Arrgh! Help! It's driving me nuts!

 

Can anyone (Groover? :bow:) help me figure out why my HID's are flickering?

 

Not been driving the Zed much recently because I've had to use my bike to commute to work (no parking on site for us lowly contractors :mad:) but hit a stone or something going round a roundabout recently and smashed it up :(

 

Since using the Zed again, the HID's have been flickering badly (i.e. like a strobe!) and sometimes the left one cuts out entirely. I thought that I had sorted it this weekend as I heard arcing coming from the cable on the output side of the left hand ballast, taped it all up again and the arcing seemed to stop. The strange thing is, the arcing seemed to be inside the positive connector, so I don't know what it can be earthing to.

 

However, it's happening again, and now my left hand light is a slightly warmer colour.

 

Is it a problem with one ballast? If so, would that make both lights flicker together? Or is there something else that could be causing the problem?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated - it's getting dark early now!

 

Karl

The 'Arcing' wont be to Earth it will be a bad/loose connection and will be arcing the gap that is being cursed.

 

Best way to tell whether it is a problem with the HID's or with the car's loom would be to put H3's back in and see if you still have the flickering problem, if not then I'd say your HID ballasts are probably shot!

could be a low battery problem

Cheers for that - maybe I have a break in the cable on the output side of my left hand ballast then? Considering it's such high voltage I suppose the spark could be jumping the gap most of the time and playing up at other times.

 

What I will do is try unplugging the left hand ballast and see if the right hand side still flickers. It has to be either one ballast or some other joint component in the lighting system I would think though, as they always flicker in sync.

 

Ian - I did wonder about that initially, but it happens whether I have the engine running or not, and I don't seem to have any other electrical issues so I don't think the alternator is shot.

As i understand if you own a UK spec Z they had DIM DIPPED fitted this can cause the ballasts to charge and discharge due to low power from the DIM DIPPED unit. THis must be removed it fitting HID to uk z

 

Regards

 

Kev

If they both flicker in sync, i would look further back in the chain, ie relays wiring to the ballasts, but it generally boils down to a ballast problem,

 

Also check the voltage is constant, with a meter, the ballast converts the 12v to high voltage so if there is a drop or interruption, this will cause a problem.

check the wires to the bulb holder that you would have used to get the switched feed from, 18year old wiring can be brittle and you may have a corroded or dodgy wire.

Make sure that you have no tight wires and that the ballasts are well grounded, ie battery neg terminal. I hope you manage to sort it,

 

Cheers

Graham

Edited October 5, 200916 yr by groover

If they both flicker in sync, i would look further back in the chain, ie relays wiring to the ballasts, but it generally boils down to a ballast problem,

 

Also check the voltage is constant, with a meter, the ballast converts the 12v to high voltage so if there is a drop or interruption, this will cause a problem.

check the wires to the bulb holder that you would have used to get the switched feed from, 18year old wiring can be brittle and you may have a corroded or dodgy wire.

Make sure that you have no tight wires and that the ballasts are well grounded, ie battery neg terminal. I hope you manage to sort it,

 

Cheers

Graham

 

Cheers mate - knew you'd be able to give some suggestions!

 

When checking with a meter, I assume you mean on the input side of the ballast? I though that if I checked the output side, it'd probably fry the meter, me, or both!

 

I'll also run some better grounding wires to see if that helps - I've installed a ground net so running a new cable to that should be OK, right?

 

Will have a good check and let you know...

 

Karl

As i understand if you own a UK spec Z they had DIM DIPPED fitted this can cause the ballasts to charge and discharge due to low power from the DIM DIPPED unit. THis must be removed it fitting HID to uk z

 

Regards

 

Kev

 

Cheers Kev,

 

This has only just started happening though - they worked fine for a year and I've got an import, so hopefully shouldn't be the case.

Hi Karl, Its a high voltage (23kv) to ignite the xenon gas, then requires a constant 85vac to keep it alive, you may need to use a megameter rather than a normal houshold tester, so you can then test the output safely.

If you are in any doubt or worried about testing the ballast, i would go to an auto electrician and let them electrocute themselves instead :rofl:

 

This link should explain what you need to see

 

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acuitybrandslighting.com%2FLibrary%2FLL%2Fdocuments%2FSpecSheets%2FTD-110.pdf&ei=2iDKSpepCNu7jAf4-PU3&rct=j&q=testing+hid+ballast+voltage&usg=AFQjCNHGIntBApDvkZLcwwvZIPb25FgfFQ

Hi Karl, Its a high voltage (23kv) to ignite the xenon gas, then requires a constant 85vac to keep it alive, you may need to use a megameter rather than a normal houshold tester, so you can then test the output safely.

If you are in any doubt or worried about testing the ballast, i would go to an auto electrician and let them electrocute themselves instead :rofl:

 

This link should explain what you need to see

 

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acuitybrandslighting.com%2FLibrary%2FLL%2Fdocuments%2FSpecSheets%2FTD-110.pdf&ei=2iDKSpepCNu7jAf4-PU3&rct=j&q=testing+hid+ballast+voltage&usg=AFQjCNHGIntBApDvkZLcwwvZIPb25FgfFQ

 

Hmm - 23,000 volts? Not sure if I like the sounds of that, and I'm sure my little £10 digi tester wouldn't be too pleased!

