ddm HID firing problem

[Phillip Carter]

I bought DDM tunings 55w kit 5000 and installed them back in the summer. Also bought and installed the wire harness for them. Haven't had any issues til recently. Lately its been taking anywhere from 5-20 tries to get them to fire. I checked ground connections and power wire. All seem fine. Not sure what to do. I'm thinking its from the cold weather but I read some hit or miss posts about the harness. Is there anything else I should check, relay, harness itself, ballasts? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[candurin]

Did you contact DDM? Sounds like you need to replace the ballast.

 

You may also want to consider adding a capacitor.

[Phillip Carter]

I haven't called yet. I will have to on my lunch this afternoon. Ill postwhat they say

 

How would you add a capacitor for the headlights?

[Phillip Carter]

I called ddm. The lady said with the 2013 edge I could be one of the few where its not getting enough power. She suggested installing a 1500 farad capacitor.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Seems to be quite large. I have heard of Dingo installing a 10F capacitor (http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/11316-help-with-trs-hid-wire-harness/page-2).

 

So DDM wants you to solve this by yourself, I guess because it is a 55W kit?

[Phillip Carter]

Yeah, I mean she didn't seem like she wanted to help me anyway other than telling me to try installing a cap. So does this go between the stock headlight harness and the ddm wire harness?

[badgb21]

Hi

I think I just spoke to the same person! Not exactly helpful.

One of my lights doesn't fire up if starting from auto position on the light switch. I can solve it by turning the switch to off, then switch them on again.

 

She said I 'might' need a capacitor; Micro Farad 1500 and to wire it between the power and the ground, Lord knows where?

I have their wiring harness fitted.

 

Does anyone have some specifics on what/where to buy this capacitor and exactly how to fit it?

Shame DDM don't have it.

 

Thanks

Kev

[12Edge]

The capacitor goes between the ballast and the +12V power supply.

 

Mouser electronics is usually a good source for electronic components at fair prices.

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Components/Capacitors

 

HidExtra sells them for $10. That looks like that is a pair:

http://www.hidextra.com/capacitor/

[badgb21]

12 Edge - thanks for the link.

I have just spoken with HID Extra and will give their Capacitors a go. They are confident they will solve my problem.

What a difference to DDM !

 

I will post up how it goes.

 

Kev

[Phillip Carter]

Im going to give that HIDextra a call in the morning. thanks for the link 12Edge. i hope this fixes the problem, otherwise im lost.

has anyone ordered a HID kit from HIIDextra? they are practically the same price as DDM. good reviews.

[12Edge]

When I bought my OPT7 kit from Burkemotopros on eBay the customer service link and email in pay-pal was to HIDextra so they are apparently one and the same company. I am happy with my kit!

 

Edit: I should point out that via eBay and burkemotopros the warranty is 2 years instead of one and the kit was all inclusive. Relay harness and capacitors. I noted on the HidExtra site you could add them as an option for more cost.

Edited December 4, 2013 by 12Edge

[Phillip Carter]

Well my wife said it took her 10 minutes to get the lights to fire last night at work. So this morning I took out everything and put the stock halogens in. What a difference! I'd like to just replace everything with a better brand. I see most recommend morimoto. Any others beside HIDextra?

[Phillip Carter]

So I ordered a set of TRS morimotos. I called and spoke to someone who seemed very knowledgeable. He says they suggested using the stand alone canbus harness. That's what I ordered. I hope it works. If not they said they would ship me the wire harness out for free with a return label for the canbus harnesses. They shipped friday morning, hopefully monday, but tomorrow woulde be great if they came...

[candurin]

You'll be very happy with the support and service (and the kit!) from TRS.

 

Phillip, where are you located? Are you in Canada or CA? Just trying to determine if you have a DRL enabled Edge.

[Phillip Carter]

I'm in Illinois. No DRLs.

[badgb21]

Well I fitted the Capacitors from HID Extra today and so far so good.

The service is great, they arrived in just a few days.

They are easy to fit with good instructions.

I have started and stopped the engine a few times today running errands and both lights fired up each time with the light switch on auto.

 

What I have learnt through this whole HID process is don't take anything for granted, so I will be checking both lights are on, during very dull days and nothing else has been affected for a while yet!

But so far so good.

 

Let's see how it goes.

 

Kev

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Edge - thanks for the link.

I have just spoken with HID Extra and will give their Capacitors a go. They are confident they will solve my problem.

What a difference to DDM !

 

I will post up how it goes.

 

Kev

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Do these units state their capacitance? The image on the website is too small to decipher.

[12Edge]

Do these units state their capacitance? The image on the website is too small to decipher.

Mine are completely wrapped in heat-shrink. They didn't have a sticker like the one they show in the photo. badgb21 may have better luck reading his.

 

If you want a non-precise measurement..... it was about as big around as my....... thumb

Edited December 10, 2013 by 12Edge

[badgb21]

Mine are covered in heat shrink and no sticker either. Nothing on invoice or instructions that states capacitance.

