AlienPrime
Well-Known Member
My intention is for this to become a sticky since I see entirely too many HID questions. I will add pictures and more info later. If you have something to add I'll add it. Special thanks to wikipedia, blindinghid.com and @MikeNice.
Q: What is HID?
A: HID stands for high intensity discharge. High-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps produce light with an electric arc rather than a glowing filament. The high intensity of the arc comes from metallic salts that are vaporized within the arc chamber. Because of the increased amounts of light available from HID burners relative to halogen bulbs, HID headlamps producing a given beam pattern can be made smaller than halogen headlamps producing a comparable beam pattern. Alternatively, the larger size can be retained, in which case the xenon headlamp can produce a more robust beam pattern.
Q: What is Xenon?
A: Automotive HID lamps are commonly called "xenon headlamps", though they are actually metal halide lamps that contain xenon gas. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate light immediately upon powerup, and accelerates the lamps' run-up time.
Q: What does "6000K" mean?
A: When you see the number followed by K it indicates the color temperature. This is NOT the same as brightness. The Kelvin (K) is the unit of color temperature. 4100K is the brightest, most natural white light similar to that of daytime sunlight, and therefore the HID color temperature used most in the OEM automotive industry. When you look at the light coming directly out of an HID headlight, it possesses a bit of a blue or purple hue which most people recognize as the expensive, elegant look characteristic of HID's. For this reason, some HID kit manufacturers produce 5400K, 6500K, 8000K, etc. bulbs that give an even more distinct blue hue but at the expense of overall light output. For comparison, most halogen headlights have a color temperature around 3200K which gives them a "dingy" yellowish appearance compared to HID's.
Q: What is a ballast?
A: The wiring harness that your car uses to power the stock halogen bulbs usually run at 55w. When you upgrade to an HID conversion, the bulbs that are used only require 35w (as a general rule of course). The ballast converts and regulates the flow of the electrical current from 55w (your current harness) to 35w (for the HID bulbs). This prevents the bulb from shorting out or not functioning.
Q: What is a projector?
A: A projector is a housing with a lens that focuses the light from a bulb. These keep you from blinding other drivers due to scattered light and provide a clean cut-off line. They also look cool and allow you to paint your reflectors a non-reflective color if you want!
^ This is a projector. ^
Q: What are retrofits?
A: Retrofit refers to adding projectors to stock headlights. Try The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications for diy retrofit kits. Doing a retrofit yourself isn't impossible or incredibly difficult, but it is non-trivial. You could also send them out to a place like customlightz and have them done.
^Someone installing a projector during a retrofit ^
Q: I want projectors but I don't want a retrofit, what do I do?
A: You can buy the stock projector housings from an Asian Civic, they run around $750 shipped. This is cheaper and more reliable than a retrofit in many cases. Contact member team3d, he sells them.
Q: What about just putting HIDs in the stock housings?
A: Dropping HID bulbs in a standard reflector housing is usually discouraged since it tends to blind other drivers. However, our housings aren't too bad and do provide a somewhat decent cutoff by themselves. Read more about this over here: why HID + non-projector headlights are dangerous !
Q: What do I need for a basic HID setup?A You shouldn't need anything more than the ballasts, wiring harness, and of course bulbs. However, a relay harness can be very beneficial and some kits include it while others do not.
Q: What is a relay harness?
A: Some vehicles might be able to power up HID systems normally without problems at install time. The inrush load can be up to max 13 amps per ballast, compared to 7amps inrush when using halogen. The factory design parameters for headlight circuits are 7 amps inrush and 4.5 amps continuous load. So over time, connectors, multifunction switch, headlight switch, wiring and fuse holders will slowly degrade, because of heat buildup. These components are very time consuming to troubleshoot because they are usually well hidden behind dashboards and other wiring looms. Parts can cost several hundred dollars and add 8h labor to that and it becomes obvious that a $25 wiring harness is a cheap insurance.
Q: What is the difference between 55w and 35w HIDs?
A:
Originally Posted by ADExternal
Most people mistaken wattage for brightness because of direct proportional. Sadly when energy is transferred or transformed, it is never 100%.
Meaning 55w 2x watts = 2x brighter? No. Power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed.In our case, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit time.
A good example is halogen bulbs produces a lot more heat then HIDs given that they are the same temp of brightness 4k. HID is a more concentrated discharge form of light so more energy is transformed to light instead of heat. The ballast with 35w transform to light with a bit heat than the 55w. After reading all that I can sum it up to. 35w gives you a bit more light, less glare, and saves you a bit more energy for your battery then the 55w.
