Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Entwood]

HIDs are not usually fitted as main beam lights as they take a finite time to reach full brightness ....  watch a hid light start ... its pink for a moment then white .... and constant cycling soon knackers them ... so the "normal" is for HID dipped beam and a filament type bulb .. halogen or xenon as the "switchable" main beam.

Some expensive cars have dual HID's  but the main beam is "ON" all the time, it is controlled by a shutter in the projector instead.

[Andy B]

I think there's always confusion between HID's, Xenon's and halogen lights.
As far as I know, HID's are just aftermarket things, some are awful, some are great. No Omega came from the factroy with HID's. They came with Xenon's. It depends what you want to do, fit Xenon headlights (i.e like the factroy put in) or aftermarket HID's? I guess if you want HID's from ebay etc etc, then no headlight washers and manual adjustment would be fine. If you want Xenon, like the faclift CDX's and Elite's you need headlight washers and levelling motors on the headlights. No car manufacturer I know of calls Xenon headlights HID's.

Sorry mate ... way off !!!!

Okies what are HIDS/Xenons/halogens etc etc etc...

On the omega over time there have been basically 3 types of lights. First 2 are FILAMENT lights .. ie .. bulbs, they were fittd to "normal" type headlights - those with reflectors - and also to "projector" headlights .. those with the round glass ball.

Filament lights produce light by a wire glowing white hot, the hotter it gets the more light it produces .... but the wire (filament) tends to burn out ... so they fill the glass with an inert gas ... either xenon or halogen to stop the oxidisation ... hence the names .. halogens and xenons .. its the GAS they are reffering to !!

HIDs are High Intensity Discharge lights ... there are no filaments in the bulbs .. the light is produced by striking an arc .. think welding arc or lightning .. its the electricity jumping the gap that produces the initial light ... this energy then causes a gas to "flouresce" ..think strip lights .. flourescent ??    ....   the gas used is ... XENON ..

So we have xenon HIDs as well as xenon bulbs, and halogen bulbs ...

HIDs are ONLY fitted to "projector" lights and can easily be spotted by the big "high voltage" warnings on the lights .... the high voltage is needed to strike the arc.

so ...  we can have

Halogen filled bulbs in a reflector light
xenon filled bulbs in a reflector light
halogen filled bulbs in a projector light
xenon filled bulbs in a projector light
xenon filled HID Lamp in a projector light

and all have been fitted to Omegas as standard.

HTH

Well explained but the "only fitted to projectors"  is incorrect. I have projectors with standard non-HID bulbs.

He didn't say that projectors were only fitted with HID's, just that HID's are only fitted into projectors     

[Entwood]

..................


Well explained but the "only fitted to projectors"  is incorrect. I have projectors with standard non-HID bulbs.

Yup ... projectors with bulbs in ... as I said      either halogen or xenon but not HIDs


projectors can have either ... but AFAIK, as standard, HID lamps were never fitted into reflector lights.

[Turk]

Ah, right I miss read it....er, I mean YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT CLEAR ENOUGH !! 

[joshwyatt]

I must apologise for being confused. I alway thought I understood the difference, but I clearly don't...I was wrong. I always thought there were two types, you have halogen bulbs, or you have Xenon's. I got confused by the fact people call them different things. I do know, that from Vauxahll literature, they are not called Hid's, they are called Xenon's. That's it, the same with the L322 Range Rover. You have Xenon headlights, not HID's. And I've only seen HID's advertised as an aftermakret thing, you can retro fit them...not ever from the factory. I know it's infuriating when someone thinks there right, and they're not...so I do aplogise. However, if someone can find me in official car literature from a manufacturer, that a car has HID's not Xenon's that would make me eat my hat 

[Turk]

You should see how many sellers on Fleabay list H1,H4 etc as Xenon HID Upgrade. 
I mailed one to ask whether they were HID's or Xenon H1 bulbs, to which they replied that they were direct replacement Xenon H1's, but did they change the misleading description ?  Did they heck !!

[Turk]

...anyhoo, now that we've cleared that up, can someone perleeease answer my posting from half a mile back up this thread:
Some very clean Hella's (std not HID'S) on Fleabay. Lenses and projectors are clear, no misting etc.
Any opinions on them ?
Cheers me deers

[Selseybill]

self levelling suspension is nothing to do with the hid system. For instance self levelling suspension is fitted to Elites only. However hid lights are fitted to cdx's as well on some face lifts, or whatever. No self levelling suspension fitted on those models.

Self level suspension sensor is fitted drivers side of the diff.

Hid level sensors are fitted to drivers side front and rear suspension arms on the pass side. These operate the motors in the headlight and actuate very quickly when asked.

I would think, that without sensors on the suspension arms, the head light motors would be stuck in their lowest position as they would have no input to know what hight to set to? (This happens when a sensor brakes on a fully fitted hid system, and gives the"head light field of vision" warning on the display, the lights then default to lowest setting). If that is the case i wonder if their is enough adjustment in the headlight to give an mot pass as the lights may be permanently set too low. Unless their is a way of fixing the motor at a higher position of course?

Hids are a marked improvement over projectors. No experience of night breaker bulbs though. Hth

Agree with all that but on the woo there is no sensors anywhere on the front suspension or rear or any of the the parts fitted to them.I have checked the wiring loom and the only adjustment to the lights are 2 screws to set the height and angle and the switch on the dash.

