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FrozenGate by Avery

Cheap automotive HID ballast teardown






It works pretty well for those that tailgate with their high beams on. Most of the time they get the point and turn their high beams off. Others don't but still back away. I turn it off, they get closer then I turn it on again. Cycle repeats until they change lanes or turn theirs off.
 
No problem :)

I do have another slim type ballast but haven't taken pics. It was broken and I couldn't repair it but it was interesting since it had planar magnetics. I may post it up when I get the chance.
 
Hmm, neat! I've got some of the original ballasts that some of those you show were designed from. They still work flawlessly, so no reason to take 'em apart :-/ Also, can't justify taking them out to use as a flashlight powersource. I'm interested to see the guts to know what cheap HID kit to take a chance with, in hopes that maybe can convert it to a variable ballast.
 
Benm said:
The sand filler is also an interesting part. It could just be there as a filler to add some mass to the unit making it feel more 'sturdy', although it could also have some function in preventing arcing from the start pulse generator. Epoxy resin would have been a better choice, but if they'd had used that chances of indentifying and chiseling out this damaged capactor would have been slim :)
Click to expand...

Is it possible that the "sand" found in this HID ballast was potting that was incorrectly cured? I can't get my mind around it, as noted epoxy resin would have worked better for both arc prevention and stability. Sand and vibration could pit the PCB over time, its called an abrasive for a reason :thinking:
 
The sand really looks like sand and not some other uncured chemical. There is not direct contact of the sand to the PCB as there is another layer of potting compound underneath.
 
Great thread. Thank you.

Was the ballast you show here for a set of headlights (Both right and left)? If yes, does the unit supply each side from the same drive circuit?

I'm wondering if one could obtain a single 100 watt bulb and use such a unit to adequately drive it.
 
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The ballast is a typical single input, single 35W output automotive HID ballast. You need one for each headlight so a typical setup would have two bulbs, two ballasts and the wiring harness.
 
Thank you. I have a couple 55 watt units for cars. I will need to check and see if they have a single ballast or 2. I think they may have one ballast per side like what your describing for your, I guess, motorcycle type unit.
 
A motorcycle HID kit is the same as half of a car HID kit. You need one ballast per bulb. If you have two bulbs, you have two ballasts. This allows for shorter runs of high voltage (~90V), meaning less chance of electrocution in the event of a crash. The igniter unit must be located <1ft away from the bulb, since it must supply the bulb with around 25,000V to get the arc started. You may extend this a little if you replace the cable with thicker cable.

Stock HID ballasts output 35W average to the bulb during normal operation time.

55W can sometimes be a marketing ploy to note that the ballast consumes up to 55W of power. There are no stock 55W HIDs.

regarding the sand, maybe it was an attempt at vibration noise dampening, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something as simple as to just give it more substantial feel.
 
Cheap 55W kits overdrive the 35W lamps with 55W ballasts. This results to a warming of lamp color temperature and overheating since the lamps are over driven. They won't last long and you have a risk of burning up the reflector housing or blowing the bulb up. I have seen this personally as I have used a 55W once.
 
Thank you for the additional information BShanahan14rulz and djQUAN.

Not sure what you mean by "stock" BShanahan14rulz. Mine are cheap after market kits.

I've heard of people over driving HID bulbs on purpose to attain a smaller, more intense emission source. I guess I could monitor the temp and if it gets too high, I could increase the voltage sense resistors in the ballast. Sounds like I need to protect myself from a potentially exploding bulb though during the testing. Any thoughts on that?
 
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