Hello,

One of my fog lights stopped working, after troubleshooting the problem yesterday, I found out one of the ballasts is dead

Here is a pic of the ballast:



My question is, if I buy a new ballast, does it need to be exactly the same? If not the same, will the light output be different?

I found two on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/One-HID-Repl...#ht_767wt_1159

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-x-35W-AC-D...ht_4596wt_1159

The first one is cheaper but the second one is the same brand, and same model number (the ballast looks different though)

Also, are the connectors universal from brand to brand?

Thanks,

 

Connectors are usually universal between aftermarket ballasts. I'd buy a new pair and keep the old working one as a spare.

 

Agreed

 

i agree.

i was running 2 different ballast at one point in my CRX and warm up time was different on the 2 ballasts. one of the bulbs went out last week after 6 years, and it was a ebay kit. the bulbs seem to outlast the ballasts from what i seen. i actually picked up a set of slim ballasts. if there was a way to post pics on here i would put one up for size comparison....

 

x2

 

Come on, it's been over a year... And I did use 2 different ballasts and obtained the same color...

 

Color is determined by the bulb not the ballast right?

 

all depends on the bulb because the ballast just create the extra power to power up the HID bulb. so i dont see a problem in using different ballast i has different set on my maxima

 

HID's are lower wattage than Halogens.

Bulbs have color temperature, in the Kelvin scale/range, ballasts have nothing to do with light output or color.

 

Technically their wattage effects brightness. For instance 55w ballast is brighter and will wash out the color of the bulb vs a 35w ballast.

 

No, bulb color in HID's has nothing to do with getting washed out or not, nor the wattage wont wash the color out being higher.

I've got 8k and 4.3k bulbs for my car, and it's not the color that affects the "color" it's the light output rating, in K.


OAN, Technically:
I've got a quad halogen system at work with 1000w bulbs focused on one spot, and it can get to about 1500-1800ºC.

I've also got a 2 bulb Xenon unit that can get to temps upwards s of 3000ºC, and the power supply for the Xenon unit is slightly less than half that of the Halogen unit, meaning wattage doesn't affect brightness/output, etc. And I use use different rated ballasts since they burn out all the time, and the temperature reached is always consistent as is the color temperature, since that's dependent on the temperature rating of the bulb.

 

A HID distributor disagrees "Due to the power of the 55W ballast, the output is slightly washed out as seen above"

 

FastnFuriousMax, do you just go around threads looking to go against what people say? Like in the Cattman 3" exhaust thread? Wattage, ballasts, and bulb temperature/bulb quality all come into play when talking about light output. The higher the wattage, the more intense the light will be. 55w produces more white light, which is probably what DDM means when they say it will wash out the color output.

As far as which ballasts to get, the Morimoto are the top ballasts for the money, but if you want a less expensive, but quality ballast, DDM is very good. My start up time takes about 10-12 seconds to warm up to full brightness, and they have fired up every time since installing them at the end of last summer. It does take a little bit in regards to shipping because they are shipped directly from China, but it was worth the wait. Their bulb temperatures are spot on. I went through 4 different sets of 3k bulbs before the DDM ones were on the money. Others were green, green/yellow, didnt match, or didnt fire up. Just my .02

 

I am sorry if I offended your $850 CATBACK. Remember: "Your car is at extreme risk any time you pull into an exhaust (or transmission) shop." You can get the same performance for $390 shipped almost half the price.

55w produces more LUMENS vs 35w which explains the difference in brightness and color.

 

Same performance? That's odd, why didn't you reply to Cattman's direct reply to all of your questions and BS claims? I haven't seen a dyno from a $390 stainless steel, mandrel bent, TIG welded 3" exhaust to confirm same performance. A 14" resonator is the same as a 5" x 21" resonator? The catback was also only $800, so if you can provide me with a BRM or equivalent dyno showing their same performance, it would be appreciated.

Back on topic, you are correct in saying more LUMENS are produced by the 55w kit. Technical way of saying what I said earlier. 55w kit produces more white light, which will in turn wash out the temperature of the bulb slightly.

 

Seriously?

