Do HID lamps emit full brilliance straight away? as i have a twin headlamp conversion with a pair of H1's and i'm thinking of changing my dip beam lamps for HID's, only problem is when i select main beam the dip beam goes out.

I.E. When driving down country lane with full beam, car comes the other way, i switch back to dip beam can i see anything, do lights have to warm up or do i have to mod the wiring so the dip beam unit stays on with main beam selected? :confused:

Tim

Yes there is a bit of a delay - not much, but a bit. What I have done is to wire it up so that dip stay on with main. You really want to do this anyway as the light from the HIDs is still really worthwhile on main.

I am actually surprised that the dips do go out - normally on that kind of thing, they don't - may not be set up correctly anyway?

With my HIDs, I have a relay for each side, so just wired the switching side of the relay to both dip and main using a couple of diodes to prevent one operating the other. Quite simple to do really.

Neil.

You've obviously purchased the cheaper Angel Eyes rather than genuine Morettes, then? Single H1 in each lamp? morettes have an H4 in the outers, that does dip AND main.

You can still get yours to stay on using relays, and if you have HID, I would do so........not for the reason you gave, as the light output, even as the HIDs are warming up, is STILL superior to all but the highest wattage halogen, (at full output, an HID is giving out the same light as a 300W halogen bulb would;) ), but because HIDs don't take kindly to being flashed on and off, apparently.

Alcazar

You've obviously purchased the cheaper Angel Eyes

No, i have the orcirai lights, got them from Scoobyworld http://www.scoobyworld.co.uk/catalog/images/quadheadlamp.gif, do you have a wiring diagram of any sort for connecting the relays/diodes etc.

Tim

The reason your dip beams go out is because HID's are sensitive to voltage fluctuations. There is a very easy way around this especially if you have wired up the HIDs with a relay. I also assume that your low beam high beam switch is on a stork on the steering column which you push and pull to switch between the two.

What you need to do is fit a capacitor of around 500 to 1000 micro farrads in parralel with the voltage feed to the relay from the original bulb power feeds if that is how you have wired them up. This will act as a buffer to keep the relay on.

What is happening is that in between the high and low beam switch position there is a dead area where no voltage is getting through and this milli second voltage drop upsets the ballasts for the HID's and they switch off but don't reset because the power outage is too small. If you can explain exactly what you have and how you have wired it up I will be able to help more specifically on how to wire in a capacitor.

No, i have the orcirai lights, got them from Scoobyworld http://www.scoobyworld.co.uk/catalog/images/quadheadlamp.gif, do you have a wiring diagram of any sort for connecting the relays/diodes etc.

Tim

Ah new shape, don't know how they work the lights (classic are a bit odd). Basic principle is to find one wire that is live on dip (this will power the relays for the HIDs) connect via a diode (line on diode goes relay side) to relay(s). Then find wire that is live on main, connect via another diode (again line towards relay) to relay (making sure it is relay side of the first diode).

The idea is to make sure that power will only go from wires to relay, not back the other way.

You would need to get a couple of diodes (Maplins?) they don't need to be rated for that much current as you are only powering a relay. May be able to find which ones I got if I have a look at the weekend.

Now sit back and wait for someone to tell me I have got my diodes back to front.....

Ah new shape, don't know how they work the lights (classic are a bit odd). Basic principle is to find one wire that is live on dip (this will power the relays for the HIDs) connect via a diode (line on diode goes relay side) to relay(s). Then find wire that is live on main, connect via another diode (again line towards relay) to relay (making sure it is relay side of the first diode).

The idea is to make sure that power will only go from wires to relay, not back the other way.

You would need to get a couple of diodes (Maplins?) they don't need to be rated for that much current as you are only powering a relay. May be able to find which ones I got if I have a look at the weekend.

Now sit back and wait for someone to tell me I have got my diodes back to front.....

I believe that the headlamps on my car (MY01 WRX) are negative switched is that the same as a classic ?

I believe that the headlamps on my car (MY01 WRX) are negative switched is that the same as a classic ?

Yes that'll be the one - Ok in that case, the same setup as mine should work. If only it wasn't dark outside, I would go and check how I did it in the end! However as the garage is currently occupied by another motor, I will try and have a look and let you know tomorrow!

Neil.

