I got a set of the clear glass Depos that run H4 low beams and H1 highs. I have a set of H4 HIDs from JNB Enterprises/HIDXtra for the low beams that are driving me freaking nuts, though.
I initially installed the JNB HID set I had with 9006 bulbs into the stock housings and they worked perfectly for a couple months. There was a bit of a flicker at times but the bulbs never went out and they always ignited and stayed lit no matter what.
So, I get the Depos and I order a pair of new H4 low beam HID bulbs from JNB. I installed them and reused the same ballasts that I already had installed. Both bulbs would ignite and stay lit, but at some point the driver's side would go out. So, I installed a relay harness because I thought the OEM harness couldn't handle the HIDs and I thought it would get rid of the flicker, too.
At the same time as the harness I got a new battery, too. The other one was getting old and leaky, so I figured while I was messing around I'd put a new one in for SnG's.
Well, even with the new battery and the relay harness installed the driver's side would go out after a few minutes of driving, but when it failed was inconsistent. Sometimes it would go out after 2 minutes, sometimes after 30... And there's still a bit of intermittent minor flickering going on. So, time to start troubleshooting.
I switched sides of the bulbs. Bingo. The problem now changed to the passenger side. Simple enough. I got a couple replacement bulbs and changed it out. Well, WTF!? The problem still existed. The passenger side went out. Well, thinking it was maybe a ballast or connection/wiring issue, I swapped sides with the one new bulb and one old working bulb. Well, now the problem went back to the driver's side. F'n ridiculous...but I thought maybe there was just some crazy, one in a million chance I had got another bad bulb, even though I've been using JNB HIDs for years, as well have some buddys, with zero issues whatsoever. So, I swap in the OTHER replacement bulb I received.... Same problem! Swap sides and the problem follows the new replacement bulb. So, is it really possible that 3 out of 4 of the bulbs I've received have been crap!?
I've been extremely careful with them....not touching them, not bumping them into things, etc.
What else could be going on!?!? The only explanation for this whole issue that I can come up with is that three of the bulbs have been defective. However, getting three defective bulbs out of four seems outrageous...especially from a known reliable source.
So, tonight I ordered a pair of new H4 bulbs from DDM Tuning...I'll try to install them and see if they work. I have a spare pair of ballasts if I need to test them at some point, but so far the ballasts have been checking out. I also have a couple spare relay harnesses so I could change out relays, too...but a bad relay or a bad ballast couldn't explain a problem that jumped from side to side whenever I changed bulbs...
Has anyone run into something like this before? Did I just run into a batch of crap H4 bulbs from JNB? Depending on what happens with the DDM bulbs I'll definitely be returning the JNB bulbs for a refund or at least some replacements to have on hand as spares (if they can ever send any that work!!!)...
Thoughts??? ...Sorry for the ranting and rambling.