Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: duggs on 01 January 2011, 16:27:18
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Ok...got both my dipped (domed) HID's working at long last...well sort of.
Renewed the bulbs AND ballast units and they work...well after about 5/10 mins of the engine running, they do. Obviously both Ballast packs had discharged, I know this because I didn't go bang when I touched them PLUS they hadn't been plugged in to a power source for yonks.
Any idea why they take 5/10 mins to come on. I should mention, that after 5/10 mins, I have to switch the lights completely off and then on again...then they work.
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I have discovered that the xenon lights have a control box, part number is 90 565 931, but I can't remember where on the car it's located...
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I have discovered that the xenon lights have a control box, part number is 90 565 931, but I can't remember where on the car it's located...
ECU is behind offside wheel liner towards front
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i would have thought that the internal electrics would have a capacitor which will give the increased voltage to 'strike' the lamp, this would need to be fully charged for it to work correctly
if the capacitor has become discharged it would need to fully charge for it to work properly
basically its like a battery that stores electric, then delivers a burst of a higher voltage than normal
so i think that either your capacitors are not charged fully, or they are not recieving a voltage to charge them,more than likely not charged fully, they can take quite some time to recharge fully if they have fallen below 75% thats if they are not fubared
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Both interesting replies thank you. I read that the ballast packs can be "discharged and recharged".
As both have been without power for a while I'm wondering if this is the case.
Right now when switched on they flash briefly then go out. 5 mins later, they'll either come on, on their own or I get them on by switching lights off then on again.
Control box is an interesting one though !
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sounds very much like the ballasts/capacitors are not charged up enough to strike the lamp first time after some charging they eventually do strike :y the turning off and then on causing the lamp to strike has me flumoxed at moment cos they shouldnt be doing both - either there is enough charge or there isnt :-?
and i would like to know what the ecu does aswell :-?
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I have discovered that the xenon lights have a control box, part number is 90 565 931, but I can't remember where on the car it's located...
Thats for the levelling, sod all to do with the actual lighting :y
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As both have been without power for a while I'm wondering if this is the case.
The ballasts that I sold to you were removed from a car that had been standing for several months before it came into my possession, so I would assume the ballasts were discharged at that point.
When I got the car home I put a new battery on it just to see what was working and what was not.
The lights came straight on with no issues and remained lit for at least 15-30 minutes until I turned them back off.
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Gotcha... Been out a few times today with the same results.
Give them 5 mins. and with a quick off/on, on they come. When I stop, they will straight away switch on and off as requested BUT from a stop of 5 mins or longer...no chance. Back to the 5 mins "warm up" again.
How odd is that ?
I have no doubt that the ballasts and light you sold me work a treat. Mine was playing up before and it's still doing so but at least after the 5 min. warm up period I've got both lights working now.
It just seems that upon first time of trying there simply isn't enough oompth to "light them up" at first but over the next 5 mins "something" happens to get them started.
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Sounds like just long enough for a faulty light switch/ignition switch/fuse holder to overheat.
I can't see both ballasts misbehaving together.
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Tis strange huh. BUT sure as bob, 5 mins after switching them on, they appear...every bleedin time.
SOMETIMES on their own, other times after a quick of/on from the switch.
Drivin' me soddin nuts.
Got an option to pick up 2 complete light units, including bulbs from a breakers off of a 2002, I assume they'll "plug and play" into my 2000 BUT don't really want to pay out more money as I suspect the result will be the same.
Phoned an "auto electrician" also who said "he'll need to look at it". Might be the way to go I guess.
Jeeeeez.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmm ! I wonder. Just read this on a site.
"HID randomly shut off on their own."
Inside of the HID ballast, there is a micro chip which is used to detect whether there is any potential problem. Any potential problems such as surges, voltage spikes, power shortage and even extremely high heat will trigger the self-protect and shut the ballast off temporarily. It takes approx. 3 minutes for the micro chip to reset. After a minimum of 3 minutes, please turn off the HIDs and wait approx. 3 to 5 minutes before use.
Inspection Procedure: Please check the car battery. Check all connections between the bulb, ballast, & igniter. Check the vehicle battery terminal.
Wonder if my battery isn't performing as well as I think ? Practically identical to how my HID's are behaving.
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Battery, alternator, problems with relays etc..
Start with the easy stuff first though (I can't recall your other threads so apologies if I'm covering old ground):
Do the battery cables get warm in use (indicating high resistance)?
What's the voltage of the battery with no load?
Voltage when the engine is running at idle, and off idle?
Voltage available at the lamp plug?
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Thank you....If these ballasts do indeed have micro chips detecting problems with power then everything kinda "fits" to the problems I'm experiancing.
Will investigate accordingly.