Thread: legal hi/low beam hid

My RRS experience is probably relevant to P38s. I have put HIDS in both low beam (in the projector) and high beam and these are cheap ebay systems and I have had no issues with the Canbus or fault codes etc.

Yes they do drop off in performance but not really noticeable and they last longer than halogens anyway.

When the HIDs light up they go through their blue phase first and then the yellow section kicks in and after 5-10secs they are at full brilliance and colour.

As mentioned HIDs take to long to light up from cold to be initially effective. Not so much a problem in little used outback roads but in town where light may be needed quickly (road works etc) they are not much use. Headlight flashing etc seriously reduces life.

Because of this slow lightup, I have decided to take the HIDs out of high beam and put in some of the new 4300k hi brilliance Halogens so colour will be similar to the HIDS I have in low beam.

HIDs have great light but they do have some limitations like slow light up and would be good in spotties if you do not need quick light up.

No interested in the pros and cons argument of then use of HIDs - these are my thoughts only.

Cheers

Garry

I haven't done any reading on the subject, but I can't for the life of me see how a 55watt halogen produces more light than a 55watt hid; in fact to the eye a 55wat hid puts out heaps more than a 100watt halogen does. 1.7km seeing distance as opposed to 800m - we measured it.

I have a feeling this is like many car stereo competitions. A lot of winning systems don't actually sound that good, but on the judges recording software they are acoustically perfect.

In terms of error codes on the becm, couldn't I hook the main power draw for a 55watt kit up to the becm power supply for the h1s? They're both 55watt....

Im not sure of inrush current or anything like that though.

I’ve been reading this thread with interest but some of the comments seem to be a little off target. I’ll try to explain:

Compared with incandescent bulbs including halogen, HID lamps have higher luminous efficiency since a greater proportion of their radiation is in visible light as opposed to heat.

It is far more accurate to measure in Lumens output as a comparison of different lights. (Lumen is a unit of measurement of light output or brightness and watt is a measurement of power being used). Traditional 100w halogen light produces around 1700 lumens at the source, while HID outfitted lights can output up to and beyond 6000 lumens each at less power. The key to this is Lumen per watt efficiency (Lm/w). Some of the cheaper HID kits around have a very low efficiency rating, and though they draw 50 watts of power, they may only produce enough light to match a highly efficient 35w kit in output lumens

Halogen lamps are very inefficient, with a 100W bulb producing 1700 lumens at only 17% efficiency, 17 lumens per watt. That’s 83% inefficient and converting the wasted output into heat. Better HID kits can produce around 87% efficiency, 87 lumens per watt.eg) 35w x 87 = 3045 Lumens with only 13% inefficiency converting to heat, whichis why HID lights run cooler than halogens of the same Lumen output even thoughthey run at many times less their power.

HID has a low amperage and very low current draw, for instance a 12V 50W HID globe draws 4.16 amps compared to 8.33 amps drawn by a standard 100Whalogen globe.

Then there is colour temperature, for most applications around 5000K will suit. Once you get higher than 5500K there is a very distinctive cold blue look and not really all that great for most driving conditions, the other end of the spectrum below 4000K your eyes will see a very yellowish cast appear with the lights.


Ultimately it’s your choice, there’s lots to chose from. For me, as I don’t do a lot of driving at night in my p38 I have the standard halogen lamps so the KISS principal is my best option.

Gary

Gary..

You're partly correct but also purveying incorrect information.

Lumens per watt is correct as a unit of efficiency

However, your figures are incorrect.

And yes, you are correct in your definitions - wattage is a measure of power, not light.

Lux, and lumens are measurements of light.

The other problem is focusing the light output.
And inefficient reflector can take a powerful output and make it useless, whereas a well designed reflector can harness light more efficiently and produce a far more useful light.

Other problems, regarding colour temperature are with eye strain...

Try driving a highway for hours on HID spotlights - the level of eyestrain is increased - the wavelength of the light conflicts with humans natural night vision.

And for the record - there are very very few HID ballasts that produce what they claim.

And there are xenon bulbs with far higher efficiencies than 17 lumen per watt.

And again, unless the vehicle has an extremely limited charging system, what does the extra current matter?

Do you mean the extra current of high wattage bulbs? Mmm, im not sure the becm would like 100watt bulbs.

4300k seems a pretty natural colours to me. I've driven 100s of hours on dads spotlights with no eye strain. As said, a 6000k colour is quite blue (innatural), which is hard on the eyes.

True there's probably some really cheap ballasts out there. So if you go into ARB, memorise the serial number off their ballast resisters, type it into ebay and you'll find the direct importer in Frankston and they're 75 percent cheaper, and put them in a free form reflector like the hella compacts.

I very much doubt there's a xenon globe that is up around 80 efficiency.

Just for the record - my vehicle is driving 2x 250w driving lights without issue

My lumen output from these 2 lights is 10,000 lumens each.

That's real lumens, not theoretical.

We just pulled the HIDs out of the D2 and went back to filament lighting as it produces a better light for driving highways at night.

Something I spend a lot of my time doing.

The D4 is as per stock (HID and Filament high fill) with the 250w driving lights.