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Headlight Conversion Kit Question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by george2r, Jan 25, 2014.

  1. george2r

    george2r New Member

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    Hello everyone,

    I'm looking for some help from the experts. After doing some research to figure out what type of bulbs my vehicle needs, I came upon this kit:

    Well I can't post the link, but if you search this on Amazon you will get the page:

    "
    HID Xenon Headlight Conversion Kit by Kensun, H11, 8000K - 2 Year Warranty

    "

    I chose H11 in the Size category and 8000K in Color category. However, Amazon is telling me that they are not compatible with 2010 Toyota Prius. I don't understand why, because I thought H11 was the right Size. Am I missing something?

    -G
     
  2. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Yes, H11 is the right size for the Prius. The Kensun kits have some negative reviews though.

    SCH-I535
     
  3. george2r

    george2r New Member

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    thanks for your reply. I was wanting to get HIDs but what brand would you recommend if not Kensun
     
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    The one's from DDM tuning are mentioned frequently on this forum. Someone just installed the OPT7 kit off Amazon and was positive about it.

    SCH-I535
     
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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  6. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    And a review from someone who has both OPT7 and Kensun kits:

    "OPT7 55w 5000K HID KIT vs. KENSUN 35w 4300 HID KIT
    By Emma C. Peters - November 8, 2013
    Amazon Verified Purchase
    I have TWO 2007 Camrys. I also bought the Kensun 35W HID Kit in 4,300K. The wiring and ballast are a little better on these OPT7. The OPT7 55w are significantly brighter. The Kensun are brighter than Sylvania Ultrastar Halogen bulbs, and are slightly less offensive to other drivers than these OPT7. The OPT7 are only $10 more than Kensun. I haven't had anyone flash their lights at me. I personally can see better with the OPT7, but the Kensun are a no brainer compared to any Halogen bulb.

    When comparing temperature ratings of Sylvania halogens and 55w OPT7.. the OPT7 were cooler. At first I got the 6000K OPT7, but they have a slight blue tint, so I returned them for something less obviously offensive to others. Side Note: The blue tint range of a 6K-10K HID bulb will be less apparent in a 55w versus a 35w HID, because the higher wattage will push the light wave to a more accurate color.

    Another Side Note: Most HEADLAMP HOUSINGS in 2013 are designed for 'halogen light bulbs' by automobile engineers. But, I'm lucky... in my stock camry projector headlamps.. they don't disperse light at bad angles.. just at a brighter amount. But, be careful if your trying to buy aftermarket headlamp housings alongside HID bulbs, such as CCFL Halo or LED Halo HEADLAMP Housings. They have a shorter bulb socket to allow for the LED's, and regular HID bulbs won't fit inside a lot of them. The HID's fit my stock headlamps, but the HID's did not fit a set of euro-styled aftermarket LED headlamps that I ordered.

    UPDATE 1/16/2014: 1 Ballast went out. I ordered an entirely new set, and returned the bad ballast in the 2nd set. I did not see any warranty information to call, or email w/ the 2 year warranty that they provide (as advertised on their ebay store).

    Please click 'Yes' if this was helpful.
    13 of 16 people found this review helpful"



    SCH-I535
     
    Alexx likes this.
  7. c4

    c4 Active Member

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    I've installed a pile of different HID kits for myself and for others over the years and what I've found is that without exception, *ALL* of the aftermarket HID retrofit bulbs (the only exceptions are the D1/D2 style bulbs) have capsules that are misaligned vs. the OEM filament halogen bulbs they are meant to replace.. In other words, if you take the HID bulb and line it up side-by-side with the halogen bulb, the capsule where the arc forms and the filament are not in the same place.

