Lighting issue...

[antoineperth]

I installed a 35 watt hid kit on my bike for the low beam a few weeks ago and it tends to turn off if i idle the bike for a while i.e. at lights and whatnot but at night it doesnt work, could it be the weather overheating my ballast ?
at 1st i thought that it may have been the alternator as the bike is a 250 and doesnt have a big one so iv put the revs up to 1500rpm at idle.....any tips ?

[Nero Diablo]

Typically your standard bulb for a headlight is 55 watt if you've got the old one it might pay to check but its unlikely a power supply problem as power supply would be affecting ignition and other electrical devices on the bike. I'd check all your connections the extra vibration at idle might be shaking a loose connection also check the battery terminal connections as these have a habit of shaking loose on hyo's. The other thing is if you battery is the factory fitted one it might be on its last legs so a load test at your local battery supplier might be in order.

[antoineperth]

Checked all the connections and theyre secure, i know that the std buld was 55 watts but in that case the power should be ample for the 35 watt ballast ( i got told that either the 55 or 35 watt was ok to use)

[Helipos]

The regulation of the voltage supplied to the HID ballast could be your problem, if you have easy access to a decent multimeter check to see what the DC voltage does at idle and also look for any AC ripple.

Cam

[darkfibre]

A normal globe will just dim when the voltage gets low, but a HID ballast will cut out at a certain voltage. Not all ballasts will be the same, some may work without cutting out. Measure the voltage to the ballast, and work out what voltage the light turns off at. Contact the supplier and ask questions about the minimum supply voltage etc.

Good luck

[antoineperth]

cheers for the help will get a multimeter out, so far if its too hot during the day it turns off since (if im right, Resistance is inverse proportional to heat) the resistance in the ballast would get too low thus higher voltage needed, also if i neutral the bike for a min or 2 then ittle turn off, so ill take it that the alternator isnt delivering enough,
rated voltage from supplier is 13.2V.....shit i have a 12volt battery so im assuming its just cutting out as the voltage is already too low since the alternator wont produce much more than 12V to back charge the battery? hmmmm

[antoineperth]

wait just read the full specs for the lights, Voltage input 9V to 16V and rated voltage is 13.2Volts, in which case at neutral i would have a voltage of less than 9V for the light to turn off...... battery going dead? (the battery is 4yrs old)

[darkfibre]

I would be surprised if the bike goes down to 9 volts running, what do you get as a measurement at the battery when its running, and is the voltage the same at the supply to the ballast?

[Big_Dave]

on a side note, is there anywere you can by a single globe for HID ?

[antoineperth]

got mine from ebay and it works fine, a good site (not ebay and from what i hear these are good quality is HID Kits, DEPO Lights, BMW Bumpers & Lighting - DDM Tuning ) the only reason i didnt get it is because my credit card was rejected due to the billing address being different to the postal one although $60 delivered on ebay and $150 by DDM is a big difference in price

[Big_Dave]

these all seem like kits, I only need a bulb. dang it, oh well thanks.

/thread hijack

[Ninjosh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a 4 year battery sounds like a problem..

[SIR sparks a lot]

Any of you just tried puttin one of those zennon bulbs or halongen bulbs in u no the ones you get a the car shops

[SIR sparks a lot]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a 4 year battery sounds like a problem..

Na I got a 10 year old one in the Harley and that still works fine

[hlucin8]

no one has said it yet, it could be the hid kit. I've seen LOTS of faulty ebay kits before. We sell Philips kits and i've never had a problem on either bike.


Posted via Mobile Device

[antoineperth]

yeah i thought it could be the hid kit but i would rather do a simple fix rather than rip off all of my fairings to get the light out to be honest i would rather check the battery 1st, anyone know the price of a new one ?

[antoineperth]

By what ive said , i have a 12 V battery, a HID kit that runs at 13.2V and inputs from 9V to 16V anyone have an educated guess at what kind of voltage i should be measuring (Across the battery) whilst the bike is running i.e. whats a healthy voltage and one that i should consider getting a new battery at? No point in testing whilst bike is off as i only turn the lights on after the bike. Ill be getting to the bike with a multimeter this arvo. Cheers

[darkfibre]

Some bikes hardly charge at idle, but you should get around normal battery voltage minimum at idle. Just check that it is above 12 volts.
All you need to work out is if the voltage as above 9v at idle to the HID. Form the specs you have provided, more than 9v and no HID operation = HID fault

[antoineperth]

alright thanks for that