Anyone else having problems with Morimoto HID?
06-16-2014, 07:03 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 102
Anyone else having problems with Morimoto HID?
I've been having ongoing issues with morimoto HIDs and was wondering if anyone else has had similar issues. First of all, i want to say that Lightwerkz (where i bought the kit from) & TRS (the makers of the kit) both have excellent customer service and are very responsive and they are trying their best to help me with my HID problems but it is frustrating that i keep having issues with the system.
I bought and installed 4300k 35 watt morimoto HID's in July 2013.
Soon after i noticed the ground wire shadows so i bought the XB35 bulbs in August 2013
In October 2013 i noticed that the HID's were flickering on one side and shortly afterwords, both bulbs were flickering. I was told to install a relay harness so i bought that and installed it but the flickering was still present. At this point i was transferred over to TRS for troubleshooting. After swapping ballasts side to side, switching grounds, swapping bulbs, TRS sent me this message
We have admittedly had reports of issues plaguing about 10% of newer Morimoto ballasts.
Over the past couple weeks we have been working non stop to study and correct the issue and have concluded on two necessary upgrades needed for the ballasts:
1) If you're experiencing a slight "flicker" - this is because the reaction time of the ballasts circuit board isn't fast enough to keep pace with the instability in the arc inside your HID bulbs.
Solution: We are using a newer ASIC-DSP circuit instead of the current IC-Chip circuit. The new ASIC-DSP circuit reads and adjusts output much faster and also much more efficiently than the IC-Chips and thus will eliminate any chance of flickering.
2) If you're experiencing inconsistent firing of the bulbs: We found that the magnetic core used in the igniter that is specified on our latest model "slim" 3Five and 5Five ballasts sometimes won't put out the necessary 16KV to fire some bulbs, especially when cold.
Solution: The new standard igniter will be capable of producing up to 20KV. Rather than going with an externally mounted igniter because the existing ballast shell is too thin, we have opted to increase the ballast's thickness by 2mm to accommodate the massive igniter.
They recalled my ballasts and i received new ones in January 2014. The new ballasts fixed the flickering and i was pretty happy that i finally had a set of working HID's.
However, i started leaving my light stalk switch to AUTO and that's when more problems started happening. Occasionally, when starting the car on AUTO at night, the passenger side HID will not fire. After talking with TRS, they said that the problem was again with the ballasts and that they were sucking up too much current at startup. They informed me that there will be a new version of the ballast coming out later this year that will have a lower starting current. So... right now, the only thing i can do besides not using the AUTO setting is to replace one of the relays with a delay relay so that the lights turn on in serial one after the other. I'm hoping they come out with these new ballasts soon.....so that i can finally stop worrying about my HID's. I hate installing new ballasts! Its such a pain to go through the wheel well.
I bought and installed 4300k 35 watt morimoto HID's in July 2013.
Soon after i noticed the ground wire shadows so i bought the XB35 bulbs in August 2013
In October 2013 i noticed that the HID's were flickering on one side and shortly afterwords, both bulbs were flickering. I was told to install a relay harness so i bought that and installed it but the flickering was still present. At this point i was transferred over to TRS for troubleshooting. After swapping ballasts side to side, switching grounds, swapping bulbs, TRS sent me this message
We have admittedly had reports of issues plaguing about 10% of newer Morimoto ballasts.
Over the past couple weeks we have been working non stop to study and correct the issue and have concluded on two necessary upgrades needed for the ballasts:
1) If you're experiencing a slight "flicker" - this is because the reaction time of the ballasts circuit board isn't fast enough to keep pace with the instability in the arc inside your HID bulbs.
Solution: We are using a newer ASIC-DSP circuit instead of the current IC-Chip circuit. The new ASIC-DSP circuit reads and adjusts output much faster and also much more efficiently than the IC-Chips and thus will eliminate any chance of flickering.
2) If you're experiencing inconsistent firing of the bulbs: We found that the magnetic core used in the igniter that is specified on our latest model "slim" 3Five and 5Five ballasts sometimes won't put out the necessary 16KV to fire some bulbs, especially when cold.
Solution: The new standard igniter will be capable of producing up to 20KV. Rather than going with an externally mounted igniter because the existing ballast shell is too thin, we have opted to increase the ballast's thickness by 2mm to accommodate the massive igniter.
They recalled my ballasts and i received new ones in January 2014. The new ballasts fixed the flickering and i was pretty happy that i finally had a set of working HID's.
However, i started leaving my light stalk switch to AUTO and that's when more problems started happening. Occasionally, when starting the car on AUTO at night, the passenger side HID will not fire. After talking with TRS, they said that the problem was again with the ballasts and that they were sucking up too much current at startup. They informed me that there will be a new version of the ballast coming out later this year that will have a lower starting current. So... right now, the only thing i can do besides not using the AUTO setting is to replace one of the relays with a delay relay so that the lights turn on in serial one after the other. I'm hoping they come out with these new ballasts soon.....so that i can finally stop worrying about my HID's. I hate installing new ballasts! Its such a pain to go through the wheel well.
06-17-2014, 11:40 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Frisco, TX
Posts: 317
I had the same issue with my original ballasts. Then they sent me 4 new ballasts for my fogs and low beams because of the "recall". I also had the passenger side not fire one time and I thought I was tripping. I just flicked the lights on and off and the light came on. This has only happened once but if it happens again I'm hoping to get their "new ballasts" again
06-17-2014, 01:23 PM
#4
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 1
Hi 2012maximaS,
Carlos from TRS here, As an avid Nissan Fan, it pains to hear about this situation. I do feel the pain of constantly going through the wheel wells for adjustments and alignment because I need to do the same for my 2013 Altima. First, I would like to mentioned that Lightwerkz is a reputable retrofitter that is known worldwide for his work and his input is exact what you should expect from a world class business. We did had some issues with a small percentage of ballasts last year that has plagued us. Even though it was a small percentage, the customers voices were heard and was taken care off immediately. The problem was that the manufacturer made changes without notifying us thus creating the issue with the recall. Since then we have fixed it with the new DSP ballasts with improved internals and a more powerful ignitor. Unfortunately some of the vehicles across different makes and models couldn't handle the extra current needed at start up with the Auto feature on. After seeing this, we needed to go back to the drawing board and fix every issue but also improving it at the same time.
