Autopia.org - View Single Post - what to replace my factory head light bulb???

PedroDaGr8 · 01-29-09, 08:11

Thanks Yal. Nice analogy.

EDIT: I want to expand a bit more on what I said before. Your comment of I know I am blinding people but I don't care is very selfish and very immature. It wouldn't take you that much more work or money to do a retrofit. It is about doing it right. Not doing it quickly or cheaply. I don't think we would be on this forum if we did things to our cars half-assed, yet that is what you are doing with your kit. Doing stuff half-assed and being a safety hazard.

Do a retrofit.

For those who are wondering what a retrofit is. You take the projector out of a car that has OEM xenon headlights and install it in your own headlights. This way the optics which are designed for HID's are in your headlight and you don't glare people.

It takes some time to do right but it is the ONLY way that works. It is all physics and DOES NOT change no matter what lies the kit companies say. So many talk about their million dollar R&D budget, yet somehow ALL of the kits come off of the same factory lines in China (yes even the ones that say Japanese parts, how does the circuit board look exactly the same as the ones in the chinese ballasts?)

Also, while many say hella or bosch or philip technology, this simply means thye use a chip on the circuit board made by that company. This says NOTHING for the quality of the design. That being said, bad ballasts are NOT nearly as bad as they were a few years ago.

Bulbs on the other hand, kit bulbs are garbage. You know how to tell. Compare the amount of salt in a kit bulb v. a real philips/osram/GE bulb. In a kit bulb the arc chamber is COMPLETELY clear or you may see one tiny spec of yellow (this may be more orangish-reddish-brown for higher temp bulbs as Indium(III) Iodide (generates the bluish color) is a reddish brown or it may have tinges of gray to it if the bulb has been used). In philips bulbs, the arc chamber is easily 1/4 to 1/2 covered with salt.

There is a reason for this, the more salt the better the quality of light, the less heat, the longer the bulb will live. The problem is the salt is expensive so the kit company scrimp on it.

If anyone has question on doing a retrofit, feel free to PM me with basic ones or checkout HID Retrofit Parts Projectors Ballasts D2S Bulbs. This is where I learned from. THeir university section has some really good threads (i.e. for installation check out JnCs rotational mounting method thread in the University).

If there is enough demand I will go through and outline some of the basic terms you will encounter in HIDs (sort of like people coming here would have no idea what a PC/7424 is without reading).

01-29-09, 08:11	#26 (permalink)
PedroDaGr8 Registered User PedroDaGr8 is offline Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 96	Re: what to replace my factory head light bulb??? Thanks Yal. Nice analogy. EDIT: I want to expand a bit more on what I said before. Your comment of I know I am blinding people but I don't care is very selfish and very immature. It wouldn't take you that much more work or money to do a retrofit. It is about doing it right. Not doing it quickly or cheaply. I don't think we would be on this forum if we did things to our cars half-assed, yet that is what you are doing with your kit. Doing stuff half-assed and being a safety hazard. Do a retrofit. For those who are wondering what a retrofit is. You take the projector out of a car that has OEM xenon headlights and install it in your own headlights. This way the optics which are designed for HID's are in your headlight and you don't glare people. It takes some time to do right but it is the ONLY way that works. It is all physics and DOES NOT change no matter what lies the kit companies say. So many talk about their million dollar R&D budget, yet somehow ALL of the kits come off of the same factory lines in China (yes even the ones that say Japanese parts, how does the circuit board look exactly the same as the ones in the chinese ballasts?) Also, while many say hella or bosch or philip technology, this simply means thye use a chip on the circuit board made by that company. This says NOTHING for the quality of the design. That being said, bad ballasts are NOT nearly as bad as they were a few years ago. Bulbs on the other hand, kit bulbs are garbage. You know how to tell. Compare the amount of salt in a kit bulb v. a real philips/osram/GE bulb. In a kit bulb the arc chamber is COMPLETELY clear or you may see one tiny spec of yellow (this may be more orangish-reddish-brown for higher temp bulbs as Indium(III) Iodide (generates the bluish color) is a reddish brown or it may have tinges of gray to it if the bulb has been used). In philips bulbs, the arc chamber is easily 1/4 to 1/2 covered with salt. There is a reason for this, the more salt the better the quality of light, the less heat, the longer the bulb will live. The problem is the salt is expensive so the kit company scrimp on it. If anyone has question on doing a retrofit, feel free to PM me with basic ones or checkout HID Retrofit Parts Projectors Ballasts D2S Bulbs. This is where I learned from. THeir university section has some really good threads (i.e. for installation check out JnCs rotational mounting method thread in the University). If there is enough demand I will go through and outline some of the basic terms you will encounter in HIDs (sort of like people coming here would have no idea what a PC/7424 is without reading).