Splitfyr3

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.

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!

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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

Cheers guys, I'll have a look. It might have even been me that disturbed something last time I had the door card off. Everything else to do with the mirror seems to work fine - the adjustment and electric folding work great - so hopefully nothing too difficult!

Hi all, I discovered the other day that I have heated mirrors! Awesome! However, what isn't so awesome is that I have in fact got heated mirror. As in the driver's side one. The passenger one doesn't work! Is this a common thing with a common fix, or shall I just pull it apart and start checking?

Still reckon it looks like a warthog but DAMN that looks like fun! :D

Holy cr@p! Wouldn't like to be following him! Bet he got away without a bloody fine (lol - see my 'So disappointed' rant ;) )

LOL yeah - that'd have gone down well ;) There were plenty of speed traps about that night, but made sure I was legal at all times - that's why I'm so pi$$ed off at myself for being stupid with the fogs! Seriously though - you just pulled in and got a warning? I reckon I attend unofficial cruises everytime I get my shopping from Asda then!

You know what, that might be a damn good idea! Thought about sending something with the payment but I reckon writing to the Chief Constable would be a good idea. More than likely wouldn't make a jot of difference, but might make me feel better ;)

Thought that might have been me for a mo, but I was on the A421 just before 7!

Yeah, that was my reasoning. I'm an IT contractor so I'd lose a day's pay too, so for the sake of £30 I reckon I'm just going to have to pay it. At the end of the day, I know it was my fault, it's just so bloody petty! A simple 'OK, you've been stupid, don't do it again' would have been enough. Makes me want to be just as petty in return and cause em thirty quid's worth of hassle! Think I'll go chuck eggs at the police station now ;)

Lol actually I really am tempted, but is it going to be worth it at the end of the day for thirty quid? I thought afterwards that I shouldn't have admitted to it, but I thought, be honest with the guy, he'll see that it was an honest mistake that caused no danger and if you're reasonable with him, he'll be reasonable with you. Fat chance. :rolleyes:

Absolutely - I've met some great guys that went into the force to make a positive difference. It's just a shame that it's like a lot of other things (irresponsible bikers for example) - the few giving a bad name to the many. But it really is hard not to tar them all with the same brush when this sort of thing happens :(

Totally agree mate - my own stupid fault and I said so to the guy. What really wound me up is how he was so smarmy and condescending despite agreeing that it was silly mistake that I had rectified before he even stopped me. A bit of professionalism, even if he was going to be hard nosed and by the book wouldn't have gone amiss...

Went out for something to eat in Milton Keynes the other night. On the way home, I passed a load of cars and police in a car park - turns out there was some sort of cruise on. I decided to have a quick look, but it was a bit on the chavvy side so after a quick circuit round the car park I left. However, to make sure that I wasn't going to run over any blingy white trainers, I had switched my front fogs on. So, I pull out of the carpark, turn right at the lights a hundred yards away, down to the roundabout 200 yards away, realise that I've still got them on and turn them off. A hundred yards later, I get pulled over. 'Evening officer, everything OK?' (Just expecting a check over of my car as it stood out in the crowd) 'Bit foggy is it? Hmm? Well, the good news is you won't get any points on your license.' (in the smarmiest, most condescending way possible) At which point I explained why I had them on, that I hate it when people leave them on and that I'd turned them off at the roundabout. He came back saying that he understands that I'm not a boy racer, that I’m not with ‘this lot’, that he realises it was just a silly mistake, that he totally understands where I'm coming from and that I'd already switched them off - but I'm getting a ticket anyway. No matter what. 'And if you own up to it, then write your name and address HERE and send a cheque or PO for £30, if you want to contest it fill in HERE and I'll see you in court' (smug grin). £30 for 300 yards. Do we need any more proof that they are just out making easy money? Maybe they should have been having words with the people revving their cars until they were close to exploding, or the idiots who were cutting me up, or maybe even get out on the roads where every corsa and saxo was trying to race me and undertaking? Hope it's worth thirty quid to them for me to lose all respect and faith I had in the police force. I’m sure there are some good guys out there and I know we have a couple on this forum, but seriously, morons like this are destroying any good work you do. Rant over ;)

I was just going to suggest this too. I had the same problem with my Falcon Evo4+ recently - the hazards just flashed and my interior LED was constantly lit, even with the engine on. For me, it was because it had somehow gone into valet mode and I had to press buttons 2 and 3 with the ignition on - no idea with your alarm though, sorry! :wack:

Lol Si!

Mine has just gone straight through it's MOT with them mate, so you should be fine. And I reckon the place I used paid attention to bulbs cos they had to put a number plate bulb in for it to pass! On a totally different note - just emissions that needed tweaking and a number plate bulb - pretty happy with that for my first MOT!

All good then! :D Cheers Jimmy Just took my mate out in it over lunch - think he's gone off to change his undies...