Connect the like-colored wires -- those of the fixture and those of the ballast -- with wire nuts: blue to blue wires, yellow to yellow, red to red, black to black, white to white. If the ballast has a ground wire, connect it to the fixture housing with the screw you removed earlier.
Full Answer
What is a HID ballast and why do I need one?
The ballast is a crucial part of any HID lighting system. It controls the electrical current needs of your HID lamp. Without it, your HID lamps won’t have enough power to light up, or will have too much power when it’s already warm and will burn out so much quicker. Ready your ballast by removing the cover for repair access.
How do you hook up a ballast to a light fixture?
Connect the like-colored wires -- those of the fixture and those of the ballast -- with wire nuts: blue to blue wires, yellow to yellow, red to red, black to black, white to white. If the ballast has a ground wire, connect it to the fixture housing with the screw you removed earlier.
What happens if the ballast on a light fixture fails?
The ballast is wired to the home's hot, neutral and ground wires on one end, and to the light fixture's lamp holders on the other end. If a ballast fails, it can cause a short, burn out tubes or even cause a fire, so it must be replaced.
Do HID bulbs and ballasts need to be bi-xenon specific?
No, HID bulbs and ballasts do not need to be bi-xenon specific when used in a projector based system to be capable of producing light for low and high beam modes.
How do you wire a HID ballast?
1:329:17How to Install an HID Kit - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo when HID kit is very simple in itself all that it entails is a ballast that we have right here weMoreSo when HID kit is very simple in itself all that it entails is a ballast that we have right here we've got one connector like this it leads into the ballast which is essentially a power inverter.
Can you fix a HID ballast?
If yes, you must learn how to reset HID ballast. Not all failures require a replacement; sometimes it is because of a damaged ballast. By resetting your ballast, you can make it work again, extend its operational life, you save money in the long run.
Can you run HID without ballast?
All HID bulbs require a ballast, which is sometimes integrated. No LED bulbs require a ballast, although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast. You will find ballast-compatible or "plug-and-play" LEDs that are designed to replace linear fluorescents, compact fluorescents, or HIDs.
What is inside a HID ballast?
HID ballast , smart piece of technology A boost PFC stage (to maintain sinusoidal input current and generate a stable DC bus voltage) A buck converter (responsible for optimising lamp current and power) And an output stage to drive the lamp.
How do I know if my HID ballast is bad?
Dimming or Flickering Headlights If your HID bulb cannot produce its full brightness or strobe periodically, this is most probably a ballast problem. When a ballast begins to fail, it may have problems regulating and providing a stable current, hence the dimming and flickering of your light source.
How do I know if my HID ballast is working?
By connecting the multimeter to the ballast, you will see right away whether you have a working or a bad ballast. If the multimeter measures and detects current, voltage, etc. you will know that your ballast is perfectly fine.
Can you bypass ballast for LED lights?
2. Ballast-bypass, line voltage, or direct wire linear LED (UL type B) Bypass the ballast linear LEDs – also known as line voltage or direct-wire linear LEDs – work straight off the line voltage flowing directly to the sockets, requiring you to remove the original fluorescent ballast. Jump ahead to pros and cons.
Is 35w HID better than 55w?
You will get about a 50% brightness increase by going from a 35-watt ballast to a 55-watt ballast. So the 8,000K HID bulb will go from 1,000 maximum lux to 1,500 maximum lux at 25 feet, but the color will shift to a 6,000K color. Just because your HID bulb says 10,000K or 12,000K does not mean that it is brighter.
Do HID lights need a relay?
A relay harness connects your HID lighting system directly to the car's battery. This allows the lights to draw power from the battery rather than the rest of the vehicle's system. The main benefit of installing a relay harness is that it can help to provide a regulated flow of energy to your HID headlights.
How many volts does a HID ballast put out?
Today's most widely used nominal input voltages for HID lighting systems include 120, 208, 240, 277 and 480 volts, with 120 and 277 the most popular. Advance ballasts are therefore designed to operate the wide variety of HID lamps at these inputs.
How can you tell if a ballast is AC or DC?
3:136:26HID Ballast Compare: AC Ballast vs DC Ballast - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo as you can see the DC ballast on the left has a blue tint to it whereas. The passenger side withMoreSo as you can see the DC ballast on the left has a blue tint to it whereas. The passenger side with the AC ballast. It's just white and both of these bulbs are the 5000k.
