HID...One more time

[CT_Rider]

Okay, I've read all the posts and I'm still not completely clear.

The bike is: 2004 R1150RT

Upgrade the headlight to HID (not highbeam)

The site is: http://www.vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

The color temp is: 4300 or 6000

The size is: ????

 

How long did it take from order to delivery?

 

[Jerry Duke]

Pull your low beam and look on the base of the bulb and it will show you the bulb number.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Got mine in about 36 hours from China.

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

i was going to get 5000K - seemed good compromise between intentisty and blueness but cost extra so i went with 6000k.

mine to ottawa took 5 or 6 days with wknd in the middle.

i still dont have them in hand however as DHL came by when i was at work so I have to go pick em up at DHL.

would not just drop them as i owe money - this is kanada (komrad!) i gotta pay 12.13 $ when i pick em up (presumably an import duty was imposed)

I bought H7 (sure hope this is right) for my 1150RT.

[wbrissette]

H7 is the low-beam on the 1150RT, so you should be fine.

 

Wayne

[CT_Rider]

Thanks guys. I ordered the 6000/H7 from the VVME people's eBay. They say about four days. Just in time for the Northeast Tech Daze.

[henryj7]

Bill, I did an HID conversion high and low beam. The low beam was not to bad of an install but the high beam took some time do to the modification needed to the bulb holder. I was able to do it with just the fairing sides and speakers removed but it was not easy. I plan on attending Northeast Tech Daze so you can check it out.

Henry

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

Hi Henry -

are you happy with your new light (in particular the low beams) ?

 

how do you get into the area behind the headlight for the install?

from the top, from the bottom, from the side, or does the entire nose have to be removed (presumably side panels too) ?

 

may see you too on may 2

rgds/thx

[henryj7]

 

I'm REAL happy with the low beam and it is the most bang for your buck. But I love having both. I was able to install with only the fairing sides off, speakers, and tank removed (as I was also doing a brake bleed). I installed the low profile ballasts where the speakers were. I was able to install both grommets with wiring into the pre-drilled cover with the bulbs installed in the area behind the bulbs. It WASN'T EASY but it IS possible. The key is to have the cover holes the right size for the grommets. I just kept fileing them larger till I could push the grommets in in that confined area. Then its just hook up to the ballasts and wire tie the spaghetti. It would be immensely easier to install if you could remove the headlight assembly.

Henry

 

[PCHRT]

+2 on the upgrade! best $$$ spent and you get two set ups. Can't beat that. Now for the high beam. henryj7 how long does it take to get the high beam lit all the way. With the delay in the HID i've wondered on the applicability of the HB mod.

[henryj7]

Mark,

I bought my kit from these guys:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H4H-SLIM-Xenon-HID-Conversion-light-Kit-For-JDM-Cars_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a0Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3911Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem160283852309QQitemZ160283852309QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

They were more than happy to sell me a slim ballast car kit with two different bulbs (h7 & h3) with no extra charge. The quality was great and I have had no problems (1 year/ 4k miles).

 

I used no relays on the install and have NO problems igniting. The high beam takes about 7 seconds to full bright but does throw light about the same perceived intensity as the halogen on startup. The thing to remember is that the low beam does NOT go out when you apply the high beam on the r1150rt. So you only get more light not less. Flashing the high beam seems to have a full bright flash on the 3rd or 4th time. I really like how much I light up the road on high beam. If I was to fault it, it would be that I throw so much light that road signs reflect it back at me. Not that great on highways especially around cities where I tend to leave the high beam off, but on back roads and desolate highways at night the light is awesome. IMHO and YMMV.

Henry

 

 

[PCHRT]

Thanks Henery for the update!

 

I'll see if i can just order a H3 for the hibeam somewhere as i already have the other 1/2 kit from the original purchase the the other half is just sitting there lonley!

 

[DrMikey]

Who makes the kit with a "slim line" ballast?

 

Thanks!

[g_frey]

Not sure what "slimline" is but the CQ lights I bought have a small ballast and have worked well for 3 years. By small I mean they fit under the dash and don't hit anything. ~ $50 as I recall. I ride an R1150RT.

[DrMikey]

Not sure what "slimline" is but the CQ lights I bought have a small ballast and have worked well for 3 years. By small I mean they fit under the dash and don't hit anything. ~ $50 as I recall. I ride an R1150RT.

 

Do you have a link or phone#?

[Cycledude]

Hello all.

 

Ok, So last weekend I installed an HID system in my 04 R1150RT. Awesome light it gave, until it failed. Or the fuse did. So I need to replace the fuse, duh. No big deal. But I just installed this new farkle last weekend and now I broke something, the fuse. If I install another 7.5 amp fuse, will that fail shortly? Or do I up the amperage a little? So here is the question, for those of you that have installed an HID system, have you blown and fuses? If so, what have you done to correct the problem? Now I fully recognize it would be stupid to add a large amp fuse in place of the 7.5 unit. But a little larger load range might help. What type of risk/area for adjustment does one have here?

