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HID Conversion + questions


ratdude747

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Last weekend I scored most of an Optix Bi-Xenon HID Kitat a Goodwill for $25:



It had everything but the relay harness:



The Amazon invoice stated it was originally for a Hummer H2. Luckily, the H2 uses 9007 bulbs like my Ranger, so it will fit. Also, the bulbs are 5000K, which is the light temperature I was thinking of.

Contacting the original seller to obtain a harness went nowhere, but that's OK. I'm an engineer by trade and an electronics hobbiest on the side, so this isn't anything I can't solve with some custom circuitry.

Here's a crappy schematic of what I plan to do: (edit- it sucks and looks bad, kept for historical reasons only)

http://i64.tinypic.com/2a5j7du.jpg

...And a better one made in AutoCAD:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=21166&stc=1&d=1473973470

The relay and diodes are to deal with the fact that I need the ballasts on whenever the headlights are on, not just the low-beams. I could have tapped into the red/yellow stripe wire at the headlight switch but I wanted to make this as plug-and-play as possible (not counting initial fabrication), mainly in case I ever go someplace where lighting laws exist and are enforced. The fuse is one of the locations on my secondary fuse block I added awhile back to power some of my other stuff (Camper shell LEDs, CB radio, and formerly a power inverter behind the seat)

First, I bought a relay with a mounting tab and made up the control side wires:



The extended heat shrink covers up the diodes which I soldered as part of the wire assembly. I used some 5185n schottky diodes for this, because my electronic component stash isn't readily available and I had some junk phone chargers I could rob for components. If I had my choice I would have used some 1N4007's, which are a super common component that is also dirt cheap and perfect for the application.

As for the rest, I had to make a couple of orders. First, some hi-low style 9007 to 9006 adapters:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321145518686

While the wiring there won't help me directly, I all have to do is cut them in half and I have the pigtails I need. Sadly that seller seems to have a monopoly on these (all listings have the same location listed :rolleyes:) and they ship slow... :annoyed:

Also, I had to order the female equivlant of the shutter solenoid connector. After some research, they're 0.145" Molex connectors, which I bought from digikey:

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/molex-llc/0003066023/WM4353-ND/2421284

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/molex-llc/0002061103/WM1001-ND/26255

They came in today; I confirmed that they're a match.

I don't know the polarity but I'll check before I crimp (in case the solenoid has a diode for snubbing).

Now, finally, here's the questions, and it has to do with housings. Since these are bi-xenon, high/low is controlled by a solenoid driven shutter. I'd think that would mean no projector housing is needed but the information I've found hasn't been consistent. So, that's the first question, will my stock-style lenses work, or will I need to go to a projector housing.

The next question is aesthetics to a degree. If I go with projector housings, I'm thinking of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/93-97-Ford-Ranger-Pick-Up-Chrome-Housing-Clear-Lens-Projector-Headlights-/301853233363?fits=Year:1995|Make:Ford|Model:Ranger&hash=item4647dad0d3:g:8w4AAOSwX~dWoFcv

What I'd like to know is if anybody has done this to a 1995-1997 Ranger and kept stock turn signals. So far, all I've seen is this picture:



Which is as clear as mud. I know I don't like the euro-style tail lights or the euro-style turn signals. I ran the latter on my former '99 Dodge Durango (goodwill score once again), and while they looked fine there, I don't like them as well here. Both look a bit too "ricer" for my tastes. That said, from that not-so-clear picture, it looks just doing the headlights looks viable, but some confirmation would help.

The final question is on Fog lights. The projector housings include a spot for H3 fog lamps, which I included in my schematic for planning purposes (and even if I didn't, I may add some elsewhere). I don't have factory fog lights, so I was planning on running them off the now overpowered low beam circuit. Back with Durango I always used them, so I'm thinking running them without a separate switch... but is that a good idea and/or legal? All I know is most places require them to shut off when the high beams are on. Also, is there anything to gain with amber fog lights, or should I stay with the 5000K the headlights will be running?

Suggestions and advice?
 
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adsm08

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Your schematic appears to have a pair of cock-n-balls drawn on it.
 

Mark_88

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LOL...I got to view the schematic for a second before I was whisked away to a tropical island and my own private sailboat...
 

ratdude747

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Your schematic appears to have a pair of cock-n-balls drawn on it.
:buttkick: That's what I get for quickly sketching something without thinking it through. The connections are still good, just the presentation sucks?

I may try to whip something up in AutoCAD over lunch break... IDK.
 

ratdude747

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:buttkick: That's what I get for quickly sketching something without thinking it through. The connections are still good, just the presentation sucks?

I may try to whip something up in AutoCAD over lunch break... IDK.
Here we go. Look better?
 

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Soledad

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ratdude,

Check out this site for info regarding housing and bi-xenon projectors.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/knowitall/hidprojectors.html/

If I'm reading that site correctly, bi-xenon's have a cutoff shield built in. That cutoff shield is lowered to expose more light for when the high beams are in use.

