hid headlight

[mark]

byron (the electrical magician) has been rewiring my skelly to run a high intensity discharge 35/35w bi xenon headlight , and 3 x 55w spotlights ,a high level brake light and indicators.
battery,4 relays and HID ballast

brake light

headlight

with all lights on

[coaster]

That's looking impressive Mark, What sort of headlight unit are you using, standard S2?

[mark]

yes colin

[Craig H]

Saw this yesterday still have arc eye :freak:

[coaster]

yes colin

Hows about the lens, I seem to remember you were looking for a clear one when you tried the HID on the S1. VERY interested in this and wouldn't mind trying to fit one to the Jet

[GP Kevo]

Sorry guys, but that's illegal. HID headlamps must be designed as a complete unit with matching reflector and lens including automatic beam leveling. HID emits light rays in all kinds of crazy directions and so must be controlled with optics and mechanical beam levelers. You're going to blind oncoming drivers and that ain't safe. You must have correct and matched projetor lenses with either auto levelling or auto suspension levelling to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

Check with your DVLA or VOSA and you'll get a response like this:

It is not acceptable to convert a headlamp approved for use with halogen filament bulb to use an HID gas discharge bulb. The only acceptable way of converting is to replace the headlamp unit with one approved for gas discharge bulbs. Such headlamps will be approved to UNECE Regulation 98 and 'E' marked. If headlamps approved to UNECE Regulation 98 are retro-fitted, they must be self levelling (as part of headlamp sysytem, or via self-levelling suspension), and headlamp washers must be installed. Under the Road Traffic Act 1998, it is an offence to fit or use parts which are not legal.

[mark]

Colin ihave found an approved light just got to buy one after xmas

[coaster]

Colin ihave found an approved light just got to buy one after xmas

Nice one Mark.

GP Kevo, thanks for the info, I have already seen that but I for one would be willing to take a chance. The suspension on a lambretta is hardly likely to cause the the beam to deflect a significant amount imho, not like with a car with a boot full of paving slabs anyway.

As for dazzling other drivers.....it would make a nice change, I ran with one of the those 35/35 halogens which didn't have the dip cup thingy in for over a year and never once got flashed Even with the current 55/60 Xenon fitted I don't often get flashed when I'm slow to find the dip position on my awkward Jet switch

[byron]

I have found, because of the way the HID works, that it doesn't like being repeatedly turned on and off, even in that momentary break switching between main and dip. it starts to cycle after a few goes, then doesn't work at all, until it is left for a few minutes, something about the chemicals recrystalising..??

there is a way which should alleviate this.
there is only one "filament", the beam is changed by a magnet pulling the whole bulb backwards out of the dip shield when switching to "main beam"
For ease of fitting, the HID unit is designed to be plugged into an H4 connector [a lot of these wires can be discarded, they are merely connectors... I had wired the ballast plug straight to the relay block.] The main & dip are then joined and go into the ballast together, there is a separate lead off the back of the bulb unit for the magnet that is connected into the main beam side of the H4 connector.
Because of the location of the relays in the toolbox on mark's bike, i'd already taken a spur off the main beam from the handlebar light switch to connect to this lead and activate the magnet.
What I've done is disconnected the main and dip feeds to the relays from the light switch, now these are joined together and become live when the lights are turned on. All the main/dip switch on the handlebar does now is turn the magnet on and off. So there is no loss of current to the bulb, with the associated relighting problem...
This also means that there can be less wires involved, and only one relay is needed to operate the HID.

Whether this cures the problem on the road, we won't know til it's tested for real...

[byron]

so something like this ;