HID 50 watt, any interest ?

I am looking at importing some 50 watt HIDs from the factory in China ... strictly speaking, these are for "off road" use only ... in the same way that headlamp guards are not strictly legal for road use.

There are a couple of assorted forums around the place where people have upgraded from 35w HIDs to 50w and have found the difference to be startling. Thats saying something, as the 35 watt HIDs are pretty impressive to begin with.

See http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1120749&postcount=10
or this other forum (the guy is talking about handheld HID spotlights),... http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1059051.html

So I thought I would suck it and see for myself. Only problem is the only place I can find them in the UK is at here ... http://www.h-i-d.co.uk/products1.shtml (see System 2 ... the "racing / off road" kit ) and they want £285 a pair.

So instead I went straight to the chinese factories that make 50 watt HIDs... turns out I can get a pair, and freight them much cheaper than that ....

So if anyone is interested, I am still just getting all the information together, but if you want to give the 50 watt HIDs a go (reportedly 4500-5500 lumens - not just twice as bright as halogens, but 3 times). They should end up costing about (dont hold me to this) £65 per bulb / ballast combo.

Can you ever have enough light?

I may be interested depending on spec/price.
Cheers.

Colebatch,

Dig the location, Comrade!

Bin

Possibly.

Paid £80 for a 35w dual headlight kit at the Dirt Bike Show yesterday.

Would be interested to see what difference the 50w makes as I thought the brightness was purely down to the bulb's Kelvin rating (mine are 6,000k, equates to daylight with a hint of blue). Very happy with them at that price.

Thanks to Scud & his mate (El?L?) who showed me their bikes & how to fit them.

Possu said:

Would be interested to see what difference the 50w makes as I thought the brightness was purely down to the bulb's Kelvin rating

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Kelvin refers to the colour of the light, not how bright it is.

Possu said:

Paid £80 for a 35w dual headlight kit at the Dirt Bike Show yesterday.

Would be interested to see what difference the 50w makes as I thought the brightness was purely down to the bulb's Kelvin rating (mine are 6,000k, equates to daylight with a hint of blue). Very happy with them at that price.

Thanks to Scud & his mate (El?L?) who showed me their bikes & how to fit them.

Click to expand...

Pleasure!!!
Note: when you come to fit the main beam, I found it easier to remove the light unit out the front, as my fingers are waaaaaay too fat to fiddle with it in place.
Also, with that set of HIDs, I didn't need to remove the grommet, but cut a hole in the bulb holder big enough to get the bulb through, then glued the grommet to the bulb holder, blocking up the hole.

if that makes sense!!!

Fitted mine the same evening, ran in to a couple of minor issues:

1: Ballasts were slightly too big to slide down inside of the tank, relocated them undr the beak.

2: Could not get the bulb in to the main beam light? Had to file the rear of the light out by 0.5mm either side.

3:#2 above meant light removal. On refitting, I stripped the plastic threaded adjuster behind the dip beam light , leaving the lights pointing upwards. Made an ally bracket this afternoon, all worked until the hex end of the adjuster came off in my hand. This meant partially stripping the light cluster out again to re-fit the hex adjuster, at this point I lost the little bracket that flips through 90 degrees. Took up the slack with a 6mm nut.

Everything works fine, easy for me to fit the main beam bulb with the light in place once the rea had been filed. Main beam is awesome, just need some final adjustments to increase the throw of dip & then pull main back a little.

Some HID kits have extension leads available, may look in to this as an extra 15cm will allow me to locate the ballasts beneath the tank where the ABS pumps would normally go.

Possu said:

Fitted mine the same evening, ran in to a couple of minor issues:

1: Ballasts were slightly too big to slide down inside of the tank, relocated them undr the beak.

2: Could not get the bulb in to the main beam light? Had to file the rear of the light out by 0.5mm either side.

3:#2 above meant light removal. On refitting, I stripped the plastic threaded adjuster behind the dip beam light , leaving the lights pointing upwards. Made an ally bracket this afternoon, all worked until the hex end of the adjuster came off in my hand. This meant partially stripping the light cluster out again to re-fit the hex adjuster, at this point I lost the little bracket that flips through 90 degrees. Took up the slack with a 6mm nut.

Everything works fine, easy for me to fit the main beam bulb with the light in place once the rea had been filed. Main beam is awesome, just need some final adjustments to increase the throw of dip & then pull main back a little.

Some HID kits have extension leads available, may look in to this as an extra 15cm will allow me to locate the ballasts beneath the tank where the ABS pumps would normally go.

Click to expand...

1. because I've already got the one down the side of my tank, I stuck the ballast box under the beak as well.

2. I was REALLY concerned that the bulb wasn't going in the main beam as well, but once I'd got the light out, it did go in, with a bit of a scrape. just!! (I almost rang L to say we should take the things back!!)

3. Bummer. Thank God for WD40. I knew my adjuster was buggered so I WD40'd it well in advance and let it soak. I did forget to pop the adjuster back in first time though. It was amusing seeing the reflection on road signs so brightly!!! hehehe

But they are AWESOME LIGHTS... my Hella FF50s look like victorian gas lamps now!!

