can a certain HID kit pull too much current for a certain vehicle?

[jalikaria24]

Hello, so I have a 2003 hummer h2 and this vehicle does not have canbus. I remember back in the day like 2010 I ordered a 35w hid kit from ebay and i remember it was just some garbage kit probbaly from china but it honestly worked really get for 6 years and lasted thru cold winters and tons of driving, i was honestly very surprised. well that kit messed up in around 2016 so i switched back to halogens as i really didnt drive my truck that much. well now i ordered a set of 55w digital ac hid kit from aliexpress seller buildreamen2. i believe these china kits are always bashed and i guess i should have done some more research but my last kit was so good so i thoiught why not. this buildreamen2 kit seemed to be the most expensive i paid like $80 cad, and seemed to have amazing reviews. it comes with slim ballasts with indicator light to tell if soemthing is wrong and also apparently i assume its a gimmic but it comes with extra bright bulbs. well i got the kit with the relay harness and i hooked it all up and everything worked fine and then a few days later i noticed my one bulb on driver side wouldnt work and i noticed that the driver side ballast was blinking a red light. i rechecekd the connections and reconnected them but it still seems to have the same problem. i spoke to the seller and he sent me a new ballast. i installed the new ballast replacing the old "broken" one on driver side but then i noticed now the passenger side has the same problem even tho that side was perfect. i completely redid the connections again and swapped the bulbs and its still not working. the driver side is perfectly fine like the xenon light is on and works but the passenger side xenon turns on for like 3 seconds and then shuts off and then the ballast starts blinking red. he seems to think that this kit is too powerful for my vehicle, he says that the working current is over 4.5a and the starting current is over 8a. and he thinks i need to downgrade to a less current kit i guess to fix the problem (it would still be 55w)

i have the relay connected directly to the battery with the driver side grounded to the negative batt terminal and then the passenger side of the relay is grounded to the frame with a bolt.
i believe i used 14 guage wire when i had to extend the ground wires from the original relay harness with butt connectors


so i wanted to ask, is this possible? like could it be that the kit is too powerful for my truck? it seemed to work perfectly fine for the few days that i ran it so i dont understand and i dont have any canbus or anything. the seller also doesnt seem to explain what the lights mean on the ballast. his short description is that if there is no light thne the bulb is bad, and if there is a light then ballast could be bad.

 

[Astro14]

Well..that was hard to read...lack of spelling, lack of punctuation, capitalization...ugh. I gave up.

You have so much wrong with this truck, and you want to put HID in it? Is that what you’re asking?

Why not fix what’s broken, first, and then, and only then, spend money on toys for it?

To answer the question in the title, yes. Most HID installations in cars use relays to provide high current to the ballast. If you just spliced in the ballast to the bulb wiring, you may not have enough current for it to work.

 

[JHZR2]

Well..that was hard to read...lack of spelling, lack of punctuation, capitalization...ugh. I gave up.

You have so much wrong with this truck, and you want to put HID in it? Is that what you’re asking?

Why not fix what’s broken, first, and then, and only then, spend money on toys for it?

To answer the question in the title, yes. Most HID installations in cars use relays to provide high current to the ballast. If you just spliced in the ballast to the bulb wiring, you may not have enough current for it to work.

+1 to all of it.

 

[jalikaria24]

getting bullied by the staff members this isn't fair

yeah im using the relay harness, i didnt splce into the factory or anything but the seller still insists that my truck limits the current. i dont see how, is that possible still? how can i ensure my truck can provide the 8a starting current?

 

[SZR48207]

The money and sweat you're investing into trying to retrofit HID to your H2 would be better spent towards a savings fund to purchase a newer vehicle that comes with HID from the factory.

Retrofits are unreliable, have adverse effects on the rest of the vehicle if not installed correctly, and you're probably going to blind oncoming drivers more than you realize it.

It's that whole "throw good money after bad" situation we've all been in at one point..

 

[Dave9]

getting bullied by the staff members this isn't fair

yeah im using the relay harness, i didnt splce into the factory or anything but the seller still insists that my truck limits the current. i dont see how, is that possible still? how can i ensure my truck can provide the 8a starting current?

If you are using a relay harness going direct from battery to relay to ballast, it is not possible for the vehicle to be limiting current too much unless you have a bad battery, alternator, or connector corrosion (or inadequate wire gauge which I doubt at that short length and low(ish) amperage), or of course a bad relay.

