HID problem

[1BigDog]

I have had an intermittent problem with the HID light fron Canadian Cruiser Customizing since Jan. I have been in contact with Scott over there and while he has returned my emails right away there has been no solution. I followed all of his recommendations and initially the problem went away. The other night the light didnt work at 2 am and I depended on my LED driving lights to get home. In our first conversation Scott said its possible the ballast is bad. I raised that issue again with him this time and requested the ballast be replaced under the remaining warranty, something I requested back in Jan. He said its either bad or good and I could send it back to him for testing.He also said the wiring could be pulled too tight. Told him that the shipping cost alone back and forth would almost justify buying a new ballast. I said that it was installed properly, no stretched connections and that I knew what I was doing, in a nutshell. I also said it almost sounds like your trying to not honor the warranty. This was Sat. Like I said, he always responded within a few minutes. Its now 2 days and no response. While I hope I didnt hurt his feelings I dont enjoy going lightless at night, when I do most of my riding.

[Dave77459]

Mine lasted a couple weeks, and then died. I gave up when he suggested installing a bigger fuse, but the regular one hadn't popped. I guess I don't understand electrical theory enough to use HIDs.

 

Dave

[greg_in_london]

Ballast ?? Once I got mine working I was able to forget about it. I had to mess with an arrangement to fool the Venture wiring system that my headlight had not blown. Is this what you mean by ballast, or the HT transformer box thingy ? I ask because I would have thought that you could have tested that it is producing the 30-40V with a multimeter.

 

Is the intermittent fault that it does not work, or that it doesn't settle in either high or low position ?

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Lets see...who posted this little item in April of last year:

 

 

And I quote:

 

 

"I know they put out a lot of light, but I worry about the little precision solenoid (or stepper motor or whatever is in there) having a failure. Like any other inexpensive, yet high precision aiming device: time, vibration, and normal wear can take a toll on the usable lifespan of the device. I'm not in the 'cheaper is better' camp. It's one thing to put inexpensive lighting pods and accent lights on the bike, they have nothing to do with safety. But a headlight that craps out at nite on a deserted road at 70 mph will not be a good thing for anyone.

 

If I buy one, I will look for high quality, and a known reputation for durability. Too many of these cheap imported products dont stand up to the test of time. I hope this one does.

 

Let us know how it holds up."

 

 

Um...I think that was ME!

 

I bought one with the intention of testing it myself...KNOWING it was a cheaply made piece.

 

Well, last year, I ordered it, installed it, and found out it wont stay lit when starting the bike. So I removed it.

 

Somewhere in one of the threads, we addressed this issue....but I found that any 'southern engineering' involved did not fit the simplicity model I have for safety.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47504&highlight=lights&page=2

 

[Flyinfool]

Since it is on a 2nd gen there is no reserve lighting unit to have to mess with.

 

When you say it did not work.

Did it just not come on at all when you turned on the key?

Did it go out while you were riding?

Did it go out when you started the engine?

Did you try turning it off and then back on?

[BuddyRich]

If the starter is built into the ballast then it could easily be intermittent. The biggest problem with HID's on the 2nd gens though is that when you start the bike and the headlight is already on it may kill it due to the voltage drop during start. Have you tried to put a switch in to keep the HID off till after the bike is started and then flip it on ? If its the voltage drop problem during start simply shutting it off, wait a couple of seconds and turn the ignition back on and the HID relights then it is the drop causing it. I've run my same ballast,starter,bulb for over 5 years and nearly 70k miles. But I have the switch installed and use it every time.

[Black Owl]

Mine lasted a couple weeks, and then died. I gave up when he suggested installing a bigger fuse, but the regular one hadn't popped. I guess I don't understand electrical theory enough to use HIDs.

 

Dave

 

I just love these kinds of suggestions. Can't count the number of fires we have done over the years because someone over fused a circuit.

