High beam headlights :(
#11
10-20-2011 | 03:58 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 267
Sorry Broken, but true HID's don't have filaments.....light is produced by an electrical arc between 2 electrodes igniting Xenon gas. As wfturner said, your hi and low beam are controlled by a 'shade' that drops down, partially covering the lamp giving you the 'low' beam effect.
.
.
I know this because a separate signal is sent to the bulb. When I wired my LED's to the lights they were on the low beam and when I hit the highs they turned off so I had to rewire them with a inline plug with a jumper wire to run off both the high and low beam.
#12
10-20-2011 | 04:02 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 993
From: Reno, NV
So you have two bulbs per side of vehicle and in one headlight housing ?
One bulb comes on for low beam and then the other bulb comes on for high beam or do both bulbs come on for high beam?
That would be rather interesting
You have a unique system to say the least.
Do you get allot of dazzle when on low beam ?
One bulb comes on for low beam and then the other bulb comes on for high beam or do both bulbs come on for high beam?
That would be rather interesting
You have a unique system to say the least.
Do you get allot of dazzle when on low beam ?
Last edited by wfturner; 10-20-2011 at 04:07 PM.
#13
10-20-2011 | 04:18 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 267
So you have two bulbs per side of vehicle and in one headlight housing ?
One bulb comes on for low beam and then the other bulb comes on for high beam or do both bulbs come on for high beam?
That would be rather interesting
You have a unique system to say the least.
Do you get allot of dazzle when on low beam ?
One bulb comes on for low beam and then the other bulb comes on for high beam or do both bulbs come on for high beam?
That would be rather interesting
You have a unique system to say the least.
Do you get allot of dazzle when on low beam ?
#14
10-20-2011 | 04:35 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,445
From: Rochester Hills, Michigan
I think what Broken has IS a true HID, but it's the way they make retrofit HIDs. The Starr's, and OEM's use the shutter system. The retrofits can be made cheaper by not using a mechanical shutter, and having 2 Xenon tubes per assembly (hi/low beam) instead. The projector housing can only be 'tuned' for 1 Xenon tube, not 2 tubes side by side because they can't both be on center. That's why they use a shutter, so whether you're on hi beam or low beam you get optimal reflection. Since the retrofits aren't matched to the projector anyway, it doesn't matter using the side by side setup.
#15
10-20-2011 | 04:39 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 993
From: Reno, NV
Your correct. Each.... unit or each side has two glass bulbs, I just figured that's how all non projectors were. One bulb I remember was clear and the other had a rough gritty material on part of it which was in between the two bulbs. Each bulb then has 3 wires going into it. One is ground and 2 are for power. The other thing I remember being different when I sent back the first set that only had low beams was that the low beam HID's had super small ballast compared to the new one I got with high and low beam.
Yours seem to get around that issue. I assume yours are newer units ?
BUT, you get allot of dazzle because of the stock headlight housing, yes ??
Have cars flashed you back at night, even on low beam ?
Just curious
#16
10-21-2011 | 09:20 AM
The ddm tuning lights do not use a shutter for their bi-xenon bulbs. The HID bulb is mounted on a spring loaded platform and an electromagnet is used to compress the spring, changing the position of the arc. Supposedly, the two positions the HID arc matches the positions of the two filaments in the factory bulb, utilizing the reflectors the same way the halogen would.
I ended up removing my DDM lights. They didn't always light reliably and had enough glare that I would get flashed by oncoming drivers once a week. The bulbs in the fogs were much worse as the ones I got didn't have the black shield at the end. If you remove that shield, you are insuring that other drivers are going to be giving you the high beam relentlessly as the amount of glare these bulbs made in my foglights was unbelievable. I couldn't run them at all when meeting traffic.
I wish I could afford the STARR system. The buy in is just too high. If anyone has a used set and would be willing to trade for a high end laptop, let me know. Otherwise, I'm stuck with the factory halogens.
I ended up removing my DDM lights. They didn't always light reliably and had enough glare that I would get flashed by oncoming drivers once a week. The bulbs in the fogs were much worse as the ones I got didn't have the black shield at the end. If you remove that shield, you are insuring that other drivers are going to be giving you the high beam relentlessly as the amount of glare these bulbs made in my foglights was unbelievable. I couldn't run them at all when meeting traffic.
I wish I could afford the STARR system. The buy in is just too high. If anyone has a used set and would be willing to trade for a high end laptop, let me know. Otherwise, I'm stuck with the factory halogens.
Last edited by JDuncan; 10-21-2011 at 10:14 AM. Reason: typo correction
#17
10-21-2011 | 09:49 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 993
From: Reno, NV
The ddm tuning lights do not use a shutter for their bi-xenon bulbs. The HID bulb is mounted on a spring loaded platform and an electromagnet is used to compress the spring, changing the position of the arc. Supposedly, the two positions the HID arc can be in matches the positions of the two filaments in the factory bulb, utilizing the reflectors the same way the halogen would.
I ended up removing my DDM lights. They didn't always light reliably and had enough glare that I would get flashed by oncoming drivers once a week. The bulbs in the fogs were much worse as the ones I got didn't have the black shield at the end. If you remove that shield, you are insuring that other drivers are going to be giving you the high beam relentlessly as the amount of glare these bulbs made in my foglights was unbelievable. I couldn't run them at all when meeting traffic.
I wish I could afford the STARR system. The buy in is just too high. If anyone has a used set and would be willing to trade for a high end laptop, let me know. Otherwise, I'm stuck with the factory halogens.
I ended up removing my DDM lights. They didn't always light reliably and had enough glare that I would get flashed by oncoming drivers once a week. The bulbs in the fogs were much worse as the ones I got didn't have the black shield at the end. If you remove that shield, you are insuring that other drivers are going to be giving you the high beam relentlessly as the amount of glare these bulbs made in my foglights was unbelievable. I couldn't run them at all when meeting traffic.
I wish I could afford the STARR system. The buy in is just too high. If anyone has a used set and would be willing to trade for a high end laptop, let me know. Otherwise, I'm stuck with the factory halogens.
A guy I befriended down the street has an 08 H3 and has aftermarket HID kit and he is constantly being flashed by oncoming traffic. We got to talking one day and checked out the STARR system I have. He is saying the same as you they are pricey. Teaka Toys and
one other online retailer sells them for about one hundred dollars less than straight from STARR.
I am impressed with the Retrofit Source, but heating up the sock headlight housings and cutting them up to fit the HID module was not something I was willing to do.
Everyone will have to make their on decision on HID,s
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