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What did you do with your GMT400 today...or yesterday....

Husker6.5 said:
And extremely reliable. I've had 55W 5000°K HID's in the Low and High positions of my Burb (aftermarket projector headlights) since 2014 and have been running 35W 6000°K in the factory Low position of my Camry for the past year with zero problems out of any of them. All were eBay specials, the ones for my Camry were $25 for the set, cheaper than Sylvania Ultra Halogen bulbs!
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HIDs are reliable and now they are extremely cheap. I would expect LEDs to become relatively cheap and soon. Not sure they have an application for our GMT 400s, except for tail lights and front turn signals.
 
Big T said:
You had a bad set-up. Sounds like bad ballasts.
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Or very likely a bad voltage supply or ground. Too low of voltage to the ballast or a bad ground will cause the igniter capacitor in the ballast to repeatedly discharge to try and strike the arc in the halogen capsule. This causes a rapid "flickering" effect and will either burn out the capsule, the ballast, or both. Incandescent bulbs are much more forgiving of low input voltage/poor ground and you may very well never even notice that there's a problem. This is why I always use the stock headlight wiring to activate a relay and draw power to the HID ballasts directly from the battery via either an auxillary positive terminal in the underhood fuse box or off of the battery positive terminal and ground directly to the negative battery terminal.

I have a lot of experience working with installing and troubleshooting commercial HID lighting (high and low pressure sodium, mercury vapor, multivapor and metal halide) working over a decade for my dad's sign and lighting company. (Yes, I also worked with neon, but it's been almost 30 years since I last bent tubing.)
 
@snarl95 - 5 times the light output and much less current draw for those cree LED- yeah they are getting there alright.

@Husker6.5 - omg, I hate trouble shooting hps,mh,etc. fluorescent is the worst, especially with emergency ballasts also. The majority of ny new city job so far is LED conversions. Ripping out ballasts, starters, and capacitors the just a straight wire.

As for low voltage forgiveness, the ones I put in the most have are listed 120/277 but range from 90 volts to 280, and get full light output anywhere in the range. 27watt units are brighter and longer lasting than any 250 watt balast based units.

I can't imagine you guys are living LED in the signage world.

I know this is all different than 12v dc automotive, but basic technology is the same. Demand makes the advancements come sooner commercially, but auto has to be right behind it.
 
My 55W HID'S put out almost SIX times the light of a 55W Halogen headlight. The ONLY time I even use my High Beams is on either empty Interstate or rural highways. Otherwise, the projector Lows with their sharp upper cut-off and wide dispersion pattern give me incredible lighting at least sixty yards either side of the road and as far downroad as conventional Halogen High Beams, but without blinding oncoming traffic on a two lane road. I can now see the deer in the ditches long before they become bumper bait
 
My HID High Beams light the reflectors and signs on the Interstate at least 3 miles ahead and on the level road illuminate for almost 3/4 of a mile with a nice, tight pattern the roadway ahead.
 
Husker, what are the specifics of the headlight housings and HIDS that you are using?

Cheers
Nobby
 
Try to find these headlight housings. The key is in how the deflector cup is constructed and where it attaches. In this one the metal for the attachment is vertically on edge and the attachment is below the bulb. Avoid the ones where the arm attaches above the bulb and the metal is horizontally on edge as the arm will heat up and droop down. Basically all of them are constructed like the latter and you have to pick through on e-bay or Amazon to find the right ones. Sometimes a batch of the right ones will show up, but they aren't always available. The bad ones are always available.
 

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nobby said:
Husker, what are the specifics of the headlight housings and HIDS that you are using?

Cheers
Nobby
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Mine are similar to (but not exactly the same as) these: Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/291250255183
True projector headlights use a parabolic shaped solid glass lens with a metal "hood" behind the back of the lens with another parabolic reflector behind the "hood" in which the bulb mounts so that it is at the focal point of the reflector. The light beam is concentrated past the hood which blocks half the beam and gives the distinct, sharp cutoff line for the low beam or fog light that does not dazzle or blind oncoming drivers or reflects off of the fog or falling snow/rain. The glass lens then spreads the beam out, the width dependent on the curve of the parabolic glass lens.

What @Big T is describing is actually a reflector light, not a projector. The metal cap keeps light from being directly emitted from the bulb out the front of the headlight, rather reflecting it back onto the multiple reflecting surfaces that shape and focus the light. That style is one step up from the standard incandescent sealed beam or Halogen capsule headlight as far as control of the light pattern goes. I did run aftermarket reflectors on my Burb briefly before upgrading again to true projector Low Beam headlights.

As far as the specs of the HID's I'm using, they are 55W 5000°Kelvin temperature (natural sunlight, or daylight) and my headlights are designed to use an H1 capsule in the projector Low position and an H3 capsule in the reflector High position.

Hope that answers your questions, @nobby . When it gets dark here in about an hour or so, I'll post some pictures of my headlights lit up for you all.
 
We tried the projector headlights with HIDs and they did not work as well as the euro reflector headlights with HIDs.
 
Here's a close up of the housing showing the reflector cup with the mounting bracket that attaches at the botton and the metal is vertically on edge. These will not droop down. Also, more vertical hatchings in the mirrors, the better.
 

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Well, @nobby , looks like no photos of mine for now. Started raining hard just before dark last night, still raining now and a chance of snow flurries mixed in.
 
BLIZZARD Warnings for several counties about 100-150 miles west of here, Winter Storm Warnings that far to the north-northwest of here, still cold (low 40's - upper 30's) and raining here in Lincoln.
 
Currently 85 F here in Fullerton, CA. Spent the weekend doing yard work, cleaning and oiling teak patio furniture, etc.
 
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