Fog Light Woes
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 169
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
Fog Light Woes
Anyone know what the stock 893 fog light bulb wattage is?
I replaced them with 893 HIDs and when I turn them on, I blow the 10amp fog light fuse (#6) each time. I'm guessing my ballasts are drawing too much power for this circuit. Anyone have any issues with this? Will those new slimmer digital ballasts work? I hear they are lower wattage. Mine are the older thicker ballasts.
Thanks.
I replaced them with 893 HIDs and when I turn them on, I blow the 10amp fog light fuse (#6) each time. I'm guessing my ballasts are drawing too much power for this circuit. Anyone have any issues with this? Will those new slimmer digital ballasts work? I hear they are lower wattage. Mine are the older thicker ballasts.
Thanks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 7
From: Iowa
your problem is the higher current draw when they start up. don't run hid ballasts off the stock fog light circuit. look at the wire...its tiny! use that circuit to trigger a relay and run a good fuse protected power source to them from the battery or b+ terminal on the fuse box. your problem should go away. my 35w hide draw up to 25a while starting up. then run at 7 or 8 once on. they'd blow the stock fog lights fuse every time if I were using it to power them.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 169
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
your problem is the higher current draw when they start up. don't run hid ballasts off the stock fog light circuit. look at the wire...its tiny! use that circuit to trigger a relay and run a good fuse protected power source to them from the battery or b+ terminal on the fuse box. your problem should go away. my 35w hide draw up to 25a while starting up. then run at 7 or 8 once on. they'd blow the stock fog lights fuse every time if I were using it to power them.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 7
From: Iowa
Thanks for confirming. So how exactly do I do that? I'm not that savy when it comes to the stuff you mentioned. I've searched and read about other HID fog light installs here and didn't see anyone mentioning that they had to run a new power feed to the battery for this.
use 16 or better yet 14 awg wire. use a standard 30A automotive relay (12V)
tap into the power and ground wires on one of the stock fog light plugs. run those wires to the coil connectors on the relay. the relay itself will have a diagram to say what pin is what. they usually have 4 or 5 pins, you'll need 4 (if you have a 5 pin relay one will be unused, that's fine)
use a ring terminal and a small fuse holder. attach it to the B+ lead next to the fusebox, attach the fuseholder as close to the B+ terminal as you can. a 25A fuse should be fine. run that wire to one of the contact pins on the relay.
on the other side of the relay, connect 2 wires, use the same wire. run one to the positive pin on the left HID ballast and the other to the positive pin on the other HID ballast. then run a couple of black 16 or 14awg wire from the negative pins on the HID ballasts to ground somewhere. I wired mine to the stock ground poitns on the frame rails, left side to left side, and right side to right side.
now when you turn on your fog lights the stock foglight circuit energizes the relay to close its contacts. it doesn't do anything else. with the relay contacts closed your HID ballasts now get their power using your larger fused wire directly from the B+ terminal.
if you don't feel comfortable with all that and know what steps to take to splice in wires, add terminals to connect to the pins of a relay (relay bases make this easier, solder or use butt splice connectors) and how to make all the above waterproof so it will stay working after the first rain...well then honestly I'd suggest you don't try. you need to have an idea of what you are doing. if you don't think you can handle that ask around to find someone in your area who can. or take it to a shop that does custom car audio and security systems. doing that kind of wiring would be simple for a shop with those capabilities. Its really not a difficult thing to do, but I would advise against making an attempt if you aren't confident of your abilities. if you know what you're doing this can all be done in an hour or less.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,332
Likes: 31
From: Silver Spring MD
893 are 37 watte I use 885s 50 watts and very bright
a cheap and fast upgrade and you need to reaim the lights. Sounds like you need a relay and thicker wire seperately fused with the fog light circuit only as a trigger for your HIDs.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 169
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
how familiar are you with doing wiring?