HID's

Let me know.

I followed a Range Rover with HIDs home tonight and the difference was amazing even under street lights so I'm certainly interested but I'm not keen on fitting them myself.

Anyone in Scotland able to fit them for me, for a consideration, of course?

update

For those that are interested, I will place my order with my Chinese friends next week. Its a bit hard to say exactly how much they are going to cost as I dont know if customs are going to want to add anything onto this when they arrive in the UK.

Just to alleviate any possible confusion, I am not "selling" these, just pooling a group of buyers together to make the bank fees / freight charges acceptable ... so obviously there is no service / warranty or anything else like that. Its all a big suck it and see.

As I see it, the maximum cost for a PAIR of 50 watt ballasts and 50 watt bulbs is going to be £130, and should be less. I will be able to calculate the final amount when they are landed and in my hands. I am only able to get them as a pair, so anyone wanting a single kit will have to split it with someone else. The kits can be picked up from central London or mailed out. Fitting too is really the issue of the buyer. I am no electrical wizard and use a bike sparky. Its all a case of Caveat Emptor.

Looking into this further, it seems light output from HID bulbs is consistent per watt. With a 21w HID putting out 1850 lumens and a 35w HID putting out 3200, it follows that a 50w HID will put out about 4500 lumens (a standard 55w H7 bulb puts out 1400 lumens of light).

If that is still all acceptable and you are happy to jump in and take the plunge, then let me know on this thread before Sunday night (26th):
(1) what bulb fitting you need (i.e. H1, H7 etc)
(2) what colour - light temperature (4300k, 5000k, 6000k, 8000k)

There is always a lively discussion about light temperature but the reality is this:
- Midday sunlight is typically between 5400 and 5800K depending on your latitude.
- TV and film lighting are typically HMI lights. HMI lights are a form of HID lighting that operate at specifically 5600K - as that represents white light.
- camera flash operates at 5500 - 5600K... again as that is "white" light.
- The lowest standard lighting temp used in photography is 5000K

Basically it all means white light is that which is between 5000 and 6000K. If you want your HID lights to be "white", you have a choice: 5000K or 6000K.

5000K light will give you slightly more lumens than the 6000K. The human eye is more sensitive to yellow light (lower temperature) so the lower colour temperature 5000K offers more contrast than 6000K. Thus for most people, erring on the lower side of the 5600K white benchmark is probably the better option.

Personally I dont recommend anything lower than 5000K (4100-4300K is OEM and often the colour of OEM HIDs can look washed out. Above 6000K sees the light take on a blueish purplish tinge and reduces contrast.

For those people who are too nervous to take a punt on Colebatch's fine offer, I've juist had an email from HDS4U who are offering a pair of bulbs, ballasts etc for £260 delivered inc vat with everything you need (save brackets/cable ties) with a 2 year warranty and dealar backup.

It is double the price and only 35w but you do get 100% peace of mind and fitting help. My heart says buy with Colebatch but my head says HIDS4U. Heads wins if only because I'm not quite ready to go (stainetune exhaust on the way!)

Sent you a PM

In praise of HIDS4U

In praise of HIDS4U ........... top quality service and product aswell as discount for members of this site. I paid £198:98 for mine delivered to the door and that was for both lights. The light is awesome, full stop, period.

I got my main done for £40. Same result from ebay. Oh well as long as the result is good.

Yes please. 5000k H7. Trust I'm not too late. Would appreciate some help understanding this, the pair of bulbs and pair of ballasts replace the standard bulbs in the standard bike's main/dip light housing???

hopalong said:

Yes please. 5000k H7. Trust I'm not too late. Would appreciate some help understanding this, the pair of bulbs and pair of ballasts replace the standard bulbs in the standard bike's main/dip light housing???

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Sorry mate ... order had already gone out ... But as Flipfly has mentioned, you can get a pair of normal 35 watt HIDs for around 80 quid plus postage on ebay ... check with him for more details on those. Or HIDs4U will do you a 35 watt set for about £200 quid online.

I might be able to get some more 50 watters in January.

Yes what you need are a pair of ballasts and a pair of H7 fitment burners ... they then replaces the 2 H7 bulbs currently residing in the headlamp unit, being the dipped and main beam bulbs

also consider the HID's from here instead.

http://trailtech.net/store/lights.html


very cheap VERY bright and a self contained ballast.
best ones ive seen so far.

scrubs said:

also consider the HID's from here instead.

http://trailtech.net/store/lights.html


very cheap VERY bright and a self contained ballast.
best ones ive seen so far.

Click to expand...

Those HIDs seem very low output ... 500 lumens and 1850 lumens?
35 watt HIDs put out 3000-3500 lumens.

I have read somewhere else that the Trail Tech HIDs are only 21 watt... that would be consistent with the 1850 lumen light ... though oddly they claim 30 watts..... 30 watts + HID + 1850 lumens doesn't seem to add up.