Adding HID Bulbs To Your Vehicle
by Anthony Williams on April 07, 2020
Most vehicles on the road today use halogen headlights. These bulbs rely on a metal filament encased in a pocket of halogen gas to produce light. While these bulbs have been the standard for decades, other headlight bulb options have emerged that produce more light and last longer, like HID Bulbs.
HID bulbs are designed to use an arc of glowing plasma to produce light instead of a metal filament. The arc chamber of an HID bulb has tungsten electrodes on both sides and is filled with a noble gas and a metal halide salt. In order to create the initial arc, these bulbs require a special ignitor.
The ignitor produces a high voltage pulse as high as 25,000 volts for just a fraction of a second. This massive pulse of electricity ionizes the gas in the chamber and the trail of ionized gas acts as a wire to conduct a stable arc between the two electrodes. As the arc stabilizes, the metal halide salt in the chamber begins to vaporize, lowering the resistance within the chamber.
Once a stable arc has been created, the ballast system takes control. The purpose of the ballast is to make sure the bulbs are receiving the proper voltage for their given level of resistance. This helps to ensure that the bulbs warm up quickly and do not overheat.
If you want to swap out your headlight bulbs for HID bulbs, you will need to purchase an HID conversion kit, which includes the ballasts you will need to hook up your new bulbs. You can install HID bulbs in virtually any vehicle with halogen headlight bulbs. However, it is important to note that these bulbs are a better fit for projector-style headlights since these housings have a cutoff shield that helps to focus the beam pattern and prevent blinding oncoming traffic.
The color temperature of your headlight bulbs is measured using the Kelvin scale. The color itself is determined by the levels of salt in the bulb. Arc chambers with high levels of halide salt will produce a more blue-white light around 6000K, while chambers with little salt will produce a 3000K yellowish light. Over time, the electrodes in your bulbs will begin to spread and the color temperature will increase. If you notice your bulbs becoming slightly bluer, it might be a sign that they are in need of replacement. Luckily, these bulbs last over twice as long as standard halogen headlight bulbs.
If you are considering upgrading from OEM halogen bulbs to bright and powerful HID bulbs, you can find high-quality bulbs at Diode Dynamics. Diode Dynamics is an American automotive lighting company that is dedicated to engineering high-quality headlight bulbs, lighting accents, and powerful off-road lighting solutions. You can learn more about their products by visiting their website http://www.DiodeDynamics.com. If you have any questions about their products, you can direct them to [email protected]. Their friendly team is always happy to help!