Rewire HID hi beam for hot ballast?

[yodaonabusa]

I have 6000k HID hi and low beam in my 05. About a year ago my hi beam went out. I didnt bother eith it, just rode carefully with the low. Ordered some new bulbs and changed the hi bulb yesterday. When i took the old one out i didnt notice anything wrong but plugged the new one in anyway. Hooked everything up and of course it couldnt be a simple fix. No light from my hi beam still. So, gotta be ballast/ignitor right? When i flip the hi beam switch i can tell a split second flicker in my LED switchbacks so i know the switch works cuz its tryin to power the hi. Anyway, one quick thought. "hmm...being hi beam and i've heard hi beam aftermarket HIDs wont last long because of the constant swithing off and on wihout a proper cooling period for ballast and/or bulb the components lifespan will significantly be reduced...so do i need to rewire my hi switch to have my ballast "constant on" to increase the life of my ballast and also reduce my hi warm up time?" ...was just a thought...anybody have any other ideas or maybe somebody has done this already...?

 

[cheferman65]

I just leave my high beam on all the time.

 

[twotonevert]

The high beam ballast should last longer than the low beam if wired identically. Your high beam only comes on when you flip the switch. You may just have a bad ballast.

 

[yodaonabusa]

But, because of duty cycle, it makes sense though that, because of how many times the ballast would be powered off and on from meeting cars and having to turn it off then back on, that the hi ballast would have shorter lifespan. Duty cycles are killer on electronics. I live in rural south alabama. My commute to work is pre-dawn down 2 lane country highways. So my hi beam comes on and off probably a dozen times in the mornings. Afternoons i leave it on. I meet cops sometimes so not dimming is not an option.

 

[cheferman65]

But, because of duty cycle, it makes sense though that, because of how many times the ballast would be powered off and on from meeting cars and having to turn it off then back on, that the hi ballast would have shorter lifespan. Duty cycles are killer on electronics. I live in rural south alabama. My commute to work is pre-dawn down 2 lane country highways. So my hi beam comes on and off probably a dozen times in the mornings. Afternoons i leave it on. I meet cops sometimes so not dimming is not an option.

Check your ballast, and during your commute just use the low beam...or go back to the standard bulb in the high and click them on/off all you want. I adjusted my lights so they can be left on all the time. I really have no need to see that far out, my purpose is to be seen a bit easier/more often. Besides, the way the high beam projector is set up stock, you really are not getting the full potential of the HID in there. It needs to be a true projector specific for HID. There is a huge discussion here in a post about it. Do a little searching around you'll find it. Good luck.

 

[dadofthree]

Why didn't you just swap ballast and see if the problem followed ???

 

[yodaonabusa]

Because i am not blessed with ample enough time to drag out all the tools and equipment and move my bike closer to an outlet so i can cut my ballasts out and resolder the connections since they are hard-wired in. Taking the nose off and changing the $7 bulb was the quickest thing in my time-crunched schedule and not very costly, so..out $14..oh well, but i have two new bulbs. I just ordered an upgraded, quicker ballast with a 2yr warranty. Update to come....

 

[dadofthree]

Make sure you don't touch the bulbs bare handed. The system I had came with slide connectors. I was trying to be helpful

 

[yodaonabusa]

And your advice is appreciated! Thanks

 

[04Duramax]

Had the same exact issue with my truck.. turned out to be a bad ignitor. Had it replaced under warranty and all's good now.