HID Conversion Update

[Oman]

I put in my HID conversion kit about 15 months ago. It was a kit with Sylvania bulbs and compact digital sealed ballasts. I used a heavy gauge fused relay harness to make sure I did not stress the factory wiring and also to make sure the ballasts had adequate startup current available.

 

Last week the right side HID started to have problems starting. After a few days the right side would not start at all. The warranty on the kit was 1 year so I was out of warranty. After contacting the company that supplied the kit I did the recommended diagnostics and found that the bulb was at fault. A close inspection of the arc chamber in the bulb revealed that the electrodes were completely disintegrated. As the electrodes wear the gap gets wider and wider until there is not enough voltage at startup to create the arc. I inspected the other bulb and found that the electrodes on this bulb were only slightly less worn than the one that failed completely. Essentially the working bulb was near the very end of its life as well.

 

For about $75.00 I can replace the HID bulbs but the process is not as simple as replacing standard H11 bulbs. Since the HID bulbs are SUPPOSED to last so long they do not plug directly into a socket. Instead the wiring harness is connected directly to the bulb and there has to be a bunch of fishing of wires through weather seals to get the job done.

 

Because it was going to take a while to get replacement HID bulbs (if I chose to go that route) I decided to try a replacement set of H11 halogens. On a whim I tried the Silverstar H11 55W bulbs since they had them down the street. All I can say was, well, they were terrible. They seemed to throw off well less light than the factory halogens (at least against a white board I use for testing and aligning the lights) and they had a very irritating blueish tint. I then read a few reviews and decided to try the PIAA 15211 Style Extreme White 55W halogens. When I compared them against the factory halogens they were only marginally better. The light output was only very slightly shifted away from the red part of the spectrum that is standard with halogens and it was only marginally brighter against my white reflective board. BTW I compared the factory bulb against the others at the same time by putting one on the left and the other on the right side. It isn't a perfect test but at least I could see them at the same time.

 

What I do know after a year of having the HIDs in and now driving a few days with halogens is that the 35W HIDs put out far more light than the 55W halogens of any type and seem to have better contrast characteristics especially in the rain. If I decide to keep the halogens in I will miss the HIDs greatly. The HIDs work well in the reflectors that the 2010 Fusion uses and I never got a flash from oncoming traffic ( I re-aligned the headlights after installing the HIDs so that the cutoff was at the recommended height. )

 

What I can't do is worry about driving around with a headlight out all the time and having to replace the bulbs every year. Right now I am trying to find out if the Phillips bulbs and matching ballasts are more reliable than the Sylvania units. The Phillips are about 3x the price - $250.00-$300.00 for the set if you can find them

 

Jon

[Zack]

you are right about one thing and that is after you get used of HIDs everything else doesn't quite measure up

[pacsai]

Jon,

 

Bummer dude! I was so hoping that your HID experience would be successful (I was anticipating trying it myself). I've got HIDs on another car and really like them. I find the FFH's incandescent bulbs lacking in brightness and would have added them, were they an option. You've got a lot of sweat equity and time invested in your HID mod. I hope that you can find the Phillips bulbs and that they exceed your expectations.

 

Coastie