installing HID kits w/o relay harness??
09-29-08, 05:55 PM
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installing HID kits w/o relay harness??
So I ordered a new kit from mobilehid to replace my crapped out xenondepot kit (ballast blew).
Cliff told me that their new ballasts draw 5.5 amps on start up and should be safe enough to plug straight into the stock harness without the need of a relay from the battery.
I'm really tempted to do this as the harness is such a hassle to wire and tuck away underneath the cramped hood. any of you guys installed an HID kit without a harness and did anything bad happen?
Cliff told me that their new ballasts draw 5.5 amps on start up and should be safe enough to plug straight into the stock harness without the need of a relay from the battery.
I'm really tempted to do this as the harness is such a hassle to wire and tuck away underneath the cramped hood. any of you guys installed an HID kit without a harness and did anything bad happen?
09-29-08, 05:59 PM
#2
should be fine. i have no relay harness on mines but i have mtecs. should be no different. im sure someone will chime in who has mobile hid. maybe cliff will answer the question himself. all i know is that i got the mobile hid flashlight and im lovin it. just had a black out in town and dam this thing is bright. thanx cliff if u read this thread!
and I also use a different kit for my Accord that plugs right to the harness for 2 yrs now and no problems at all, cliff knows he's stuff, should be fine.
09-29-08, 06:55 PM
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thanks for the opinions guys....I did speak to Cliff himself on the phone, real cool and knowledgeable guy,
but I still want to do some internet fact finding before I plug the ballasts straight into the stock harness since everything that I've read in the past says to not do that...so please keep the replies coming
but I still want to do some internet fact finding before I plug the ballasts straight into the stock harness since everything that I've read in the past says to not do that...so please keep the replies coming
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09-29-08, 09:12 PM
#9
hi guys.
thanks for all the support.
for those of you who haven't witnessed the power of the batman calling hid flashlight, there will be another group buy next month so stay tuned.
with regards to the use of the ballasts w/ and w/o the harness, i've ALWAYS promoted the use of a relay harness because the ballasts out there in general just pull way too much power upon start up. even the thicker style ballasts that came with mobilehid kits pulled 10amps when firing up which is why they were always offered with a harness.
these newer ballasts are pretty slick though... corrosion resistant finish throughout (not just on the body, but also the wire insertion points on the ballast), external ignitor to allow for more remote ballast mounting position vs snuggling your ballast up next to the light housing, slimmer and lighter design allows for double sided sticky tape mounting vs heavy duty brackets... and best of all - a low 5.5amp draw upon firing up!
i've personally used these ballasts on my 2nd gen GS for lows/fogs/highs via a direct connection and HAVE NEVER had a flickering problem which is what you'd find with ballasts that are directly connected to the OEM plugs and just don't have a sufficient power/ground connection at startup. Everything simply WORKS when they're hooked up via a direct connection.
Believe me... not all ballasts are created equally. Here's a McCulloch dealer telling his customers how to create a wire harness because he's had too many failures and complaints.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2632686
To save you the click...
I personally would be pretty disappointed if I spent the amount of money that these McCulloch kits go for and still had to create a wire harness just to make the product work THE WAY IT SHOULD...
Believe me guys... I've tested a lot of stuff out there- this slim style ballast now offered on mobilehid kits is a sweet ballast.
thanks for all the support.
for those of you who haven't witnessed the power of the batman calling hid flashlight, there will be another group buy next month so stay tuned. with regards to the use of the ballasts w/ and w/o the harness, i've ALWAYS promoted the use of a relay harness because the ballasts out there in general just pull way too much power upon start up. even the thicker style ballasts that came with mobilehid kits pulled 10amps when firing up which is why they were always offered with a harness.
these newer ballasts are pretty slick though... corrosion resistant finish throughout (not just on the body, but also the wire insertion points on the ballast), external ignitor to allow for more remote ballast mounting position vs snuggling your ballast up next to the light housing, slimmer and lighter design allows for double sided sticky tape mounting vs heavy duty brackets... and best of all - a low 5.5amp draw upon firing up!
i've personally used these ballasts on my 2nd gen GS for lows/fogs/highs via a direct connection and HAVE NEVER had a flickering problem which is what you'd find with ballasts that are directly connected to the OEM plugs and just don't have a sufficient power/ground connection at startup. Everything simply WORKS when they're hooked up via a direct connection.
Believe me... not all ballasts are created equally. Here's a McCulloch dealer telling his customers how to create a wire harness because he's had too many failures and complaints.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2632686
To save you the click...
I began selling some mcculloch hid kits and a few people including myself ran into a problem with the aftermarket kit. The lights would flicker on and off repeatedly as if it wasn’t receiving enough power to ignite the ballast. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the problem was. Whether it was the oem relay or the small gauge oem wires. I kept sending kits back to the manufacturer thinking it was a defective ballast until Doug (slammedvwgolf) suggested the fore mentioned problem. I researched it online and it proved true.
Adding an independent relay can either fix a problem or avoid problems in the future. It’s very necessary if your hid kit is aftermarket, may not be necessary for oem kits. In my opinion I rather feed the ballasts their own juice straight from the battery since these cars weren’t designed for high intensity discharged lighting.
Adding an independent relay can either fix a problem or avoid problems in the future. It’s very necessary if your hid kit is aftermarket, may not be necessary for oem kits. In my opinion I rather feed the ballasts their own juice straight from the battery since these cars weren’t designed for high intensity discharged lighting.
Believe me guys... I've tested a lot of stuff out there- this slim style ballast now offered on mobilehid kits is a sweet ballast.
09-30-08, 04:53 AM
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Since my XD kit is 2 years old, it did not qualify under XD's one year warranty. A replacement ballast is priced at $140 on their website and I am unsure of the longevity of the remaining components. Mobilehid's entire kit ran me $170 shipped with a 3 year warranty
I also Googled "mobilehid" and read numerous threads from forums of different auto makes and didn't read any with major problems with mobilehid's kits. There were a couple small exceptions which cliff helped solve (faulty relay) or promptly sent out replacements for defects (burst lightbulb upon install), but overall a high level of satisfaction from past customers
so for me as a consumer: MobileHID > XenonDepot
I also Googled "mobilehid" and read numerous threads from forums of different auto makes and didn't read any with major problems with mobilehid's kits. There were a couple small exceptions which cliff helped solve (faulty relay) or promptly sent out replacements for defects (burst lightbulb upon install), but overall a high level of satisfaction from past customers
so for me as a consumer: MobileHID > XenonDepot
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