i had the same issues as you mentioned. upon investigation with the volt meter i discovered that the ballast unit was shot. i initially thought it was the bulb but it turned out that there was current from the bike to connection point for the ballast unit. then there was a very unreliable current from the ballast unit to the bulb. i subsequently got a new 35w HID kit and that confirmed my findings. it's only a 30min job to fit a new HID system with all the right tools.