 

You could try calling HD Extra, they might advise

 

Kev

[Edgieguy]

Ive had the same problem with my DDM 55W 5000's. I sent back the ballast which they tested and then sent me a bill for. I installed these the fall of 2010 and they worked perfectly until the spring of 2013, then PFFFT! No amount of on / offing would get them to fire. I've never had a problem with a set of DDM HIDs in the past but this had made up for it I guess.

 

 

EDIT: Just bought these to see if it will help.

 

https://www.hidextra.com/capacitor/

Edited December 14, 2013 by Edgieguy

[badgb21]

Well, this morning I started the car in garage with lights set to auto and one of the lights didn't fire up - same as before.

Seems the problem was cured for about 10 starts with the caps' in place and has now come back.

 

This was the case when I very first fitted the HID lights - ok for about 10-20 times then one would not fire on auto.

 

It appears the capacitors make no difference?

 

I now need to swap the ballasts over and see if the problem moves with the ballast. I'll need to allow it 10-20 times starting and see what happens.

 

This is now really bugging me!

Any electrical/electronic peeps on here that suggest anything further?

I will call HID Extra and seek their advice later.

 

Assuming new ballasts are required, I want to fit the absolute best most reliable ones...............Morimoto's??????

 

Kev

 

Well I fitted the Capacitors from HID Extra today and so far so good.

The service is great, they arrived in just a few days.

They are easy to fit with good instructions.

I have started and stopped the engine a few times today running errands and both lights fired up each time with the light switch on auto.

 

What I have learnt through this whole HID process is don't take anything for granted, so I will be checking both lights are on, during very dull days and nothing else has been affected for a while yet!

But so far so good.

 

Let's see how it goes.

 

Kev

[12Edge]

The HID kti I bought from their eBay store have yet to fail to ignite. I bought their 35w kit because I read folks suggesting I would get flashed by oncoming cars if I put in a 35w kit as it would be too bright.

 

I didn't even realize there was so much difficulty with HID ignition until reading on here. From most accounts though, morrimoto gets the most positive feedback from members here. From what I saw they come with a double relay harness for redundancy.

 

As stupid as this sounds I watched a lot of info before buying and a few commented that the weight of the ballast played in to its durability and overall capability. Cheap ones were light and the better ones were heavy which simply meant the heavier ones didn't use light duty components.. It was suggested that 13-16 oz was normal for a good ballast. The OPT7 / HID extra ones I bought are 15.6 oz.

 

I have never run my lights without the capacitors since I soldered them in line to remove the coupling connector and can't easily remove them now to see if an igniting problem would occur.

 

You asked for people with electronics background and while mine is meager I do know that capacitors are used to "filter" power to smooth out AC to DC converted wave-forms and as a "battery" of sorts so that when high demand is placed they can offer up their supply.

 

The thing that strikes me as curiously odd about suggesting a capacitor to supplement power in this case is that when you are connecting directly to the battery with the relay well.... isn't the car battery the ultimate capacitor in this case? I do think that these capacitors are installed in parallel rather than in series which implies waveform manipulation rather than supply. Again though, my knowledge is limited.

[3kgtstealth]

Ive had the same problem with my DDM 55W 5000's. I sent back the ballast which they tested and then sent me a bill for. I installed these the fall of 2010 and they worked perfectly until the spring of 2013, then PFFFT! No amount of on / offing would get them to fire. I've never had a problem with a set of DDM HIDs in the past but this had made up for it I guess.

 

 

EDIT: Just bought these to see if it will help.

 

https://www.hidextra.com/capacitor/

Hello.

new to the forums however been on others.

 

GF bought a 2010 and before she even had it in her hands made me order HIDs (low high and fogs, through DDM)

installed them no problem and no problems with firing issues till about a month in. I have read many reports on DDM having this issue and that they have lowered there quality control.

I bought and installed the "caps" and helped my dads jeep out for a bit and the edge until again, burned out the ballasts.

 

i will have to dig deeper into the car but my thoughts is the computer(even tho some do not have drls) act as low output when in low light situations to avoid blinding people. i may just end up covering the sensor in general to eliminate the DRL portion or trying to convince dealer to turn them off in general, as they are not an issue after safety is completed.

 

Note: my brother was DDM dealer for some time and we still deal with them constantly.

 

sorry for long rant just thought maybe someone could put all the pieces together.

[erabbit23]

I am torn between DDM and Morinotos

[fishx65]

I am torn between DDM and Morinotos

If you're gonna go with DDM, I would order two sets so you have backup parts. I lost a ballast after about 18 months and it would have been nice to have an extra one on hand. Would have taken me about 5 minutes to switch out a ballast but, since I didn't have an extra, I ended up putting the halogens back in and waiting for the slow-boat. Both Morimoto and DDM are cheap Chinese kits and you will read about lots of failed ballasts with both brands. TRS is well known for awesome customer service but you're gonna pay for it. I'm really happy with the performance of the DDMs but, for $40.00 per kit, I should have ordered two from the start.