Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

[Dakkas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dakkas]

Hi all,

Looking for advice from the edumakated from out there in cyber land :mrgreen:

I purchased some Lightforce XGT HID lights and fitted them up. I went for a drive the other night to align them and found them to be quite dull. When I first fire them up they're REALLY bright and effective for about half a second before they go dull again (as HID do for a few seconds until they warm up) however, they warm up to only half as bright as when I first turn them on.

Looking for any troubleshooting suggestions :?:

Cheers,
Dakkas

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Are they geniune LF HID XGT's mate? Also, what colour temp and wattage?

[Dakkas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dakkas]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Are they geniune LF HID XGT's mate? Also, what colour temp and wattage?

Nah buddy they were purchased off ebay from a seller that purchases the standard Lightforce lights and separate HID kits, installs them and sells them as HID lights (much cheaper than genuine LF).

They're 55w 6000k HID bulbs. One would expect them to be awesome.... Well... they actually are for half a second :?

Any ideas or anyone with similar experience/advice/solutions/advice?

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

I recently converted my 240 Blitz with a 4300K HID conversion and couldn't be happier (pics located here: http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10167. You do get an initial "blast" of light when you first turn them on but get progressively brighter as they warm up. I would have to say that it takes a good 10 seconds for them to fully warm up.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Converting halogen lights into HID will have nowhere near as good a light output as genuine HID, a good quality halogen globe and decent wiring can be better than converting your lights, so it is only a compromise to do the conversion.
However I believe your problem is with the ballasts, they are getting hot, a hot ballast will decrease power output from the standard 1KV needed to ignight the HID globe.

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Converting halogen lights into HID will have nowhere near as good a light output as genuine HID

I disagree with the "nowhere" bit of your statement ! Yes, genuine HID are design and built by manufacturers for their specific products but can you honestly say that cost is worth it? I was looking at genuine LightForce HID upgrade kits but the price per light ($450 odd) was (in my opinion) way too much for an upgrade.

Plenty of good quality aftermarket HID kits out there with light output similar to that of a genuine kit.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Converting halogen lights into HID will have nowhere near as good a light output as genuine HID

I disagree with the "nowhere" bit of your statement ! Yes, genuine HID are design and built by manufacturers for their specific products but can you honestly say that cost is worth it? I was looking at genuine LightForce HID upgrade kits but the price per light ($450 odd) was (in my opinion) way too much for an upgrade.

Plenty of good quality aftermarket HID kits out there with light output similar to that of a genuine kit.

have you seen the difference side by side, I have, and I could not believe it.
The key word used is "genuine", during manufacture, a "Genuine" ie, look at the HID bulb between a retro fit kit and a genuine one, the genuine one is a much better quality product, thus giving a much better light output, not to mention the refectors and lens are made to suit HID.

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Converting halogen lights into HID will have nowhere near as good a light output as genuine HID

I disagree with the "nowhere" bit of your statement ! Yes, genuine HID are design and built by manufacturers for their specific products but can you honestly say that cost is worth it? I was looking at genuine LightForce HID upgrade kits but the price per light ($450 odd) was (in my opinion) way too much for an upgrade.

Plenty of good quality aftermarket HID kits out there with light output similar to that of a genuine kit.

have you seen the difference side by side, I have, and I could not believe it.
The key word used is "genuine", during manufacture, a "Genuine" ie, look at the HID bulb between a retro fit kit and a genuine one, the genuine one is a much better quality product, thus giving a much better light output, not to mention the refectors and lens are made to suit HID.

Depends on which aftermarket kit you are comparing the geniune LF HID's to.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Depends on which aftermarket kit you are comparing the geniune LF HID's to.[/quote]

I'm not comparing any genuine lightforce HID lights, Lightforce should just stick to gun scopes.

I'm comparing the higher quality Narva 225 HID's to retro fit/conversion HID kits.
NOTE:
Something to remember if you decide to use genuine HID lights, make sure you get external ballast, as the internal ballast ones get hot and loose power thus you get an under performing light.
I have my ballasts mounted behind the grill and hanging from the top radiator support, so cool air will get to the ballast, this also makes it hard for opportunistic theives to steel them as you can not cut the wires or use the lights without the ballast.

[Dakkas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dakkas]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Something to remember if you decide to use genuine HID lights, make sure you get external ballast, as the internal ballast ones get hot and loose power thus you get an under performing light.

Thanks for your reply.

I thought most genuine HID lights have the ballast internally installed - don't they?

Surely if the ballast being installed internally was an issue they wouldn't be manufacturing them this way????

The old HID lights I had were effective and they had internal ballasts, never had a problem with them.... until they smashed :roll:

[karrathaprado2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close karrathaprado2]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Mine work great as internal blasts...I agree it may be a blast problem...a ground problem...or a supply problem?

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

Something to remember if you decide to use genuine HID lights, make sure you get external ballast, as the internal ballast ones get hot and loose power thus you get an under performing light.

Thanks for your reply.

I thought most genuine HID lights have the ballast internally installed - don't they?

Surely if the ballast being installed internally was an issue they wouldn't be manufacturing them this way????

The old HID lights I had were effective and they had internal ballasts, never had a problem with them.... until they smashed :roll:

External ballast is better than internal, as the ballast needs to be cooled because it is converting 12V into 1KV (10000V), heat builds up and this doesn't mix well with electricity as you get resistence in the circut.
Internal ballast needs to have cooling built into the light, some work better than others. It all come down to what the manufacturer thinks of at the time regarding internal or external ballast, but as a general rule external is better.

[Ages Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ages]

Re: Problem: New Lightforce XGT HID are dull

how did you go dakas? any joy with your lights? were you able to get them fixed, or sorted out? i've been eyeing off the same set on ebay, lots of positive feedback, but now i'm not so sure...