***Your HID Questions Answered Here.***

[Sampuppy1]

Ah. Thought you did retros. MOBS and TA4S do them. I know that. Maybe ill drop them a line.

 

[great white]

Ah. Thought you did retros. MOBS and TA4S do them. I know that. Maybe ill drop them a line.

I do, but just for close freinds and family...

 

[98gm1500]

this may have been asked already by someone but i didnt have time to read through all 29 pages, but has anyone had trouble with their radio getting poor reception when the hids are on, i've read that this can be a problem with cheaper hid ballasts, which with mine being from ebay is probably the case but i havent found any real solutions to the problem, just wondering if anyones had this problem and if theres been any solutions? i dont have a relay harnesses on them but i've had no problems with flickering, they've always worked great other then the radio reception being effected

 

[great white]

this may have been asked already by someone but i didnt have time to read through all 29 pages, but has anyone had trouble with their radio getting poor reception when the hids are on, i've read that this can be a problem with cheaper hid ballasts, which with mine being from ebay is probably the case but i havent found any real solutions to the problem, just wondering if anyones had this problem and if theres been any solutions? i dont have a relay harnesses on them but i've had no problems with flickering, they've always worked great other then the radio reception being effected

Yup, non OEM ballasts usually take "short cuts" in production and RFI protection is one of them.

OEM ballasts cost hundreds of dollar each just for the ballasts. It should be no surprise when you buy a set off eBay for 30 bucks that's 2 ballasts/capsules and harnesses it's going to cause some problems.

Usually worse on am but have been known to affect fm if bad enough.

If really bad the RFI can mess up a newer vehicle's electronics, although RFI that bad is very rare.

My eBay ballasts would throw my CB (works on am) into a tizzy every time i fired up. CB's are even more sensitive to RFI than an OEM radio although my AM reception noise floor in the OEM radio would also go up with the HID's on.

After trying all kind of solutions for RFI (body bonding straps, aluminum box shielding, high tension wires shielding, positioning, etc) mine turned out to be the ballasts needed a ferrite core on the 12+ feed on the ballast. I had to lengthen the wire and wrap it through the split bead 3 times before it finally killed the static. Of note: it's very unusually to get RFI on the DC power lines. Ground loops yes, RFI transmission no. Just goes to show you you never know what you're getting with a "boat ballast".



But the wrapped split bead dropped my S units back to normal on the CB and the AM radio noise in the head unit disappeared. Nearest I can figure is the AC signal was sneaking back through the ballast and the DC power line was acting like a transmitting antenna. The wraps and bead set up a choke which killed the radiated signal.

Thing is with RFI, it can be anything from power issues to radiated static (poor shielding) to poor RF ground paths.

Ya just gotta keep trying different methods until you get it stomped out....it's often more of a PITA than trying to chase down a ground loop because there's more things that can be the cause rather than just a component seeking ground through another like in a ground loop...

 

[98gm1500]

Yup, non OEM ballasts usually take "short cuts" in production and RFI protection is one of them.

OEM ballasts cost hundreds of dollar each just for the ballasts. It should be no surprise when you buy a set off eBay for 30 bucks that's 2 ballasts/capsules and harnesses it's going to cause some problems.

Usually worse on am but have been known to affect fm if bad enough.

If really bad the RFI can mess up a newer vehicle's electronics, although RFI that bad is very rare.

My eBay ballasts would throw my CB (works on am) into a tizzy every time i fired up. CB's are even more sensitive to RFI than an OEM radio although my AM reception noise floor in the OEM radio would also go up with the HID's on.

After trying all kind of solutions for RFI (body bonding straps, aluminum box shielding, high tension wires shielding, positioning, etc) mine turned out to be the ballasts needed a ferrite core on the 12+ feed on the ballast. I had to lengthen the wire and wrap it through the split bead 3 times before it finally killed the static. Of note: it's very unusually to get RFI on the DC power lines. Ground loops yes, RFI transmission no. Just goes to show you you never know what you're getting with a "boat ballast".