 

Thanks.

 

Snowy.

[smiller]

An HID system will draw less current than the stock bulb so it alone shouldn't cause a fuse to blow. Perhaps you introduced a short when you did the wiring, or perhaps the HID ballast itself is faulty. Try disconnecting the HID ballast from the circuit and see if you still have a problem. If so you have a wiring issue, or if not and the fuse blows as soon as you hook up the HID then the HID system may be faulty (not likely but possible.) Whatever you do don't just stuff a larger fuse in there... bad idea...

[ESokoloff]

An HID system will draw less current than the stock bulb so it alone shouldn't cause a fuse to blow.

 

Not on start up as this

demonstraits.

 

Not sure what the solution is but know this...

The fuse is designed to protect the wire so if you need to increase the fuse rating it likely would be best to increase the wire size.

[smiller]

Wow, mine doesn't draw anywhere near that kind of startup current, but good point... if his unit has that large a spike it would be possible to blow the fuse. In that case a time-delay fuse or circuit breaker might help.

[NoHeat]

If I install another 7.5 amp fuse, will that fail shortly? Or do I up the amperage a little?

 

Besides amperage, fuses also vary according to how fast they blow. Fast-blow fuses are used to protect electronics, slow-blow fuses to protect wiring.

 

I'm not sure, but I'd guess that a slow-blow fuse is what you would want. If the fuse that blew was fast-blow, changing to slow-blow at the same amperage might solve the problem.

[Cycledude]

How can I check to see the amp load of my system at start up? If I remember correctly, reading amps must be done in series. how would i wire the meter? just eliminate the fuse?

 

NoHeat- how can one idenity if they have as fast or slow fuse?

 

Thanks.

 

Snowy.

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

just to answer the initial question - many others myself included have installed HID (including inexpensive direct from china vvme brand) without fuse issues. so either the install (short) or the transformer are defective. i like the idea of unplugging the transforer. starting the bike, seeing if fuse blows, if not then plug in the transformer and see if it blows. if like me you got a second transformer in the box you could swap it out if it turns out to be the problem .

[NoHeat]

How can I check to see the amp load of my system at start up? If I remember correctly, reading amps must be done in series. how would i wire the meter?

If you wire it in, it would have to be in series, which would be a pain. As an alternative, I'd suggest a clamp-on current meter. These work by measuring the magnetic field generated by the current in the wire, so that they do not require making a direct connection of the meter to the wire, which is nice. A model with a peak-hold feature might be good, to measure the peak initial value. Maybe this would work:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42397

 

NoHeat- how can one idenity if they have as fast or slow fuse?

 

Some fuses are labeled "SLO-BLO" on the metal end cap.

 

If not, maybe you can search the manufacturer's website for images to distinguish them.

[smiller]

Maybe this would work:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42397

Trouble is that one (and most of the low-cost units) only read AC amps via the clamp. There are units that will also read DC but they tend to be more expensive.

 

BTW I don't doubt the YouTube video posted earlier but I would consider any unit that draws that high a surge for that extended a time either defective or very poorly designed.

[ESokoloff]

Some fuses are labeled "SLO-BLO" on the metal end cap.

 

 

The stock fuses are the ATO type & I don't think a time delay fuse is available but circuit breakers are.

211-8 is the closest fit to your needs that MAY work for you.

A few things you could do.

Temporarily run a heavier wire appropriately fuse (14AWG is good for 15amps)

directly from the battery to the HID to confirm wire/fuse are undersized or unit is defective.

 

Try a circuit breaker.

 

Or if need be, remove the HID from the circuit & instead power a relay that will feed the HID from a direct 14AWG/15amp fused wire.

 

[NoHeat]

The stock fuses are the ATO type

 

My bad.

 

I don't know about the poster who was reporting blowing fuses, but my CQ HID conversion kit came with its own inline fuse. When I posted, I thought it was the round 3AG size, like this:

Fuses of that kind are available in both fast-blow and slow-blow, and that's what I was thinking of.

 

But since you mentioned it, I took a look, and I was wrong -- my HID kit does not have the round fuse, it has a blade-type fuse (the red object on the upper left of my photo below.

 

I suppose somebody could splice in a 3AG fuse, then they could use slow-blow.

[Cycledude]

You guys are awesome with ideas! Just to clarify my HID system has no inline fuse. the fuse that blew is #8 on the bikes fuse panel. this is for the low beams. It sounds like measuring the amp load is more difficult that I care to tackle, for my experience. So to remedy the problem, I replaced the fuse with a new 7.5 amp. That fuse was original, it may have died from age/use. I am going ridding this weekend, with extra fuses. I'm gonna wait for the problem to reoccur, to see if I do have a problem. And then I'll move to the next level.

 

NoHeat - What fuse is in your system? I see it is red, so I think that would be 7.5 amp also?

 

Snowy.