Anyone else get radio static when turning on the headlights?

intresting. you hear the static only time the lights are turned on right? i have ddm 55w kit in my C and i experience a similar problem but it only happens once in a while. mainly when i first turn the car on and then turn lights on very quickly. i hope it doesnt mean that the hids are taking too much power or something.

 

I have HIDs and don't have it... don't know if that helps though.

 

Make sure the ballasts have good ground connections. Otherwise, one or both ballasts are introducing interference. You could contact XS and see how they respond.

 

the static i get last only like 2 seconds. and its not even that bad.

 

There are a lot of power load demands at startup when everything is initializing. There was a thread on PriusChat where the OP had a problem with the HIDs failing to ignite on some occasions. I might add that he insisted on keeping his headlight switch in the On position, so the ballasts were fighting for the limited and unstable power available right at powering up.

Waiting even 10 seconds before powering on your lights will mitigate your problem.

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yeah i realized that was the problem. now i just start the car on as soon as i get into the car. put my seat belt on then turn the light on.

 

I have the same setup and I do not have the problem.

 

Had my xenon bulb installed just now. I do hear the noise and it takes about 5s to reach the full brightness. Pretty sure my installation is correct.


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When you hear the static, is it only when using the radio? For instance, does using Pandora or bluetooth connection to an iPod still produce a static?

 

Sorry, just realise we are not on the same page. My radio is working fine and the static noise is coming from the ballast.


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That's normal.

 

This is normal for poorly engineered ballasts and uncommon but still possible in even the best "digital" ballasts. In this case they use "digital" as a marketing term, really it is just a PWM'd AC signal like a Class-D audio amp instead of a true sine that a traditional ballast would use, even though the traditional ballast has high frequency PWM signals inside for the boost circuitry.

The architecture of a HID bulb means that to make the plasma you need significantly more energy than to just maintain it. Because of this, most ballasts draw immense currents for the first few seconds and overcharge the bulb to really high voltages with no feedback loop. They assume if they are turned on, the bulb is cold and it needs the full plasma juicing. This is where you hear the noise. In the "old school" ones, the noise is audible outside the vehicle, not just EMI through the speakers. The best slim ballasts like the Denso slims do not have nearly as much noise, but they will always put out lots of interference for that first start up.

Excellent ground points will help, but it is just something that is going to happen especially with the lower end ballasts.

 

Hi toaster, thank you for the explanation. Guess it is just normal then. However, I was expecting a lot better quality from xenon supply than those eBay " lower end" product. The noise does audible even from outside the car and never stop.i Never experience an after market hid before but I hope at least it should be safe.


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You can hear it with the hood closed? That may be more noise than normal. My "lower end" ebay ballasts can't be heard without the hood open.

 

Yes I can hear the noise. When hood is closed. I just notice is still has the shadow problem on the left hand side while right hand side is working fine. Weird.


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Not all bulbs will cause shadowing. It depends on where the rod (sorry, don't know the technical term) runs through the gasses.

 

what ztanos is saying, is that most HID kits have the ground wire return cable on the regular side of the bulb. but for our PC, the return wire needs to be flipped 180 degrees.

DDM kits, from person experience, have the ground wire in the correct location which means no shadow issue.
if you want better kits you can order from The Retrofit Source, email them and ask them for h11B hid bulbs.

 

I have this problem as well on my 2013 Prius persona. I've just installed a set of h11 LED's low beam bulbs from OPT-7. I've purchased the "FluxBeam X LED" headlamps from this site. Did anyone find a fix for this? (Everytime I turn on my headlamps I get a weak signal on am/fm radio and get static sound like an old school analog radio does)