Q: What about fog lights and high beams?
A: If you go HID on your high beams you will lose your DRL (and must pull the DRL fuse) since our DRL and high beams are the same bulb. There is nothing special about switching fog lights to HID, it is just like doing the low beams.
If you disable the DRL you may need a "decoder" if you find the car is throwing codes. It seems that most people do not have a problem with codes being thrown unless they are running LED DRL.
Q: Can you explain more about temperature and brightness?
A: Sure.
A comparison of Kelvin to lumens;
Standard OEM halogen 55W 9006(HB4) = 1100lm (lumens)
4300k D2S Philips = 3200lm (lumens)
4300k D2R Philips = 2800lm (lumens)
4300k D2S Philips = 2400lm (lumens) actually 5800k
4300k D2R Philips = 2000lm (lumens) actually 5800k
4800k D4S/R (brand) = 3800 (lumens) ** brightest in the market
5800k D4S/R (brand) = 3300 (lumens)
7000k D2S other = 1790lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
7000k D2R other = 1390lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
8000k D2S other = 1180lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
8000k D2R other = 780lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
Higher than 8000k, the light output significantly drops off, causing the light to be almost useless.
One should point out that although light output drops off after 8000k, the fact that the light is in the blue-purple spectrum, it still puts a major strain on the eyes of others.
Q: I see a lot of words I don't know! HELP!
A: Here are the common ones you will see
Watt- Measure of electrical power (w)
Volt- Measure of electrical charge (v)
Kelvin- Measure of color temperature (K)
Lumen- Measure of light brightness (lu)
Capsule- technically correct term for a HID "bulb".
Candela- Measure of light intensity (cd)
Ampere- Measure of electrical current
Cut-off- A distinctive line of light produced by the shield in a headlight that blocks light above a certain height in order to prevent blinding of other motorists.
Beam Pattern- The pattern of light that is projected onto the ground which includes angle of lateral dispersion, width and depth of illumination.
Capsule- Another term for an HID bulb. Some refer to HID bulbs as gas discharge capsules.
Optics- The lighting control assembly structured around the bulb, which effects the dispersion of light and it's characteristics to a great degree.
HID (High Intensity Discharge)= Gas Discharge
Halogen= Incandescence
Q:What are some good places to buy HIDs?
A: DDM Tuning and The Retrofit Source are excellent choices. XenonDepot is supposed to be good too.
Q: What is HID?
A: HID stands for high intensity discharge. High-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps produce light with an electric arc rather than a glowing filament. The high intensity of the arc comes from metallic salts that are vaporized within the arc chamber. Because of the increased amounts of light available from HID burners relative to halogen bulbs, HID headlamps producing a given beam pattern can be made smaller than halogen headlamps producing a comparable beam pattern. Alternatively, the larger size can be retained, in which case the xenon headlamp can produce a more robust beam pattern.
Q: What is Xenon?
A: Automotive HID lamps are commonly called "xenon headlamps", though they are actually metal halide lamps that contain xenon gas. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate light immediately upon powerup, and accelerates the lamps' run-up time.
Q: What does "6000K" mean?
A: When you see the number followed by K it indicates the color temperature. This is NOT the same as brightness. The Kelvin (K) is the unit of color temperature. 4100K is the brightest, most natural white light similar to that of daytime sunlight, and therefore the HID color temperature used most in the OEM automotive industry. When you look at the light coming directly out of an HID headlight, it possesses a bit of a blue or purple hue which most people recognize as the expensive, elegant look characteristic of HID's. For this reason, some HID kit manufacturers produce 5400K, 6500K, 8000K, etc. bulbs that give an even more distinct blue hue but at the expense of overall light output. For comparison, most halogen headlights have a color temperature around 3200K which gives them a "dingy" yellowish appearance compared to HID's.
Q: What is a ballast?
A: The wiring harness that your car uses to power the stock halogen bulbs usually run at 55w. When you upgrade to an HID conversion, the bulbs that are used only require 35w (as a general rule of course). The ballast converts and regulates the flow of the electrical current from 55w (your current harness) to 35w (for the HID bulbs). This prevents the bulb from shorting out or not functioning.
Q: What is a projector?
A: A projector is a housing with a lens that focuses the light from a bulb. These keep you from blinding other drivers due to scattered light and provide a clean cut-off line. They also look cool and allow you to paint your reflectors a non-reflective color if you want!
^ This is a projector. ^
Q: What are retrofits?
A: Retrofit refers to adding projectors to stock headlights. Try The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications for diy retrofit kits. Doing a retrofit yourself isn't impossible or incredibly difficult, but it is non-trivial. You could also send them out to a place like customlightz and have them done.