Any of this you can measure with a multimeter, what voltage gets to the ballast when they're turned on. Too much voltage drop then you backtrack the circuit to see where the voltage is dropping below 12.6V engine off, 14.(something)V engine on. There will be a "little" voltage drop, but not enough that it should matter.

It is possible that the kits are Chinese trash. Replace trash with trash and it's still trash. Reviews mean little if they're all fake and bad reviews are deleted. Granted that's just spitballing because it does happen from time to time, problem could still be on your vehicle. Measure, prove, solve.

 

[jalikaria24]

If you are using a relay harness going direct from battery to relay to ballast, it is not possible for the vehicle to be limiting current too much unless you have a bad battery, alternator, or connector corrosion (or inadequate wire gauge which I doubt at that short length and low(ish) amperage), or of course a bad relay.

Any of this you can measure with a multimeter, what voltage gets to the ballast when they're turned on. Too much voltage drop then you backtrack the circuit to see where the voltage is dropping below 12.6V engine off, 14.(something)V engine on. There will be a "little" voltage drop, but not enough that it should matter.

thanks so
Much! I used 14g for the grounds. That should be fine eh? I’ll check the rest.
The HID stay lit the whole time, they start up fast and normally and no flickering or problems. However the last ballast stopped working adnnow
I had to replace it again and it was being weird so let’s hope this lasts a while

 

[Skippy722]

Cheap Chinese garbage. Awhile back, a lot of those “55w” kits were not really 55w, some were 35w with a 55w sticker on them, others were running ~45w. Hylux are generally regarded as the best aftermarket HID ballasts, but you’re looking at $95 for the ballasts alone.

There is a pretty big community of people properly retrofitting HID projectors into vehicles that never had them from the factory, Morimoto and Hylux are the 2 biggest names used when using aftermarket stuff, but slapping HID’s into halogen reflector housings is a big no no.

 

[tomcat27]

The sellers answer seems bogus more likely the bulbs are using more than the cheap ballasts can handle 14 gauge is good for 15 amps

 

[Astro14]

getting bullied by the staff members this isn't fair

yeah im using the relay harness, i didnt splce into the factory or anything but the seller still insists that my truck limits the current. i dont see how, is that possible still? how can i ensure my truck can provide the 8a starting current?

Bullied? Really?

Look at your post. It’s a big block of characters, hard to read. Really hard to read.

If you want help, you could at least take the time to be clear in your post. You post a new problem on this truck very often. Ball joints, transmission, rear main seal leak, differential oil, cold air intake, brakes, keys, engine misfire, batteries, greasing suspension parts, alternator, CV axles, cold air intake, and now, this... How many problems have you posted in the last six months, a dozen?

So, please, with all the requests you make of others, asking for help, try to be courteous to the guys trying to help you: use good grammar.

 

[4WD]

Cheap Chinese garbage. Awhile back, a lot of those “55w” kits were not really 55w, some were 35w with a 55w sticker on them, others were running ~45w. Hylux are generally regarded as the best aftermarket HID ballasts, but you’re looking at $95 for the ballasts alone.

There is a pretty big community of people properly retrofitting HID projectors into vehicles that never had them from the factory, Morimoto and Hylux are the 2 biggest names used when using aftermarket stuff, but slapping HID’s into halogen reflector housings is a big no no.

Have to wonder what’s the “batting average“ on these … did google research on them a year ago and decided to just upgrade low beam (projector) bulbs knowing the high beams were plenty strong …
Headlights are getting crazy … I now carry night driving clip on’s in 2 vehicles …

 

[Skippy722]

The sellers answer seems bogus more likely the bulbs are using more than the cheap ballasts can handle 14 gauge is good for 15 amps

The ballasts regulate current and voltage to the bulbs, otherwise the bulbs would destroy themselves rather quickly.

Have to wonder what’s the “batting average“ on these … did google research on them a year ago and decided to just upgrade low beam (projector) bulbs knowing the high beams were plenty strong …
Headlights are getting crazy … I now carry night driving clip on’s in 2 vehicles …

Yep. I’m quite impressed with my trucks halogen reflector setup. I may upgrade the bulbs when the OEM ones finally die, h11 to h9 for low beam, and 9005 to 9011 for high beam, but that’ll be it, I don’t feel the need for more. Meanwhile Audi is out there with friggin laser headlights!