We were lucky enough to be able to consult with an ex-Denso engineer on the new XB35/XB55 ballast project back in February during the early design consideration phase and while I won’t go as far as saying the new ballasts are going to eat Denso’s for dinner, I do feel confident that they will be the best ballasts ever produced without a major automaker’s budget backing them. Some things you can expect to see are removable TE Connectivity high voltage outputs terminating in both D2S or AMP flavors, Extruded aluminum shells with integrated heat-sinks and an optimized IC layout with ceramic igniter shielding. Lesson Learned. There is obviously a strong focus on ignition stability and warm up speed just adequate enough to comply with ECE99 standards, reduction of EMI output, and Reducing AMP consumption on start up. Above all: reliability. Because there is no deadline to meet (unlike the DSP) – the XB series is much more thought out to begin with, and will be tested, tested, broken, tested, and tested some more before they’re mature enough to mass produce. Speaking of mass production, another item of importance here is automation. Sure the design and quality of ingredients that go into OEM ballasts is top notch, but one of the most important things that separates them from aftermarket units is automated production. Once the design has been settled, the PCB’s will be produced by a third party on a sterile automated line, not assembled by hand like every other ballast produced in southern China. There is very little variance in OEM quality; it doesn’t matter if the factory produces one, one hundred, or ten thousand units, they all end up the same. Start with a good design, use quality ingredients, and remove as much variability as possible from production.
With the new ballasts being created and hopefully available towards the end of the year, it should put us back to where we were on reliability and confidence from our strong customer base.
I would just like to extend this reply to all Maxima or other Nissan owners that we will be taking care of each one of you if there was any issues. We strive for 100% excellent customer service and won't stop until we reach that goal. Please let me know what I can do to help you and don't hesitate to contact us with any concerns.
Business Hours
M–F: 9am – 5pm EST
Phone 404.220.7940
Available Hours
M-Th: 10am – 5:30pm EST
Friday: 10am – 5:00pm EST
Live Chat
Available Hours
M-Th: 10am – 5:30pm EST
Friday: 10am – 5:00pm EST
Please let us know if we can assist you further!
Thank you,
Carlos at TRS
Carlos from TRS here, As an avid Nissan Fan, it pains to hear about this situation. I do feel the pain of constantly going through the wheel wells for adjustments and alignment because I need to do the same for my 2013 Altima. First, I would like to mentioned that Lightwerkz is a reputable retrofitter that is known worldwide for his work and his input is exact what you should expect from a world class business. We did had some issues with a small percentage of ballasts last year that has plagued us. Even though it was a small percentage, the customers voices were heard and was taken care off immediately. The problem was that the manufacturer made changes without notifying us thus creating the issue with the recall. Since then we have fixed it with the new DSP ballasts with improved internals and a more powerful ignitor. Unfortunately some of the vehicles across different makes and models couldn't handle the extra current needed at start up with the Auto feature on. After seeing this, we needed to go back to the drawing board and fix every issue but also improving it at the same time.
We were lucky enough to be able to consult with an ex-Denso engineer on the new XB35/XB55 ballast project back in February during the early design consideration phase and while I won’t go as far as saying the new ballasts are going to eat Denso’s for dinner, I do feel confident that they will be the best ballasts ever produced without a major automaker’s budget backing them. Some things you can expect to see are removable TE Connectivity high voltage outputs terminating in both D2S or AMP flavors, Extruded aluminum shells with integrated heat-sinks and an optimized IC layout with ceramic igniter shielding. Lesson Learned. There is obviously a strong focus on ignition stability and warm up speed just adequate enough to comply with ECE99 standards, reduction of EMI output, and Reducing AMP consumption on start up. Above all: reliability. Because there is no deadline to meet (unlike the DSP) – the XB series is much more thought out to begin with, and will be tested, tested, broken, tested, and tested some more before they’re mature enough to mass produce. Speaking of mass production, another item of importance here is automation. Sure the design and quality of ingredients that go into OEM ballasts is top notch, but one of the most important things that separates them from aftermarket units is automated production. Once the design has been settled, the PCB’s will be produced by a third party on a sterile automated line, not assembled by hand like every other ballast produced in southern China. There is very little variance in OEM quality; it doesn’t matter if the factory produces one, one hundred, or ten thousand units, they all end up the same. Start with a good design, use quality ingredients, and remove as much variability as possible from production.
With the new ballasts being created and hopefully available towards the end of the year, it should put us back to where we were on reliability and confidence from our strong customer base.
I would just like to extend this reply to all Maxima or other Nissan owners that we will be taking care of each one of you if there was any issues. We strive for 100% excellent customer service and won't stop until we reach that goal. Please let me know what I can do to help you and don't hesitate to contact us with any concerns.
Business Hours
M–F: 9am – 5pm EST
Phone 404.220.7940
Available Hours
M-Th: 10am – 5:30pm EST
Friday: 10am – 5:00pm EST
Live Chat
Available Hours
M-Th: 10am – 5:30pm EST
Friday: 10am – 5:00pm EST
Please let us know if we can assist you further!
Thank you,
Carlos at TRS
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