BUT....even with the cutoff shield in place you would still want to use HID related projectors to help focus the low beam so as to not blind everyone. I would bet, even with a cutoff shield and your Ranger housings, the light will be far more scattered instead of nicely focused on the ground like you'd get with a good set of projectors.
 

ratdude747

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ratdude,

Check out this site for info regarding housing and bi-xenon projectors.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/knowitall/hidprojectors.html/

If I'm reading that site correctly, bi-xenon's have a cutoff shield built in. That cutoff shield is lowered to expose more light for when the high beams are in use.

BUT....even with the cutoff shield in place you would still want to use HID related projectors to help focus the low beam so as to not blind everyone. I would bet, even with a cutoff shield and your Ranger housings, the light will be far more scattered instead of nicely focused on the ground like you'd get with a good set of projectors.
That cutoff shield is the shutter solenoid I speak of in the schematic. I got that part figured out.

Your point is why I am asking... I'll try it knowing that I won't have much night driving between the intial install and when I would get said housings.
 

ratdude747

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Installed them last night. I don't think I blinded anybody (no flashing lights or the like). However, there were a few issues:

-moron here busted the retaining rings for the housings. They still hold the bulbs in but they're a bit loose. I may install projector housings just for that (since they're not that much more expensive than regular housings).

-The adhesive didn't work for the right ballast. I cleaned everything with alcohol swabs but the adhesive didn't want to take hold. For now it's zip tied in but I may see if I can buy/make some better means of ballast mounting.

-My high beam indicator doesn't work. I have a theory though (Warning, electrical engineering jargon ahead). I suspect that the solenoids that shift the bulb (aka cutoff shield) don't have snubber resistors/diodes, as one would assume that the high beam indicator bulb would act as a snubber resistor and most incandescent headlights are switch/relay driven (no transistor or MOSFETs). However, I swapped almost every dash bulb for LEDs, which do not work for snubbing, at least in a working configuration.Thus, when I shut off the high beams, the solenoids, spiked the voltage, frying and shorting the LED element, which is with the LED module's resistors is now acting as a snubber resistor. The test will be to pull the cluster when I get home and look for a fried LED. If so, I think I have spare ones in my truck and if not I'll order more... and to keep that from happening again, I'll solder a snubber diode into the cluster itself.

Otherwise it works great. So far so good.
 
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ratdude747

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Theory confirmed and the problem fixed.

Pulled the cluster, LED was shorted. Added said snubber diode to the cluster:



Taped the exposed solder joint:



This issue could have also been fixed by:

  • Adding a dummy resistor to the high beam circuit (what many do for a different issue with some vehicles with current sensing)
  • Adding a reversed diode as shown, only to the relay harness, not the instrument cluster (what the missing relay harness probably used))
  • Adding a reversed diode to the solenoid in each bulb assembly (as an engineer, what I think would have been the best option out of the box if I were designing the bulb assemblies).

I added the diode to the cluster because I always wanted to make sure the circuit was properly snubbed and since I had it open anyway, it wasn't much effort. If I ever put it back on normal bulbs, it will still work, so no need to chop it down the road.

FYI, this fix did work... No more frying LEDs. If I have time at work tomorrow (lunch break) I'll revise my schematic as I don't want any future viewers BBQing their cluster lights.

Side note- if I wasn't using LEDs in my cluster I don't know if I'd have seen the issue. On one hand, incandescent bulbs are glorified resistors and can be used as a type of snubber (how the dummy resistor idea would have worked). On the other hand, they still may have fried. Let me explain (ignore the rest of this post if you don't care for electrical engineering talk):

The reason snubbers are needed are because inductors resist changes in current, and when one abruptly breaks an inductor's current path, it will raise the voltage momentarily to a value high enough to keep current flowing at the same amperage. Without a snubber, this will be high enough to make switch gaps spark (aka how a points ignition works) and fry silicon. My LED didn't stand a chance as when I shut off high beams, the solenoids would have tried to keep the current needed to make them actuate at 12V flowing in the opposite polarity as normal (as it's now a loop, not two parallel branches). That requires a voltage high enough to either spark the switch or blow (and short) the LED, and the latter wins as it's lower. A light bulb faces a different issue. It can handle the reverse current, but having a higher resistance than the two solenoids, would result in a higher peak spike voltage, which may cook the bulb over time (depends on bulb quality and the like).

I'll also note that I prefer diodes to resistors for this sort of snubbing application as resistor snubbers always draw current, while snubber diodes only draw when they're actually snubbing (or if some bozo connects it backwards, which in some cases is a real concern).
 

ratdude747

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Did some reasearch... apparently nobody makes projector housings for the 1995 ranger. The ones I found don't count as the projector is for the fog lights, not the headlights.

I ended up getting another TYC stock housing as the left is a TYC and working well. My right used to be a TYC which didn't work out as well (leaked, destroyed during an attempted fix) which was replaced with a sh!tty Eagle Eyes POS that has a different light pattern. Somewhere I have old OE ones that are busted (otherwise I'd try buffing/coating them).
 

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