LAMPF with HID - help!

[ghiribizzo]

As above. Is that right? Are you still using the wrong ballast?
You said the warning triangle went out but still LAMPF. But - did the bulb light? I presume it did not.

 

[Nutty]

As above. Is that right? Are you still using the wrong ballast?
You said the warning triangle went out but still LAMPF. But - did the bulb light? I presume it did not.

Yep, but that was the ballast Les said I needed. The dip and main both still work. I hope just switching to a 50w will sort it

 

[ghiribizzo]

I'm genuinely surprised at all the faffing about. I bought a kit, took the light out, changed the bulbs for HiDs, fitted the mounting, plugged it all together and re-fitted the lamp and Bob's your proverbial...

 

[Nutty]

I'm genuinely surprised at all the faffing about. I bought a kit, took the light out, changed the bulbs for HiDs, fitted the mounting, plugged it all together and re-fitted the lamp and Bob's your proverbial...

Same here on 4 gs's, but I guess as the hp has one bulb for dip and main, that must be where the issue is? Or simply just the wrong ballast.

 

[cookie]

I'm genuinely surprised at all the faffing about. I bought a kit, took the light out, changed the bulbs for HiDs, fitted the mounting, plugged it all together and re-fitted the lamp and Bob's your proverbial...

but the OP has fitted an apparently random mixture of components. as beemerman59 says - start with getting the basics right.

 

[Nutty]

but the OP has fitted an apparently random mixture of components. as beemerman59 says - start with getting the basics right.

So it would seem

 

[Beemerman59]

I have bought three different makes of ballast and can switch them over with the HID bulbs so I don't see why you can't use a ballast sourced from wherever. I don't have any experience with the H4 type fitment HID's but I still can't see any reason why a different 50w ballast wouldn't work as it doesn't know what bulb its being used with as long as its rated to the correct wattage. You are sure the bulb you have is rated at 50w? They usually have some form of ID on them.

 

[Nutty]

I've now managed to have a long chat with Les, and when he is back in the office will check what he sent, but thinks that it's the ballast. He's going to send me two types of ballast and two bulbs to try out, and I'll send him the wrong stuff back.

The bike was in the garage this morning, and they got rid of the LAMPF warning, but as soon as I flashed the lights, got LAMPF again.

 

[oldfool]

lampf

I have had the lampf on my bike for years. I could care less. I just did a 4700 mile road trip a couple of weeks ago and still had a great time. The lampf warning hasn't stopped me from doing and enjoying 100 mile offroad rides either. I don't know why it is there exactly but I still love this bike........ Richard

 

[Nutty]

In the end, after trying three more ballast/ bulb combinations and still getting LAMPF, I've removed the wiring and sent it back to Les for inspection, as we think the wiring loom may be a dud.

I could have lived with the LAMPF, but was concerned about the loud buzzing noise when flicking the main beam on. Will update once Les confirms what the issue was. After riding on Tuesday night on the standard bulb, I need an HID back on the bike ASAP.

 

[Beemerman59]

In the end, after trying three more ballast/ bulb combinations and still getting LAMPF, I've removed the wiring and sent it back to Les for inspection, as we think the wiring loom may be a dud.

I could have lived with the LAMPF, but was concerned about the loud buzzing noise when flicking the main beam on. Will update once Les confirms what the issue was. After riding on Tuesday night on the standard bulb, I need an HID back on the bike ASAP.

If a standard bulb actually works its hard to see how it can be a fault in the bikes loom. I'm slightly confused now, are you getting a LAMPF warning but the HID itself was actually working albeit with the buzzing? On dip & main?

And are they still 35w ballasts or are they 50w you're trying now?

 

[Nutty]

If a standard bulb actually works its hard to see how it can be a fault in the bikes loom. I'm slightly confused now, are you getting a LAMPF warning but the HID itself was actually working albeit with the buzzing? On dip & main?

And are they still 35w ballasts or are they 50w you're trying now?

We think it may have ben a fault with the loom that came with the HID, as it's the one bulb, needed a seperate loom to the battery. I was still getting LAMPF permanently with the HID, and it buzzed when flashing the main beam. We tried both 35w and 50w ballasts.

 

[WarthogARJ]

Maybe this is too late, but I have a HiD and it can be a hassle to fit.
And I found you often need to reset the LAMPF warning.
It doesn't go off on its own all the time.

I have a GS-911 diagnostic tool so is easy: no dealer visit needed.

I had a LOT of hassle with the wiring: I bought it from the original owner and asked Les for some help.
But he might have changed the wiring harness since then.
But the wiring on the harness did not correspond with the info that came with it.
I ended up wiring it up the way I thought it should and it worked fine then.

The other issue is that sometimes when I start the bike the front light flashes then goes off.
Bike starts but no headlight.
I have to shut off and restart.
Usually 2nd start is fine.
As far as I know is not a loose wire: all the connections are very good.

I read that the CANbus system on BMW bikes is sensitive to transient power spikes and shuts off a circuit (like a circuit breaker going) if it sees a spike.
To protect things.
And the HiD ballast takes a big current draw to start up: which can trigger the CANbus to protect itself.

