DDM, HID 55W 8000K or 6000K w/relay harness questions

Even if it ramps it up slower, it still needs 20,000 volts to even start the HID bulb. Not to mention if the ballast fails or something.

That's really what you are protecting against although it would be interesting to hear if anyone has had a ballast fail without a relay and if the stock wiring was fine. I guess it would depend on what kind of failure it was.

 

In the case of not using a relay- the stock wiring is fused, so in theory it should blow the fuse before the wire melts and causes a fire. With that in mind... is the aftermarket relay fused?

 

The ones I've seen are, I think 40 amps.

 

That voltage comes from the ballast. It isn't drawing that from the stock wiring.

 

And where do the ballasts get the power from if not using a relay harness? The stock wiring.

Should there be some short or problem/failure with the ballasts, that can affect your stock wires potentially.

 

If the ballast fails, it's not going to suddenly draw 20kW from your stock wiring, it just won't fire.

 

If it's a black wire, it goes to any good ground/bolt. If it is a thicker red wire, you need to cut that round ring terminal off and replace it with a 0.25 or 1/4 inch push on terminal.

 

No, the terminal in the fuse box is the "battery" in this setup. No need to run a wire to the battery in the trunk.

 

Post a picture of your HID kit. Didn't it come with instructions?

A relay typically has 4 connections. 1) Connect to power source, like the battery. 2) Connect to what you are going to power from the power source. 3) A smaller power source that is switched, AKA the signal wire for the relay's coil. 4) Ground.

 

So it sounds like the red wire in your relay with the ring terminal goes to the battery/fuse box, the other red wire is the one that powers your ballasts.

If you've already connected the red wire without the ring terminal to the fuse box, then you can just cut off the ring terminal on the other red lead and connect that to the ballast power lead instead. It really doesn't matter to the relay which red wire is coming from the fuse box.

 

i gave up on figuring out my ddm wiring harness. this is what i attempted

• the wire with the fuse and a circle hook I connected to the 12v terminal inside the fuse box, inside the cover
• the wire without the fuse and a circle hook connected it to the body/ground to the right of the fuse box
• i could not get a combination of ballast, bulb, stock wiring and ddm harness cables to work for the life of me

in the end, i connected the ballasts/bulbs thru the stock wiring, works fine. may attempt to use harnesses another day.