HOW TO: Install HID Lighting & HID lighting explained

[Dieselwrencher]

Baron, I received my harness. Thanks again, I'll let you know how the install goes.

[VH Coachworks]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Baron, I received my harness. Thanks again, I'll let you know how the install goes.

Great you got it, we really appreciate your business, thanks again!

[theastronaut]

Even if they're not illegal, they're still not considerate for oncoming drivers. A regular bulb type headlight housing is built so that all of the reflector surface, and the fresnel lens work together to aim the very small source light the filament of an incandescent bulb out into a usable pattern, with minimal glare. Everything about the way a housing aims the light hinges around the size and location of the filament. HID bulbs are many times larger than the filament of a halogen bulb, and the whole thing glows just like a florescent bulb- there's no thin filament as the focal point of the housing, so the housing can't properly aim/distribute the light. This causes glare for oncoming traffic, and an unfocused light pattern for you to see with.

These are fine for a show car, but they definitly aren't an "upgrade" for a street car. If you have a two headlight system, you also lose the high/low beam function and end up with a beam pattern suited for neither driving in traffic (low beam/minimal glare), or back road/high speed driving where you need longer distance visibility.

I'm not knocking the vendor, just stating the facts about how these kits work. I've had friends with drop-in kits in their cars, and they've been pulled over for them. If you want a true upgrade that makes the light output use-able and responsible using HID's, you need to retrofit OEM HID projectors.



Halogen bulb on top (note the small filament) vs HID bulb on bottom. The whole HID bulb glows when lit- there's no way a halogen housing can aim the light coming from such a large light source.





If your light pattern isn't sharply cut off above eye-level, than you're causing unnecessary glare for oncoming drivers. Regular halogen bulbs/housings can get away with less of a sharp cut off since they're not as bright, but the intensity of HID's makes the cut off necessary to minimize glare to a reasonable level.

[69truckin]

what do you think of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-HALOGEN-H4...sories&vxp=mtr

[BrutonLS1]

Originally Posted by 69truckin

what do you think of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-HALOGEN-H4...sories&vxp=mtr

x2

[Sub-versive]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Even if they're not illegal, they're still not considerate for oncoming drivers. A regular bulb type headlight housing is built so that all of the reflector surface, and the fresnel lens work together to aim the very small source light the filament of an incandescent bulb out into a usable pattern, with minimal glare. Everything about the way a housing aims the light hinges around the size and location of the filament. HID bulbs are many times larger than the filament of a halogen bulb, and the whole thing glows just like a florescent bulb- there's no thin filament as the focal point of the housing, so the housing can't properly aim/distribute the light. This causes glare for oncoming traffic, and an unfocused light pattern for you to see with.

These are fine for a show car, but they definitly aren't an "upgrade" for a street car. If you have a two headlight system, you also lose the high/low beam function and end up with a beam pattern suited for neither driving in traffic (low beam/minimal glare), or back road/high speed driving where you need longer distance visibility.

I'm not knocking the vendor, just stating the facts about how these kits work. I've had friends with drop-in kits in their cars, and they've been pulled over for them. If you want a true upgrade that makes the light output use-able and responsible using HID's, you need to retrofit OEM HID projectors.



Halogen bulb on top (note the small filament) vs HID bulb on bottom. The whole HID bulb glows when lit- there's no way a halogen housing can aim the light coming from such a large light source.





If your light pattern isn't sharply cut off above eye-level, than you're causing unnecessary glare for oncoming drivers. Regular halogen bulbs/housings can get away with less of a sharp cut off since they're not as bright, but the intensity of HID's makes the cut off necessary to minimize glare to a reasonable level.

This is the truth.
Just popping in HID bulbs in non-HID housings is improper and irresponsible! You WILL cause glare and unsafe conditions for others!
Not to rain on a sales parade, but it is like any mod, do it right.

