at 12:31 AM.
09-13-11, 06:53 AM
#21
No joke, I'm thinking about taking mine off. When I turn my HID's on, my revs's jump about 250-500 RPM's. This is definitely not normal and I have a relay. I'm drawing power from somewhere which is causing my IACV to open up a ton. Anyone else have this problem? The fall and winter is right around the corner so I want safe and operational lights.
09-13-11, 07:05 AM
#22
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Thank you TechGreek for that knowledge. I've been saying this alot of times in other threads and some people just don't understand how electronics works but still insist in knowing it.
Guys, the high voltage alot of you are talking about starts from the ballasts, the ballasts work like a transformer or an amplifier, so if you'd notice your stock/OEM wires connect to your ballasts first before the bulbs. It needs to convert or transform the 12volts first to a higher voltage that the bulb needs to ignite the xenon gas inside the bulbs. So all the high voltage is only between the ballast and the bulb, your stock wires don't even feel it. And if you'd look and study the connections of your HID's, the insulation they used for manufacturing those are high tension insulations, similar to your spark plug wires. It absorbs the extreme heat created by the ballasts to the wires and if you try touching it when the HID's are turned on you won't even feel a thing. I'm studying electronics engineering so I know about this stuff.
And also, relay is used to keep the current/amperage flow correctly in a system. It helps the electricity flow properly instead of it fluctuating which causes the lights flickering. So it doesn't have anything to do with the system heating up nor prevent it from catching fire if the system does heat up.
Guys, the high voltage alot of you are talking about starts from the ballasts, the ballasts work like a transformer or an amplifier, so if you'd notice your stock/OEM wires connect to your ballasts first before the bulbs. It needs to convert or transform the 12volts first to a higher voltage that the bulb needs to ignite the xenon gas inside the bulbs. So all the high voltage is only between the ballast and the bulb, your stock wires don't even feel it. And if you'd look and study the connections of your HID's, the insulation they used for manufacturing those are high tension insulations, similar to your spark plug wires. It absorbs the extreme heat created by the ballasts to the wires and if you try touching it when the HID's are turned on you won't even feel a thing. I'm studying electronics engineering so I know about this stuff.
And also, relay is used to keep the current/amperage flow correctly in a system. It helps the electricity flow properly instead of it fluctuating which causes the lights flickering. So it doesn't have anything to do with the system heating up nor prevent it from catching fire if the system does heat up.
Tabaka, a little bump is normal due to the increased load, but not a few hundred rpms. Did you go through the grounds in the engine bay like I told you to do?
This is why I tell people, if you're using a relay to even get your lights started you've got bigger issues to tackle and should worry about HIDs last.
09-13-11, 07:33 AM
#25
Was the car on with the headlights on when it caught on fire? If not, the HIDs couldn't have had anything to do with it. They suffer from a distinct lack of power when the car is off.
Also, the link TechGreek posted spells it out very plainly. A 20 amp surge measured in milliseconds cannot overheat your harness. It won't melt wires and it won't blow fuses. To put it in perspective, the duration of this draw is quicker than the time it takes for a relay to trigger. After that, even the highest wattage HIDs settle into a ~5 amp draw which is easily handled by the stock wiring.
The headlights are already powered by their own relay, as they have been for decades. Why duplicate it? Heat is generated by resistance, and a poor connection can have a high resistance and thus would get hot. That will happen no matter what wiring scheme you use.
Also, the link TechGreek posted spells it out very plainly. A 20 amp surge measured in milliseconds cannot overheat your harness. It won't melt wires and it won't blow fuses. To put it in perspective, the duration of this draw is quicker than the time it takes for a relay to trigger. After that, even the highest wattage HIDs settle into a ~5 amp draw which is easily handled by the stock wiring.
The headlights are already powered by their own relay, as they have been for decades. Why duplicate it? Heat is generated by resistance, and a poor connection can have a high resistance and thus would get hot. That will happen no matter what wiring scheme you use.
Last edited by MooJohn; 09-13-11 at 06:11 PM. Reason: My apologies for typing TechGeek instead of TechGreek!
09-13-11, 11:53 AM
#28
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Was the car on with the headlights on when it caught on fire? If not, the HIDs couldn't have had anything to do with it. They suffer from a distinct lack of power when the car is off.
Also, the link TechGeek posted spells it out very plainly. A 20 amp surge measured in milliseconds cannot overheat your harness. It won't melt wires and it won't blow fuses. To put it in perspective, the duration of this draw is quicker than the time it takes for a relay to trigger. After that, even the highest wattage HIDs settle into a ~5 amp draw which is easily handled by the stock wiring.
The headlights are already powered by their own relay, as they have been for decades. Why duplicate it? Heat is generated by resistance, and a poor connection can have a high resistance and thus would get hot. That will happen no matter what wiring scheme you use.
Also, the link TechGeek posted spells it out very plainly. A 20 amp surge measured in milliseconds cannot overheat your harness. It won't melt wires and it won't blow fuses. To put it in perspective, the duration of this draw is quicker than the time it takes for a relay to trigger. After that, even the highest wattage HIDs settle into a ~5 amp draw which is easily handled by the stock wiring.
The headlights are already powered by their own relay, as they have been for decades. Why duplicate it? Heat is generated by resistance, and a poor connection can have a high resistance and thus would get hot. That will happen no matter what wiring scheme you use.
09-13-11, 04:50 PM
#29
I've done a retrofit on another car (not the SC) using all OEM HID parts (acura TSX projectors and Toyota ballasts) and a self made harness drawing direct power from the battery using a large gauge wire that is fused. Done this way there is no risk at all to suffer something as bad as this loss. The wiring is way beyond the capacity of the system and the internals on the ballasts are made to ride in $35k-$100K+ grade of cars as stock equipment.
Even wired up correctly I would just never trust the sub $50 made in China ballasts or wiring on ebay. It is just garbage made (probably by 13 year olds being supervised by 16 year olds) as cheaply as possible to sell in bulk.
You can pickup stock Toyota/Nissan/Honda/Mercedes/Audi/BMW...etc ballasts for a little more on ebay or even a local yard and do things a much better way.
I'm glad you did not get injured...besides...you can always just get another car.
Even wired up correctly I would just never trust the sub $50 made in China ballasts or wiring on ebay. It is just garbage made (probably by 13 year olds being supervised by 16 year olds) as cheaply as possible to sell in bulk.
You can pickup stock Toyota/Nissan/Honda/Mercedes/Audi/BMW...etc ballasts for a little more on ebay or even a local yard and do things a much better way.
I'm glad you did not get injured...besides...you can always just get another car.
09-13-11, 05:02 PM
#30
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OEM Ballasts have their own issues to deal with, they aren't even close to perfect.
As the article I posted before, some kits are good, some are bad, they are not all created equally. As much as DDM's customer service has gone to crud, their kits aren't bad and I've had a lot of success with them.
As the article I posted before, some kits are good, some are bad, they are not all created equally. As much as DDM's customer service has gone to crud, their kits aren't bad and I've had a lot of success with them.