| Author | Message | ||
     Mikef5000 |
Anyone know if the wiring between the ballast/ignitor and the HID bulb is anything fancy? I want to cut the original wiring and solder it back together. Will I have any problems? It's not shielded or polorized or anything crazy like that is it? I thought it was heavier guage wiring, but it says right on it 22 AWG, which is nothing! Reason I want to cut it is because it came from the factory with the large weatherproof connectors on it, and I want to feed the wire through a tiny hole in the housing. I don't want to have to drill a hole large enough for the connectors to fit, so I was going to cut it in half, feed it through, then re-solder and tape it up. Kind of like this guy:  Thanks! | ||
| Jont |
The best option would be to push the pins out of the connector and fish em through the small hole then reinstall em. The wires carry a fairly high voltage similar to a spark plug wire and I wouldn't cut a spark plug wire. If you do cut the wires make sure to heavily insulate the spot or you may get some arcing. | ||
| Mbest |
Hey Mike, My first thought would also be to release the pins from the housings, snake them thru the hole and then re-assemble. Might be easier to just make the hole larger and then use a rubber grommet to fill the hole and provide for easy R+R of a failed bulb. Also no voiding of your bulbs warranty with splices. But, if you must, In your picture, the smaller gauge, brown and black wires that go to the two connector plug are standard 12 volts for your solenoid on the back of the bulb that changes from high to low beam. cutting, soldering and std heat shrink for these would be fine. The larger red and black Power wires for the bulb carry voltages in the thousands for the arc start of your HID bulb. They have a very high dielectric (High voltage Insulation) silicone cover rather than regular rubber, pvc or vinyl insulation. So crimp on connectors and black tape are out. They do make heat shrink tubing with a very high voltage ratings. if you can get some at your local electronics store, you can cut, resolder and then use it for reassembly. You MAY, MAYBE, MIGHT, be OK with the std heat shrink if you put a few layers on. Another tip would be to "stagger" the splices so that they are not right along side of each other after you put things back together, and put a dab of RTV silicone inside each open end of your heat shrink tubing before you shrink it for a touch more insulation and weather resistance. mike | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Thousands of volts eh? Maybe I'll go another route, and leave the wires in tact. Thanks! |