[1badgmc]

Originally Posted by Sub-versive

This is the truth.
Just popping in HID bulbs in non-HID housings is improper and irresponsible! You WILL cause glare and unsafe conditions for others!
Not to rain on a sales parade, but it is like any mod, do it right.

.....

Originally Posted by 1badgmc

Are drop-in HIDs in halogen reflector housings optimal? No. Never will be. Can it be done safely in a way that doesn't cause problems for other drivers? Absolutely.

[higXtech]

I'm going to see if I can get lightwerkz (http://shop.lightwerkz.net/HID-Projectors) to retrofit some projectors into some 7 inch jeep headlights.

I really dig the Mercedes G-glass headlamps. I'm hoping the retrofit would look something like this:

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Sub-versive

This is the truth.
Just popping in HID bulbs in non-HID housings is improper and irresponsible! You WILL cause glare and unsafe conditions for others!
Not to rain on a sales parade, but it is like any mod, do it right.

Thanks for agreeing.


Here'a a better explanation of why drop in's cause glare. This is the mechanics of lighting and aiming and everyone agrees on this stuff.

In a Halogen housing the shape of the reflector and the design of the fresnel lens work together to aim the light into a cut-off pattern on low beams. Everything about the beam pattern hinges around where the filament is located. The edge of the glowing filament creates the cut-off pattern when aimed out the reflector and lens. When you change the light source size and placement you also change how the light is aimed because the reflector/lens combo hasn't been redesigned to work with the new light source. The aim is determined by the placement and size of the filament, and the glowing filament's edge is the center point by which the aim is designed into the housing.





HID's use a completely different way to control the beam pattern. The "shielding" shown in the pic is a flap that drops out of the way to make a full high beam pattern. When it's up it creates the low beam cut-off. A solenoid controls the position of the flap. The aim/shape of the low beam cut-off is not determined by the size or placement of the light source- the edge of the flap blocks off a section of the reflector's light.







When you understand these two diagrams it becomes obvious that it's impossible to change the size and placement of light source in a housing without changing the aim and increasing glare. HID's have a huge light source compared to the small filament in a halogen bulb. Drop in's also lose the high/low beam feature because there is only one filament and no flap/solenoid to control the light beam.

Originally Posted by VH Coachworks

HID's emit light much further out then a regular (or even upgraded) halogen or incandescent light will. Seeing ANY extra distance at night, can save your vehicle or even someones life. With your increased down road vision you WILL be able to see potential dangers sooner then you could with a light source that did not emit light as far out as say an HID. There could be a deer in a ditch, a person walking along the road, a car stranded along the road with no lights on, etc etc etc and you WILL be able to see that potential danger sooner, therefore giving you a longer time to react accordingly which could potentially save your vehicle from getting into an accident or potentially even save a life.

You can't explain having the light shine farther down the road any other way than either raising the aim of the cut-off and thereby increasing glare, or doing away with the cut off and having light distributed everywhere- again increasing glare. It can't be done, either with Halogen or HID's. That's what the cut-off is for- stopping the light at a certain height and distance to keep it out of oncoming traffic's eyes. You can't shine light farther just because the light is brighter if the beam is controlled with the same cut-off. The light ends at the cut-off no matter how bright the source- that's how factory HID's are legal, the cut-off is highly effective at keeping light below eye level for oncoming traffic. Saying the HID's emit farther out is proof that either your HID's cut-off is indeed raised higher than normal, or there is no effective cut off because the Halogen housings can't properly aim the HID light source. Neither is considerate for oncoming traffic.

Proper aim is that the beam pattern drops 3-4 inches every 25 feet. This allows for a low beam beam pattern that shines far enough out for city driving in traffic but doesn't cause excessive glare when topping a hill or driving in areas with differences in elevation where oncoming traffic is lower than the opposite lane. No matter how bright your lights are, they need to be aimed slightly down. The brighter the lights are, the more they need a sharp cut-off on low beams.