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My HID failure at startup


alaskajoel

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I thought this had been covered, but I couldn't find it anywhere...

I've got the 35watt ddm hid kit, and love everything about it except one thing: when i first start the car if my headlights are on, one bulb is guaranteed to not turn on... If i keep the headlights off while cranking and then turn them on, it's a 50% chance that one won't turn on. It's kind of frustrating, but i've dealt with it for a while.

 

Then later i'm out with some buddies, and a friend of mine has a WRX with a KDW hid kit, and he doesn't have any cranking problems. Is the ddm kit just 'cheap' and I need to buy a different brand, or is there some other electrical issue i'm having? New battery perhaps?

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it's a typical problem with guys on the board, but it's really not the kit's fault as i understand: hids just draw more power on startup than the oem circuit can provide, so a harness is required for suitable operation.

 

i've had my ddms for a good while now, and early on had no issues, even without the harness (ghetto install just to get them in). then after a couple of weeks, every now and then, i began to notice one or the other wouldn't fire up on the first click over. since i've installed the harness, i've had ideal operation.

 

my ddms came with a free battery harness and a free lifetime warranty on all components; definitely a bargain, but from what i can gauge of performance, the feel/appearance of the product material, and seeing tons of great feedback, i wouldn't classify them as cheap at all. oliver is on point, too, with customer service from what i've seen.

the kdw kit was actually less expensive last i saw, and i think the feedback i've seen for them is also mostly good.

best luck with the fix.

 

*edit, just saw you had the harness in! i would make sure all the contacts of it are good, and check the fuse in it*

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I'm having the same problem, I have the harness and the DRL disabled too. It happens on and off, usually with the pass. side but it has happened with the drivers side too. Any Ideas ? Also, Oliver is great, I waited a bit to get them but found out it was the supplier and not Oliver.

Fat people are hard to kidnap!!!

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Same problem here. Make sure you always turn off your lights before turning off your car. Even if I forget to do it once, the next time I turn on my HIDs, the passenger side may not light up. Also, some people (I'm one of them now) believe the ballasts are negatively effected by heat, so make sure they are mounted as far away from major heat sources as possible.

 

mine are mounted: http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2022554&postcount=254

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Mine do that if I turn them on before starting the car, one will almost always not turn on. Just don't turn your headlights on without starting your car first. It's not that big of a deal. Mine turn on every time when the car is running.
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This is a little off-topic, but another DDM question. Can you use one battery harness for two kits (low and fogs), or do you need two harnesses? Just trying to figure out what to order...I can get it cheaper through ddmtuning.com if I don't need two harnesses....harni?...and I'm pretty clueless about the HID thing. Thanks....
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I got the same prob, i'm thinking my battery is slipping away. But this was a perfect chance to talk the wife into a 55watt kit......muuhaha, it's in the mail! please let me know if the new battery helps, and i will tell you if the new kit helps(and how much cooler it is than the 40% inferior 35watt kits...haahha, sorry couldn't help it;)

but seriously i hope the new batt helps.....optima here i come:spin:!

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Same problem, its not the bulbs, i swapped mine and same side does not come on, i have the battery cable installed, im gonna swap the ballast and see if it helped, if not thats crappy ballast batch, i bought it around the same time as everyone here, good thing they have lifr time warranty.
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In all honesty we're dealing here with the well-known "you get what you pay for".

These aftermarket HIDs are good for the most part, but quality control isn't the best. How else do you think these complete kits are half the price of a pair of just the HID bulbs manufactured by OSRAM or Philips ...

Sometimes you'll get ballasts that will fail to ignite the bulb properly, sometimes you'll get non-matching color temperature bulbs.

DDM is probably just as good as the other ones, if it's not a relay issue it's most likely the ballast. Contact your seller for a replacement.

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^ thats why I took mine out. The ignitor or ballast on one side went bad. I didnt have time to troubleshoot this crap every time its that time of the month for it so I just took them out and went back to factory.
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
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yup, the ddm/apexcone kits are very cheep and affordable, along with that comes not a great quality product. I have the same issues with these the pass side never wanted to turn on, until I turn the heads on/off 2-3 times. I used to have mcclouch hids NEVER did i have this issue but then again they did cost about $280 instead $100. But for the price you cant ask for more.
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Slim ballast designs whatever the brand are pickier with voltage variations. That's why we provide the battery harness for free.

 

Our Xtreme kits that use Japanese and German parts only don't do that and will last longer. But they are more expensive too.

 

Oliver

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