24v HID Headlight systems

[gofast]

Hi All,

I did a search on e-bay and there's a number of 12-24v input HID balasts/systems.

I thought I'd start this thread and find out if anyone is running/using a system and could recommend a particular brand, discuss any issues they've had, etc?

Ultimately I'm looking for system that will work with my 7 inch H4 globes.

As I pursue a system, I'll share my knowledge on this thread as well as to what I find and what I've ended up installing.

I'm trying to understand what the watt ratings and colour temperature ratings actually mean. If any know or understands this from a practical driving experience I'd be keen to know.

Looking forward to hearing of other's thoughts and experiences,

Cheers,

John

 

[Estancio]

Hi All,

I'm trying to understand what the watt ratings and colour temperature ratings actually mean. If any know or understands this from a practical driving experience I'd be keen to know.

John

Watts is a term that applies to the amount of power created by the electricity. We often associate the term watts with the brightness of a light bulb. We know that a 100-watt lamp is brighter than a 50 watt one. While that assumption is usually correct, wattage is not a measure of brightness, but of the work that the electricity is performing. The best way to think of watts is to say that it describes power performed just as the term horsepower does. Motors are described as having a certain horsepower. The raw horsepower however is not exactly parallel to the top speed of a vehicle. There are many other factors involved. Watts and horsepower are directly related. 746 watts of power is equal to exactly one horsepower. Thus it would be possible to describe a light bulb in horsepower or a motor in wattage. So if you want to know how bright a headlight will be, do NOT look at watts, but look at lumens output.

The colour of light is identified using the Kelvin temperature scale. The Kelvin scale begins at absolute zero or 0°K. This is equal to minus 273°C. The Kelvin degree increments are the same as Celsius. The freezing point of water is 273°K and the boiling point is 373°K. The Kelvin scale is based upon the colour of light given off by a piece of heated iron. As iron is heated, it will begin to glow red. We refer to that as “red hot.” As it is heated more, it will glow orange, then yellow, then yellowish-white. The same is true for tungsten metal from which lamp filaments are created. Incandescent lamps have a colour temperature limit of 3500°K after which the tungsten filament will melt. In terms of artificial light sources, household incandescent light measures about 2800°K. This includes traditional automotive lamps. Halogen lamps are a bit whiter and usually rated at 3200°K.
Some references on the scale are helpful to remember. Sunlight at sunrise is about 1800°K. Sunlight at noon is around 5000°K. Pure white light is designated as 6000°K. What we call normal daylight would be 7000°K, or slightly cooler than white light. The light coming from the northern sky, the colour that fills shadows, is very cool and is described as 25,000°K.

Which is the best colour for driving? While there is a lot of intensive development of higher Kelvin temperature headlights (more bluish), they are brighter because of lumen output and not colour. The fact is that the human eye is more sensitive to green and yellow and far less sensitive to blue. So logically to make more visibility on the road, the colour would be a warmer, and not bluer.

 

[BJ44V]

I did a little thread about this a while back. I was too lazy to take any pics so I never did a write-up thread about the install. The installation was beyond easy. I ordered my HIDs off eBay for around $105. Man what a difference it made. I used to have to run my spot lights just so I could see at night. Not any more! Here is a shot after the install.

 

[gofast]

Estancio,

That really helps and demystifies some of the contradictory specifications and the photos I've been seeing. Sounds like I need something in the 6000 to 7000 range. And if I can find it in a low watt, then I'm creating less demand on my electrical ballasts as well.

Cheers,

John

 

[gofast]

I did a little thread about this a while back. I was too lazy to take any pics so I never did a write-up thread about the install. The installation was beyond easy. I ordered my HIDs off eBay for around $105. Man what a difference it made. I used to have to run my spot lights just so I could see at night. Not any more! Here is a shot after the install.

BJ44V I have a few questions:

Do you recall the brand of the HID kit you installed?

What Lumen value are you running?

Are your globes an H4 globe? I have hellas and I was wondering if the internal aluminum reflector will cause any problems with new HID bulbs.

Did your kit come with the relay that pugs directly into the headlight connectors or did you have to cut your stock harness?

Do your bulbs provide low and high beam. Some I've seen only do low beam.

Cheers,

John

 

[Chang-kuao-lo]

can't speak for 24V, but the 12V kits come with the wiring harness and associated relays. some H4 kits are combination hid (low) and halogen (high), or both high-low with one lamp. these work with a solenoid/relay type thing at the back of the lamp that changes the position of the lamp which is under a shroud-type thing to get both high and low beams out of one lamp. it works very well. even for a novice wrencher, it's about a 45 minute install. even with a 55W ballast, you should only get about a 0.1V (@12V) draw per pair of lamps on the charging system. they are pretty much plug-and-play with hella lenses, which is what i am using.

go for the whitest lamp you can for headlamps (6000K, iirc). the lower end of the spectrum makes for reddish/yellow light which makes it harder for other drivers to see in dawn/dusk conditions (good for fog lamps though). and the higher end, blue/purple, might look cool (in a ghetto blingy sort of way) but while technically "brighter", they are actually somewhat dimmer than standard halogens because more of the energy being put out goes into the uv spectrum (not visible light).

 

[BJ44V]

If I remeber correctly they are the 6K, I didn't want them to be too blue. My lights are the H4 bulbs. The kit came with everything I needed to install them, so no need to cut the harness. Also they are both high and low beam. This was by far the easiest mod I have done to this cruiser. Sorry, I can't remember the brand. I was just looking around on eBay and MAN there are some cheep ones out there.