Strange things at startup when headlights converted to HID
 

My headlights were converted to HID many months ago, I started to get some strange things to happen when I flipped on the headlights, oil light, battery light, and sometimes even a top error. It was always just one of these, never more than that. I replaced my headlight switch, found it to be in pieces inside and the problem got better but did not go away. I tried connecting a 100 MHz oscilloscope to a few points to watch for spurious ac signals and found several...some were probably too fast to catch with the scope but were probably like a sundial to the electronics inside the car. I thought about this long and hard and a several possible solutions came to mind. Possibly a capacitor in the right RF range to capture this spurious RF gremlin and send it to ( RF Hell) ground...but without access to a really fast Spectrum analyzer it made the calculations difficult. Besides the gremlins probably did not follow a definite frequency range....I am not an engineer.....just an old tech who used to do UHF and VHF board repairs. I did find a simple solution that has worked for me now for 2 months 100% of the time. You already have this installed in your car....so if you are having problems read on......

What we need is a big but kicking capacitor to suck these things up like a virus or a vacuum to dirt under the carpet. So I thought about it and tried this with great success. The giant wet sell in your car is a huge capacitor with tremendous potential.....it does start your engine right !!

Simply put the key in, turn on your lights, switch to the run position and allow the ballasts to ignite the HID envelopes, then start the car. The harmonics occur as the ballasts ignite after that the current drops and everything runs fine. I have been doing this for a while with 100% success......I hope this helps you out.

Dwight

I've never had a problem (knock on wood) since installing Fred's HIDs.

I just changed to HIDs in my stock headlights and got some weird idiot lights as well. I was seeing the battery and oil level ones on.
Ended up changing out the ballasts to ones that were CANBUS compatible and everything is fine now

I picked up a set of Fred's V1 from another member and installed them. They work great and I usually start them up before starting the car but last week I switched them on while driving and I got all of the idiot lights you discussed and my stereo head unit went a bit crazy. Everything went back to normal.

So Jay, these balasts you are talking about, do they work with Fred's HID upgrade? If so, can you provide some details on which ones you are using?

Can't tell you one way or another 100% with Fred's projectors, but my understanding is all HIDs can use he same ballasts. As i said, I could be wrong.

Perhaps Charles can chime in on that

In any case, these are what I have now and work great
DDM Tuning: HID and LED Lighting

I was speaking specifically of Fred's, HID in general

You were speaking of Fred's or you were speaking in general?

In general
 

I have a E36 that does the "Needle Bounce" on converted HID ballasts.....I am in no way putting down or targeting Fred's products....just offering a easy solution to a condition that occurs in lots of automobiles

I retrofitted litronics on my 2000. When I turn them on, they make a cool sounding high-voltage noise. I don't trigger any warning lights, but I'm sure there are a lot of electrons whizzing around. There are warning labels about the high voltage on the ballasts and the lights.

So, it may be that Fred's system is just a slightly different spec than the OEM equipment. It may be that the shielding on the OEM ballasts was designed with the Boxster's electrical system in mind. They appear to be bulkier.

I was not taking it as a put down on Fred's products. I love the HID's!

I was just trying to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

For those in the know, are the ballast's on the Pelican HID upgrade (Fred's) the same as the ballast on the 1st generation?

I ask because I had a complete blackout last night. I turned on the lights in the garage and left the house. About half way to my destination the lights went totally out and then restarted. These are Gen 1 of Fred's design, they were installed by someone else and I purchased them as a complete light set from another member. I have no idea of the quality of the install and did not open them up to look at the ballasts. I do have some experience with high voltage lighting for saltwater fish tanks (Metal Halide) so do understand that there are a lot of parameters in a high voltage lighting ballast.

Now that I think about it, both lights went off at the same time and they are independent systems so maybe it is the switch?

John

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks, John

A complete blackout means both ballasts did not ignite the HID envelopes...not a likely scenario

Sounds more like a voltage failure or possibly (more than likely) Switch, Fuse, and or relay in that order

The only component that both headlights have in common is the headlight switch, so if both headlights fail, it is the culprit.

Freds ballasts are CANBUS, BTW. Theoretically, there should be no AC leakage from them (theoretically).

I used the process in the first post to turn my headlights on. That is when the trouble started. I have gone back to turning on the car, then turning on the lights and have not had an issue.

The one time it happened, both lights went out completely then re-ignited so I do suspect a switch but it has not happened again.

Thanks for the suggestions.

John

Check your batteries resting voltage, after the car has sat over night....before you start the car

I went through the same hell with my HID conversion. Mine even made the real spoiler go up/down/ and stay in the middle of up and down! Then added ballasts that made no improvement. Finally gave up as I wasn't doing that much night driving anyhow..... Removed them, got a refund.

just noticed this happening to my car the other day the oil light or a few other lights i just turn off the car and turn it back on i have noticed that once i get to where i am going my spoiler is up too haha

I also have the problem of dash lights (I believe alternator, and low oil pressure warning light) coming on sometimes when I turn on my headlights (which have aftermarket HIDs/ballasts). If I have my stereo on, it usually also turns off the stereo (it might automatically turn back on also, but I can't remember.). It only happens sometimes, and the headlights do turn on reliably. But this behavior makes me favor just running the fog lights sometimes.

