Anyone looking for HID's? OEM Lexus HID system for SALE
01-18-2004 | 09:55 PM
#14
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 31
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From: Chicago, IL
The correct way to do it, is to setup a wiring harness with two relays and two separate fused circuits to drive each ballast. The stock low beam halogen will draw a constant 5A. The HID ballast will draw a constant 3.5A, but will draw 12A on a cold start for about the first 8-10 seconds of operation. It's taxing on your stock wiring and electronics to try and force them to support the high current a ballast needs on startup. Therfore, you need to reduce the load on that circuit by adding relay(s) to feed the ballasts.
Do you know what the purpose of a fuse is? (not trying to be an ass, just asking) - The fuse is designed to be the weakest spot in the circuit. It's a protection device, so that if you have a direct short situation, it melts the fuse and not your wiring - or when the end user goes to install a device that can draw 12A or more over a cicruit designed to run a 5A light bulb. The weakest spot creates and open and saves your the wiring and control equipment of that circuit. It functions by basically melting a small piece of wire inside the fuse, so that there is no more physical connection and no more current can flow. Each fuse size has a different piece of 'wire' inside of it that will melt at or beyond a given ameperage. When you take out a 10A stock fuse and you install a 20A fuse you are making that part of the circuit twice as strong. Now, the section that was designed to melt and 'open' first is probably no longer the weakest part of the circuit. Guess what the next thing to melt will be?? I don't know what melts next, but it could potentially be a stock relay, a terminal somewhere, actual wire.. you name it. Better hope you never have an accidental short in the headlight circuit as well.
Not trying to chew anyone out, I'm just trying to say that the extra work of setting up a good relay power delivery system is well worth it in the long run. Two relays, two fuse holders, wire and terminals can all be had a pep-boys, murrays or whatever local auto store is nearby. All in all, you'll probably spend near 30 bucks in parts. It's worth the piece of mind knowing that you have a solid system and don't have to worry nomatter what happens.
OH, btw.. if you were wondering why not run two ballasts off one 30A relay.. You H4 guys will have no high beams once you go HID. Imagine having both HID lights running on one single circuit and somthing goes wrong. Say some wire insualation gets rubbed off, the thing shorts out, and blows a fuse. Now you have no headlights at all and you're stuck in the dark trying to find the problem. Thats why you run two relays and two separate fused circuits.
Do you know what the purpose of a fuse is? (not trying to be an ass, just asking) - The fuse is designed to be the weakest spot in the circuit. It's a protection device, so that if you have a direct short situation, it melts the fuse and not your wiring - or when the end user goes to install a device that can draw 12A or more over a cicruit designed to run a 5A light bulb. The weakest spot creates and open and saves your the wiring and control equipment of that circuit. It functions by basically melting a small piece of wire inside the fuse, so that there is no more physical connection and no more current can flow. Each fuse size has a different piece of 'wire' inside of it that will melt at or beyond a given ameperage. When you take out a 10A stock fuse and you install a 20A fuse you are making that part of the circuit twice as strong. Now, the section that was designed to melt and 'open' first is probably no longer the weakest part of the circuit. Guess what the next thing to melt will be?? I don't know what melts next, but it could potentially be a stock relay, a terminal somewhere, actual wire.. you name it. Better hope you never have an accidental short in the headlight circuit as well.
Not trying to chew anyone out, I'm just trying to say that the extra work of setting up a good relay power delivery system is well worth it in the long run. Two relays, two fuse holders, wire and terminals can all be had a pep-boys, murrays or whatever local auto store is nearby. All in all, you'll probably spend near 30 bucks in parts. It's worth the piece of mind knowing that you have a solid system and don't have to worry nomatter what happens.
OH, btw.. if you were wondering why not run two ballasts off one 30A relay.. You H4 guys will have no high beams once you go HID. Imagine having both HID lights running on one single circuit and somthing goes wrong. Say some wire insualation gets rubbed off, the thing shorts out, and blows a fuse. Now you have no headlights at all and you're stuck in the dark trying to find the problem. Thats why you run two relays and two separate fused circuits.