- Aug 20, 2006 3:59:17 pm
HID or high intensity discharge lighting uses Xenon gas thats charged by two electrodes from front to back. HID uses less electricity than a normal halogen bulb, about 35 watts when powered up compared to 55 watts of a normal bulb.
There is some danger of using plug & play systems that manufacturers are not going to make you aware of. Let's focus specifically on the Scion tC.
The stock wiring harness was designed for halogen bulbs only. So what's the problem when HID only uses 35 watts?
When you turn on your HID lights, it takes a lot of power to charge up the gases in the bulb. How much? Twice as much. 13.5 Amps rushed in for about 1 second. This kind of inrush WILL take it toll on your headlight switch built into the tC's internals. Just as others have said, it might not happen a month or a year from now, but it WILL happen and it's expensive and time consuming to fix.
So what to do if you want HID on your tC? It's called a relay switch and to make things simple to explain it bypasses your cars stock wiring to provide the power and draws it straight from the battery instead of through the car's stock circuitry and headlight switch.
A relay switch is really just a heavy duty switch with wires to be a bridge from your cars stock wires to the ballasts of your HID system.
You can make a relay harness yourself for about 15 bucks and some time or you can buy one pre-made off sites like ebay. Make sure the wires you buy for the tC are 9006
There are different color temperatures for HID the lower degrees like 5000k will look plain white like a sheet of paper. Higher temperatures will look more like electricity. 12,000k will look more ultra violet
The headlamp housing for cars like the tC were designed for halogen output. When using HID there will be light scatter and no sharp cutoff unless you're using projectors. It's possible that HID light will be distracting for other drivers. HID plug & play is illegal in the state of California
Here is a resource that will teach you more about what you want to know.
How Stuff Works (HID)
There is some danger of using plug & play systems that manufacturers are not going to make you aware of. Let's focus specifically on the Scion tC.
The stock wiring harness was designed for halogen bulbs only. So what's the problem when HID only uses 35 watts?
When you turn on your HID lights, it takes a lot of power to charge up the gases in the bulb. How much? Twice as much. 13.5 Amps rushed in for about 1 second. This kind of inrush WILL take it toll on your headlight switch built into the tC's internals. Just as others have said, it might not happen a month or a year from now, but it WILL happen and it's expensive and time consuming to fix.
So what to do if you want HID on your tC? It's called a relay switch and to make things simple to explain it bypasses your cars stock wiring to provide the power and draws it straight from the battery instead of through the car's stock circuitry and headlight switch.
A relay switch is really just a heavy duty switch with wires to be a bridge from your cars stock wires to the ballasts of your HID system.
You can make a relay harness yourself for about 15 bucks and some time or you can buy one pre-made off sites like ebay. Make sure the wires you buy for the tC are 9006
There are different color temperatures for HID the lower degrees like 5000k will look plain white like a sheet of paper. Higher temperatures will look more like electricity. 12,000k will look more ultra violet
The headlamp housing for cars like the tC were designed for halogen output. When using HID there will be light scatter and no sharp cutoff unless you're using projectors. It's possible that HID light will be distracting for other drivers. HID plug & play is illegal in the state of California
Here is a resource that will teach you more about what you want to know.
How Stuff Works (HID)
