Changed my Xenon bulbs to 6000k in my OEM Xenon headlights last week and everything seemed fine. However yesterday morning I got a warning that a bulb was out (front left).

So I turned the lights off and on again and it came on, this morning exactly the same thing happened, turned them off and on again and light is ok.

Any ideas what could be causing this.

Cheers

I think Skoda recommend 4000k? Maybe 6000k is to much for the lights to handle?

I think another member fitted 6000k to their OEM xenons and no issues. Would be interested to see as I might fit 6000k to my OEM xenons soon.

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I'd guess at poor quality igniters, presumably your new bulbs came from eBay where quality control isn't always what it should be...

No didnt get them from ebay, they came from rclick. Will poor quality igniters be bad for the car and cause further problems or is it ok to use these bulbs until I can source some better quality ones.

Cheers for the reply

The ignitors are in the ballasts arent they, d2s lamps. The K is just the colour so dont think that will make a difference. Not sure on why your getting the problem though unless a ballast is on the way out?

Yeah, the igniter is in the ballast. I wouldn't think it could be bad for the car, although if the power regulation is poor on the ballast then it might not be good for the bulbs. Bear in mind that it's probably not the bulbs you need replacing so sourcing new bulbs may not fix the problem. Given that they're only a week old and they're from a "proper shop" rather than eBay, I'd be sending them back and refitting my OEM bulbs.

I'd be tempted not to bother to be honest, with the OEM 4300K lights you already have the best in terms of actual light output, I'm not sure why you'd want to retrofit something that's worse?

It's a ballast on the way out, needs replacing if the connection to the bulb is fine or not short circuiting!

Edited 12 January, 201214 yr by Crocket

What exactly does the ballast do, is it just some sort of transformer type thing?

It has a built in ignitor to power up the bulb and it generates the power needed, ups the voltage, i supose kinda like a transformer of sorts.

Pretty sure the ballast boosts the voltage when starting the burners, then levels it out at a much lower, and steadier value after they're lit?

Think they need around 30,000v to start or something? I suppose it's a bit like the starter units in tube lights.

http://askpete-hella.com/2011/07/19/xenon-ballast/

There we go. ^ Seems Rich and I were mostly right.

I've got same problem overtime i put light on, one will come on, one won't then sometimes both don't, sometimes one side goes on and other doesn't then wen i flick again its the other way round. Quite entertaining guessing which ones comin on. But after a few goes they both come on

With mine it's always left side. Noticed tonight that when I switch lights on the left side flickers on then goes off, I turned the switch off and on and it did the same again after 4 or 5 tries both came on. Would this point to the ballast although the fact I recently changed the bulbs makes me think they are the problem.

Search for hella ballasts on ebay, d2s.

Edit: just searched..nothing. I know that vauxhall omega share the same ballast pack though

Ahhhhh interesting.