Electric solution to HID "flicker"
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 8,995
Likes: 2
From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
Electric solution to HID "flicker"
If you have HIDs You've probably noticed that they tend to flicker when first turned on. Your car's electrical system fluctuates. There are many causes that can make it so your ballasts aren't being supplied with enough current. For example when your cranking the car or the stock wiring isn't big enough to supply enough current if the available current or voltage drops too low. The capacitor stores the current when theres lots of supply and discharges when there is low supply. Works just like a car stereo cap.
the solution: $11 per set of Capacitors
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...rt&tab=summary
wire the capacitors in parallel with the HID ballast like shown making sure the arrow goes toward the ground wire:
Heres a vid of one capacitor installed (left side) Notice how the right side HID flickers horribly:
the solution: $11 per set of Capacitors
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...rt&tab=summary
wire the capacitors in parallel with the HID ballast like shown making sure the arrow goes toward the ground wire:
Heres a vid of one capacitor installed (left side) Notice how the right side HID flickers horribly:
Last edited by TheRadioFlyer97; Apr 27, 2008 at 11:31 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,333
Likes: 6
From: Louisville Kentucky
Well dang George, you've figured out everything about the HID setup that there is except for why the lights don't raise on the first stalk turn, or don't go down sometimes for those of us who have the heavy duty harness! Let me know when you go public. I'm buying 51% of the shares!
Let me make sure that I understand this pic.
The connectors in this pic are the ones that plug into the ballast, correct? Also, this works with the headlights too or just the fogs?
I hope you keep posting this stuff. You probably were the kid who blew up stuff in chemistry class wern't you?
You rock man!
Let me make sure that I understand this pic.
The connectors in this pic are the ones that plug into the ballast, correct? Also, this works with the headlights too or just the fogs?
I hope you keep posting this stuff. You probably were the kid who blew up stuff in chemistry class wern't you?
You rock man!
Last edited by Junkman2008; Apr 27, 2008 at 05:59 AM.
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 8,995
Likes: 2
From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
Yeah, I did my fair share of blowing stuff up in Chem... Very similar to what happens on the show "Mythbusters"
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,898
Likes: 5
From: Plainfield, IL
Alright im a bit confused here. First off you should NEVER see your HID's "flicker" during startup. They will color change for the first few seconds obviously but thats it. If they "flicker" then you have a serious problem likely with your ballast (or the lack of a quality wire harness). You should always run a wire harness with HID's as stated going directly to your battery (fuse block + post terminal) and use relays. OEM wiring and switches will usually fail overtime with an aftermarket HID kit.
If you do not do this then sometimes you will get a bulb that attempts to ignite but then instantly fails. This is not good for the ballast, bulb, or your electrical system. Is this possibly what you are describing? I also dont understand the use of those resistors. Thats exactly what the ballast does. If for whatever reason the ballast does not get enough current it will simply turn off the light which is what it sounds like your setup was doing. IMO a fix is not using those resistors, but make a quality wire harness. Hopefully this helps.
If you do not do this then sometimes you will get a bulb that attempts to ignite but then instantly fails. This is not good for the ballast, bulb, or your electrical system. Is this possibly what you are describing? I also dont understand the use of those resistors. Thats exactly what the ballast does. If for whatever reason the ballast does not get enough current it will simply turn off the light which is what it sounds like your setup was doing. IMO a fix is not using those resistors, but make a quality wire harness. Hopefully this helps.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,333
Likes: 6
From: Louisville Kentucky
Alright im a bit confused here. First off you should NEVER see your HID's "flicker" during startup. They will color change for the first few seconds obviously but thats it. If they "flicker" then you have a serious problem likely with your ballast (or the lack of a quality wire harness). You should always run a wire harness with HID's as stated going directly to your battery (fuse block + post terminal) and use relays. OEM wiring and switches will usually fail overtime with an aftermarket HID kit.
If you do not do this then sometimes you will get a bulb that attempts to ignite but then instantly fails. This is not good for the ballast, bulb, or your electrical system. Is this possibly what you are describing? I also dont understand the use of those resistors. Thats exactly what the ballast does. If for whatever reason the ballast does not get enough current it will simply turn off the light which is what it sounds like your setup was doing. IMO a fix is not using those resistors, but make a quality wire harness. Hopefully this helps.
If you do not do this then sometimes you will get a bulb that attempts to ignite but then instantly fails. This is not good for the ballast, bulb, or your electrical system. Is this possibly what you are describing? I also dont understand the use of those resistors. Thats exactly what the ballast does. If for whatever reason the ballast does not get enough current it will simply turn off the light which is what it sounds like your setup was doing. IMO a fix is not using those resistors, but make a quality wire harness. Hopefully this helps.