[SilvrT]

If the starter is built into the ballast then it could easily be intermittent. The biggest problem with HID's on the 2nd gens though is that when you start the bike and the headlight is already on it may kill it due to the voltage drop during start. Have you tried to put a switch in to keep the HID off till after the bike is started and then flip it on ? If its the voltage drop problem during start simply shutting it off, wait a couple of seconds and turn the ignition back on and the HID relights then it is the drop causing it. I've run my same ballast,starter,bulb for over 5 years and nearly 70k miles. But I have the switch installed and use it every time.

 

This is a very good point (and "tip"). I read elsewhere in the site someone mentioned this. I've been mulling over installing HID and I'm glad this has been brought up.

[RedRider]

My ballast went south after a month or so. I emailed back and forth to Scott, ultimately returned it, he replaced it under warranty.

 

Now, I have a switch/relay to start the light after the bike is running. Same as with the HID running lights (although they are not CCC lights). I believe the CCC lights are what you pay for them - cheap. However, with the switch in place, it may last thru the year.

 

RR

[TheKid]

I purchased a HID kit (Plug-n-play) other than power wire to control the HI_beam HID. I have not had an issue of the light not coming back on after starting the bike. I also installed the same kit other than it is the low HID only kit and he has not had any issues either with this. The good thing is the company we purchased from has a LIFE TIME WARRANTY. We got ours down at the IMS in Greenville. The company is http://euroeffects.net/ They are down in Daytona right now on beach street in that park area across the road from the harley dealer.

[BuddyRich]

Jeff, You running HID's on the fender mounts? If so what did you use to extend the wire down ? Digital MultiMeter lead wire ?

[RedRider]

Jeff, You running HID's on the fender mounts? If so what did you use to extend the wire down ? Digital MultiMeter lead wire ?

 

Martin Fabrication has 30" extension cables available with the waterproof connections.

 

RR

[BoomerCPO]

Squid installed the HID on my Venture last year and it has worked perfectly every single time.

I don't recall the wiring set-up he did but I know this: My ignition switch no longer gets hot or is even warm now.

I don't do much night riding as I do not have back up lights to depend on if the HID pooches up.....Plan on adding those lights in the near future....and they will be on a seperate switch all by themselves.

Boomer....who sez the pygmies are useless for holding flashlights to accomodate night riding.

[RedRider]

Boomer....who sez the pygmies are useless for holding flashlights to accomodate night riding.

 

Not if you carry enough Duct tape.

 

Actually, depending on your HID setup, the standard light bulb can be easily put back in place. You disconnect the original light bulb connector from the HID harness, take the HID bulb out of the headlight, replace it with the original H4 lamp, and reconnect the original connector. I always carry a spare headlight (and taillight) with me just in case.

 

The pygmies would come in handy with their small hands.

 

Had to do this at midnight in North Dakota, in the rain, during the Minnesota 2010 rally. Really could have used the HID lighting that night.

 

RR

[BradT]

2nd gens though is that when you start the bike and the headlight is already on it may kill it due to the voltage drop during start.

 

Have you tried to put a switch in to keep the HID off till after the bike is started and then flip it on ? But I have the switch installed and use it every time.

 

Happened to mine the first time I used it. Lights came on then went off when I started the bike. Had a new ballast in a couple days.

 

Buddy do you have any photos of this switch ? and a couple details would be nice.

 

I wonder, could you put a timer in the circiut that would not allow power to the light for 10-30 seconds. Should be enough time to start the bike.

 

 

Brad

[BoomerCPO]

Actually, depending on your HID setup, the standard light bulb can be easily put back in place. You disconnect the original light bulb connector from the HID harness, take the HID bulb out of the headlight, replace it with the original H4 lamp, and reconnect the original connector. I always carry a spare headlight (and taillight) with me just in case.

 

I'm pretty sure Squid wired mine that way cuz he told me to store the OEM bulb on the scoot for use if the HID bulb went out on me. I'll have to check with him on this the next time I see him.

Boomer....who sez them pygmies gnaw right through duct tape.....

[BuddyRich]

I'll get some pics tomorrow but its just a simple SPST switch. Put it on the inner fairing by the cig lighter. Its wired to the 12v that the fuse is on on the ballast. Pretty simple.