Can you convert HID to LED?
An LED lamp and driver is another option to upgrade your HID lighting. In this scenario, you remove the ballast, replace it with an LED driver, and add a light array (or bulb).
What color wires should I use for a ballast?
Connect the like-colored wires -- those of the fixture and those of the ballast -- with wire nuts: blue to blue wires, yellow to yellow, red to red, black to black, white to white. If the ballast has a ground wire, connect it to the fixture housing with the screw you removed earlier.
What happens if a ballast fails?
If a ballast fails, it can cause a short, burn out tubes or even cause a fire, so it must be replaced . Lights that don't turn on, fluorescent tubes blackened near their ends, and brown, burnt tube electrodes are all indicators that a ballast is bad.
What is a ballast in a fluorescent light?
By Emrah Oruc. Fluorescent lamps are common in many homes. They emit a a lot of light while consuming a minimal amount of electricity. The amount of current flowing through the fluorescent light tubes is regulated by a device called a ballast. The ballast is wired to the home's hot, neutral and ground wires on one end, ...
How do I remove a light bulb from a light fixture?
If the fixture is hard-wired, turn off the circuit breaker for the light. Climb up on a step ladder and remove the light cover, then remove the light bulbs by twisting and sliding them out of the fixture, and set them a side.
What is ballast bypass?
Ballast Bypass – For LED lamps with internal drivers. LED products that are internally driven have the LED driver mounted inside of the base of the lamp. This means that any existing ballast should be bypassed/removed and power should be wired directly to the socket.
How many watts does a 400W HID system use?
With energy prices on the rise and each one of these fixtures using close to 460 watts each with a ballast, your bill keeps rising.
What size is a 400W LED light bulb?
The bulbs are pretty big and there are two sizes. The first is the ED37 size , which is about 11-12” long. The second is a smaller case size called a BT28 which is about 8-9” long. Part numbers are usually stamped on the bulbs and will have the “400” number in it, which indicates the wattage. If your bulb fits these characteristics, you have a 400W HID system.
What voltage do LED lights run?
The LED kits and new fixtures usually operate between 120-277V (multivolt). If you have a 347V or 480V system, you will need some step down transformers so it steps down the voltage to run with the LED driver.
Can you rewire a screw in lamp?
Screw in lamp with no rewire – Requires no rewiring and you just replace the lamp like normal. Works with the old existing HID ballast. Screw in lamp with rewire – Requires rewiring the power circuit directly to the lamp socket and removing the old HID ballast.
Do LED ballasts need rewiring?
Ballast ready or ballast compatible LED products are designed to work with existing HID ballasts. In many cases it is the easiest retrofit because no rewiring is required. Double check that your existing HID ballasts are in good, working condition. External Driver – Some LED products require an external driver.
How to wire a ballast?
Very easy wiring job. Connect the two red and one yellow wire from the sockets to the red ballast wire. Connect the two blue wires from one socket together to one blue ballast wire. Connect the other two blue wires from the other socket to the other blue ballast wir e. That's it.
How many blue wires are there in a tombstone?
You can see from the photos that it has 4 blue wires, 2 red and 1 yellow. The 4 blue wires all go to one end of the light fixture, where 2 blue wires go to each tombstone. 1 red wire goes to each of the tombstones on the other end, and the remaining yellow wire goes to one tombstone and jumps across to the other one.
What ballasts are used with D1S?
Ballasts designed for use with D1S/D1R: — The igniter is part of the bulb, not part of the ballast system. — AC85V stable current for bulbs containing mercury. — Becoming more common in OEM applications, but not widely used for retrofitting because projectors that use these bulbs lack in performance.
When did BMW start using HID headlights?
In 1993, BMW became the first automaker to offer a vehicle with HID headlights. Powered by a monster sized HID ballast (around the size of a brick) that ran off AC Power, it utilized a bulb simply designated as “D1.” The first American-made HID headlight system was offered in 1996 by Lincoln on their MKVIII. Their Sylvania-produced system was one of a kind since it ran on DC current. Due to the design’s poor reliability relative to AC systems, when Osram took over Sylvania their “Type 9500” DC ballast was discontinued. Today, ballasts run on AC current, are compact in size, and have an expected service life of eight to ten years.
