HID KIT installed and NOT WORKING, now i keep blowing headlight fuses

[GRacer]

hi guys

i'm really really puzzled and frustrated at the mo.... spent 2 days to do this properly and slowly, and it's not going anywhere

to start with, i bought this HID kit from our local store - it's 55W kit - Fast Start - Direct replacement for the H1 bulb (mine is JDM NSX, so both low and high are using the H1 bulbs)

I connected them up properly - it is only 2 wires to be connected anyway, red from the ballast to go with the red which normally plugs into the bulb, and black from the ballast to go with the black which normally plugs into the bulb housing

It is a very simple install, but as soon as i finished, it is not working !! i tried the other side, same thing, doesn't work !

i connected the kit direct to the battery and it lights up straight away - so the kit itself is all good and working - it just when i plugged it into the system, it doesn't work !??!!

i searched on the forum, read carefully this thread, this one and this one too and nothing changed !

now i took out the hid kit and put everything back together with the original bulbs, i keep blowing fuses on the RHS headlight and somehow when i turned on my night light, the high beam also turned on but very dim

i am stuck now.. i really really need your help...

please.....

 

[Malibu Rapper]

i connected the kit direct to the battery and it lights up straight away - so the kit itself is all good and working - it just when i plugged it into the system, it doesn't work !??!!

#1, I don't like 55w kits. #2, you should ALWAYS wire your HID aftermarket kit to the battery with a relay kit.

If I were you, I would get a 35W kit and wire it with a relay to the battery if you care about your car. Do you see that questionable English on the ignitor? That means you can't trust anything on the label.

 

[shawn110975]

the problem is the positive and ground are wrong. if you look the plug on the HID ballast is not reversable, so what you need to do it cut they power and swap the red and black, or dont cut and make sure you remember that red is ground, and black is positive
this is common during manufature they swap them on accident, and I am sure there is not a person testing them before they are shipped cuz that cost money.



I get my HID kits off ebay for 30 bucks these Xenon kits last for ever, they dont charge as fast when you first turn them on but they look exactly like the 250-350 dollar kits they sell on Prime. once they are charged they are the same color temp and watts as the other people's brand.
the only difference is the bulb cover has been cut open and a clear tube hot glued into the cover. I dont think this takes very long and is not worth the price difference to me.
installed 2 sets of these on clients cars and its looks like a McCullough HID kit off ebay for 60 bucks. not bashing just saying.

I work hard for my money and dont spend it if I can find the exact kit on ebay for 900% less.

 

[DRIFTER]

the problem is the positive and ground are wrong. if you look the plug on the HID ballast is not reversable, so what you need to do it cut they power and swap the red and black, or dont cut and make sure you remember that red is ground, and black is positive
this is common during manufature they swap them on accident, and I am sure there is not a person testing them before they are shipped cuz that cost money.

View attachment 97318

I get my HID kits off ebay for 30 bucks these Xenon kits last for ever, they dont charge as fast when you first turn them on but they look exactly like the 250-350 dollar kits they sell on Prime. once they are charged they are the same color temp and watts as the other people's brand.
the only difference is the bulb cover has been cut open and a clear tube hot glued into the cover. I dont think this takes very long and is not worth the price difference to me.
installed 2 sets of these on clients cars and its looks like a McCullough HID kit off ebay for 60 bucks. not bashing just saying.

I work hard for my money and dont spend it if I can find the exact kit on ebay for 900% less.

You can remove the inner prongs from that style plug without cutting. From the very end take the plug apart with a small regular screw driver. You should be able to separate the plastic from the metal. There is a tab on the metal prong that can be pushed in and the wire will be able to slide out and switched. Or you can cut them off and buy new ones @ radio shack

 

[Old Guy]

When you did your direct connection to the battery test, if you connected the red wire of the kit to the battery + and black to the battery - terminal and the light kit operated, then I don't think your problem is incorrect assembly as suggested by Shawn110975. One provisio here, when you did this test, did you do the test after the initial install to make sure that the kit still worked or before you did the install? If you did the test before the install, then Shawn110975 may be correct and you could have buggered up both the ballast and the vehicle wiring with a reversed polarity. If you tested the lights after you attempted the install and they work, then the kit should be OK.

