Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[iamvik]

HID current video

Interesting video of the current consumption of an HID bulb.

YouTube - HID Xenon current consumption

You can see that the lamp is still running at 12.00 V, so the cut-off voltage for that lamp must be lower. Notice also that the lamp appears to be connected to just a battery without any charging system connected.

[Shreeni0403]

Interesting video of the current consumption of an HID bulb.

YouTube - HID Xenon current consumption

You can see that the lamp is still running at 12.00 V, so the cut-off voltage for that lamp must be lower. Notice also that the lamp appears to be connected to just a battery without any charging system connected.

How can you manage to keep HID's ON whenever you get stuck in signal. (Specially in Bangalore ). And if you turn off, then again you turn it ON the load is again back on to it.

AFAIK I had check a pair of HID's in a car shopee where he had Raylux (1 year warranty, 35w) and some other brand 55w, comes with 2 year warranty. I examined the ballast (slim ballast) and 55w HID consumes whopping 18A-20A at start up and stabilizes between 8-10ah. That car shop guy clearly said its hard for some cars also to take that load. And he also mentioned, he wont give warranty if its for a 2 wheeler.

[Puneet1]

@ sajjt Do Hids also have AC ballasts ? i thought they need DC only . does the ac ballast convert light to DC type ?

[iamvik]

How can you manage to keep HID's ON whenever you get stuck in signal. (Specially in Bangalore ). And if you turn off, then again you turn it ON the load is again back on to it.

AFAIK I had check a pair of HID's in a car shopee where he had Raylux (1 year warranty, 35w) and some other brand 55w, comes with 2 year warranty. I examined the ballast (slim ballast) and 55w HID consumes whopping 18A-20A at start up and stabilizes between 8-10ah. That car shop guy clearly said its hard for some cars also to take that load. And he also mentioned, he wont give warranty if its for a 2 wheeler.

If it is 20 A at start up, a bike's battery will definitely be overloaded and the voltage would drop below the cut-off voltage. I can't see any bike in India with such a powerful electrical system to supply 20 A descending to 10 A over nearly half a minute. At this rate of discharge, a battery would have difficulty recharging and would also suffer from a short and unhappy life!

I think people don't consider that most HID kits are of dubious quality and performance. A good quality ballast from say Philips can have over 90% efficiency. Who knows how much the Chinese ones have? With lower efficiency comes higher power consumption.

[RanjithMN]

guys how much does non branded 35W H7 HIDs cost?and how long do they last?

[sajjt]

How can you manage to keep HID's ON whenever you get stuck in signal. (Specially in Bangalore ). And if you turn off, then again you turn it ON the load is again back on to it.

AFAIK I had check a pair of HID's in a car shopee where he had Raylux (1 year warranty, 35w) and some other brand 55w, comes with 2 year warranty. I examined the ballast (slim ballast) and 55w HID consumes whopping 18A-20A at start up and stabilizes between 8-10ah. That car shop guy clearly said its hard for some cars also to take that load. And he also mentioned, he wont give warranty if its for a 2 wheeler.

Shree did u forgot the beam swaps? There too the consumption will be there but not upto the first ignition. And power consumption varies from brands to brands depends on the quality of the components used in the ballast. My bike HID 35W will take 9A at startup but my car kit will 9.8A and one of my friends bike its 8.5A, and my access shop guy says his kit will take a min of 10A and this clarifies the above statement. I'vent come across a single bike with a 55W HID except some cars like Skoda and CRVs and its easy to spot them by their intensity. And no one says its viable too, dare devils are yet to come, to give their 55W HIDkit just for a trial. Any takers? Iamvik r u ready?

@ sajjt Do Hids also have AC ballasts ? i thought they need DC only . does the ac ballast convert light to DC type ?

AC ballast is the term I think, but its working on DC, Their difference is NOT the INSTALLATION and WIRING,but the structure inside.There are some accessories in the AC but not in the DC,these more accessories are to adjust the current,so AC can protect the bulb,but DC doesn't have these accessories,so it can not give the bulb this protection, sometimes the DC bulb will sparkle a lot while AC is not.AC & DC are the same on installation and the wiring and the outside appearance, I dont know how to differentiate both.

AC ballasts are latest introduction and costly too, but once I tried directly to my AC light out wire and it started but I could sense some colur diff in the bulb when startup, so I stopped it. And one more benefit of AC ballast, once my batt was due for replacement, I started the bike and tried to switch on the HID, it took off with bit strained but once in its full brightness, I couldnt see any difference. I used this setup for 3 days.

If it is 20 A at start up, a bike's battery will definitely be overloaded and the voltage would drop below the cut-off voltage. I can't see any bike in India with such a powerful electrical system to supply 20 A descending to 10 A over nearly half a minute. At this rate of discharge, a battery would have difficulty recharging and would also suffer from a short and unhappy life!

I think people don't consider that most HID kits are of dubious quality and performance. A good quality ballast from say Philips can have over 90% efficiency. Who knows how much the Chinese ones have? With lower efficiency comes higher power consumption.

I still dont know how long they can use a 100W halo and they wont get full brightness too. Hope this clarifies. One more info about Philips, they are not manufacturing any HID kits, they give to subs to make OEM on Philips brand, I'd some discussions with some of the companies who makes HID kits for Philips and thats from China only.

My bike is a P150 moded to full DC for the HID.

