Dimming Lights? Answer: Get HIDS's??
Oct 11, 2006, 07:33 PM
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Dimming Lights? Answer: Get HIDS's??
I don't know if this is true, but it could be because I noticed it. Now this is NO excuse not to upgrade your charging system, but my headlights dimmed a bit when hitting hard bass notes (3 farad cap, optima battery, 0 AWG cable), but as Soon as I installed HID's where the headlight wiring goes into the BALLASTS before the lights, there was no more dimming.
On the ballasts the input can be 9V - 16V. So if dimming of the lights are in corelation to the drops in voltage, then even 9V would be enough to power up the ballasts fully and therefore allowing the HID's to run at full power? My voltage drops to about 11-12 sometimes (that made my stock headlights dim).
I don't know if this is right, but it makes sense to me.
On the ballasts the input can be 9V - 16V. So if dimming of the lights are in corelation to the drops in voltage, then even 9V would be enough to power up the ballasts fully and therefore allowing the HID's to run at full power? My voltage drops to about 11-12 sometimes (that made my stock headlights dim).
I don't know if this is right, but it makes sense to me.
Oct 11, 2006, 07:39 PM
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yeah your voltage will never drop below 12 with the car on and 10 with it off (unless you got a mege system), headlights are brighter with the more volts going to them... i dunno anything about the HID kit and it regulating it to 9 volts all the time, but if thats the case yes your theory is correct... turn your car and turn on your lights, then turn your car off... if they dim when u turn it off then your theory is wrong
Oct 18, 2006, 02:18 AM
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For the record it is not wise to turn your car off with the HID's on, also it is not wise to even have the HID's on at all with the car off.
the reason that the HID's dont dim is exactly as you stated, the ballast is to regulate the power going to the plasma lamps. the ballast is a regulated power supply and high step transformer built into a waterproof case. it will always regulate the voltage down to its minimum input voltage and then run it through the transformer to get the several thousand volts needed to light the lamps.
in all actuality, if you have a massive system that draws serious power, you may want to get extra protection because dropping below the necessary voltage to the HID ballasts can ruin your ballast and if you have massive surges from your charging system trying to compensate, you can overdrive the ballast and burn it out, or if it is a cheapy HID system, you can overdrive the lamp itself and melt all kinds of stuff
the reason that the HID's dont dim is exactly as you stated, the ballast is to regulate the power going to the plasma lamps. the ballast is a regulated power supply and high step transformer built into a waterproof case. it will always regulate the voltage down to its minimum input voltage and then run it through the transformer to get the several thousand volts needed to light the lamps.
in all actuality, if you have a massive system that draws serious power, you may want to get extra protection because dropping below the necessary voltage to the HID ballasts can ruin your ballast and if you have massive surges from your charging system trying to compensate, you can overdrive the ballast and burn it out, or if it is a cheapy HID system, you can overdrive the lamp itself and melt all kinds of stuff
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