It would be useful to get a voltmeter and check the polarity of the voltages at the headlight bulb terminals to make sure that you have the polarities correct when the kit is connected.

Assuming that you did not get the polarities reversed on the initial install, I am going to speculate that your problem may be due to the high start up current associated with HID lights. Some ballasts have a brief start up current that can be as high as 400-450% of normal operating current. At 12 v, a 55 W bulb would draw about 4.6 amps. Start current could be as high as 20+ amps. Your ballast has 10 amps max marked on it; however, I am not sure that this is the starting current. It might just reflect the fact that the ballast is rated for operation down to 9v and that the input current increases as the voltage drops (to maintain constant voltage out to the lights). The duration of the start up current is very short; however, it might have damaged your headlight relay or dimmer relay contacts (need a wiring diagram for specific model year to be sure of how the headlights are wired up!). Normally, I would expect that the start up current would be within the capability of the relays; however, depending on the age of your vehicle, they might have been marginal. You might also have cooked some connections if they were dirty or slightly corroded. I suggest getting the service manual out and start some trouble shooting!

Malibu has an excellent point about using an auxilliary relay to isolate the HID kit from your internal vehicle wiring which was never designed to accommodate the high start up current associated with the HID kit. His comments about 35W kits could also reflect the fact that these would have a significantly lower start up current.

 

[ENT]

A relay is definitely the way to go.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Hapa88]

Like others have stated, there's a 99% chance that the polarity is swapped. It's not the HID manufacturer's fault though, it's a common issue because car manufacturers don't have a positive/negative standard.
The NSX and many japanese import cars have opposite polarity.

For my DDM kit, I took the plug that Shawn circled and shaved down the little polarity tab and plugged in the connector in the opposite direction. Works like a charm, even though it doesn't "snap" in any longer.. the friction is enough to keep it in place (and has for the past 6 years).

Here's a video on another way to fix it.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rGk1mpQrH9o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also, I would second the idea of running a 55watt kit directly to the battery using a wiring harness. Pick them up for ~$10 to $15 and you won't be blowing the NSX fuses anymore. The jury is out as to whether it is necessary but the piece of mind is enough for me.

I've been running my 55watt kit for 6+ years with no issues. Same experience (5+ years) with the 55watt kit on my Mazdaspeed. Both have wiring kits direct to the battery. I say go 55watt or go home. :smile:

 

[GRacer]

the problem is the positive and ground are wrong. if you look the plug on the HID ballast is not reversable, so what you need to do it cut they power and swap the red and black, or dont cut and make sure you remember that red is ground, and black is positive
this is common during manufature they swap them on accident, and I am sure there is not a person testing them before they are shipped cuz that cost money.

thanks guys for all the inputs, especially to shawn110975 who pointed out the discrepancy on the wiring - i should have thought of that when i looked at the color on the original loom, as they do not make sense to me, but i'm being a guy with a minimal electrical knowledge stuck with the rule - black with black and red with red.

i get my HID kits off ebay for 30 bucks these Xenon kits last for ever, ................. I dont think this takes very long and is not worth the price difference to me......... not bashing just saying.............. work hard for my money and dont spend it if I can find the exact kit on ebay for 900% less.

agreed on the above. HID kit is not in infancy stage anymore, so even the cheap kit now should be pretty decent now. it is not a super complicated system. the cheap ones probably don't have a good instruction manual (or may be none) and doesn't have fancy names attached to it - so no factory backing/support. each to their own i guess

again, thanks a lot guys... really really appreciate the inputs

- - - Updated - - -

Like others have stated, there's a 99% chance that the polarity is swapped. It's not the HID manufacturer's fault though, it's a common issue because car manufacturers don't have a positive/negative standard.
The NSX and many japanese import cars have opposite polarity.