Yes that'll be the one - Ok in that case, the same setup as mine should work. If only it wasn't dark outside, I would go and check how I did it in the end! However as the garage is currently occupied by another motor, I will try and have a look and let you know tomorrow!

Neil.

Cheers Neil, much appreciated

Tim

Right, I think I have sorted it - forgot just how cramped it is in there by the battery.

One wire to connect near to the headlamp plug:

/----\
| - |
||A |B|
--------

^ View from bulb side of plug.

Hmm so the diagram doesn't really work - but there are 3 terminals, one horizontal at top, two vertical at bottom - A on left, B on right as looking from the 'bulb end' - wires going away from you.

I am assuming that you still have one of the H4 type plugs in there somewhere?

Make a connection to the wire to terminal B above. On mine A is a red wire, B is red with blue trace.

Now all you should need to do is use this as the switching feed to the HID relay(s). This should be terminal 86. There should also be a +ve feed to the relay from the battery (term 30), an earth (term 85) and the feed off to the HIDs (term 87).

There - thats much simpler than I remembered - actually the funny way they do the lights helps here - no need for diodes at all!

FYI if you have to re-wire the main/spot lights as well, use terminals A & B for the relay feed & earth (terms 86 & 85) - but make sure the lights are earthed elsewhere.

Right, I think I have sorted it - forgot just how cramped it is in there by the battery.

One wire to connect near to the headlamp plug:

/----\
| - |
||A |B|
--------

^ View from bulb side of plug.

Hmm so the diagram doesn't really work - but there are 3 terminals, one horizontal at top, two vertical at bottom - A on left, B on right as looking from the 'bulb end' - wires going away from you.

I am assuming that you still have one of the H4 type plugs in there somewhere?

Make a connection to the wire to terminal B above. On mine A is a red wire, B is red with blue trace.

Now all you should need to do is use this as the switching feed to the HID relay(s). This should be terminal 86. There should also be a +ve feed to the relay from the battery (term 30), an earth (term 85) and the feed off to the HIDs (term 87).

There - thats much simpler than I remembered - actually the funny way they do the lights helps here - no need for diodes at all!

FYI if you have to re-wire the main/spot lights as well, use terminals A & B for the relay feed & earth (terms 86 & 85) - but make sure the lights are earthed elsewhere.

Thanks very much, i'll give this a try using standard bulbs then splash out on a set of HID's

Tim

Thanks very much, i'll give this a try using standard bulbs then splash out on a set of HID's

Tim

That may well help anyhow! Just remember that you should have at least one relay somewhere - the wiring isn't expecting to have two sets of bulbs on at the same time!

Let us know how you get on!

Have now fitted HID's to dip beam unit & i don't know how i managed without them.

I just replaced the original H7 bulbs and didn't mod the wiring & the lights did stay on when i selected main beam, but didn't when i flashed :confused: , but i'll make do with that :)

Tim

Have now fitted HID's to dip beam unit & i don't know how i managed without them.

I just replaced the original H7 bulbs and didn't mod the wiring & the lights did stay on when i selected main beam, but didn't when i flashed :confused: , but i'll make do with that :)

Tim

That may not be such a bad thing anyway - saves the HIDs being fired up, which may not be good for them (I don't know that it is, just worries me a little).

For the benefit of others reading this - the wiring instructions at post #10 were based on having a H4 type plug somewhere in the system - not sure there ever was on the bug-eye types, but there will be on classics.

Anyhow, glad you're sorted - the world suddenly becomes a brighter place doesn't it? :D

HIDs rock... have them on both my cars and it's amazing how yellow Halogens are (even the better ones like Vision Plus etc) once you're used to HIDs. Road signs and white road markings just stand out so much better!

I hate headlights that switch off the dip when you turn on main beam (HID or not), when on main beam you can see a few hundred metres down the road but there's a huge dark area right in front of the car where the dips should be illuminating. When I had my classic scooby I didn't fancy rewiring the dips to stay on due to the dual-filament H4 bulbs in case there were heat/current issues, so I wired the fogs to come on with the main beam :D. Worked a treat, lighting up the area in front of the car and they go back off as soon as you switch off the dip so that it didn't dazzle oncoming drivers (not that all the boy racer tw4ts who drive around with fogs glaring into oncoming traffic give a toss about that).

Paul.