Do OEM ballasts warm bulbs?
OEM ballasts also tend to warm the bulbs up to their full operating intensity a few seconds faster than aftermarket units. — Generally never available with a dedicated D2S output, only AMP versions available. — Plastic housings with cheap hardware, lack of any kind of quality materials.
Do Denso ballasts make headlights brighter?
The more expensive OEM ballasts such as the Matsushita or Denso units will not make your headlights any brighter than a less expensive aftermarket ballast. Though, there is a reasonable margin of quality between OEM-made and really cheap aftermarket HID kit ballasts; mostly in terms of long-term reliability.
Does ballast size matter?
In most cases, the size of a ballast won’t really matter too much, but if space is tight under the hood (especially close to the headlights) this may be something to consider. Retrofitters working on motorcycles should definitely pay attention here too, especially if you have no fairings at all.
Can you use 55W ballasts with 35W bulbs?
You can use 55w ballasts with standard 35w bulbs, but the life of the bulb will be shortened a bit, and their color will Wash Out a bit. Again, OEM applications use 35w ballasts, and when coupled with a high performance projector, you’ll really be putting plenty of light on the road even going that route.
What color are the hot wires on a ballast?
Once you remove the tube and expose the ballast, cut the hot and neutral wires that supply input power. In general, the hot wires are black, and the neutral wires are white. Make a close cut and ensure that there are no longer than 2 inches of wires left.
What type of ballast is used for tube lights?
NOTE: There are two types of ballasts: electronic and magnetic. The tube lights that use a magnetic ballast will also have a starter. If your tube light uses a magnetic ballast, make sure to locate and remove the starter before moving on to the next step. 5. Remove The Ballast.
What is the difference between LED ballast and LED driver?
Once the light is on, the ballast acts as a current regulator. On the other hand, an LED driver converts the high voltage AC to low voltage DC. Since LED lights work on low DC voltage, they need a driver.
What is a type A+B LED?
Installing them means you will have to remove an existing fluorescent tube ballast. Type A+B: Also known as ‘Hybrid’ T8 LED tubes, Type A+B tubes work with or without a ballast.
Why turn off mains power supply?
Turning off the Mains Power supply will ensure that you won’t get an electric shock during the process. So, locate the circuit breaker switch that provides power to the area where you will carry out the bypass and turn it off.
Do T8 LEDs need a ballast?
Most T8 LED tubes do not need a ballast. So, if you are going to install a T8 LED tube light, it will require a ballast bypass unless you choose a ballast compatible T8 LED tube.
Do T8 LEDs need a tombstone?
You must also know that most T8 LED tubes need non-shunted tombstones (sockets). (Meaning that the tombstone should not show electrical Continuity.) If the existing fluorescent tube fixture you want to replace has a non-shunted tombstone, you can proceed with the ballast bypass procedure.
Steps 1 – Checking The Parts
- Check the parts in HID kit. It should contain two ballasts, two relays, two HID (Bi-Xenon) headlight bulbs, wiring harnesses and the connecting wires.
Step 3- Installing The HID Bulbs
- Remove the old bulbs. Install HID bulbs in headlight holders. Lock them in position. Never touch the HID bulbs with bare fingers. In case you have removed any rubber or plastic cover, insert the wires through the cover and fix the cover back.
Step 4- Connecting The Bulbs
- Locate all the wires on the bulb base. The Bi-xenon HID bulbs have three wires projecting out from the back. Two of them are round connections while the third one is oval in shape. Connect male and female for both positive as well as negative wires coming out from the back of bulb to the ballast.
Step 5– Fixing The Ballasts
- Mount the ballasts and HID kit securely using the two-sided tape or ballast mounting brackets keeping it closest to headlight but away from any source of heat in the engine compartment. It is better to group the wires with zip ties. The ballast should be set down behind headlight.
Step 6 – Making Connection to Battery
- Fix the connecting wire ends to the positive and negative terminal screws on the battery. The negative wire of the harness should be fixed to negative battery terminal. Similarly, the positive wire goes to the positive battery terminal.
Step 7 – Installing The Relays
- Fix the relay between each ballast and the vehicle battery. Therelayserves to supply the surge of current to the HID bulbs from the battery to ignite them. The relay also regulates the voltage to keep a steady illumination. Mount the relay and inline fuse in their proper secure location.