Is solveable, but you need to restart the bike.
Only happens during startup when the ballast charges up to get the HiD going.
Once it is started it draws less power.

Anyways hopefully the new BMW LED front headlight will be available as an aftermarket upgrade soon.
Then can get rid of HiD's and run LEDs.
Way better.

 

[ghiribizzo]

Have you tried a better battery? Sounds typical of the OEM battery. Motobatt or Odyssey will likely cure your issue.

 

[karlp]

We installed one of Les' HID's on Friday night, connected it up, and got the dreaded LAMPF. Also, dip and main beam were the wrong way round, so I had to ride all weekend with the light on main, although it was actually on dipped.

I reported this to Les, and he sent me another ballast, which should eliminate the LAMPF warning, and reverse the dip/ main beam issue.

Last night I set to work, removed all the panelling and swapped the ballast over. Still LAMPF, and still dip and main are the wrong way round. Under instruction over the phone from a BMW technician, I then swapped the white and yellow cables going into the black box, which have now sorted the dip and main the correct way round. But still getting LAMPF. Now, when the bike is switched off, and the ignition is on, I'm getting a buzzing noise when flashing the main beam (but not the rest of the time when the engine or ignition are on).

I also have the LED sidelight bulb fitted, which we thought may have been causing the LAMPF message, but I'm still getting the message even if I reinstall the original regular bulb.

Does anyone have a fix for this, as I'm out of ideas?

It is a lot more than just changing the white and yellow leads over.

You would be better doing a complete new install.

Best practice is to install just the dip beam first - make sure all is working then install the main.

I woulds suggest you have the two leads from one ballast actually going to two different bulbs hence all the issues.

 

[Fanum]

It is a lot more than just changing the white and yellow leads over.

You would be better doing a complete new install.

Best practice is to install just the dip beam first - make sure all is working then install the main.

I woulds suggest you have the two leads from one ballast actually going to two different bulbs hence all the issues.

Erm.....it's an HP2, which uses a single H4 bulb

H4 HID's are a bloody nightmare, as there will always be a compromise in beam pattern unless they are fitted to a reflector designed for a specific HID H4.

 

[Nutty]

TBH I gave up in the end, pulled it all out and went back to a normal bulb, as we tried every combo and it just wouldn't work. If its dark I'll take the GS

 

[Myke Rocks]

Nearly correct.

Erm.....it's an HP2, which uses a single H4 bulb

H4 HID's are a bloody nightmare, as there will always be a compromise in beam pattern unless they are fitted to a reflector designed for a specific HID H4.

Except that H4 reflectors are a compromise in their own right. It is not possible to design a reflector to provide perfect dip and main beams from the one lamp.
The HID lamp accentuates the problems.
I had a Smart fortwo with H4s in it. I fitted a set of H4 HIDs from EBay. The beam pattern was so poor, with a great black hole in the middle of the dip, and a useless, diffused main beam that I took them out again after a couple of weeks.
I bought an apparently identical set of H4 HID burners from Les Wassel, and they were superb.

Think about general lamp and reflector design. For a perfect reflector, one must have a single point of light. This is impossible, given the nature of filament lighting. Thus, even with a single filament lamp, a reflector is a compromise. It so happens that the arc in a HID lamp is the same length as the filament in a standard lamp, so there is no reason why a HID fitting should require a different reflector.

Bearing the above in mind, a 24v filament such as one finds in a lorry is substantially longer because of the higher voltage. Because of this, it follows that the beam pattern should be inferior to a car. ( Think standard 7 inch round here) Indeed it is, with a rotten pattern compared to a 12v system.
It also follows that 6v lights as fitted to old cars should be superior. They may well be, but, unfortunately, the voltage drop on 6v systems caused by the associated high currents kills off the possible benefits, leaving one with a light output comparable to a candle.

When I bought my R1200rt many years ago, I decided to fit 35w HIDs to it. This was a total nightmare of a job. Plug them in as supplied, and 1 worked perfectly most of the time, and the other 2 failed to "Strike".
Much investigation showed that the BMW "no Fuse" monitoring was so tight that the inrush brought about on lamp startup continually tripped it, leaving one without any lights. After much puzzling, I fitted relays to all 3 light circuits, and got them to work, but I was now faced with the LampF fault.
I fitted canbus fault cancelling capacitors to get round this.
Been working now for over 4 years without a fault, but I would not care to put the effort into another such job. It was a nightmare.
If anyone wants a full drawing of what was done, I will post it.


Myke

P.S. The pedant in me says: "They are lamps, not bulbs"

 

[edzt]

Have you tried a better battery? Sounds typical of the OEM battery. Motobatt or Odyssey will likely cure your issue.

Mine has had the LAMPF since I bought it, doesn't bother me, but when I fitted an Odyssey it made no difference

 

[Mav]

Mine has had the LAMPF since I bought it, doesn't bother me, but when I fitted an Odyssey it made no difference

As does mine...

But there's normally so much mud on the headlight, I don't think it would make a difference whether it worked or not!