Author Topic: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting  (Read 1495 times)
Fluorescent05
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Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « on: September 01, 2019, 04:22:25 PM » Author: Fluorescent05
When I apply 12 volts to my XMH car headlight conversion kits, the lamps refuse to strike. The ignitor just pulses without an arc being struck.
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Medved
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #1 on: September 01, 2019, 04:38:26 PM » Author: Medved
It could be a bad ignitor coil or lamp side cable (insulation defect)...
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Fluorescent05
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #2 on: September 01, 2019, 06:15:30 PM » Author: Fluorescent05
It could be a bad ignitor coil or lamp side cable (insulation defect)...
Both lights don't start.
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tolivac
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #3 on: September 02, 2019, 01:11:50 AM » Author: tolivac
Measure the "primary" voltage on the ballasts to be sure its at least 12VDC.Maybe there is a voltage drop across any added wiring.
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Medved
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #4 on: September 02, 2019, 03:20:52 AM » Author: Medved
Measure the "primary" voltage on the ballasts to be sure its at least 12VDC.Maybe there is a voltage drop across any added wiring.

All "12V" automitive electronic is supposed to be designed to run from 8..16V range (some car makers specify up to 18V as "normal range") with full performance, the HIDs are usually designed to operate from down to 6V with some performance reduction.

But you may check, whether the clicking you think is the ignitor is really the ignitor and not the converter (12V-> -400VDC) attempting to start and failing due to weak power supply (the ballasts need at least 10A capable source to operate, so reasonable size batteries use to be OK, but bench top power supplies not).
It could be, when charging the secondary capacitor, the input voltage drops below the minimum input limit (uses to be in the 3..6V range) and so the ballast shuts down. You wont register this by a multimeter, because the undervoltage is too short in time (few 100 us)...
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Fluorescent05
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #5 on: September 02, 2019, 10:56:58 AM » Author: Fluorescent05
All "12V" automitive electronic is supposed to be designed to run from 8..16V range (some car makers specify up to 18V as "normal range") with full performance, the HIDs are usually designed to operate from down to 6V with some performance reduction.

But you may check, whether the clicking you think is the ignitor is really the ignitor and not the converter (12V-> -400VDC) attempting to start and failing due to weak power supply (the ballasts need at least 10A capable source to operate, so reasonable size batteries use to be OK, but bench top power supplies not).
It could be, when charging the secondary capacitor, the input voltage drops below the minimum input limit (uses to be in the 3..6V range) and so the ballast shuts down. You wont register this by a multimeter, because the undervoltage is too short in time (few 100 us)...
I was using a bank of 8 D batteries to make 12 volts and power the light. Do I need a car battery?
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tolivac
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #6 on: September 03, 2019, 12:54:42 AM » Author: tolivac
Try running the lights from a car battery or a 12V power supply.The D batteries may have too much voltage drop when trying to run the lights.Do you have a meter to measure the voltage?
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Medved
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #7 on: September 03, 2019, 01:21:20 AM » Author: Medved
It also could be the holder you are using adds way too much series resistance (problem with the common black plastic battery holders - there all the current has to flow through just the spring wire, no real interconnection straps there, so they are good up to 1A, not more).
The best from that is to use the car battery, or some alarm or UPS SLA.
The bench top power supply would have to be rated for at least 10A, lower current limit may prevent the thing from starting up.
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Fluorescent05
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Re: Xenon metal halide car headlight kits not starting « Reply #8 on: September 03, 2019, 07:57:32 AM » Author: Fluorescent05
Try running the lights from a car battery or a 12V power supply.The D batteries may have too much voltage drop when trying to run the lights.Do you have a meter to measure the voltage?
Yes. I will try that.
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