question about hid ballast

[longers]

hey guys

was just wondering....if i buy a cheap ballast and add a good hid globe (say phillips or something)....would it give the same colour and brightness as if i got an expensive hid kit and changed the globe the phillips?

thanks in advance

[bennjamin]

Yes. But not the reliability.


Pretty much all HID ballasts are essentially the same thing.

[ACTI0NMAN-1]

You cant run a regular filament bulb with a HID bulb.

But you can swap different hid bulbs with different ballasts if its the same rating.

[AutoNoob]

um about these HID lights, wat in the world are reflectors or projectors?! where u get those from. someone said something about blinding people if u dont have any?

[bennjamin]

ok -

standard headlights on MOST cars are reflectors. They "reflect" the light for maximum coverage and driver view.

Projectors are fitted to most / all HID equipped cars , they concentrate the light of the bulb to an exact "field of vision". Quite accurate.
You CAN fit HID bulbs to reflector fitted cars , but the HID bulb will produce much more "scattered" light due to teh reflrection and it is illegal and can offend on coming drivers.

You can fit/retrofit projectors to non HID cars to counter this problem.

[longers]

did you google that ben...
i watched a youtube clip that explained what you said..quite true..
so you seen a projector lens aswell?

[bennjamin]

no off the top of my head. Common knowledge and pretty much the facts.



For example , i have a HID kit in my EG hatch.
It has OEM reflectors - with my HID kit (6000k range) the light is scattered quite a distance from the intended "target" of light (IE where your headlights usually point).
FACT is the HID will catch street signs etc a long distance away - safe and very handy. But if not aimed correctly it WILL piss off oncoming drivers

[AutoNoob]

what do these things look like? is it just some piece of focusing glass that mounts ontop of light lol? i typed up projectors on google and it gave me the whole front headlight replacement...im sure that aint it hehe.

[vincikwan]

It looks like a globe instead of just mirrors reflecting. Actually, its as distinctive as comparing an lcd to a crt TV.

[bennjamin]

"projectors" use a lens infront of the bulb itself to concentrate the beam
"reflectors" are just that. A bunch of plastic chrome mirrors surrounding the bulb to "multiply" its output and aim its beam

[applio]

hey guys

was just wondering....if i buy a cheap ballast and add a good hid globe (say phillips or something)....would it give the same colour and brightness as if i got an expensive hid kit and changed the globe the phillips?

thanks in advance

as long as both bulb and ballast are running the same "w" you can.
nowadays hid kit all come with same connection....

[Bludger]

um about these HID lights, wat in the world are reflectors or projectors?! where u get those from. someone said something about blinding people if u dont have any?



This Civic has Reflectors
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z156/donutmikey/EH2%20Buildup/Rodrez%20Shot/mikeEG224_copy.jpg

This Integra has Projectors, for its low beam, High beam is still a reflector
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/namzie/itrbys4.jpg

[kyobi]

thats a hot integra :P

[power_of_dreams]

as someone mentioned before, ballasts are essentially the same thing, so will any bulb (h3/h1/h4 etc) run off the same ballast?

[bennjamin]

as someone mentioned before, ballasts are essentially the same thing, so will any bulb (h3/h1/h4 etc) run off the same ballast?

yes. As long as they have the same fundamental wiring IE like this -

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h98/tegstar83/P1010037.jpg

Ignore the bulb...look at the 2 connectors at the end. Pretty much all aftermarket HID setups share this. IT connects to another wiring set which then hooks up to the ballast itself.

[destrukshn]

This Civic has Reflectors
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z156/donutmikey/EH2%20Buildup/Rodrez%20Shot/mikeEG224_copy.jpg

This Integra has Projectors, for its low beam, High beam is still a reflector
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/namzie/itrbys4.jpg
actually that civic doesnt have reflectors, i can't remember the term of it.
but the lines on the headlight is what actually directs the light onto the road.
reflector headlights are like the EK headlights.

[bennjamin]

actually that civic doesnt have reflectors, i can't remember the term of it.
but the lines on the headlight is what actually directs the light onto the road.
reflector headlights are like the EK headlights.

its called a Frensel Lens. Exact same principle as in lighthouses....

[power_of_dreams]

yes. As long as they have the same fundamental wiring IE like this -

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h98/tegstar83/P1010037.jpg

Ignore the bulb...look at the 2 connectors at the end. Pretty much all aftermarket HID setups share this. IT connects to another wiring set which then hooks up to the ballast itself.

cool, thanks

[koitsuu]

Sorry to hijack this thread just wondering is it legal to fit 8000k HID on my ek civic? Would i need to modify the housing to make it less dangerous for other traffics?

[Bludger]

Sorry to hijack this thread just wondering is it legal to fit 8000k HID on my ek civic? Would i need to modify the housing to make it less dangerous for other traffics?anything other than stock is not roadworthy