The bulbs are HID as we had one that stopped working i took it out and couldn't work out what the funny looking bulb was,so i took it to the main dealers and it turned out to be a faulty ballest pack.When you turn the lights on,they flash extra bright for about 2-3 seconds.
The cars a late 99 model so did the law(auto adjustment & washers) come it to affect after that date,
if so is this how Daewoo fitted these lights without the other bits.
The lights have not been converted as we bought the car brand new and is to standard spec.
I would like to know because am totally confused now 
P.s
I have Nightbreakers fitted to my Mig and they are a great improvement over normal bulbs.

[Selseybill]

...anyhoo, now that we've cleared that up, can someone perleeease answer my posting from half a mile back up this thread:
Some very clean Hella's (std not HID'S) on Fleabay. Lenses and projectors are clear, no misting etc.
Any opinions on them ?
Cheers me deers

IIRc Hella are standard Vx fitment lights.Don't understand what you mean projectors are clear?projector lens are IIRC are not clear but slightly misty looking  if you know what i mean 

[Turk]

...anyhoo, now that we've cleared that up, can someone perleeease answer my posting from half a mile back up this thread:
Some very clean Hella's (std not HID'S) on Fleabay. Lenses and projectors are clear, no misting etc.
Any opinions on them ?
Cheers me deers

IIRc Hella are standard Vx fitment lights.Don't understand what you mean projectors are clear?projector lens are IIRC are not clear but slightly misty looking  if you know what i mean 

Hella...std VX  :-?  I doubt it. 

As for the "slightly misty", yes most do end up like that, but are clear when new. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

So they won't plug straight in then ? 

Nope, considered it for mine. The main problem i have fitting them is the lack of washer system.

We have a 3.0 Elite with HIDs and its amazing the difference washing them does to the light output. They are affected by road dirt much more than standard lights, hence washers are a legal requirement (on paper) but i see why they are needed.

It put me off putting them on mine, i stuck nightbreaker bulbs in and they bring it very close to HID output

Tunie, as said before....this is cobblers.

The light output from a HID is reduced in the same way as that from an incandescent lamp with the same percentage reduction.

So....if a HID has an output of 165 and an incandescent an output of 55 (which is about right) then a 50% reduction in light output will give 82 on the HID and 22 on the incandescent. Clearly the amount of light reaching the road is stil more than the incandescent!

Hence....the 'unsafe' arguement is floored.

So, my personal take on it.

There are legal issues but, in reality, the uk setup from an MOT or even a police perspective is not in line with this new(ish) technology so its not possible in reality for much to happen.

They do improve output significantly and the projector light setup on Omegas is very well suited to them (dont even consider using them in the non projector type).

My only minor concern is how well the plastics last when exposed to the higher levels of UV that HID's emmit.

[cruisetopoland]

...anyhoo, now that we've cleared that up, can someone perleeease answer my posting from half a mile back up this thread:
Some very clean Hella's (std not HID'S) on Fleabay. Lenses and projectors are clear, no misting etc.
Any opinions on them ?
Cheers me deers

IIRc Hella are standard Vx fitment lights.Don't understand what you mean projectors are clear?projector lens are IIRC are not clear but slightly misty looking  if you know what i mean 

Hella...std VX  :-?  I doubt it. 

As for the "slightly misty", yes most do end up like that, but are clear when new. 

Hella is stamped on my 2.2 headlights and on the previous set I removed with knackered adjusters.

IMO projectors are usually hopeless-even my new set with 4x upgrade +90% bulbs, correctly adjusted are no match for the clear lens multi-reflector types on the hatchbacks I use.

My glass projector "balls" are clean and clear too.

[tunnie]

the HID light has much less 'throw' than the Halogen which reaches further, and does not have the edge cut off style of the HID. So dirt has a greater affect, on low beam, just going on what i have seen driving both kinds on the same run.

Driving along at night on a mucky motorway, HID output quickly drops, and is no better than Nightbreakers and at points i could not have seen a difference between the two. Both cars are roughly the same age, and lenses about the same also

[cruisetopoland]

the HID light has much less 'throw' than the Halogen which reaches further, and does not have the edge cut off style of the HID. So dirt has a greater affect, on low beam, just going on what i have seen driving both kinds on the same run.

Driving along at night on a mucky motorway, HID output quickly drops, and is no better than Nightbreakers and at points i could not have seen a difference between the two. Both cars are roughly the same age, and lenses about the same also

Is this due to higher heat baking the dirt on the Xenon lenses?  I thought this way why washers were a legal requirement.

[tunnie]

the HID light has much less 'throw' than the Halogen which reaches further, and does not have the edge cut off style of the HID. So dirt has a greater affect, on low beam, just going on what i have seen driving both kinds on the same run.

Driving along at night on a mucky motorway, HID output quickly drops, and is no better than Nightbreakers and at points i could not have seen a difference between the two. Both cars are roughly the same age, and lenses about the same also

Is this due to higher heat baking the dirt on the Xenon lenses?  I thought this way why washers were a legal requirement.

Not sure, i think because the light thrown by the HID is shorter, but more powerful, dirt has a greater affect at the low beam. I was all for fitting HIDs until i drove the Elite Estate for a week.... they are better, but not by much!

Even just comming out down the road, quick blast and light output is up again, for me, they are no better unless you fit the washers