But the wrapped split bead dropped my S units back to normal on the CB and the AM radio noise in the head unit disappeared. Nearest I can figure is the AC signal was sneaking back through the ballast and the DC power line was acting like a transmitting antenna. The wraps and bead set up a choke which killed the radiated signal.

Thing is with RFI, it can be anything from power issues to radiated static (poor shielding) to poor RF ground paths.

Ya just gotta keep trying different methods until you get it stomped out....it's often more of a PITA than trying to chase down a ground loop because there's more things that can be the cause rather than just a component seeking ground through another like in a ground loop

Yeah with them being cheapo ebay units i wasnt expecting anything brilliant, and actually for the price i was super happy the the set up other then the radio disturbance, i've heard of people using ferrite cores on wires to help with radio disturbance in other applications but wasn't sure if that would help me or not, from what you said its looking like that might be worth a try, i wasnt really sure up here in canada where i'd be able to pick one up? i know radio shack has them but we don't have those here anymore

 

[great white]

Yup, non OEM ballasts usually take "short cuts" in production and RFI protection is one of them.

OEM ballasts cost hundreds of dollar each just for the ballasts. It should be no surprise when you buy a set off eBay for 30 bucks that's 2 ballasts/capsules and harnesses it's going to cause some problems.

Usually worse on am but have been known to affect fm if bad enough.

If really bad the RFI can mess up a newer vehicle's electronics, although RFI that bad is very rare.

My eBay ballasts would throw my CB (works on am) into a tizzy every time i fired up. CB's are even more sensitive to RFI than an OEM radio although my AM reception noise floor in the OEM radio would also go up with the HID's on.

After trying all kind of solutions for RFI (body bonding straps, aluminum box shielding, high tension wires shielding, positioning, etc) mine turned out to be the ballasts needed a ferrite core on the 12+ feed on the ballast. I had to lengthen the wire and wrap it through the split bead 3 times before it finally killed the static. Of note: it's very unusually to get RFI on the DC power lines. Ground loops yes, RFI transmission no. Just goes to show you you never know what you're getting with a "boat ballast".



But the wrapped split bead dropped my S units back to normal on the CB and the AM radio noise in the head unit disappeared. Nearest I can figure is the AC signal was sneaking back through the ballast and the DC power line was acting like a transmitting antenna. The wraps and bead set up a choke which killed the radiated signal.

Thing is with RFI, it can be anything from power issues to radiated static (poor shielding) to poor RF ground paths.

Ya just gotta keep trying different methods until you get it stomped out....it's often more of a PITA than trying to chase down a ground loop because there's more things that can be the cause rather than just a component seeking ground through another like in a ground loop

Yeah with them being cheapo ebay units i wasnt expecting anything brilliant, and actually for the price i was super happy the the set up other then the radio disturbance, i've heard of people using ferrite cores on wires to help with radio disturbance in other applications but wasn't sure if that would help me or not, from what you said its looking like that might be worth a try, i wasnt really sure up here in canada where i'd be able to pick one up? i know radio shack has them but we don't have those here anymore

Got mine at princess auto.

The thing about split beads (or any ferrite core) is just snapping them over the line isn't going to have a very large effect. You need to wrap the line in question through the center a couple times to make an effective choke...

 

[MOBS]

You can also add a capacitor in to take out any power signal fluctuation.

 

[great white]

You can also add a capacitor in to take out any power signal fluctuation.

True. I just prefer a choke if it works.

 

[98gm1500]

thanks for the info guys, may have to try one of these solutions out

 

[Half Assed]

my lights have an extremely sharp cutoff line, I just used some junkyard projectors, bulbs, and ballests from a ty bmw and cut out the rear of my stock lights and aimed them through the stock lenses.

Still have stock high beams and haven't done the 4-hi mod, but I think this cost me under $100 to do, all junkyard parts from a pick and pull local to me in socal...

What year bimmer? I can get e30 bmw projectors all day long, but the output sucks in all the pictures I've seen of them.