For my DDM kit, I took the plug that Shawn circled and shaved down the little polarity tab and plugged in the connector in the opposite direction. Works like a charm, even though it doesn't "snap" in any longer.. the friction is enough to keep it in place (and has for the past 6 years).

Also, I would second the idea of running a 55watt kit directly to the battery using a wiring harness. Pick them up for ~$10 to $15 and you won't be blowing the NSX fuses anymore. The jury is out as to whether it is necessary but the piece of mind is enough for me.

I've been running my 55watt kit for 6+ years with no issues. Same experience (5+ years) with the 55watt kit on my Mazdaspeed. Both have wiring kits direct to the battery. I say go 55watt or go home. :smile:

yep, will try that again at home... but as mentioned, my electrical skill is very minimal compare to some of you guys here, so if i want to wire them direct to the battery with relay, how do i do that ? care to explain in the detail pls ?

thanks

PS : that black box in my HID kit, is that the relay ??

 

[Hapa88]

Check out my boy Jason's HID install on the NSX here. He details it pretty well. He even shows the technique I used for the Polarity.

http://petrol.jasonwoan.com/2012/01/03/ddm-tuning-nsx-hid-kit-install/

 

[GRacer]

thanks Hapa... it's detail alright, but not quite as detail as it could be for me i still don't know which wires to connect to the battery direct ? step #10 on that link only mentioned connect the main harness to the battery, not actually showing it which one. again, pls excuse my skill, i have very minimal knowledge on electrical stuff.

if you see the picture that had been marked by shawn above, on the very top, there are ONLY 2 wires out of the ballast, which is RED and BLACK wires with crimp terminals. do i connect this RED one to the RED (POSITIVE) in battery and the BLACK to negative in battery ??? would this make the light constantly on then as there is no way on turning it on and off as it's got power from battery continuously ?

 

[Pchpleno]

Sometimes the input plug on the ballast can go both ways try to reverse the plug so essentially your reversing the polarity do one at a time to see if it fires up.

A 35w kit doesn't need a relay kit it can be wired direct to the cars harness.

 

[Hapa88]

One of these two should help...

 

[Malibu Rapper]

I don't like 55W kits because of the two kits I've purchased, both over $100 so they weren't exactly the cheap ones, they both managed to fry my relay harnesses. I would hate to subject my factory wiring to that type of abuse. 35W HID is much brighter than halogen already so it should be sufficient for anyone. I went back to an inexpensive 35W kit and haven't had an issue since. Remember that these kits have a high current draw during startup, but this 55w kit says 10A max, how can you trust it?

But just because 35W pulls less power doesn't mean you should not opt for a relay kit. Some people have run it this way with good luck but relay kits only take a few minutes to install, only cost a few bucks so your car deserves the protection. He's already popping fuses and that's never a good sign.

 

[GRacer]

just wanna say thank you all for all the advise and tips. it's finally sorted now. as suggested, the polarity in nsx wiring loom is different than the hid kit, so as soon as i switch the polarity on the wires, it works straight away.

they're all connected up now, but have not yet to install with external relay as suggested - this will be my next project - as 9 out of 10 i only take the car out during the day anyway, so will hardly use the headlights.

although i do have more questions :
- on the first relay diagram above from Hapa, where it shows the connection "back to stock harness", the plug that goes to the external relay, i see that the RED and BLACK joined together (right behind the plug) ???? it seems really really odd to me joining this 2 cables ?
- i also noticed that when i turned on my hid kit, i can hear slight buzzing noise from them. is this common or my kit is actually buggered ?

 

[DRIFTER]

I have had two sets Mcculloch HID (Hi/low) kits installed for 5+ years with no issues on the stock wiring. Is wiring everything all the way back to the battery needed? What's the benefit? There is a fuse in line and the wires don't get hot even after extended use. I have everything tucked so you cant tell the headlights are modified now.

 

[GRacer]

drifter, is yours 35w or 55w hid kit ? mine is 55w, and from what ppl suggested me above, being a 55w, it is best to wire it direct to battery. i don't have fuse inline in my kit.

