HID Spotties ... Need help !
Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 05:45
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Member - Bucky
Have this slight problem !
One of my Hella 4000 spotties has gone a little haywire.
Went out just driving to work the other morning.
Opp's I thought, I have blown a globe...
Not so I find out .
Last night spent over 1 hr trying to sort it, with Son-in-Law.
Will not work, but if the globe is taken out of the spottie, it powers up fine.
If the actual reflector, with globe inseted, is taken out of of the surround, and does not touch anywhere in the Bullbar, it works.
Thinking of insulating the entire reflector, to see what happens, but everything worked fine before hand.
The rough old roads to
Cape York, didn't effect anything, all worked fine till Monday morning.
Bugger me !...I know it's an earthing problem, but ehere do I start ?
Do I set it up with extra insulating rubbers, only to earth it out whe I lock it into position ?
Any advice will be greatly accepted.
Cheers
Bucky
Reply By: olcoolone - Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 08:47
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 08:47
Most HID globes have a negative and positive wire unlike conventional globes with just a positive relying on the globe body to earth with the light body......
Swap you reflectors from left to right.... don't remove the globes and see what happens, if they both work on the left could be the right hand side ballast.
What ballast have you got?
We have had HID lights come in with a broken high voltage wire so give the wires a good tug from the globes to the end in 25mm increments to see if the insulation around the wire stretches..... this is caused from constant vibrations and movement of the bull bar.
AnswerID:
476553
Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 11:37
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 11:37
The HID kit is a Phillips
May have to go for the cheap Chinese type, if the Ballast is shot
FollowupID:
751674
Follow Up By: olcoolone - Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 17:07
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 17:07
The Phillips ballast is made by Hella in Germany and I would stay with quality.
There has been a bit of discussion lately about the true output and EMI of the Chinese units especially the 50,70 and 100w versions.
The Phillips ballasts are not that dear compared with them 18 months ago.
FollowupID:
751702
Follow Up By: Muntoo - Thursday, Feb 02, 2012 at 17:05
Thursday, Feb 02, 2012 at 17:05
The biggest problem with the chinese kits , isnt there true output.
Its sellers putting new stickers on them, and claiming them as higher units.
And , supplying 35w globes with higher wattage ballasts.
Its extremely common in Oz, and by the big names on ebay too.
The thing is, to measure the output all you can do is measure the amps being consumed. Because people are using 35w/55w globes with larger ballasts, the ballast will adjust to suit and the output will be that of the globe.
You may have a 70w ballast but with 55w globes, its only goint to be drawing 55w. The Phillips kits are great, but they dont have the light output of the bigger kits. They are the best kits to use in headlights though.
But that aint legal.
FollowupID:
751811
Reply By: Flighty ( WA ) - Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 11:55
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 11:55
Bucky.
18 Months ago I had almost the exact issue, even down to the Hella 4000 light's and as olcoolone has said my issue was that, a r/s ballast.
Are yours the external type? if so and that is the issue ( I ripped
mine apart anyway and found inside rusted out ) you can buy the XRay Vision conversion kits that will fit inside the 4000 body ballast an all.
Can't remember the cost but it was reasonably priced.
Can't really complain about the old ones, I got almost 10 years out of em without any issues, and that's from hittin' roos,floodwater and lots of corrugations over that time, and believe it or not I kept the original globes for spares.
Cheers
Paul
AnswerID:
476574
Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Friday, Feb 03, 2012 at 19:45
Friday, Feb 03, 2012 at 19:45
Paid about $280 for the X-ray vision kit, to suit the Hella 4000's.
And that was at TJM in Mt Isa.
Bob.
FollowupID:
751941
Reply By: Muntoo - Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 15:57
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012 at 15:57
Hi mate, i have converted and sold hundreds of HID Hella 4000s.
What may have happened is the rear of the globe may be pushing on the light casing. Some globes are a very tight fit, and after a while the wires exiting the globe may rub through or cause tiny breakages.
When globes is removed the wires touch again and hence the globe will work.
If the globe is working outside the light, as normal then it aint a ballast issue.
Swap globes over and try again.
AnswerID:
476586
Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Saturday, Feb 04, 2012 at 07:31
Saturday, Feb 04, 2012 at 07:31
Muntoo
The Light works
well as long as it is not earthed, or touching any part of the Bull Bar. That includes in the reflector.
Cheers
Bucky
FollowupID:
751976
Reply By: TerraFirma - Thursday, Feb 02, 2012 at 12:07
Thursday, Feb 02, 2012 at 12:07
I had a similar problem with my HID's an the autoelec tracked it down to the wiring. The wires had corroded or oxidsied slightly and the gauge of the wire could have been better. The Auto Elec upgraded the wiring and they have been perfect since.
AnswerID:
476656
Reply By: Member - Bucky - Saturday, Feb 04, 2012 at 07:33
Saturday, Feb 04, 2012 at 07:33
Thanks all for your replies.
I am off night shift now, and slept reasonably
well yesterday and last night.
I will be able to think my way thru this problem clearly, ( I hope)
Cheers
Bucky
AnswerID:
476817