Definitive HID upgrade

I bought aluminium tape from Maplin so it's proper stuff. Haven't earthed it I must admit, didn't think about that. I have very little confidence that it'll make any difference and I'm sort of going through the motions so that I can claim an exchange with the supplier as they asked me to try this first.
 
hi all i have a thought on this rf interfearence from hid. let me run it by you all. my hid kit gives me a loss of radio signal on the initial ignition of the lights(3-4 secs) then ok. but as i travel my radio signal strength is weeker as i get a crackle in low signal areas that i dont get when i have the head lights turned off. now for my idea------ is it only cars with or without the diversity aerial that gets the noise ? as far as i know i dont have one, but i think pamanal21 has one and his is free from noise????
well what do the educated think of my theory? have i just made an a2se of my self again?
thanks for reading mike
 
I still think it's down to a dodgy ballast. I've read on other US based forums where some people had similar problems. They tried the tape and also added an additional earth to the alternator to no avail.

I find that it's ok on strong radio signals. When the signal starts to get weak, there's a lot of interference. This only happens when the lights are on. Perfect when their off.

I'll try and isolate the ballasts over the weekend and see if I can idenfiy one that's causing this. I'll then try and get an exchange.
 
I've installed the H7R 4300K kit without problems. Luckily no radio interference whatsoever. However the beam pattern needed to be adjusted up about 20 notches on both sides to match the halogen bulbs, and the pattern seems to be less refined than with the halogen bulbs. What are your thoughts about the hight adjustment and the beam pattern achieved? I've attached pics of the left and right halogen pattern before the conversion and one on the garage door with the HID-kit installed. Notice the high intensive light point where the beam reflects upwards from the right headlight. That wasn't there with the halogen bulb as far as I can tell.
 
Hi Xiter
Its possible the HID bulb 'arcs' (don't think they have filaments like normal bulbs) are not aligned with the focal point of the reflectors. If your lucky you may be able to improve the beam pattern by adding spacers between the bulb base and headlamp shell. Its all trial and error but if the bulb holders will allow, go up to 4mm in 1mm increments. Use something easy to work with - like cardboard for the test then if it works get correct thickness spacers made in heatproof material.

Alternatively there may be a quality problem with the bulbs so you could also ask the supplier for replacements or a refund.

Cheers Spike
 
As Spike says, you could always experiment with changing the place where the arc sits in the reflector, but on first glance, that is a pretty good pattern from the H7R kit.

If you had to adjust both lights by the same amount, you must have physically altered something with the housing alignment, or possibly disturbed the range motor assembly. What do you mean by 20 notches? Is that 20 turns of the adjusting screw?

To get a beam pattern as decent and distinct as that, you must have the bulbs in pretty much the right position, so a lowering of the beam must be due to some other factor.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks for your answers. Mike, I had to raise the beam, not lower it. Now about the adjustment and what I meant about the notches, which might be a bad choice of word but anyway, when you turn the adjusting screw, you will feel resistance and when you turn it a little more, the resistance stops, and that's what I call one notch. I'm sure I didn't alter the housing alignment. The need for raising the beam must have come from the difference in the focal point between the halogen bulbs and the HIDs as Spike says. Or if the HID bulb actually is touching the arm infront of it, bending the arm as a result. I have yet to check this theory, but is this possible? I've attached a pic of the halogen bulb to the left and the HID one on the right and from what I can see, the filament and the arc seems to be in pretty much the same location. And I've actually compared the old halogen bulb by holding it in front of the screen at the same scale as the contour of the HID one in the background and the filament is exactly in the same location as the arc.
 
Make sure the bulbs are seated correctly in the holder. It's ver easy to insert the bulb incorrectly which will result in an odd beam pattern (been there an failed our version of the MOT because of it). You should be able to see the bulbs through the lens to ensure they are perfectly straight.
 
The beam pattern looks alot better out on the open road than on any garage wall. Spots and strange glares is of course more obvious with stronger light and might have been unnoticed by me before the conversion. I've included a pic of the left headlight only, the right headlight only and both working together. I feel a little better at mood now when I'm getting used to the HID-kit and what it delivers.
 
Update on my RFI - Autobulbs have agreed to exchange both ballasts for a new set - hurrah! Now I just have to remove the ballasts, plug the old bulbs back in and wait for them to send the replacements.
 
I went to a garage to get a second opinion on the beam pattern with the H7R's and to adjust them properly. The beam pattern could as expected not be adjusted to a road worthy condition. It was way off a normal halogen beam pattern and I was adviced to replace them with halogen bulbs immediately.

After a few days consideration, I've returned the H7R's in exchange of normal H7's as a last chance to find out if the beam pattern will improve. If not, I will return the whole kit to the distributor and consider this case closed. I've attached a comparing picture of the HID H7R's at the top and the halogens at the bottom, as as you can see the difference is very obvious.
 
It's not that big of a difference imo. Knowing that the standard headlamps are designed to house halogens, a little distortion of the xenon beam is expected.
 
These would easily pass a UK MOT test for road-worthiness. There is a defined 'kick-up' of the right angle and direction and the glare is minimal and controlled. I don't think you'll get any better than this, especially if you try a non-H7R bulb.

Cheers,

Mike
 
I'll post results when I get them. Hopefully during the following week.
The distributor claimed that normal H7 HIDs are better for some reflectors, like the ones on the BMW E46.

Happy holidays everyone.
 
I thought I would be able to post a report on the normal H7s but to my surprise the company sent me another pair of H7Rs...b****r

Instead I spent some quality time in the garage polishing my wife's car.
But things got ugly. I managed to hit the starter button on my car polisher in mid air, fully loaded with two pads of polishing compund, and at 3000 rpm, it was bad, very bad. Polishing compound everywhere, the ceiling, the floor, my face and body and worst of all, through the open window of my A2, onto the seats and interior. Now, I've spent two hours cleaning this mess up. Happy new year.
 
So, took out my HIDs on Saturday in the freezing cold, hands went numb after about 3mins, rather tricky. Ballasts have gone back to Autobulbs so we'll see what the replacements are like RFI-wise. Old filament bulbs are now temporarily back in.

One thing that was immediately apparent was how dim standard bulbs are in comparison to the Xenon HID outputs, it's really difficult going back once you've had HIDs for a while. Also noticed that my "uprated" main-beam lights now do look relatively "White" compared to the original H7s and quite bright. Again they certainly don't compared to the HIDs!
Ballasts can't come back soon enough!
 
It's a pity they wouldn't let you return the faulty ones after your received the replacements. After all, it's you that's being inconvenienced by this. I'm sure the ££ at risk to them is pretty minimal.
 
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