 

Same place they show the switch (Box next to the battery) in the pic below. Ours use the H4 bulb so it would have the adapter that you plug into the existing bikes headlight plug but still the same.Just put the switch in the 12v+ feed.

 

 

 

http://www.carhidkits.com/images/hid-kit-installation.jpg

[Guest]

When the bike is apart next week ill just wire in a heavy duty switch and switch the light on after I start the bike. It did light up once I shut the bike down and re-started it so maybe the starter is drawing too much current from it. Its only the second time this has happened but since I ride mostly at night its a bit unnerving.

 

Now to be fair to Scott, the last email I sent him never reached him as I got a Mailor Deamon notification. I re-sent it and ill see what he says.

[lonestarmedic]

I wired one up for a gentleman using a different approach. I built a latching relay circuit. Take a 4 pin SPST relay and splice the main contactor into the ground side of the transformer. Run a wire from the switched side (transformer side) of the contactor to the relay coil ground. Pick up the positive for the relay coil from a switched ignition source. Then take a momentary SPST switch and ground one side. Take the other side and run it to the relay coil ground. Same spot where the jumper wire connected. Now, when the bike switches on, the hot to the coil is supplied. When you bump the momentary switch ground is supplied and the contactor closes. The completed circuit then continues to feed the coil ground. Shutting the bike off drops the positive to the relay coil and it opens up. This seems redundant except it allows using a very small momentary trigger switch. The coil on a Bosch cube relay pulls about 1/10th of an amp. Also very easy to bypas the relay. Just ground the switched (output) side of the contacts. Adding a diode into the jumper wire on the relay would isolate the trigger switch ground so it would not try to feed the main circuit. I did this whole trick so I could fit a sub-mini switch on the handlebar area. I actually managed to drill it into the bottom of the right hand factory switch pod.

 

JB

[greg_in_london]

The first gens cut out the headlight when starting, so this is not an issue for us. Then again, I wired mine so I could just replace the H4 bulb. And stupidly, wanting to do it cheaply and make it even cheaper, I bought a car set-up hoping to do two bikes. With only one relay, I at least have a spare 'bulb' and HT unit...

 

I have hardly used it since the Summer though, so my 'test' is only 3,000 miles. So far so good though.

 

You still haven't really explained the problem though - how/when is it not working.

 

The upgrade is so good, I wouldn't want to see anybody put off.

[Flyinfool]

I did something similar with the latching relay setup but I used the side stand switch to trigger it. Makes it impossible to forget to turn on the light in the daytime.

[Guest]

What the bike is actually doing is on several occasions the light just did not light up. It first happened in Jan when the temps were in the 20's. It happened again a few nights ago when I was leaving work. Light just did not come on. So, im just going to wire in an on/off switch and go from there.

Scott returned my last email and basically, unless I send him a video and of what the light's doing and send the ballast for testing then he cant honor the warranty. Just seems like too much work for a 30 dollar part. I dont have the ability to video something and I told him this. I was just thinking of ordering another kit to have spare parts on hand. To ship the ballast back to canada for testing would cost half of what a new ballast costs and im sure if he tests it and finds it ok the shipping back will be charged to me anyway. He has come up with plenty of excuses as to why I cant get this replaced under warranty.

[BradT]

send the ballast for testing then he cant honor the warranty.

 

Just seems like too much work for a 30 dollar part.

 

He has come up with plenty of excuses as to why I cant get this replaced under warranty.

 

Not trying to defend him but curious if he needs this information to get a credit from his vendor that is if he is trying to get money back for failed ballasts.

 

I agree a lot of work for a 30 dollar part. Not really worth it, or worth the aggravation.

 

Brad

[frogmaster]

I elected not to go to HID because it would not work with my life saving Modualtor (IMHO).

 

However running down the road at 55 mph plus at night and headlite goes out is a scary thought Or a 100% power outage causing immediate BLACKOUT is twice as scary :shock3:

 

Here was my SOLUTION it has independent wiring and switch directly to the battery.

 

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34552&highlight=passing+lamps

 

See Post and Pictures in post #8

 

Hope this helps somebody someday