cheap way to protect your HID Ballasts

[2ndGen]

tools: pliers, scissors, drill(optional),
material: 3.5" x 5" tin box, needs 2, $2.50 each at Michael's art supply. expension foam, ATV silicon(optional)

difficulty rating: -2(caveman will laugh at it)

well, i've been wanting to to HID conversions on my roof mounted PIAA lights for a while and just couldn't find an effective way to protect the ballasts. i have to mount it outside because it operates at high voltage the wire between ballast and bulb needs to be minimum. a trip to the art supply store solved it.

tools:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00142.jpg

first the tin box:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00136.jpg

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00137.jpg

the material is very thin, you can use a pair of scissors to cut 2 holes or use a drill

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00138.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00139.jpg

use the long nosed pliers to clean the sharp edges inside, push the wires through
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00140.jpg

seat it
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00141.jpg


then fill the empty space with some expending isolation foam(Home Depot tools dept.) put the lid on, sit some weight on top. cure it overnight

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00144.jpg

you can put some black ATV silicon for better seal, here is the finished box
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w38/tonniechengca/99%20SR5/IMG00143.jpg

now you can mount it whereever you want, inside or outside.

[4runnerchevy]

well, i've been wanting to to HID conversions on my roof mounted PIAA lights for a while and just couldn't find an effective way to protect the ballasts. i have to mount it outside because it operates at high voltage the wire between ballast and bulb needs to be minimum. a trip to the art supply store solved it.


Couldn't you just lengthen the wires ? Would there be that much wire to notice a voltage drop ? Example you running at 12-14 volts through a wire to a ballast that requires a minimum of 9 volts. I think you could run wire around your truck for couple 100 ft. If your worried about the wire between the lights and ballast, the same type of drop occurs regardless of the amount of voltage. If your worried go to a finer strand, lower guage wire. Are you worried about heat ?, cause the by product of a ballast is heat.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I would rather keep those ballasts in a nice cozy cab.

Otherwise, in a different situation, this whole project sounds like something I would do.

[2ndGen]

i'm not a scientist, but what i heard is that the HID bulbs need very high voltage to be ignited.
from Wiki: "HID headlamp bulbs do not run on low-voltage DC current, so they require a ballast with either an internal or external ignitor. The ballast controls the current to the bulb. When the headlamps are switched on, the ignitor provides rapidly pulsed current at several thousand volts to initiate the arc between the electrodes within the bulb. "

some say the newer ones are up to 20K volts.

[Whitey]

Good idea, BUT, I would really be concerned about heat dissipation.

[2ndGen]

first, i have asked about if the ballast gets hot when operating in a different thread on YT, seems nobody concerned about it.
i'd only turn these lights on at night so no that hot outside anyways. 99.9% of the time these ballasts will be sitting out there under the sun sometimes rain, that's the part i'm worried about. notice these a cheapo chinese ebay $75 shipped to your home HID, not the quaility ones, i really have zero confidience on how well they are sealed. i've done alot of reading on this forum, from the thread "rock slide" posted regarding Hella4000 HID conversion, take a look at this picture:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/Fastluck/HID%20Hella%204000%20Retro/CIMG1186.jpg

all the ballasts were wraped with electrical tape.

at least with my "Tin Box" method, most of the broad side of the ballast is in close contact with metal to dispens the heat, the foam is only on the side keeping them not making rattling noise.

[BruceTS]

Most ballast are completely sealed units... in other words if one fails you can't take it apart and see what went wrong. The components are encapsulated, so water won't be an issue... I've had mine exposed to the elements and have driven through deep water, as of yet haven't had any problems.

[humanoid]

Aren't most or all ballasts sealed in this fashion on the inside?

http://www.mod-express.com/v/vspfiles/photos/mekit-6.jpg

[4runnerchevy]

Aren't most or all ballasts sealed in this fashion on the inside?

http://www.mod-express.com/v/vspfiles/photos/mekit-6.jpg


All the ones I have ever seen. Including household, and industrial lighting. Boy when a ballast blows you will know it.

[2ndGen]

Aren't most or all ballasts sealed in this fashion on the inside?

that's what i heard, but i'm not an expert to say how good these cheapo chinese ones are sealed. i did peel part of the wire between the ballast and bulb to see how big they are. Boy!! the wire is small, i'm guessing AWG18 or 20, and the wrost part is the wire is aluminum, not cooper, that makes me more nervous about the quality of the ballast.