 

I'll try unplugging a few things and see if I can isolate the problem. Driving in this morning the lights were fine for about 10 miles, then started flickering again and that's the problem - I can't replicate it when I need to!

 

You mentioned something further up the line, relays etc. - is there anything that I can swap out to check?

You could take out a relay and check the contacts for corrosion, make sure all the wiring in line to the ballasts have no loose connections.

You could take out a relay and check the contacts for corrosion, make sure all the wiring in line to the ballasts have no loose connections.

 

Cheers mate - by 'a relay' do you mean the LH and RH dip beam relays?

Yes, but there is IIRC a relay that comes with the hid's, could be wrong.

 

Depending on how they are wired, the hid's are linked and wired to one relay, again i could be wrong, just been looking at how they are done on different cars.

Thats why i also asked where you got them from, ie ebay, Dta etc...

Edited October 6, 200916 yr by groover

.

...Thats why i also asked where you got them from, ie ebay, Dta etc...

 

You did? When? :wack:

 

And I THINK they came from DTA - think, because they were a Christmas pressie from my bro.

 

And no, on mine there is no extra relay. Basically I just disconnected the original bulb connector, wired the input side of the ballast into that with spade connectors, ran an extra ground wire (can't remember why now - think I had trouble at the time!) and connected the output side of the ballast to the HID's.

Lol sorry mate, i asked the question, then deleted it and changed my post before i posted the reply:headvswal so you wouldnt have seen it :smash:

You did? When? :wack:

 

And I THINK they came from DTA - think, because they were a Christmas pressie from my bro.

 

And no, on mine there is no extra relay. Basically I just disconnected the original bulb connector, wired the input side of the ballast into that with spade connectors, ran an extra ground wire (can't remember why now - think I had trouble at the time!) and connected the output side of the ballast to the HID's.

 

if you ran an extra ground wire from each balast that was probably to bypass the dip beam / full beam relay so the HIDs stay on wwhen you full beam.

the other relays involved are a left and right headlight relay

I can't remember if your brother bought them from me but could check my administration if you PM me his name ...

 

As for flickering HID lights - there can be a number of causes:

1. Insufficient or unstable voltage supply to ballasts

2. Duff ballast(s)

3. Duff bulb(s)

 

In my experience the dim-dip relay on UK-spec cars will not cause a flickering problem but as your car is a JDM model this doesn't apply at all.

 

Usually, if there is insufficient or unstable voltage supply to either of the ballasts then that ballast will just shut down and the corresponding light won't work. If one of the bulbs is now a "warmer" colour then I would strongly suspect that this bulb is on the way out. Arching inside any of the electrical connections is a bad thing and should be investigated immediately.

 

What I would suggest is you do the following:

 

1. change over the ballasts and see if the problem persists - if so, is it now on the "opposite" side to before?

2. if the problem persists but on the same side as before then that bulb is on the way out and requires replacing.

3. if the problem "moves" to the other side then it's the ballast that requires changing.

 

Try doing the above without using the additional earthing lead you installed. Both spade connectors should be connected directly to the ballast and the headlight wiring loom (the grey connector).

 

I hope the above makes some sense and that this process will help determine the cause of the problem. If you require new parts please let me know - prices are on http://www.smithys-place.co.uk/hid.php. If your brother got the kit from me then you're looking at the HID PRO ballasts and bulbs.

 

HTH

 

Regards,

Hi Dan,

 

Thanks for the info :)

 

I had another quick check last night and it definitely seems to be arcing that's causing the flickering, and it doesn't necessarily seem to be related to one ballast. My lights were fine for a while, but then (maybe as the ballasts warmed up?) the RIGHT one this time started arcing. It seemed to be coming from inside where the cable exits the ballast on the output side. So I may have at least one ballast on it's way out.

 

The different colour bulb has sorted itself out now btw, I think it was just getting a bit upset with all the arcing etc...

 

When I get a chance while there's still a bit of light I'll check everything properly as suggested and let you know!

How long should the ballasts & bulbs last- thought it was something daft like 10,000 hours?

In my experience the dim-dip relay on UK-spec cars will not cause a flickering problem. Well on my hids from Dan they flicker very briefly, i have a uk and have assumed its the loom as its intermittent, i can never tell when it`s going to happen, initially suspected the ballast then after an exchange buggers did it again! So i`ll try to remove the dim dip when i get a chance cause it`s p**ing me off and i`m sure it`s got nowt to do with the units themselves.Otherwise i`m at a loss!

Hi all,

 

Just thought I'd give you all an update on this as it's now sorted.

 

Fortunately, my brother has a Zed with exactly the same HID's, so I was able to swap components about until I got things nailed down.

 

To cut a long story short, we eventually ended up parking the Zeds nose to nose and using his car to power my bulbs - his switch, his battery, his cabling, his relays, his ballasts... and the lights still flickered!

 

Got a couple of new bulbs sent down FOC from ZCentre (cheers guys!) and all is now good - no more mobile rave!

 

Looking at the bulbs, there's some sort of yellow residue in the capsule in the middle - maybe it was some sort of manufacturing defect that let some foreign material in when they were being made?

 

It seems weird that they flickered and didn't just blow, but I suppose that's because they don't have an element that can break like normal bulbs.