Micro DE to HiD Convertion Kit

[Les Wassall]

Just finished the conversion of the Hella Micro DE to take the HiD burner, a Thanks to David Levett for his help , if there are any interested parties out there thinking of the same conversion I can get the necessary kit together for DIY or can supply a converted set for you.

Not sure how much interest there would be so before I go ordering the bits and bobs just thought I would ask the question.

Cheers

 

[Slowdown]

Approximate costs would be good - can you give a rough idea for a DIY conversion kit and the complete package?

 

[Les Wassall]

If you supply the Micro DE's to convert them and supply HiD kit will be £159 for the pair, to supply Micro DE's converted £219 a pair, plus a bit of return post.

The HiD kit will be 35 watt Ultra Slim with 6000K Burners, these are the smallest ballast on the market (at the moment)


And I've also HiD converted a pair of Hella FF50's if you fancy them

 

[Wolfman]

are they that much better??

I have a set of FF50's on the 1100, but more light can't be a bad thing, have you got a set up and running??

cheers

Wolfman

 

[Les Wassall]

I have a set of FF50's on the 1100, but more light can't be a bad thing, have you got a set up and running??

cheers

Wolfman

Will have them mounted by the weekend (I hope)

 

[Cole]

Its worth noting Les is offering these with my really tiny UltraThin 35 watt ballasts, which are about 120 quid worth of the costs alone.

 

[brassmonkey001]

Looks good Les.
Those ballasts are tiny!
Colebatch - do you do a small 55W ballast? What dimensions would it be?

So, just to clarify - the off-the-shelf price for a pair is £219 + p&p, and if I supply you with a pair of DEs the price drops to £159 + p&p?

 

[Les Wassall]

Correct, and the 50 watt ballast is a little bigger than the 35, but 35 is more than enough in DE's or FF50's

 

[ianboydsnr]

they do look nice

 

[Cole]

Looks good Les.
Those ballasts are tiny!
Colebatch - do you do a small 55W ballast? What dimensions would it be?

Yes - 50 watt ... as Les mentioned, the Ultrathin 50 watt is slightly larger than the Ultrathin 35. - See pic below: Roughly speaking the Ultrathin 50 watter is about half the size of a conventional 35 watt ballast, and the Ultrathin 35 is about a third the size of a conventional 35 watt ballast.

 

[brassmonkey001]

Correct, and the 50 watt ballast is a little bigger than the 35, but 35 is more than enough in DE's or FF50's

I was thinking more along the lines of converting my 35W H4 setup for 50W. On a F650 Dakar there isn't a lot of room for ballasts and the 35W one I've got at the moment is mounted behind my GPS above the clocks here:

which is not ideal. I'd like to tuck it away somewhere better and if I'm going to change it I might as well go for more power at the same time.
I've also got DEs fitted and I have to wonder how much light I actually need. Do I need to go for HID DEs? Probably not but I'm sorely tempted. I think I'll make up a bit of wood to the same dimensions and see if I can hide it (them) away somewhere under the bodywork. How long are the leads?

Sorry for the hijack BTW.

 

[Les Wassall]

Is it the H4 that's not so good if so and you have DE's fitted going HiD with them would be maybe a better option.

 

[brassmonkey001]

H4 is OK, a brilliant (PTP) upgrade from the standard halogen H4 which is frankly crap. No, my issue is that the ballast is not tucked inside the bodywork as such cos' there's not enough room. I might manage to get a smaller one inside though. The trouble with my kit is it's the one with a solenoid on the end of the bulb and as such requires an extra 'box' besides the ballast. (I forget what it's called now. I don't have a better picture to hand to show you what I mean.) So I might do the headlight or the DEs or both.


To anyone reading this thread and toying with the idea of HID conversion I would say that it's definately worth doing, it knocks all those 50% extra bright bulbs etc. into a cocked hat! I'm more than happy with my current light output, but there's always room for improvement. More is more, not less. And Les' kits look to be good value for money so I'm tempted to upgrade again.

 

[Cole]

BrassMonkey: Are you looking for more light specifically on low beam? or high beam?

There are a couple of different ways you could play it. But going for 50 watts isnt feasible with the telescopic H4 bulbs, as they dont make 50 w telescopic bulbs anywhere. They are all just 35 watt.

But there are alternatives ... at least there might be in a month or so

 

[Flipfly]

BrassMonkey: Are you looking for more light specifically on low beam? or high beam?

There are a couple of different ways you could play it. But going for 50 watts isnt feasible with the telescopic H4 bulbs, as they dont make 50 w telescopic bulbs anywhere. They are all just 35 watt.

But there are alternatives ... at least there might be in a month or so

ooooooooooooooh you tease

The small 35w ballast would solve your problem with mounting the ballast Brassmonkey. How do you find full beam with the solonoid version of H4. I fitted a H4-2 to Mrs Flips transalp. Low beam is great but full beam is directed in the wrong direction. Also, full beam takes too long to spark up to be really effective. I am very interested to hear your opinion of the H4 with solonoid option.

 

[Yoda]

Les - I've already got an H3 HID kit sitting in the garage. Would you sell just the DIY backplates for the Micro DE's?

If so, how many Blairos?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[brassmonkey001]

I would choose to improve low beam rather than high as that is the one that gets most use.

Flip - the switchover from dip to main is instantaneous. I think it's even quicker than switching a halogen bulb! The way it works is the filament is constantly lit and a motor moves the filament forwards and backwards to the different focal lengths for dip and main. I'm happy with both but I think I need to adjust the aim a little as main seems a touch high and I sometimes get flashed on dip.
I could get a small 35W ballast to replace my bulky one but if I'm going to change I might as well upgrade to 50W.

Colebatch - keep me informed.

 

[Nick Marshall]

another question

can you convert a set of piaa 510`s, not sure of the bulb type. btbr will know

 

[Flipfly]

I would choose to improve low beam rather than high as that is the one that gets most use.

Flip - the switchover from dip to main is instantaneous. I think it's even quicker than switching a halogen bulb! The way it works is the filament is constantly lit and a motor moves the filament forwards and backwards to the different focal lengths for dip and main. I'm happy with both but I think I need to adjust the aim a little as main seems a touch high and I sometimes get flashed on dip.
I could get a small 35W ballast to replace my bulky one but if I'm going to change I might as well upgrade to 50W.

Colebatch - keep me informed.

Thanks for that, sounds promising.

To change to 50w is a total change of bulb, ballast etc. Changing the ballast would be just that if sticking with 35w.

 

[Les Wassall]

can you convert a set of piaa 510`s, not sure of the bulb type. btbr will know

Not sure on the convert, it's a H3 bulb, but depends on the depth of the lamp, would have to see one in the flesh