kmancoupe230

hey guys,

i havent posted in a while busy working and doing some other stuff, but i recently realized that my D2S socket has melted. i have an 02 coupe with 05 oem bix and i was wondering what / how i can go about repairing this or replacing the part that has melted.


Thanks alot!!

pcy

did you change the bulbs with a highter wattage (from 35W to 55W) bulbs?
Please take a picture and post it here. It's difficult to suggest without understanding the extent of the damage to the socket.

kmancoupe230

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...6/DSC00348.jpg
its the red part that is damaged. i took the headlight out today to see if i can take out the black box its connected to but it seems like you have to remove the entire headlight housing just to take out that one part any suggestions on how or what i should do?

thats just a picture i found on google so disregard that as being from my car

fookoo303

You can buy a replacement d2s harness if your ballast has AMP connectors, if it doesn't then you might have to buy a new ballast.

kmancoupe230

i dont think that harness is easily removable it seems like the entire housing has to come apart any suggestions or anyone every done such a thing? its the OEM bix by MB for the C230 Coupe

fookoo303

oh yours is an oem one. thats gonna be hard. You may just wanna buy a new set of ballasts. They are really cheap now if you get an aftermarket one.

slammer111

This is just an idea, but if you're good at soldering, I have an extra plug (red part in your photo with the 2 wires attached) from an old igniter, collecting dust in my drawer.

If you want it, pay for shipping and it's yours.

To swap, you'd have to remove your headlight, open the hatch, snip the 2 wires close to the red connector, strip the wires, then join them.

samaritrey

I think i have one somewhere to that you could have let me know and i will look for it. have not seen it in like a year lol.

fookoo303

yea what they are saying is a possibility but keep in mind that about 20,000 volts of electricity is flowing through those wires. Although I havent learned the exact safety issues for this particular problem in school yet, i don't think its a safe idea if you dont properly insulate that wire with that amount of voltage.

I am an electrical engineering student. Maybe someone who works in the industry might be able to give you a better answer but thats just my two cents.

slammer111

^ You're right about insulating, but that's what epoxy is for. Regular Home Depot epoxy is an excellent electrical insulator. So is electrical tape. With that said, it would be prudent to do this part properly. If I were to do it, I'd do a few layers of epoxy, followed by a layer of electrical tape.

It'll be a high voltage, but the amperage is actually quite low (think back to your Ohm's Law and electrical formulas). So the risk of melting is really small. If I wasn't willing to do that in my own car, I wouldn't have suggested it. Also it's in an enclosed area. If it were to short.. you'd blow the fuse. Your car wouldn't catch on fire.

Engineer over here too.

kmancoupe230

That sounds like it could work I'll send a pm sometime
Today thanks again and I guess there isn't a way to
Remove the harness and replace it so this is the next best thing

fookoo303

haha ok cool. I got a question though, what happens if the ac current arcs into the dc flow thats in the rest of the body?

slammer111

I haven't done any research into the wave shape for a HID igniter/ballast. Always thought it was DC (goes up to the arc V then maintains enough V for the bulb to stay on, so something like ___^----) but what do I know. But for this argument it's irrelevant.

The electricity in the juice is physically shielded from the rest of the car, so I'm not sure what you mean? Headlights are on a separate circuit. Anything that causes too much juice to flow and you'd just blow the fuse for the headlights.

If you're talking about shorting, it's similar to if you removed the bulb and tried flipping the headlights. yes you get a mini-arc, I tried it once (and just once, you'll melt the connector if you keep going). Since air is a natural insulator, there was basically some resistance as well. I've never tried touching the wires together before though (ie starting the system with 0 resistance), so don't blame me if you create a vortex that sucks in your car, your house, and your family.

Kman, send me a shipping address and I'll calculate the cost. It shouldn't be too much (I'd imagine <$20 if not <$15 but don't quote me on that), I'll just send via regular Canada Post. Also, just a disclaimer. I don't think anything would happen based on my understanding of electrical circuitry, but I'm not responsible if it ends up frying your car. The good news is that your igniter is basically toast anyways, so even if it fries, you'd be no worse off than before. Is that cool?

fookoo303

It just doesn't seem like a safe idea to me.If it shorts, you put 20000V or higher arcing against metal inside the headlight, might risk melting the wire harness for the entire assembly.
The wires in the rest of the car are only designed to handle 12-15V so wouldn't a sudden surge of 20000V do some damage to them?

And for 25 bucks you can buy an entire new HID ballast with bulbs from DDM tuning.