*Batman*

Okay I'm prepping for an HID fog install, along with a couple of other local forum members.

I've been doing a ton of searches to find pics of where people put their ballasts. I have queried "HID fog DIY", HID fog ballasts", "Ballast placement", "Ballast location", "Fog ballast", and more terms.

However I found only one pic which is in the attached thread.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...tallation.html

However, in other threads, a number of people commented that they thought the ballast location in this picture is not a good location because it is susceptible to water when skimming through deep puddles, and also may get more vibration in this location. In addition, there were comments about a "drip loop" which I also did not understand.

I have 2 questions:

1) Please can those with HID fogs share where they think the best location is to mount the ballasts? Ideally with pics.

2) Please explain what a drip loop is and what it looks like?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

on my gs400, i went through all the trouble to take off the bumper and actually mounted the ballasts to the back of the crush bar, so it was pretty high and i felt safe about it. but that's a lot of trouble.

a lot of ballasts these days are actually pretty well water proof, i have seen video of them working under water actually and no problem.

but anyway, i looked at the 3gs a few times before, actually behind the fender lining, you can "feel" a lot of brackets or harnesses around. and if i were you i would probably secure the ballasts to some of these more high up to achieve what you want

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

Use my picture with the bumper off. You can see everything you can use. I wouldnt take the front bumper off either.

BinaryJay

I don't think there's anything with putting it there. You could probably submerse the ballasts in a bucket of water and they would work fine. Looking at them, there is no way for water to get into them unless there is some obvious manufacturing defect.

*Batman*

I bought the XD Volt Digital kit.

Based on what you guys say, the ballasts seem pretty robust. But what about the wiring? Do I need a "drip loop" to protect the relays, or are the connectors also waterproof?

ek9vboi

iTrader: (3)

Sorry I never replied to your PM, I mounted mine behind the crush bar. But yeah, most ballast from a reputable seller are silicone filled so your good to go. I like to do it the right way the first time, so that was why I mounted it behind the crush bar.

worker

best place is inside the bumper where it's cool and more room.

*Batman*

Can you post or send me a pic of the inside of your bumper? I'm not seeing an obvious place to mount the ballast on the car side, but maybe on the bumper side?

ek9vboi

iTrader: (3)

Mine ended up on the side of the crush bar, the part facing the radiator. You might need to extend the wires. The wires on my ballast were barely long enough.

slk_dds

I used 3M's double sided tape and stick them to the side of the bumper (be sure to clean the surface of both ballasts & bumper), they are still on the side of the bumper for the last 3 1/2 years!!!

Just to be save, I faced the wires pointing downward so less chance of getting shortout by water (even though all of ballasts are waterproof)... but shxt do happen and so...

stvincent

iTrader: (5)

i zip tied mine at the same location.. no prob so far.

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

You can zip tie them to the crush bar, but you need to take the full bumper off. On my IS I had them in the engine compartment in the front corners and ran the wires down to the fender liner. On the GS I have them zip tied right by the fender liner. Its been over a year and I have no issues. I also did not do a drip loop with my wires. I dont see anything in this area for you to worry about. You would need to submerge in water to really have any problems.

If you look close you can see where my ballast is zip tied in this pic.

Slamking18

Batman,

I will try to detail out the best location that I found when installing my HID kit on each side. One thing to note is that I bought my kit from HIDextra and it came with ballast brackets as well as a couple bolts, nuts, and lock washers.

Driver's Side:
I used the bracket that the washer fluid tank is mounted to inside the bumper. There is a spare, non-threaded hole that I used to mount the ballast bracket to using the supplied bolt, nut, and lock washer. I had to bend/tweek the ballast bracket to get the ballast to sit in an open area so it wouldn't vibrate/chatter against anything inside the bumber. The first picture is passnu2's photos of his bumper taken off to show the general location of the bracket I am talking about. The second photo is of my car with the ballast installed to show how it looks. Another thing to note is that the way I mounted the ballast, the plugs are facing downward which will be best to keep from ever having sitting water on them.

Pic 1:


Pic 2:


Passenger's Side:
I used the same bracket as on the driver's side, but there is no washer fluid tank mounted. With no washer fluid tank there is a spare, pre-threaded hole that I used to mount the ballast bracket to using the supplied bolt and lock washer. The bolt had the right treading to work with the pre-threaded hole with no effort. I wasn't able to get a good photo of my install so I am using HotShotEng's photo from his install post to show which bracket I used. This side was the easiest to mount the ballast as there was a huge open area for it to hang. Again, the way I mounted the ballast, the plugs are facing downward which will be best to keep from ever having sitting water on them.

Pic 1:



A drip loop is a method of hanging the cabling lower than any plug or connection point as to allow a place for water to hang and drip from. This is typically only needed for open type connections that don't have weatherproofing or seals although I guess it never hurts to be safe. If you mount the ballasts the way I did with the plugs hanging upside down, you really don't need to worry about a drip loop as the water can never sit on the plugs, they will always travel down the cable. You probably wouldn't need to worry about it anyway as with the kit I bought, the ballast is weatherproof and the connectors have double seals when plugging into the ballast so I doubt water can get in. The following link shows an example of this concept:drip loop example

I hope this helps anyone interested in HID fogs and I am sorry for the lengthy response, but it was the best way I could explain.

Regards,
Derek

*Batman*

Derek - thanks for the fantastic response. That is really very helpful. I'm not sure if my XD kit comes with brackets, but if it did I will follow this approach. If it didn't I may just tape it to the side of the bumper using double sided automotive tape.