    Depending on the car and the headlight design, this misalignment may or may not make a big difference to the light output.. For example, on the 2001 Classic, the reflectors tended to be pretty tolerant of pretty much anything you put in there, and I had both the bi-xenon (HID for low beam and halogen for high) and the high-low electromagnetic (solenoid would move the bulb back and forth to roughly correspond with the two different filament positions on a halogen bulb), and although there was misalignment, I still ended up with a net increase of light-on-the-road vs. halogen, but with projector-type systems, in particular the H11 style, I've gone through a dozen suppliers of both inexpensive and so-called "premium" HID H11 bulbs and they all have their capsule about 4mm too high.. Again, this doesn't sound like much of a difference but with the projector-beam lenses, putting the light source right at the focal point of the lens is critical to light output.. This is also likely why the poster above needed to go to 55W ballasts when in reality, a properly focused 35W system is already much brighter than the stock halogen.. I recently put in a set of 35W H11 retrofits into my Prius C, and with the misaligned H11 HIDs, at close range (ie, against my garage door), the pattern looked OK- fuzzier than the halogens, but still "within spec" as far as the position, etc, but on the road, they were incredibly dim, and I originally put it down to a change in kit supplier by the local tuner shop (no particular brand name- pretty generic kits with the full-sized metal boxed ballasts- it was just more convenient to purchase locally than to do a lot of mail order), but then I took out the bulbs and checked the alignment and there was a 4mm difference in capsule vs. filament position.. I originally though to return them and get the 55W kit instead to get more light on the road, which would probably have worked, but then I decided to try to modify the bulbs instead, and it turned out to be quite easy..

    Basically, you take a needle, a seam ripper or some other fine instrument and carefully dig out the glue or sealant from around the base of the bulb (if you manage to get it just right, it pretty much all comes out as a solid ring of dried sealant because whatever they use, it's heat resistant, but doesn't stick particularly well to quartz or fibreglass-filled plastic (which is what the base is made of). Then you cut the shrink wrap from the base of the bulb and using the same tool, carefully dig out the sealant from the little wells on either side of the base where the wires from the bulb are soldered to the external power leads.. Once you get enough of the sealant out, you can usually get a pair of needlenose pliers into the well and fish out the ends of the wires which are twisted and soldered together. You could unsolder the leads, but I find that if you just untwist the wires, the solder will just come apart on its own. Do this for both leads, then gently squeeze the wire ends to straighten out the twists and then you can carefully pull out both the power leads and also separate the bulb from the base.. If you capsule was too high, then you'll need to take a drill and make the base deeper- I just took an appropriate sized bit and twisted it by hand, cleaning out the plastic shavings and inserting the bulb back in and comparing with the halogen bulb until I got the filament and capsule aligned exactly.. To get a perfect fit, you will also have to break a short chunk off the ceramic insulator, which was the most nervewracking operation the first time I did this, because I was afraid of shattering the insulator into a million pieces, but in fact, it is pretty safe- just take a pair of pliers and crunch off the end of the insulator.. The bulb is then glued back into the base with high temp RTV, the power leads soldered back and then sealed into the base and a fresh shrink tube installed.. I'm actually in the middle of altering a new set of H11 bulbs for a friend so I'll post some photos of the operation when I'm done, but by simply aligning the capsule with where the filament of the OEM bulb was, the light output was dramatically improved, and the pattern became much sharper, and you don't need a 55W system- the 35W system is perfectly good, as long as your bulbs are aligned properly with the focal point of your headlights..
     
  8. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    ^ Interesting in theory, but I'd bet that damn near nobody cares enough to do that.
    Even with misaligned bulbs, the output is still better than halogen.

    8000K is gonna be really blue and you're going to have your output suffer, especially in inclement weather.
    I just switched from 6000K to 4300K (OEM HID color) and the difference is significant. 6000K is the bluest I'd personally run, the output is still better than halogen and not so blue that it washes out. 5000K or 4300K are the best options for output.
     
  9. c4

    c4 Active Member

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    I honestly wouldn't go any higher than 5000k... The kits all tend to come with standard 6000k bulbs, but I have been buying 4300k and 5000k replacement bulbs. 6000k sounds good on paper and actually is a nice white light with good color rendering, but on wet roads, it just blends in and does not give the needed color contrast for good illumination and visibility.
     
  10. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    Yeah, that was my desire. 4300K matches the street lights more closely, so it can be hard to differentiate, but it's still worlds better than 6000K. I ran 6000K for years for the appearance, but I'm over it. You do still get some purple and blue flicker at the cutoff, so it does look nice.
     
  11. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    I have 6000k HIDs now and like them, but when they need replacing, I'm going for 5000k.

    4300k or 5000k will have more actual lumens of output, with 4300k being the brightest (although looking a bit on the yellow side):

    3000K Golden Yellow (3000 Lumens)
    4300K Warm White (3200 Lumens)
    5000K Pure White (3000 Lumens)
    6000K Tinge of Blue (2800 Lumens)
     
  12. george2r

    george2r New Member

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    Hey everyone, I appreciate all your inputs. I will go ahead and grab the 5000k 35W H11. and C4, thank you for that detailed info :)