Turning they key off, and then back on does always temporarily solve the problem, but this can be a big hassle (and potentially unsafe) if you're already driving the car.

I have the aerokit with the fixed rear wing that replaces the powered rear spoiler, so I have no problems (obviously) with a nonexistent powered rear spoiler.

I wonder if adding a ferrite ring in the HID wiring somewhere (perhaps between ballast and lamp) would solve the problem.

Guys, any update on this? I do have the same problem but turning the car of and on again does resolve it. But I would like a 100% working solution and keeping the lights ;)

I have found my spoiler stays up when I get home sometimes.

I have a feeling it could be my battery? It is over 4 years old now

My spoiler comes up when I drive by a pretty woman

https://youtu.be/W9VsGjXkHeg

Fred’s ballasts are simply the best-in-the-world (lol I wish).

These have built-in canbus (or simply put; have built-in capacitors). But then Canbus sounds better! They are incredibly simple and incorporate modern protections which is fact, I’ve been told, are copied of the infamous Hella’s. Those include open/short circuit protection, low/over voltage protection, etc. They are also shock, dust and water proof! I mean come on guys… all that for fifty bucks?!

It’s not the ballasts Dwight. The way we wired those up (now on little less than 500x Porsche cars) is same way the halogen are wired. From my experience, those who encounters battery light issues is about 2% so you can call your problem uncommon. U r unlucky Dwight :/ RE ballasts Even if you go for the “Porsche” part #991.618.323.03 which in fact cost nearly $500 (beware;each!), you are still going to have the same battery failure sensor trigger thingy. Yes someone I know of spent that amount of money, converted them to the AMP termination, thinking it would solve it. Same

To me, it appears to be a ‘resistance’ issue more than anything else; the ignition switch, the headlamp switch, a bad battery not pushing enough amp (or fast enough in this case) or even a bad ground would cause this issue. These are all part of the headlight circuitry that needs testing. Voltage regulator is also to be load-checked.

RE AC gremlins… believe me you do not need an oscilloscope or any super advanced equipment to test for that. Just open your radio and set the volume to medium/high. If you don’t hear a nasty buzzing sound your DC circuit is free of gremlins. That simple mate. If you are concerned about micro feedback just add a RF filter somewhere on the headlamp circuit… which is in fact an extra capacitor really.

Last year I was in Porsche here in Shanghai and had the opportunity to speak with one of their lead mechanics on this issue; change the battery or debug the charging systems he said. Battery light means the sensor thinks the battery is failing, any other stupid question? he asked back. What about the oil light?! I asked; he said don’t expect anything else to function normally is there is not enough current feeding the other devices (sensors in this case). Can it damage anything I asked; NO he said unless your super lights somehow demands a huge amount of power (e.g 30amps each loll) then you may want to look at replacing some of the stock wiring. What is the max current I can load on these Boxster without damaging anything I asked; (stupid question again he looked back) uhhh I think there is a 15amp fuse per each main light so I think you can safely load 14.999AMP per light. End of conversation RE headlight!

So… get the switches tested (ignition, headlamps), make sure your battery can push its advertised amp, voltage regulator should climb up to 14.5v and stay steady during a load test, etc etc. If you don’t want to bother looking up for the culprit then you can simply hook up your HID directly onto the battery and use a relay/harness to power them up. That weird resistance problem solved but lots of extra wiring required :/

Keep your el-cheapo ballasts man, they are really the best (in Shanghai, of course lol)

You Martin, spoiler up means going too fast for those little canadian roads lolll I think your problem is over speeding. But then you are friend with all of the RCMP in your town so I don't blame you for simply enjoying a Porsche car ;)

ps: received the package back in Nov when I make it back in Shanghai. The villa's mgt office kept it all safe here for me. You da man, Martin. My wife was so impressed... she stole the pen and leather case. I looooove the book and the PCA badge man

I owe you. So grateful thanks brother

Mine used to....but now I would need the Royal Purple Pill

No problem! Glad both you both enjoyed it! My brother wants a set of those center caps for his 928! Haha

Haha it usually goes back down once I get to where I'm going :p. I think these problems are due to aging battery. I will confirm once I replace my battery haha

I have this problem intermittedly. It occurs maybe 1 in 10 times. Turning off and turning on the car does solve the problem. Turning on the headlights before starting the car also prevents this. I would like a more permanent solution. I thought about relays, and this seem like a decent amount of work.

Has anyone tried a capacitor solution? What capacitor would be a good one to use for this>

I changed my headlight switch / ignition switch and have had no further problems

The mfg of my HIDs sent me some tack on capacitors that did nothing tp help with that problem when installed. Then my spoiler started going to half mast when I stopped in traffic. That was enough. I removed the HID system and got a refund. Not worth the effort.