^Someone installing a projector during a retrofit ^
Q: I want projectors but I don't want a retrofit, what do I do?
A: You can buy the stock projector housings from an Asian Civic, they run around $750 shipped. This is cheaper and more reliable than a retrofit in many cases. Contact member team3d, he sells them.
Q: What about just putting HIDs in the stock housings?
A: Dropping HID bulbs in a standard reflector housing is usually discouraged since it tends to blind other drivers. However, our housings aren't too bad and do provide a somewhat decent cutoff by themselves. Read more about this over here: why HID + non-projector headlights are dangerous !
Q: What do I need for a basic HID setup?A You shouldn't need anything more than the ballasts, wiring harness, and of course bulbs. However, a relay harness can be very beneficial and some kits include it while others do not.
Q: What is a relay harness?
A: Some vehicles might be able to power up HID systems normally without problems at install time. The inrush load can be up to max 13 amps per ballast, compared to 7amps inrush when using halogen. The factory design parameters for headlight circuits are 7 amps inrush and 4.5 amps continuous load. So over time, connectors, multifunction switch, headlight switch, wiring and fuse holders will slowly degrade, because of heat buildup. These components are very time consuming to troubleshoot because they are usually well hidden behind dashboards and other wiring looms. Parts can cost several hundred dollars and add 8h labor to that and it becomes obvious that a $25 wiring harness is a cheap insurance.
Q: What is the difference between 55w and 35w HIDs?
A:
Originally Posted by ADExternal
Most people mistaken wattage for brightness because of direct proportional. Sadly when energy is transferred or transformed, it is never 100%.
Meaning 55w 2x watts = 2x brighter? No. Power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed.In our case, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit time.
A good example is halogen bulbs produces a lot more heat then HIDs given that they are the same temp of brightness 4k. HID is a more concentrated discharge form of light so more energy is transformed to light instead of heat. The ballast with 35w transform to light with a bit heat than the 55w. After reading all that I can sum it up to. 35w gives you a bit more light, less glare, and saves you a bit more energy for your battery then the 55w.
Q: What about fog lights and high beams?
A: If you go HID on your high beams you will lose your DRL (and must pull the DRL fuse) since our DRL and high beams are the same bulb. There is nothing special about switching fog lights to HID, it is just like doing the low beams.
If you disable the DRL you may need a "decoder" if you find the car is throwing codes. It seems that most people do not have a problem with codes being thrown unless they are running LED DRL.
Q: Can you explain more about temperature and brightness?
A: Sure.
A comparison of Kelvin to lumens;
Standard OEM halogen 55W 9006(HB4) = 1100lm (lumens)
4300k D2S Philips = 3200lm (lumens)
4300k D2R Philips = 2800lm (lumens)
4300k D2S Philips = 2400lm (lumens) actually 5800k
4300k D2R Philips = 2000lm (lumens) actually 5800k
4800k D4S/R (brand) = 3800 (lumens) ** brightest in the market
5800k D4S/R (brand) = 3300 (lumens)
7000k D2S other = 1790lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
7000k D2R other = 1390lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
8000k D2S other = 1180lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
8000k D2R other = 780lm (lumens) *(other bulb brand)
Higher than 8000k, the light output significantly drops off, causing the light to be almost useless.
One should point out that although light output drops off after 8000k, the fact that the light is in the blue-purple spectrum, it still puts a major strain on the eyes of others.
Q: I see a lot of words I don't know! HELP!
A: Here are the common ones you will see
Watt- Measure of electrical power (w)
Volt- Measure of electrical charge (v)
Kelvin- Measure of color temperature (K)
Lumen- Measure of light brightness (lu)
Capsule- technically correct term for a HID "bulb".
Candela- Measure of light intensity (cd)
Ampere- Measure of electrical current
Cut-off- A distinctive line of light produced by the shield in a headlight that blocks light above a certain height in order to prevent blinding of other motorists.
Beam Pattern- The pattern of light that is projected onto the ground which includes angle of lateral dispersion, width and depth of illumination.
Capsule- Another term for an HID bulb. Some refer to HID bulbs as gas discharge capsules.
Optics- The lighting control assembly structured around the bulb, which effects the dispersion of light and it's characteristics to a great degree.
HID (High Intensity Discharge)= Gas Discharge
Halogen= Incandescence
Q:What are some good places to buy HIDs?
A: DDM Tuning and The Retrofit Source are excellent choices. XenonDepot is supposed to be good too.
