Does the extra 20W provide any benefit? I'm thinking somehow it helps a lot with the lumens output, but I'm no scientist...lol So that's why I ask you guys...

 

Usually a bulb that has a higher watt output does light up brighter. If a car is designed to only take 35 and you install a 55w bulb I dont know what negative effect it will have. There is bulbs that offer a 35w=55w effect. Meaning it draws 35 but puts out the equivalent of 55.

 

That last statement reminds me of compact flourescent bulbs for the home... They draw somewhere around 30-35, but put out almost 75....

 

55w makes the bulb brighter.

if you have a 6k bulb installed on a 35w ballast, it's gonna be blue but if you have a 6k bulb installed on a 55w ballast, it'll be more of a bright white with a hint of blue.

idk if you get what im saying.. but yeah it'll make the bulbs brighter.

 

Brighter's one thing, but the true test is a gain in lumens....but without the necessary equipment to measure lumens, I guess I'll just leave everything as is...(waiting on my replacement ballasts...they're 35W, from HID Extra...) The ballast on the passenger side's going out and I'm NOT paying 350 for an OE Acura ballast.

 

tonight I had right headlight went off- cycle switch and back on
another 5 minutes and BOTH go off at the same time
flickflickflick NOTHING!!
wait a minute and try again, both on

Later- both on

seems odd for ballast issue to cause that dual failure..unless a surge something,,,
but I'm no hid guru

 

Damn bro. Sounds like you should get some ballasts soon. I ordered mine on Friday of last week. Hopefully they should be here in the next day or two.

 

yeah.. talk about the price of an OEM ballast. i am so thankful the guy i traded headlights with had an extra one laying around and gave me it for free!

turns out a week and a half ago it was raining like crazy.. water got inside my headlight and i turn on my headlights the next morning.. works fine and all of a sudden.. the left side goes completely blank. realized that so much water got inside of the ballast and it triggered the fuse to break. which was good, considering it couldve fried many other things.

 

OEM manufacturers normally go with 35W ballast because they last longer 7-10+ years. The 55W ballast will definitely squeeze out more lumens but the ballast itself will die sooner the average life of a 55W ballast is 5-6 years. If you plan on getting 55W ballast make sure you get 55W 6K bulb or whatever kelvin color you want. If you use a bulb that is meant for 35W ballast on a 55W ballast you're basically killing the life of the bulb.You can get a set of 35W or 55W morimotos from www.theretrofitsource.com for $110 with an 18 month warranty. No disrespect to Hidextra, but I've bought 3 sets of bulbs from them and all have crapped out on me in less than a year. At first I thought it was my ballast that was the problem, my lights would flicker on and off. Finally it got to the point where I was driving down a dark road with NO LIGHTS, literally they would not come back on, I had to ride home with my high beams on. The next day they came on, but never stayed on for more than 5 minutes. Hince why I drive my wifes Altima at night. Anyway, I put the Morimoto bulbs in and let the car run for 40 minutes and not one time did the lights go out. I'm changing the ballast this weekend I figure I might as well do it now so it's one less thing to worry about. I might do a DIY, not sure. Theretrofitsource.com also carries Matsushita, the maker of our OEM ballast and Denso the popular ballast brand for Toyota/Lexus. Google the morimotos on YouTube.

 

Did you ever figure out what was wrong? The same thing has been happening to me. Hopefully I can get it looked at tomorrow.

 

Im guessing its ballast age + lowered car makes extra bumpy ride = time for new ones

 

01tl4tl, my ballasts from HID extra are in, but I think I'm just going to snip off the OE connectors, the t-tap/spade "connection" doesn't seem sturdy at all...plus I'd like to get the OE bulb covers back on...but if I remove the OE ballast, wouldn't that leave a gaping hole at the bottom of the housing and let water in?

 

there is a small drain/vent on the bottem of the housing- for any mositure that gets inside to get out
and to allow a heat escape path for the interior of the housings

you can seal part of it with silicone.. but remember its purpose

 

From what I could see with the headlight mounted, there's a sealed hole where the ignitor comes through the bottom of the headlight housing...if I remove the OE ballast to make room for the replacements and also allow me to put the cap back on the rear of the headlight there'd be a big hole underneath...hope this makes sense...

 

Ended up getting 55W from DDM Tuning. Lifetime warranty on ballasts. I had 3000k bulbs for lows and highs. My fogs are still deep yellow on the 35w ballast but the 55W made my lows a few "hues" lighter....i can still tell they're yellow, but they're not as yellow as they were before.

Anyway, the ballasts went in a few months ago. so far so good.....now, i'm debating on an LED kit for my highs and possibly fogs. they have them in 5000/6000k and they come with a lens that makes them yellow....

 

are you looking to get pulled over?

55 watts in our housing does not give a good pattern and creates glare to oncoming drivers

5000k color is very nice for seeing objects on the road to avoid

3000 Yellow is for actual fog use- no blinding white glare back at you off the water droplets

 

so far no cop has said anything. i've pulled up behind cops, all around them with the yellow low beams (even when the were darker yellow) and nothing happened. i've even been behind cops a lot, as well as "oncoming" when they're going the opposite way.

as far as color is concerned, i'm using the 3000k 35w bulbs till they go. then use the 5000k bulbs that came w/ the ddm kit. i'm still waiting for an LED D2R when they offer them in yellow or white w/ a yellow filter lens cover...

BTW, i'm more concerned now w/ getting my "no name mufflers" replaced w/ OE type since i was cited for loud exhaust in freakin' van nuys....

 

I think you will be much happier with 5000k in the low beams
Actually see things to avoid!

But in real fog now- you win