 

[Hapa88]

although i do have more questions :
- on the first relay diagram above from Hapa, where it shows the connection "back to stock harness", the plug that goes to the external relay, i see that the RED and BLACK joined together (right behind the plug) ???? it seems really really odd to me joining this 2 cables ?
- i also noticed that when i turned on my hid kit, i can hear slight buzzing noise from them. is this common or my kit is actually buggered ?

It's just a diagram, don't think too much into it. Look at the second picture to help you.

Also the buzzing noise is typical. Usually the buzzing noise is louder at first start then starts to tapper off. This is because there's a really high spike of current at the beginning to ignite the bulb. Once ignited the voltage stays high and "feathers" it's way down to the operating amperage to get the bulb up to the operating brightness quicker.

This link has some good oscilloscope pictures to help you see what's actually happening..
http://theeshadow.com/files/volvo/hidcomp.html

 

[goa360]

Polarity swapped. Not sure why it is blowing off, they just don't turn on based on my exp. Don't recommend low and high HID. Use only low (99%) used. High beam won't come on quick enough so keep OEM to flash anytime. I used DDM kits on my NSX (55w) and R1(35w), no issues since 3 years. Keep OEM as back up if you are not so sure in glove box.

 

[Pchpleno]

60 percent of ballasts that I've seen will short the fuse if polarity is crossed. I guess some of them are not internally protected. These cars have relays already for the headlights that are designed to carry loads of at least 30 amps so running these 35w kits without another relay is fine. I've been working on cars for a long time and have always done this with no problem. Make sure there is 15 amp fuses in the headlight fuse locations if the 10 amp fuse blow. A 55w kit though I would recommend installing another relay to channel power direct from the battery, not because the load on the headlight relay, but more for the factory wire size.

 

[britlude]

just to clarify what others have said and what i found when i installed the HIDs on my JDM NSX... the vast majority of manufacturers put the positive supply to the bulb, and the outer case is earthed (-ve). this goes back to the way all bulbs use to have the outer case/mount as the ground when cars were made out of metal!!

Honda/Acura for some reason decided they would make the connections the other way around. I'm sure they spent millions on research to decide the rest of the world was wrong, and made the bulb mount the positive, and the bulb connector negative.

so basically you have to swap the terminals to the HID as they use one small and one large lucar connector the connect to the car wiring. i do this, as mentioned above, by seperating the HID power connector and reversing the terminals there, no cutting/soldering, just a bit fiddly!

when the HIDs are connected they draw less current, despite the associated circuitry, than the original bulbs. i'm running 4 fast bright HIDS in dipped and main beam. they are fast enough to flash on the main for other road users and take about 3 seconds to get to full brightness. i had another set on previously, they took about 10 seconds and didn't have any useful brightness.

a high pitched buzz/whistle is normal, and the black boxes between the ballasts and the bulbs convert the output to AC as far as i can tell (look at DC HIDs and AC HIDs, AC have the extra boxes)

HTH

 

[GRacer]

thanks guys for all the response at least my mind now can rest easy knowing that i didn't damaged anything when i hook them up at reverse polarity, only fuses keep blowing. i will find a time to in the weekend to make this relay - might have to adjust the light too as the driver side seems to be pointing downwards more compare to the other side.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

I have had two sets Mcculloch HID (Hi/low) kits installed for 5+ years with no issues on the stock wiring. Is wiring everything all the way back to the battery needed? What's the benefit? There is a fuse in line and the wires don't get hot even after extended use. I have everything tucked so you cant tell the headlights are modified now.

The benefit is that you can only fry the wires on the relay harness and protect your car at a very, very minimal cost. I've fried relay harness wires with these 55w kits w/o popping the fuse. What that tells me is that there is some damage to be done even if you don't pop a fuse and even if the lights are rated to draw less than the fuse rating. That could have been my factory wiring. Remember, you are dealing with some very high voltages should something go wrong in the ballast as well.

You can replace a lot of parts on your car, but probably not many things are as challenging as replacing your headlight wire end to end properly. So for about $10 and 15 minutes of your time is it worth it? It is! Don't let your luck or other people's lucky experience sway you from doing it right.