Installing HID, but no light comes on!

[CatatonicBug]

I bit the bullet and bought an HID kit (single bulb, bike kit) from ebay (from Hong Kong). I installed it last night, but I can't seem to get the bulb to light up...

I'm installing it in my fairing, so there's plenty of room for the wiring and the slimline ballast. I had to widen the hole in the back of the headlight bucket and pull the wires back through the grommet into the fairing. I bypassed the RLU, and when I plug the original headlight into the original plug, it lights up, but the HID setup does not light up when plugged into the same plug.

I did notice that the high-beam indicator still functions without issue, and I didn't have to change anything to make that happen.

Has anyone had any issues with the HID kits not working without modification? Should I need to move wires around in the headlight plug?

[crazy steve]

Did you give it enough time to 'strike'? HID isn't 'instant on', but needs to 'fire' and come up to temp before you get full light output. Also, was the bike running? Low voltage will make the process slower, and sometimes even prevent the bulb from firing. Once the lamp has fired and warmed up, the voltage/current requirements go down.

[CatatonicBug]

Did you give it enough time to 'strike'? HID isn't 'instant on', but needs to 'fire' and come up to temp before you get full light output. Also, was the bike running? Low voltage will make the process slower, and sometimes even prevent the bulb from firing. Once the lamp has fired and warmed up, the voltage/current requirements go down.

I started the bike, and even after a few seconds of running, I get no light whatsoever. I also turned the bike off (without removing the key) and left it on so I could check the hallogen headlight in the same plug. I checked the headlight plug, and I'm getting 13.6v at idle, so that should be plenty to get the ballast to kick on.

How long should that take? More than the old flourescent bulb over my workbench?

[Lamric]

I found that it's perfectly possible to connect a HID up so that the 2 wire male plug is pushed into the female connector the wrong way round, 180 degrees out.

In my defence, what looked to me like a locking tab on the side of the female connector was in fact a stopper, presumably designed to prevent you putting them together the wrong way.

This gives the symptoms you have, Bug, it's worth double checking. Good Luck.

[CatatonicBug]

I found that it's perfectly possible to connect a HID up so that the 2 wire male plug is pushed into the female connector the wrong way round, 180 degrees out.

In my defence, what looked to me like a locking tab on the side of the female connector was in fact a stopper, presumably designed to prevent you putting them together the wrong way.

This gives the symptoms you have, Bug, it's worth double checking. Good Luck.

Yep, tried that... In fact, mine has a label on it that says something about rotating that plug 180º if your vehicle has a common "+" circuit.

[crazy steve]

..How long should that take? More than the old flourescent bulb over my workbench?

Well, I'll admit that I haven't used an automotive-type HID, but 'regular' ones can take up to a minute to initially fire, and 5 minutes to attain full output. Cold temps can increase these times quite a bit. They are considerably slower to fire compared to a flourescent though. If you haven't given it at least a minute, try that.

This is the reason these have the little servomotor for high/low; every time you interrupt power to these, they have to start the cycle all over.

[Lamric]

Mine strikes up fairly quick, just like turning on a light switch. When it's running you can hear & feel a vibration from the ballast unit. Nothing going on at the ballast makes me think the fault is downstream. Get your multimeter out and check that 2 wire connector for power going into the ballast, but I'd be wary of metering the high voltage side of the ballast.

Also, my HID instructions said that if the ballast receives an dirty/intermittent power supply (like maybe when you're connecting it up with the power on) then the electronics will play dead for a few minutes. Try connecting it all up then having a coffee/beer before testing it.

[CatatonicBug]

Well, I'll admit that I haven't used an automotive-type HID, but 'regular' ones can take up to a minute to initially fire, and 5 minutes to attain full output. Cold temps can increase these times quite a bit. They are considerably slower to fire compared to a flourescent though. If you haven't given it at least a minute, try that.

Hmmm... Good to know! I was working at temps below freezing, so maybe that's the issue. I'll try at lunch today.

[CatatonicBug]

No luck... I ran the bike for over 15 minutes, and got nothing. I wish I had tested it before threading all the wires through the fairing... I hope it's just a wiring issue and not a faulty unit.

[natemoen]

I have heard a lot of people seem to have issues with the cheap Hong Kong units. I know 1 guy that went through the hassle of exchanging a HID setup 6 times before he finally got a good setup.

[crazy steve]

Look over the wires from the ballast to the lamp. These can operate at pretty high voltages (up to 800 volts) and if you got any nicks in the wires it could be jumping to ground.

[CatatonicBug]

They're brand new, but to look at them, I'll have to remove the whole unit from the fairing anyway. Looks like I have a project for tonight...

[CatatonicBug]

Ok, I took the unit out of the fairing so I could play with the wires. After swapping the wires around in the headlight plug, I got it to light!!

One strange thing though - When I trun off the bike, the HID lamp flickers and dies. Shouldn't it stay on like the halogen bulb does?

Next problem - The hight beam won't switch over. The blue indicator light comes on with the switch, but the headlight does not change intensity. The item I got is supposed to be a Bi-Xenon (this one), so I'm not sure what is going on. Is there another short I need to make in the RLU plug besides connecting the Blue/Black and Blue/Yellow wires?

BTW, the link in the tech tip to Skid's offsite RLU bybass site is broken.

[cywelchjr]

Those don't change intensity, the bulb should have a solenoid that moves the bulb forward and back to change the focus point.

[natemoen]

Those don't change intensity, the bulb should have a solenoid that moves the bulb forward and back to change the focus point.

The kit he linked to says that it does.