I am having issues with my headlights. My car has been stored for winter. Took it out yesterday and My headlights were removed. During winter I cleared/blackout my headlights. Yesterday I installed switchbacks and resistors. Also added some HID bulbs (Apexcone) 6000k.

I put my headlights back on, everything was working ok. after trying them a few times I got an intermittent issue. With the car off and just turning on the lights sometime the light would turn on, then turn off, then turn back on. Or were on and then shut off by itsel. When I turn off the lights and the turn them back on, they would come back to life. Sometime they would flicker on and off, sometime they would work fine. Both headlights are having the exact same behavior. The switchbacks do not turn on and off and work perfectly.

When I took it out the car the battery was drained. I charged it. When working on the car drained the battery again, charged it again.

I can't test the issue while driving because I go no bumper on (waiting for my grill to be painted ) and no insurance yet .

my troubleshooting:

Not the ballast - both headlights working the same
Not the bulbs - Both headlights working the same I hear the ballast switching on and off
Maybe the battery is not powerful enough ?

Any Help really appreciated. I am kinda of stressed and hope that nothing has been damage during winter ! The headlights and ballast were stored inside at room temperature and are in mint condition.

After searching i found some issue with HID but not the issue I am having so I am still in the dark about what is going on....

Thanks !

 

stop switching HID lights on and off!! they hate that- shortens life substantially
normal life is 2500 hours use and they start to fade- 3000 and its time for replacement

The battery is low right now, a battery charger only brings it up enough to start the car, then the alternator brings it back to fully charged by driving - above 1700 rpm for about 30-45 minutes if the battery is really low

Starting the car takes a lot of juice from the battery- the lights take a lot to start them, then a small amount to keep them running--
`wiki` HID lights to see how it all works together- ballast- capacitor - ignitor- the gasses inside the bulb

New bulbs need about 50-100 hours of use to ~burn in~ and get to full brightness and color stabilized
Drive with them on all the time- its a good habit

Note: In this case of low battery- get the battery full by driving without extra load of lights or ac, THEN start using the new headlights

 

I am not switching the lights on and off, when I turn them on , they turn on and off by themselves. after running for a couple seconds they turn off then turn back on or even stay off.

great info though on the bulbs I was not aware they need to "burn in" for optimal performance.