xenon bulbs headlight problem

[Vertigo117]

Picked up a pair of xenon bulbs for m ZX10R... installed them, low and high beam, they worked fine... til today. Now neither of my headlights work, (my running lights still work) and even when i put the old stock bulbs in, they still dont work. Perhaps i blew a fuse? where are the fuses even located? any help appreciated.

[TommyZX10R]

fuse are located under the front seat. the head light fuse is going to be in the big fuse box. its a 10A fuse. hope this helps if u already did not have it fixed

[JBearSVT]

Well that's peculiar. One more + for HIDs instead of bulb upgrades maybe?

[clarkmanning]

I don't know if this is a good idea,but i did it.
Replace the 10A headlight fuse with a 15A or even a 20A when you do a headlight upgrade. I'm using the H9 bulbs for both projectors in 6000K.

If there's a short, the headlight wires may get hot. I think a short would just burn out the fuse, though.

Do this at your own risk.

[nonelower2001]

i had the same problem with the 10Amp fuse when i replaced my headlights. i changed it to a 15amp and no problems since.

[JBearSVT]

Are you two pyros or what?

[clarkmanning]

Originally Posted by JBearSVT

Are you two pyros or what?

had to stop

turned to bike addiction

[JBearSVT]

I see you've found a loophole then.

[Vertigo117]

yeah it was the fuse... all fixed.

[blackcrow321]

hey have you guys had a problem with them pointing too low infront of you?

[JBearSVT]

LOL... I think that's also known as "outrunning the headlights".

[Kawamazing]

Be very carful when replacing fuses!

If you are upgrading bulbs from the standard ones you can upgrade the fuses to match but dont just throw in a bigger one. You are asking for trouble and can potentially find yourself standing on the side of the road watching you pride and joy go up in flames.

There are some basic formulas you can use to calculate the right fuse rating for the job. First check the replacement bulb and identify the rating in watts. For this example we will use 100W. The supply voltage will be 12V. Simply divide 100 by 12 to give you the fuse rating of 8.33 Amps. Sure you wont find a fuse rated at 8.33A but you can apply the next one above which would be 10A and all should be good.

If you are installing HID's you should be able to check the specifications for the required supply current and use a fuse to match.

Ultimately never go above the rating by more than 5 amps as a general rule.

Another thing you should consider is that todays manufacturing standards are quite conservative when it comes to mass production. The cables used in the manufacturers wiring harness will be rated to handle a certain maximum current load. If you go and increase the load without replacing the cable you can again end it all in disaster. Even if the fuse is rated correctly to match the extra load the wire can still become very hot to the point of fire or simply melting the insulation and destroying the harness.

[JBearSVT]

Yeah, that last bit is what I was getting at. Lessons learned by years of driving old Fords...

[TommyZX10R]

Well all who wants to upgrade to HID's just do some research on a good brand. or ask someone what brand the use. I put some in dont recall the brand name. man they looked sick downside was i fried mt stator twice and at 216 each time i decided the HID's were not worth the headache. Just an fyi

[Kawamazing]

After a bit of a trawl I found a few home truths about the HID's. Sorry but the news is not all that great for the fans. Rather than babble on about them I will just list the found Pro's and Con's and if you have any questions I would suggest you spend some time on google.

The light intensity is technicaly less bright but most users have reported them to be more pleasant rather than brighter. The primary difference will be dependant on the system chosen. Don't be fooled by the big numbers on the package! The numbers are more relevant to the color of the light rather than the intensity. This also has quite a difference on the temperature of the bulb and if your reflector or lense can't handle the increase then it can only be bad.

Back on the subject of the load on your electrical system. It seems that many of the sellers (most of the a bit iffy) dont seem to want to give out much of the specs. As a general rule is seems that you would increase the load on your system by about 10 Amps. This increase may be fine in some cases, especially when only used for a short time. After a while of the battery taking care of the extra load it will begin to derease charge and transfer the load to the charging system. Some may ofcourse handle it fine but some wont.

The bottom line is that you should know your electrical system well before you take the plunge. I personally like the look of them from an appearance aspect only. Beyond that they are not for me!

Just my 20 cents worth...

[clarkmanning]

I can only speak to my experience with an HID conversion kit.
The lites on my '06 zx10r were so dim/bad i didn't even want to ride at nite.
I bought an 8000k kit from a local rider who was selling a lot of kits he had picked up from chinese importer. cost was 140.00.

With just the single hid shining, i would say i got at least a 75% increase in range and illumination. When i switched on the 2nd hid, the lite down the road didn't get that much brighter. I think the high beam aim was off, and it turns out it was. I had that kit for about 18 months untill one of the ballasts gave out. This was about a month ago. So instead of just buying another ballast for 30 to 40 dollars, i found an importer in San Fran selling kits online with supposed japanese ballasts. cost about 115.00 to my doorstep.

i went with the 6000K this time. I like the color better. I finally aimed the highbeam. It was shooting way high. They are definitely a huge improvement from the oem lites on my bike. They aren't as good as an auto that was engineered for hid bulbs, but i'll keep them.

I seem to have read about some higher wattage hids available.....55 watts. I wonder how bright these are. Are new ballasts required? If the lites are too bright, other drivers start getting pissed off.

I still have the oem battery and my mileage just went past 15k. Maybe it's time to buy a new one and put it on the shelf so i'll have when i'll need it.

[JBearSVT]

This is odd, everything I've read about HIDs has claimed that they draw less power than conventional bulbs, not more. It's one of the main selling points. So, who's lying?

[Vertigo117]

What i heard, is that they draw less power but require more power to start initially...

[JBearSVT]

Hmm... read the fine print then. Sneaky bastages.

[Vertigo117]

I love how u guys go crazy over this topic like, a month after i post it. What if I still hadnt fixed my headlights by now?! haha