got HIDs but i have a Q

got HID's but i have a Q

well i got HID's for my car. they are 5000k and light up white. i love the amount of light that they put out but just got curious cuz i saw something a few days ago online and i'm hoping some one on here knows something about it.

what determines the color of the HID, is it the bulb or the ballast/ignitor setup? cuz if its the bulb and i have a 5000k bulb, can i get a different bluer bulb and use it?

for pix of my HID's go to my site www.moonshadowmadness.com and then go to the pictures section. btw i just got done doing the site so its not all there yet.

If I am not mistaken, HID's or High Intensity Discharge lamps, their color is determined by the type of gas inside the glass. The electrical current that is passing through the filament reacts with the gas particles around it. I work for an electrical company and that is how HID lamps work in road/parking lot/warehouse settings. FYI. My 2 cents or whatever.

that helps, now if only i can get a conformation on this, i mean i'm not gonna change my bulbs but there may be an oppotrunity arising where my friend is gonna order new H4 bulbs for his accord cuz he hot new headlamps and the one he has now are 9006 6500K ones, i'd rather have the blue but got the white cuz the whole kit was like 150 bux cheaper. than the 6000k

The 5000K, 6000K, etc. markings indicate the bulb's color temperature. While it may be caused by the type of gas or volume of gas in the bulb itself, it is pointless since every package indicates exactly what color the bulb outputs. For example, a stock bulb on our cars may be putting out around 3600K, which is a yellowish light. Then you can move up to a Sylvania Silver Star, which is 4100K, which is slightly whiter, but still has the yellow hue. Then you get into 5000K-5100K, which gives a crisp white light. At around 6000K, you get a blueish light, and anything higher you will get the purplish light. I'm sure you're not too interested in what kind of gases are used, you just want to know what color you will get. Output colors go from yellow, to white, to blue, to purple as you move higher on the Ks.

EDIT: In response to your question, it should be absolutely fine to just replace the bulbs. The best thing is to buy replacement bulbs from the same manufacturer, but with a higher K rating if you are looking to get a blue or purple color. The physical properties of the Xenon gases don't change, so they should maintain the same ignition temperature. The only difference will be the output color. Also, DO NOT be confused by bulbs that offer HID type light or are branded with Xenon gases. Just because a bulb is filled with Xenon gas doesn't mean anything whatsoever. You need to make sure you get REAL HID replacement bulbs.

no that is not the question, the question is that is he color determined by the bulb or by the balast so say if i were to put on 7000k bulbs on my balast, will i damage it cuz the balast came with 5000k bulbs the color gradient i already know, that is not my concern, its rather that what controls he color, or the burning temp.

lets say hypothetically, there is a gas, lets call it X and it will burn at any temp range, meaning from the halogen scale to the HID scale.

now the color is determined buy how brightly it is burning and that is determined by the balast so if the balast is for 5000k it will only burn at 5000k, if the balast is 6000k then only 6000k and so on. that is what i'm getting at, is it the bulb that burns different colors or is there just xenon in every bulb not a mixture and the balast determines how white or blue does the bulb burn cuz i know on the "HID Type" bulbs its a tint they put on the bulb along with gas adatives to give it more of a whiteish hue.

yeah the higher the "k" or kelvin rating, the more white/blue it isthe light is. Basically if you have a 6500k rating on your bulb, its like taking a piece of metal and heating it up to 6500 degrees, the color the metal will glow, will be the color of the bulb. So if you want more blue, from what I can tell in my literature here @ work, the highest kelvin rating that is offered a 7500.

i already have that established but the question still stands, is the Kelvin dependent on the balast or the bulb, does the balast put out a universal current no matter what K bulb you use of does the balast need to be changed with the bulb in order to provide the higher Kelvin

do u know if the wattage of the bulb is changing, cause if not, then i dont think it should matter. like i said, i dont deal with this application in cars, but im assuming that the principles should be the same. Sorry for being redundant.

no no, actually you are being quite helpful. as for the wattage, all HID blubs for automotive applications are 35 watts so i'm assuming its just the bulb, and the place where i bought the kit form (www.proxenon.com) sells individual balasts as being universal for retrofit conversions so i'm pretty sure by that, that the balast has nothing to do with it, but it sares me to try cuz either i'll loose the balast (200 in the hole) or i'll fry his bulb (120 in the hole) so i was just wondering if anyone knew more about this than i do know after my limited searching. for some odd reason every time you search HID on any search engine, you get all these "look alike bulbs"

strange, make sure u post pics, i am interested to see how the new color looks on the car. 8)

lol if it ever happens i will post pix but right now i got white. they look like the GS 300/430 color also the is300 color, very white. the lighting is unbelievable :twisted:

Kelvin or light temperature (color) is dependant on the bulb (capsule) and the mixture of gas and/or tint that is on the outside of the capsule. Lumen (output) is another matter. You'll get the best output with a 5000k (or less) capsule (or the most amount of usable light). You can check on HID forum.com for this opinion and there will be dozens that agree with my opinion. Any capsules touting better output (lumens) above 5000k are FULL OF CRAP. It is well known that the human eye has difficulty with shorter wavelengths (i.e. purple light) and that's why a higher Kelvin rating on a capsule does not necessarily mean better. If you're after the "purple" look then knock yourself silly with the 7000k capsules. What you'll lose is road-going visibility.

I would contact "LiteSwap" - Eric Wong on HID Forum... I think he's the most knowledgable and best person to deal with. He'll be able to tell you more about Kelvin, Lumens, and where/what kind of capsules are best for your system.

ummm you guys are all wrong.. Acutally the optimal kelvin rating for a HID bulb is 4300K .. thats the ones you see in the LExus's Mercedes BMWs' .. etc etc.... the reason they look purple at angles (ie the S2000 HID's or hte Acura 3.2L's is casue of the housing its in . THey use projector housings and the light reflecting off the crystal produces the nice purple/ blue hues. .but tehy are acutally 4300K bulbs that give off pure white light. . The aftermarket HIDs that are rated 5000K and above acutally give off less lumens.. so the higher the kelvin rating hte less light you are putting out.. So I wouldnt recommend anything over 5000K

um the IS300, GS300, GS430, LS430, ES300, Acura 3.2 TL, 3.2 CL Lincoln Navigator, Aviator all dont have any projectors yet the light is white or bluish. it has very little to do with the projectors. the projector setup will only provide you with a sharper cutoff so that there is less glare beaming down on the other drivers on the road. i'm not really concerned with my color as much as i am with the amount of light being outputted to the ground as i drive. this being the primary concern cuz you just gottta try leaving campus to go home (40 min drive with no storm) and try making that with a shit load of snow just crapping every where. been in more than my fair share of factory equipped and retrofitted HID equipped vehicles, not my own but family and friends and i have to say the lighting factor is what made me buy it, not what the jerk in front of me thinks of my car's look with them in there. the main reason i posted this Q is cuz i had the opportunity to get these bulbs for free and i would love to grab them if possible but wall not be doing that.

that is what i was leaning toward, the color of the HID is somewhat determined by the kelvin it is. i got the 5000k cuz of the lumens. not the color look. as far as the color goes, mine is as white as a GS 430 if you ever look at the lights of it when its clean. i just wanted a bluish tint but am not really obsessed with that. eventually i plan on doing a HID projector retrofit into the OEM housing to get teh better spread and the sharper cutoff but till then what i got is fine.

Hey 2003C-RollaCE where did you get the HID kit?How much was it?

Thanks