[Shreeni0403]

guys how much does non branded 35W H7 HIDs cost?and how long do they last?

2 grands in Bangalore. And it ll definitely last more than a year for sure.

[sandeepcf]

Reflector for Unicorn

I am not satisfied with the stock reflector of unicorn 2005. The light scatters/spreads a lot and hence the intensity is decreased(was previously using Ambition and it's headlight reflector is wonderful). Tried 55/60w bulbs on battery, but the problem lies in the reflector I believe. The low beams are OK but the High beams spreads too wide. I read some posts where one guy installed Ambition's Reflector on his Unicorn. I don't want to use the Round reflector as all my friends didn't like the idea.
1.Any aftermarket good reflector for Unicorn?
2.what brand of bulb is the best for highbeams?(should be sharp)
3.Can I fit an auxiliary light that can provide good highbeams and which one is the best?

I don't want to go for higher wattage bulbs more than 55/60 because I am on stock stator windings and no problems at all with the 5 year old battery, so rewinding/RR etc is not necessary. I also don't want to for HID either.

[Shreeni0403]

I am not satisfied with the stock reflector of unicorn 2005. The light scatters/spreads a lot and hence the intensity is decreased(was previously using Ambition and it's headlight reflector is wonderful). Tried 55/60w bulbs on battery, but the problem lies in the reflector I believe. The low beams are OK but the High beams spreads too wide. I read some posts where one guy installed Ambition's Reflector on his Unicorn. I don't want to use the Round reflector as all my friends didn't like the idea.
1.Any aftermarket good reflector for Unicorn?
2.what brand of bulb is the best for highbeams?(should be sharp)
3.Can I fit an auxiliary light that can provide good highbeams and which one is the best?

I don't want to go for higher wattage bulbs more than 55/60 because I am on stock stator windings and no problems at all with the 5 year old battery, so rewinding/RR etc is not necessary. I also don't want to for HID either.

Dude on stock stator/RR you will be getting even less light intensity compared to 35w if you are on AC. Only if you have converted the system to DC i.e battery then its fine.
Regarding Unicorn reflector, even I am having a Unicorn and pretty much happy with its spread and throw. You can never expect focused light as in round headlights in Unicorn reflector. It gives good spread and good throw on road as well. Only thing is your light intensity should be more. I was using Osram Nightbreaker 55/60w and it was amazing. Now recently switched over to HID.

First make sure that your headlight is glowing to its max brightness before thinking of changing reflector.

[sandeepcf]

Dude on stock stator/RR you will be getting even less light intensity compared to 35w if you are on AC. Only if you have converted the system to DC i.e battery then its fine.
Regarding Unicorn reflector, even I am having a Unicorn and pretty much happy with its spread and throw. You can never expect focused light as in round headlights in Unicorn reflector. It gives good spread and good throw on road as well. Only thing is your light intensity should be more.

I am on DC. I mean I simply disconnected the wire from RR to Light switch and soldered a separate wire from battery. Every light runs on battery. And I have no discharge problems at all. so sticking with stock winding/RR.

who is the manufacturer of stock reflector of Unicorn? I visited Lumax website and found reflector for Unicorn. Are both the same? Is Lumax better?

Are you sure you are satisfied with Uni's reflector? I am not esp with Highbeams.

what is the lifespan of OSRAM NB? which one is better? XTREME or NB?
in bcmtouring site one guy said Philips vison plus bulbs are better than NB's..

If the bulb is connected to battery can it draw max current needed? Is there any power amplification circuit/IC that makes sure that the bulb draws constant max current regardless of the load from other bulbs and the charge of the battery?

[sagarpadaki]

@Shreeni0403

dude where to get osram nightbreaker in bangalore?there are lots of shop which stock it.but which one is reliable and stocks original goods?any idea?and also how much does night breaker cost for one bulb?

[hypergamer]

Hey friends as this thread is dedicated to lights I have a couple of questions

1) For my P 220 I want angel eyes and I stay in mumbai how and where can I do it

2) For my 180 I want to install 2 projectors am converting the bike to Full Dc with the 150 UG 4 BCU stator unit RR and wiring harness. This bike will just have a speedo and two projectors any clue how can I mount them thanks !!!!!

[RanjithMN]

1.as far a i know its not possible to mount AE on the P220 because it will get in the way of the light as there isnt much space between the reflector/lens and the body
2.you mean you will remove the existing reflector and the visor?
well then you might have to get those twin round headlamps and fit the proj. in it. but note tht proj. for high beam isnt advised.

[hypergamer]

1.as far a i know its not possible to mount AE on the P220 because it will get in the way of the light as there isnt much space between the reflector/lens and the body
2.you mean you will remove the existing reflector and the visor?
well then you might have to get those twin round headlamps and fit the proj. in it. but note tht proj. for high beam isnt advised.

Yes i have to remove everything from the front end of the 180 and planning to put just 2 projectors and high beam or low beam is not an issue as this bike will not go touring. I have ma 220 for that !! also is there any way the front glass of the 220 lamp can be taken off!!!!

[RanjithMN]

Then like i said you will need to buy those twin round lamp and fit proj. in it.

and Yes you can open the reflector.
Pre heat your oven and place the whole dome(after removing the bulbs/screw) and place it for 10 mins.Pls to search in youtube,there is a detailed vid there.