I decided to stop posting in his for sale thread because I decided it was rude to bash his price/business decisions publicly in his FOR SALE THREAD. Both exhausts are 3'' mandrel bent and have the bends in the EXACT same locations. They will perform within 5% of each other guaranteed. Differences are in sound because of the different mufflers and resonators used. If anything a larger resonator will produce LESS and not MORE HP. **** for less than $850(you have to have it shipped) you can goto a shop and have them mandrel bend you a custom one off catback with your own choice of mufflers and resonators. I bought exactly that on this very own forum in the for sale section for under $500 before BRM was around.

back ot: right so ballasts can change the color output of the bulbs based on their output of lumens which is determined by the wattage of the ballast.

 

I could do that, but see, Brian already spent all the money on research and development to find out what mufflers/resonators work best for our vehicles. I dont have to pick and choose parts, hoping I end up with the sound I like, or even worse, not liking it and having to experiment with parts. Not to mention, there is no mandrel bender within 100 miles of me unfortunately. I've checked. If I have to pay more for quality and peace of mind, I have no issues doing that.

Sorry for hijacking this thread

 

edited: not worth my time.

 

a weak ballast will affect color and brightness.

 

K. Let me know when you've got that dyno. Thanks

 

omfg what in the world makes you think the performance would be different? please. educate. me.

 

Lets hop back in the exhaust thread and discuss it, where it's more appropriate.

To OP, Good luck with your HID ballast replacement, hopefully we were able to provide some insight amongst the off topic discussion.

 

I've never seen it in practice, then again I'm not an HID distributor, just work with dual xenon and quad halogen systems daily.


Lesson, why go with higher wattage then?

 

Thank god we are back on topic.

55w produces supposedly on average 30-40% more lumens. Assuming the wiring and housing can take the added heat/current draw from the 55w it is the way to go for max light output on the road. With an 02-03 housing i saw maybe a 20% increase using the same bulbs. I have ran the DDM 55w ballast with 6k 35w bulbs for 3+ years on for over 4+ hours at a time and had no issues in both fogs and low beams.

55w should lessen the life of the bulbs but it will still be longer than halogens unless you buy expensive 55w bulbs which aren't worth the price given the extra life span.



D Moolah: Dude, if you want to start a brm vs catman catback thread let me know and I will fill it full of information.

 

ballast are super cheap now. I just got 2 for $20 and they are the slim ones that are easier to tuck away. 35 watt though. I run 4300k in my crx its pure white light and doesnt look ricey. most places around here sell mainly 6k kits and I think its ugly. one of my friends had 5k and it looked.


I have a 02 max with stock HID, are they 4300K ?

 

yes 4300k are stock.

with a 6k 55w kit it will look like a 35w 5k kit but have added output. best combo imo super bright white and more output vs stock with no blue depending on the bulbs.

DDM kits are the bomb imo. Cheap and so far reliable but at the price if it fails now I don't care I got my money's worth and then some + an amazing warranty.

F $200 mishimoto ballasts.

 

i thought i might just throw this in there.

i picked up a set of slim 35watt ballast on ebay for my CRX and now the 4300k bulbs look a little blue. i guess the ballasts arent putting out enough power to get the correct color. i put in one of my old ballast that is still good and i can see the differance.. im definately going to get a pair of 55watt ballast for it.

 

heres the pics i took this one is with the new 35 watt slim ballast

 

old ballast

 

cfgjhnfg

 

is it possible to delete posts if you accidently double post?

 

^ Cheap *** ballasts will do that to you.

Just remove the HIDs period. I feel bad for the night time drivers in your area.

 

ive had this kit on for 5 years and people dont flash me. i aimed them pretty good so they dont blind any oncoming drivers.

i think only dual fillament headlight bulbs give a lot of glare cause the housing has a high and low reflector on the same bulb so it goes out of controll. ive had a few cars that used 9006 low beams and ive put hid on them and it doesnt blind people at all. i see a lot of 92-2000 civics that use h4 and they blind the hell out of me when they have HID's installed. same for the guys at work, one has a 240sx with a h4 HID conversion with no kind of glare shield..

once you go HID you can n ever go back! regular lights seem liek nothing now. i feel like putting a set in the tow truck i use at work lol...