Xenon HID lighting

[johncrispin]

Lights,

Pete,
No offence taken , but point taken. I bought my flip up clip on yellow filters through the IAM , so interesting what you placed in the links.
I have to use the yellow filters, I simply cannot see otherwise with any volume of oncoming traffic, I have no choice.They do help. They do cut down the amount of visibility, but it is the lesser of two evils. In the brief interludes with no opposing traffic in the car I can flip them up. I have had a recent eye check and my specs are A/G coated.
I intend to fit a Honda reflector to the VIN, it is cheaper than resilvering (a CB250N unit from M&P) to fit straight into my 6" Miller. This will help me make the most of my 45w halogen,
Admittedly I am not going to compete with some idiot with a BMW X5 giving me full blast with his b----dy Xenons, but I can see tolerably well at sensible speeds, for the use I put to the Vin on a summers evening. I rarely travel at night purposely in the winter on the Vin. I have a modern Triumph with huge (halogen) candlepower that does not blind people if I know I am doing any night riding distance.

 

[Tnecniv Edipar]

Really interesting thread this !! I've wanted to convert the high beam on my (cough) Mitsubishi Evo 6 since I installed a Cibie HID conversion kit. This is a 4 beam conversion with HID dip & Projector Halogen Mains , I paid £500 for a previously used kit !!! The retail price is £1600 !!
The transformation of lighting performance on DIP is incredible , which is quite impressive considering this is a modern Japanese performance car with good lights as standard !! The disappointment when on main beam is a little difficult to live with though , it's so yellow & dim in comparison !!

The price of HID kits has previously deterred me from converting the main beam units , but it seems this is no longer an issue !! I might even do the auxiliary driving lights at the same time !!

However , I'm not sure I could tolerate the intrusion into my Rapides demeanor by converting it !! The light would look all wrong and that INVERTOR (not ballast !!) would be an impossible affliction to my aesthetic sensibility !! Plus , I haven't converted to 12 volt !!

The improvement to lighting for the intensive Vincent rider would be difficult to ignore however , so I can see the appeal.

Immensely useful info guy's.

 

[Pete Appleton]

Anorak Alert !!!

I'm not sure I could tolerate the intrusion into my Rapides demeanor by converting it !! The light would look all wrong and that INVERTOR (not ballast !!) would be an impossible affliction to my aesthetic sensibility !!

Oh dear! I was waiting for someone to mention inverters. The term is actually Inverter Ballast, if anyone cares. There is an inverter in there and a ballast. The inverter provides the necessary starting voltage and the ballast limits and regulates the lamp current during operation. If you are really interested ....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast

I quite agree about hiding the BALLAST box and as you can see from the photo of the one on my dads bike he is in favour of functionality over beauty (you should see my mum)

Pete

 

[vapide]

In the lighting world, you will often see the inverter referred to as the "ignitor".

Some setups make it separate from the ballast, which is very handy since the ignitor should be kept as close to the bulb as possible for a reliable strike, while the ballast can be put some distance away.

Oh dear! I was waiting for someone to mention inverters. The term is actually Inverter Ballast, if anyone cares. There is an inverter in there and a ballast. The inverter provides the necessary starting voltage and the ballast limits and regulates the lamp current during operation. If you are really interested ....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast

I quite agree about hiding the BALLAST box and as you can see from the photo of the one on my dads bike he is in favour of functionality over beauty (you should see my mum)

Pete

 

[nkt267]

I hope your mum can't read the forum otherwise you might find yourself ignited with an inverter where even a HID lamp won't illuminate.

 

[John Appleton]

I hope your mum can't read the forum otherwise you might find yourself ignited with an inverter where even a HID lamp won't illuminate.

she can -he has -and it wont John

 

[Tnecniv Edipar]

Oh dear! I was waiting for someone to mention inverters. The term is actually Inverter Ballast, if anyone cares. There is an inverter in there and a ballast. The inverter provides the necessary starting voltage and the ballast limits and regulates the lamp current during operation. If you are really interested ....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast

I quite agree about hiding the BALLAST box and as you can see from the photo of the one on my dads bike he is in favour of functionality over beauty (you should see my mum)

Pete

Your correct , it doesn't matter that much , but with technical stuff I prefer to see the correct terminology. I have just read that Wiki description and I cant agree with it.
Ballast is ballast and an inverter is an inverter. They are different devices.
They can be combined in 1 unit of course , just as a computer is a combination of several different devices to fulfill an application is , but it doesn't (for example) make the power supply in the computer anything but a power supply.
The inverter in an HID system is the primary function of the black box , it creates the high voltage necessary to create the arc in the HID lamp.

Ok , anorak removed now !!

 

[wld50]

separation of ballast and inverter

As a nonpracticing electronic engineer, does anyone know about the relative sizes of ballast and inverter: ie if one could separate the ballast and the inverter so that the inverter could be inside the headlamp, and the ballast at a distance (under the oiltank) that would achieve the best of both worlds?

If the output in terms of light is so much more efficient than halogen it must be good news for those with Miller dynamos converted to 12v?

 

[Pete Appleton]

Seperating ballast & Inverter

Yes it would be good to have two small boxes instead of one big one. I have already looked inside and all of the components in this box are 'potted' in resin ( I used to take all my toys apart as well).

If you really wanted to go down this route then you would have to start building them from scratch. There are articles about this on various web sites but I have too many unfinished projects to even consider it, maybe someone else out there will have a go?

Pete

 

[Tnecniv Edipar]

There must be contemporary motocycles using HID headlights now , are their black boxes smaller ?

Failing that , just wait a little while for the next revolution in automotive lighting , LED !! Even less power consumption & no bulky electronics needed !!