HID's glare :,(

[liquidtiger720]

:(

Seems like there is a lot of glare! =,(...I thought it would have been minimized putting them in the euro-spec headlights. They actually look very very blue in the picture....but, for some reason, I feel as if they were green...yuck.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/liquidtiger720/DSC03188Large.jpg

[Qube]

Wow! That IS a lot of glare. I have US spec and no noticable glare. Have you cleaned the lenses or are they new?

... I realize that your close but those hotspots just don't look right.

I found that my 7500k look a lot 'greener' than my ladies 6000k


http://jasonlau.ca/harrietta/hidcompare.jpg

[liquidtiger720]

Actually, some of it may be lens flare?


Projectors were brand new. Euro Spec- Depo.

[Qube]

Do you have halos? If so, they may be scatter from that.

On a good note, street signs will be lit up like you won't believe by that light ;)

[liquidtiger720]

No halo's.

Yea- but I don't want to blind anybody.

[632 Regal]

freakin align both the heights the same and be done, looks like a great upper cutoff limit too. change bulbs to change colors if needed, I would just point them the same and run onn.

[liquidtiger720]

freakin align both the heights the same and be done, looks like a great upper cutoff limit too. change bulbs to change colors if needed, I would just point them the same and run onn.


I willl, soon enough. That is on a unlevel driveway...and my whole neighborhood is full of hills. Till I have time to find a parking lot... ;)

[Anton CH.]

Looks like your offset might be a bit off. Is your light housing H1 or one that was meant for HID?

[Tiger]

I agree... with so much light, you can afford to aim lower and to the right. I think the chrome surrounding the projector is causing the glare... Mine is the smoked Hella Euro, so my surround is dark brown and zero glare.

Do a test... block the surrounding with duct tape... just don't block the projector. Just do it on the lens and then take it off when done.

[High Compression II]

Is the lamp itself accurately aligned with the reflector in the fitting? Was the headlight fitting itself intended for a HID lamp??

I ask this, because the HID Discharge has a rather interesting feature. Different parts of the discharge have different colour temperatures. The light from the lower part of the bulb will be a slightly brownish, (due to passing through the enclosed salts) the light from the centre of the discharge from above will be slightly yellowish, while the ends of the discharge will be quite blueish. A correct headlamp reflector and lens is needed to get the best out of them with little glare, which means a proper HID headlamp assy.

There are many cheap 'kits' out there, which enable you to use a HID in a standard fitting BUT most are inferior to even a standard H1 tungsten type lamp, and give glare, incorrect or variable colour temperature, and other horrors!

Just my two pence worth!

[liquidtiger720]

housings are h1's. Until I can afford to retrofit some real bosh projectors of the like...these are staying.

[High Compression II]

Even after saying the above, when I do get hold of the TDS, (hopefully end of next week--Cant wait!) I will probably cobble together some HID, using what I have around. Ive got around 6 new HID burners, and two ballasts but need to get one more igniter, as I have only the one at the moment. With any luck and messing round I hope to get a fair light while I scout out some correct HID fittings for it

(I havent seen the car yet, who knows, It may have HID already!)

[liquidtiger720]

Even after saying the above, when I do get hold of the TDS, (hopefully end of next week--Cant wait!) I will probably cobble together some HID, using what I have around. Ive got around 6 new HID burners, and two ballasts but need to get one more igniter, as I have only the one at the moment. With any luck and messing round I hope to get a fair light while I scout out some correct HID fittings for it

(I havent seen the car yet, who knows, It may have HID already!)


Did you just come off of hidplanet? haha.

[pyro]

what bulbes and ballasts did you get? im thinking of doing a retro soon also. your pattern isn't bad at all. that glair that you have is pritty small it just seems big because your so cloce to the wall. id go further away on level ground an then take a picture.

[liquidtiger720]

I decided to be cheap and buy a kit from jim@apexcone. When will I learn not to buy the cheap stuff? argh.

[Jon K]

I willl, soon enough. That is on a unlevel driveway...and my whole neighborhood is full of hills. Till I have time to find a parking lot... ;)


I will get you a pic of mine against a wall, mine do not have that hotspot up top... i have depos with Philips H1 bulbs (6000k). Could be your bulbs are too long, not a quality set?


Here are my depos ... they were not aimed in the picture but you can see there is no hot spot above

http://e34.digital7.com/Cars/hid2.jpg


Though your pic is close to the wall, there are two distinct "areas" of light on the wall versus mine being pretty wide... I would think that your bulbs are in wrong or something...

[Qube]

I'll take a shot of mine tonight as well. It just doesn't look right in your pic... with the flares and all.

[liquidtiger720]

I will get you a pic of mine against a wall, mine do not have that hotspot up top... i have depos with Philips H1 bulbs (6000k). Could be your bulbs are too long, not a quality set?


Here are my depos ... they were not aimed in the picture but you can see there is no hot spot above



Though your pic is close to the wall, there are two distinct "areas" of light on the wall versus mine being pretty wide... I would think that your bulbs are in wrong or something...


thanks for the picture. I need to find a flat area to align these suckers.