use 16 or better yet 14 awg wire. use a standard 30A automotive relay (12V)
tap into the power and ground wires on one of the stock fog light plugs. run those wires to the coil connectors on the relay. the relay itself will have a diagram to say what pin is what. they usually have 4 or 5 pins, you'll need 4 (if you have a 5 pin relay one will be unused, that's fine)
use a ring terminal and a small fuse holder. attach it to the B+ lead next to the fusebox, attach the fuseholder as close to the B+ terminal as you can. a 25A fuse should be fine. run that wire to one of the contact pins on the relay.
on the other side of the relay, connect 2 wires, use the same wire. run one to the positive pin on the left HID ballast and the other to the positive pin on the other HID ballast. then run a couple of black 16 or 14awg wire from the negative pins on the HID ballasts to ground somewhere. I wired mine to the stock ground poitns on the frame rails, left side to left side, and right side to right side.
now when you turn on your fog lights the stock foglight circuit energizes the relay to close its contacts. it doesn't do anything else. with the relay contacts closed your HID ballasts now get their power using your larger fused wire directly from the B+ terminal.
if you don't feel comfortable with all that and know what steps to take to splice in wires, add terminals to connect to the pins of a relay (relay bases make this easier, solder or use butt splice connectors) and how to make all the above waterproof so it will stay working after the first rain...well then honestly I'd suggest you don't try. you need to have an idea of what you are doing. if you don't think you can handle that ask around to find someone in your area who can. or take it to a shop that does custom car audio and security systems. doing that kind of wiring would be simple for a shop with those capabilities. Its really not a difficult thing to do, but I would advise against making an attempt if you aren't confident of your abilities. if you know what you're doing this can all be done in an hour or less.
use 16 or better yet 14 awg wire. use a standard 30A automotive relay (12V)
tap into the power and ground wires on one of the stock fog light plugs. run those wires to the coil connectors on the relay. the relay itself will have a diagram to say what pin is what. they usually have 4 or 5 pins, you'll need 4 (if you have a 5 pin relay one will be unused, that's fine)
use a ring terminal and a small fuse holder. attach it to the B+ lead next to the fusebox, attach the fuseholder as close to the B+ terminal as you can. a 25A fuse should be fine. run that wire to one of the contact pins on the relay.
on the other side of the relay, connect 2 wires, use the same wire. run one to the positive pin on the left HID ballast and the other to the positive pin on the other HID ballast. then run a couple of black 16 or 14awg wire from the negative pins on the HID ballasts to ground somewhere. I wired mine to the stock ground poitns on the frame rails, left side to left side, and right side to right side.
now when you turn on your fog lights the stock foglight circuit energizes the relay to close its contacts. it doesn't do anything else. with the relay contacts closed your HID ballasts now get their power using your larger fused wire directly from the B+ terminal.
if you don't feel comfortable with all that and know what steps to take to splice in wires, add terminals to connect to the pins of a relay (relay bases make this easier, solder or use butt splice connectors) and how to make all the above waterproof so it will stay working after the first rain...well then honestly I'd suggest you don't try. you need to have an idea of what you are doing. if you don't think you can handle that ask around to find someone in your area who can. or take it to a shop that does custom car audio and security systems. doing that kind of wiring would be simple for a shop with those capabilities. Its really not a difficult thing to do, but I would advise against making an attempt if you aren't confident of your abilities. if you know what you're doing this can all be done in an hour or less.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 169
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
Slim Ballasts
Just and FYI...
I replaced my big ballasts with the newer slim style. They can run with lower voltage. Everything works without rewiring anything. I had a set of slim ballasts in another car, so I just swapped them over to the Vette and viola. The other car now has the older ballasts and those are working fine for headlights.
I replaced my big ballasts with the newer slim style. They can run with lower voltage. Everything works without rewiring anything. I had a set of slim ballasts in another car, so I just swapped them over to the Vette and viola. The other car now has the older ballasts and those are working fine for headlights.