If you have seen any of George's many post, you would know that if there was a problem due to the issues that you have stated, then George would have figured them out way before most people. The guy is sharp and his post do more than prove it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,898
Likes: 5
From: Plainfield, IL
Every HID kit I've seen does a "flicker" when it fires. I think you're misunderstanding what George means by "flicker". If you look at his video, you can clearly see that the light is not going completely off, but doing a slight brightness variation as it is warming up. So the flicker that you see is not a on and off thing, it is more of a on, slightly more on - then less on, then on some more. This is not indicative of poor quality ballast or substandard wiring, but is a normal operation of these kits.
If you have seen any of George's many post, you would know that if there was a problem due to the issues that you have stated, then George would have figured them out way before most people. The guy is sharp and his post do more than prove it.
If you have seen any of George's many post, you would know that if there was a problem due to the issues that you have stated, then George would have figured them out way before most people. The guy is sharp and his post do more than prove it.
Again, this is not to put down your guys' kits, just trying to help out here.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,333
Likes: 6
From: Louisville Kentucky
I may be misunderstanding this just a little then you are correct. However I have a LOT of experience with HID headlamps on many different cars and have done several retrofits and custom harnesses. If what I am seeing in that video is correct (mainly the drivers side fog "flickering" although not completely going off), it SHOULD NOT be doing that!!! There is something wrong and im willing to bet its the ballast or bulb. This is not meant to put down peoples HID kits but most cheaper made HID plug and play kits are not the best quality and often you will get issues like what I am seeing in that video. Also another common problem is bulbs wont match color over time, sometimes one wont ignite, premature failure etc etc. On all my retorfits I use nothing but OEM Philips D2S 85122 capsules and Hella LVQ-212 ballasts. Never has one ever failed to ignite, flicker at startup, or failed.
Again, this is not to put down your guys' kits, just trying to help out here.
Again, this is not to put down your guys' kits, just trying to help out here.
Here's a thread I did concerning HID's that show the equipment I used. My situation is slightly different in that my lights ALWAYS raise, they just don't always go down unless I turn on my high beams and then turn off the lights. My high beams are stock by the way. I also have the powered 9005/9006 harness installed.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1906626
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 8,995
Likes: 2
From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
If you do not do this then sometimes you will get a bulb that attempts to ignite but then instantly fails. This is not good for the ballast, bulb, or your electrical system. Is this possibly what you are describing? I also dont understand the use of those resistors. Thats exactly what the ballast does. If for whatever reason the ballast does not get enough current it will simply turn off the light which is what it sounds like your setup was doing. IMO a fix is not using those resistors, but make a quality wire harness. Hopefully this helps.
Sometimes (though on rare occasion) my xenon fogs and reverse lights would have the problem you're describing: attempting to fire but then turns off, even though both sets are operating on a relay. The capacitors have fixed this problem.
First, the blue can-like stings are not resistors, they are capacitors. Capacitors function like minature batteries that stabilize voltage to a circuit when there's a sudden large power demand. HIDs need somthing like 40,000 volts to fire and 8000v to maintain. Therefore the transformer needs a decent amount of current to get that step-up voltage when they're initially turned on. The Capacitor supplies additional power for a few seconds to supplement the regular input power wire. Once the capsule is warmed up, the capacitor is slowly recharged.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,898
Likes: 5
From: Plainfield, IL
Yeah I meant to say capacitors not resistors. Anyway, there is something wrong with that HID kit. An oem HID lamp setup will never do that on startup. With a proper wire harness you should not need to install a capacitor like that. Unfortunately for this type of application you have no choice but to use the cheaper rebased HID kits since OEM bulbs only come in D1S and D2S (which wont fit the base of halogen bulb sockets). For any of you guys with kits that flicker like that I would recommend using the warranty if you have it because that bulb/ballast will not be working much longer.
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 8,995
Likes: 2
From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
Yeah I meant to say capacitors not resistors. Anyway, there is something wrong with that HID kit. An oem HID lamp setup will never do that on startup. With a proper wire harness you should not need to install a capacitor like that. Unfortunately for this type of application you have no choice but to use the cheaper rebased HID kits since OEM bulbs only come in D1S and D2S (which wont fit the base of halogen bulb sockets). For any of you guys with kits that flicker like that I would recommend using the warranty if you have it because that bulb/ballast will not be working much longer.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 0
From: Jax Florida
Yeah, pretty much all of the retro-fit HID kits flicker. It's just a normal way of life it seems.
Now if you can figure out how to make my headlights close without flashing the high-beams, I'll give you a cookie...
Now if you can figure out how to make my headlights close without flashing the high-beams, I'll give you a cookie...
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 8,995
Likes: 2
From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
Yes, I even mod my cookies
What kind of HIDs are you using?