Yea...the bulb may really not be - quality.

I didnt notice the distinct areas when driving- tis cause I wasnt one foot from a wall. Ill snap another picture as soon as I find a level parking lot at night.

[bahnstormer]

can u see better at night?
are ppl flashing thier high beams at you?

if 1 was yes and 2 was no then u're all set.
if it ain't broken dont fix it....?

[Jon K]

can u see better at night?
are ppl flashing thier high beams at you?

if 1 was yes and 2 was no then u're all set.
if it ain't broken dont fix it....?


And if it ain't right?

[Tiger]

Screw 'em.

[liquidtiger720]

Screw 'em.


tee hee.

[liquidtiger720]

Well ****. I got it decently lined up tonight on level ground...went to get some food..and next thing you know...bam! no light on driver side. Switched the ballast, and that ballast dosnt work...ghey. Jim will be getting a call tommorow. And...get this...the other ballast, makes the light fliker ooooo sooo slightly...barely noticeable. ARGH...TIP For anybody considering HID's...go with a quality set!

[Qube]

Two kits. Two different cars. One ballast on each set died within the first few days. Warranty was great though and replaced both. Pictures to come...

[Jon K]

Two kits. Two different cars. One ballast on each set died within the first few days. Warranty was great though and replaced both. Pictures to come...


Mine are Philips, can't get better quality than that.

[Qube]

The headlamps are US spec ellips

[bahnstormer]

go with a quality set!

but remeber quality isn't always costly$$$$$$$$

[liquidtiger720]

Mine are Philips, can't get better quality than that.
agreeed. Wish I realized that cheap kits just don't cut it. :(

[pyro]

i bet the ebay kits is phillips compnents insdie a cheap box...

[High Compression II]

Did you just come off of hidplanet? haha.

Not quite--Used to be a cinema service engineer, The HID lamp is a relation of the high power Xenon lamp used in cinema projection, although quite a bit different.

Ive used HID lamps for different jobs including 35mm film projection in home cinema and other daft things!

Ive got two gen 3 Hella Ballasts and one matching igniter. Ive heard quite a few tales of cheapie ballasts and lamp burners failing prematurely, so luckely I came across these on the Bay, --a ballast from here, an igniter from there etc!

If you do go for HID, either get hold of second-hand OEM gear or invest in a quality kit, Unfortunately there's a LOT of crud out there, particularly the lamp-burners themselves--Only PHILIPS, OSRAM and GE make Proper HID lamps, Most of the others are crud, also official HID lamps only come in D2R and D2S formats There is NO official H1/H4 type of HID lamp, These are supplied by the 'counterfeiters'.....

[High Compression II]

i bet the ebay kits is phillips compnents insdie a cheap box...


Most of the cheapies are made in China, some based on the older and irratic GE DC technology................

[shragon]

damn man, i feel bad now for letting you know about that group buy. :(

i'd call jim for sure, and show him the pics and about the ballast problem.

anyway, yea, something in the pic doesn't look right. but you do need to be further away from the wall to see if you have the proper cut-off. also with hid's, you usually need to aim the lights down a bit.

i'll try to see if i can get a pic of mine. i have the same philips kit as jon with hella euro-spec ellipsoids.

[liquidtiger720]

damn man, i feel bad now for letting you know about that group buy. :(

i'd call jim for sure, and show him the pics and about the ballast problem.

anyway, yea, something in the pic doesn't look right. but you do need to be further away from the wall to see if you have the proper cut-off. also with hid's, you usually need to aim the lights down a bit.

i'll try to see if i can get a pic of mine. i have the same philips kit as jon with hella euro-spec ellipsoids.


pfft. its not your fault.


Edit. here are some better pictures of the cut off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/liquidtiger720/20e7bb28.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/liquidtiger720/994be4b6.jpg


In that last picture...does it seem unusual to have a slight line down the center?


returning both ballast tommorow. :) Sucks though, because I think I have to eat the shipping costs.

[shragon]

i would def make him eat the shipping costs on those faulty ballasts.

anyway, not quite sure why you have those hot spots. are they really that bad, or is it the camera? if they're really bad, the only thing that comes to mind is the position of the bulb, which may say the bases aren't quite right.

here's a pic of mine i took tonight. the light is not totally uniform, but it's fairly good.

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/27/hidgarage5fm.jpg

[liquidtiger720]

okay..wuts up with my lights :,(
New ballast are xtecs.

I aligned them per www.danielstern.com instructions...and this is how they come out. I feel as if there is waaay too much light right in front of me...my fogs are totally useless, and barely lights up anything...even on the sides.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/liquidtiger720/DSC03264Large.jpg

[Tiger]

way too much light? hehehe... fog light adds yellow tint for wet weather condition.

[Qube]

That looks about right. You need to get used to the HID light throw :) Your fogs are now overpowered by the low beams.... lest you get HID fogs. It's normal. The fogs will come in when it counts.

BTW that's a pretty nice cutoff for aftermarket. No complaints now! :p

[pyro]

mabe everyone can post pix of there cutoff line :) ill start a new forum

[Alexlind123]

I wonder how much a polarized front windshield would cost....