Bad Ballast or Bad Bulb?
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2009 C300 Sport 4Matic, 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
Bad Ballast or Bad Bulb?
Hi guys, I got the DDM Tuning 5000k 55w kit the other day, and I had Autowerks in Northbrook, IL install it for me. After leaving their parking lot, I drove to a building next door and was checking the beam pattern, when I noticed that the driver's side light was yellow. So I turned the lights off, turned them back on, and noticed that they are both white/bluish when I turn the lights on, then after about 30 seconds, one of the bulbs turns yellow and it's pretty obvious that the color is different.
I called DDM and the guy won't advance me a bulb replacement, so now I have to mail them to him, then wait to have them mailed back again. He said it could be a bad bulb, or a bad ballast. Guess my question is, is he right? I would assume it's the bulb. Also, if I do have to end up doing this shipping back and forth, can you put halogen bulbs back in now that it's wired for the HID lights? I'm almost considering just buying another pair of HID bulbs and save the hassle of the back and forth shipping, since the guy at Autowerks said he'd put in new bulbs for me whenever. Any help is appreciated.
I called DDM and the guy won't advance me a bulb replacement, so now I have to mail them to him, then wait to have them mailed back again. He said it could be a bad bulb, or a bad ballast. Guess my question is, is he right? I would assume it's the bulb. Also, if I do have to end up doing this shipping back and forth, can you put halogen bulbs back in now that it's wired for the HID lights? I'm almost considering just buying another pair of HID bulbs and save the hassle of the back and forth shipping, since the guy at Autowerks said he'd put in new bulbs for me whenever. Any help is appreciated.
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2009 C300 Sport 4Matic, 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
To clarify, the guy at DDM said I need to troubleshoot myself to figure out if it's a bad ballast or a bad bulb, but I have no idea how to do that. Can I just take the bulbs out of the left and right side and switch them?
Last edited by killacam7479; Aug 30, 2010 at 11:11 AM. Reason: Added photo.
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From: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
15 E200CGI SPORT
From the way DDM is treating you, I don't think they'll be able to earn any of my money. What sort of customer service are they providing to ask customers to check what the fault is? Try switching the bulbs and see what happens. That's the only solution I can think of.
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From: San Francisco
C300
^ What Glyn suggested is a good way of trouble shooting.
I doubt its a ballast issue but you never know, judging from the picture it doesn't look like they gave you the correct bulb. The right side looks like 6000k and the left looks more like 4300k (more daylight-ish coloration)
Check the wires on the actual bulb itself (or even the black housing holding the bulb) and you may see the kelvin. If my guess is right, the wiring on your bulb is blue/red and should have a white tag on it saying the Kelvin (5000k/6000k/4300k) It not you can check the housing if its etched in somewhere.
I doubt its a ballast issue but you never know, judging from the picture it doesn't look like they gave you the correct bulb. The right side looks like 6000k and the left looks more like 4300k (more daylight-ish coloration)
Check the wires on the actual bulb itself (or even the black housing holding the bulb) and you may see the kelvin. If my guess is right, the wiring on your bulb is blue/red and should have a white tag on it saying the Kelvin (5000k/6000k/4300k) It not you can check the housing if its etched in somewhere.
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From: MD
'09 C350
wow wat a ****ty *** place, that left one is definitely a 4300k (STOCK HID)..... that's ****ty man, sorry to hear, but if u want i can show u this place i got my HID from they legit and it's cheap 40 bucks for a pair, http://www.sonictuning.com/top/d1s-6...ment-bulb.html
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2009 C300 Sport 4Matic, 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
Hi, just wanted to provide you with an update to those who responded (thanks for that by the way). I e-mailed DDM, and they said they'd do a bulb replacement, I just need to show them a picture of my bulbs with the wires cut so they know I'm not just trying to get a free pair of bulbs. Once they have that picture, they will ship me new bulbs.
Funny thing is, last night, on the way home, the color on both of the bulbs seemed to stabilize, and they now match?! It's really weird, but I think the white/blue bulb I had on the right side has gone down in color temperature, and is now closer to the white/yellow one. The guy at the shop who installed it did say that with a 55w kit, the temperature of the bulb will be about 1,000k lower than what I purchased, so my 5,000k will look more like 4,000k, which I guess is about right.
Funny thing is, last night, on the way home, the color on both of the bulbs seemed to stabilize, and they now match?! It's really weird, but I think the white/blue bulb I had on the right side has gone down in color temperature, and is now closer to the white/yellow one. The guy at the shop who installed it did say that with a 55w kit, the temperature of the bulb will be about 1,000k lower than what I purchased, so my 5,000k will look more like 4,000k, which I guess is about right.
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