HID ballast kits info

[Davez29]

Hi LP, Not sure what you mean about not finding the right type of kit? as most seems to be about the same no matter where you buy from, maybe in a different box but thats about it. The one I bought from the company above is the H4/3 type with twin slim ballasts, Hi/lo controller and the usual car type harness so some modification needed, as you know.

I have got to say the biggest headache for me and most peeps with a bike are finding somewhere to put everything, I do wonder at how you got all that wiring wrapped around your headlights, its a nightmare and I nearly gave up as it looks a mess with all that wiring.

I got around it by first cutting the 4' of wiring thats needed in a car to go from headlight to headlight but not on a bike, where our lights are only a couple of inches apart. I was left with a bunch of wires from the Hi/Lo controller around 1' long, they all could be much shorter I suppose but Im no auto elecy so left it at that. I then put the Hi/Lo controller behind the clocks and feed the wiring down both sides of the nose fairing one set of light wires either side with the H4 connector to the right and the fuses to the left. The left ballast went behind the clocks but the next rightside ballast, this could have went behind the clocks but it was starting to look messy so I fit this down the right side inner of the fairing, next to the indicator and feed the wire up through the plastic infill.

Now, for most all is left to is to install and connect your bulbs then take a length of wire from your battery to the front of the bike and connect your positive wire coming from the HID fuses and both negative wires from the bulbs to your wire from the battery.

Unfortunataly I have lights you cant turn off so had to add another gadget, this is a time delay relay discussed elseware on this forum. what this meant was that I had to take two wires to the unused H4 connector on the bike to the TDR used as a signal for Hi/Lo, splice a live 12v a new 30amp fuse and a couple of grounds, one back to the battery. this gadget is basicly a timer and counts down to allow you to start your bike with the lights off then automatically puts the lights on for you. Handy as I dont have a switch.. This item is fitted to the left of the left headlamp next to the HID 20amp fuses.

dave

[leopard_pagan]

when i say the right kit.. there are loads of "other" HID type kits on flea bay.
i have to make sure i avoid any that arent Hi/Lo, single HID kits as to a pair or bulky ballasts.

trust me, the wrapping of all that extra loom IS a headache! when i had my 1st HID bulb go 4 months ago, i had to remove my nose cone just to change the bulb! in my infinite wisdom, i tucked the connector out of sight! i do want to move the ballasts and shorten the loom, i hadent thought of inner fairing next to indicators, i will take a look when i have the panels off.

[Davez29]

For those who dont have a light switch and wish to use the Time Delay Relay from http://www.wolstentech.com/index.php I have added a basic drawing showing you how it needs wiring in on an NC29. The TDR can be ordered with speed from Dan in the USA from his site.

basically you need,
a 30 amp in line fuse
2 connections to your HI/Lo H4 Conector to the 1 and 2 inputs on the TDR.
Connections from L on the TDR to your negative wires from your ballasts.
Connections from G on the TDR to a ground point or your battery.
connections from your battery +12, fused with a 30amp fuse then spliced to your ballasts positive and the TDR +12 connection.
Finally your HID H4 connector needs to be plugged into your other H4 connector on your bike.

BTW when you buy the TDR the "I" setting on the back is set to come on right away, once the system is tested you will need to turn this a few turns to get the right amount of delay needed to start your bike, I find 10 seconds is enough.

piccy




do this at your own risk, it worked for me but I take no responsibilty if you fry your electrics.

[Davez29]

A bit of an addendum really..

With the crap weather I decided to change the position of my HID harness and associated bits as I was not really happy with their position, too near the open elements for my liking, especially the TDR and fuses. So I now have both ballasts behind the clocks and have put the 20amp fuse box and TDR in the fairing next to the right front indicator. This hopefully will be a better compromise and does look a tad tidier.

One other small thing I think worth mentioning, a fuse box for the 30amp fuse.. Well I bought one from the local car shoppy but honestly it was tat!! So I looked on the ebay place and got my self a natty fuse holder that takes mini blade fuses ( How did they know to call them that ). I bought from a seller shop called bitzforbikes and is far more secure and waterproof than those from the car shoppy, such a small part but worth having £2.50 free delivery, get some fuses while your at it because as you know if you have a spare fuse they never blow. They are also perfect if you lose teeth as you can just bung em in the hole as they look about the right size.

sorted.

[leopard_pagan]

time is ticking on. My HIDs are number 3 on the to do list out of 12 things. (7 as the rest i cant afford!)
for now i have stripped it off the bike as i want to move the ballasts to under the pillion seat or that region of the bike. i will be re-fitting normal bulbs.. probably 100/80W as i had before (yes i have the mods already in place)!

with the HID system off the bike it will let me shorten/lengthen cables + i am getting serious withdrawal symptoms! i have always been a winter biker and its eating me that i cant go out and ride right now... !

[leopard_pagan]

spent 3hrs re-wiring the HID set up, not finished.
sadly i have not been taking pics, taking notes as it would have taken longer to do the job. so i doubt i will be able to create a how to for this job.
i have changed the waterproof connectors (super seal yellow boot type) for 2 x 2 ways (pair) and 2 x 4 ways (pair), get rid of the silly single ones.
shortened parts of the loom that plug in to the ballasts (will be sat under pillion seat + relay), lengthened the headlight switch/plug wires,power supply to HID bulbs and will be grounding the lot under the pillion seat somewhere.
wires i have used are:
16.0.3 x blue, white, brown for headlight switch
16.0.3 x red, black for power and ground x 2 pairs
102 degree C black, red to carry the 23,000v from ballast to bulbs! x 2 pairs .these MUST be thick enough and MUST be high temp to cope.

all wires cut at 4mtrs which is plenty long enough.

need to pick up "trunking" to fit several wires through x 3mtrs

no testing yet as still have some work to do.

[cbr400rrn]

Cmon L.P it will soon be time to ride again and you wont have anytime to do any more mods to it

[leopard_pagan]

finished but not working!
when i switched on the headlights, id get a buzzing noise from the ballasts = normal.
no buzzing from ballasts tonight!
bulbs have power for hi/low servo, i can hear the HID relay switch, 12V going in to ballasts, but i cant read whats coming out.. if the sticker on the ballast is right.. should be 23,000v!!! if that was true, id have blown my multi tester as it was set to 50V

its late now and theres a band on at my local!

[leopard_pagan]

had a auto electrician check over what id done with a digital volt meter (must get one) and came to the conclusion that the ballasts are dead! 12V from battery to "controller aka relay", 12V from controller to Ballast. 0V from ballast to bulbs. all earths (x2) are fine.
my kit is almost (or is) 3 years old, the last year i have noticed the lights getting duller.
going to buy 1 new replacement ballast to check, if it all works again i'll get the 2nd

[cbr400rrn]

So roughly how many miles have you done with them in the last 3 years at a guess will do