Trouble-shooting my Philips H1 HID. Help needed.

[ej20_876]

I installed a Philips H1 HID system in my 2004 WRX about a year ago. Everything worked great until about 3 days ago. I noticed my driver-side headlight was not turning on. I open the hood and check the fuse: OK. I then look at the ballast and notice that the connection going from the ballast to the bulb was not connected. So, I figure this is the problem and plug it in. Ballast still does not power up and headlight does not come on.

I then look at the fuse again and notice it had blown. I replace the fuse with a new one and fire the system up. No luck.

I then piece apart the wiring harness and take the ballast out. I notice that the connections inside the ballast are wet. I don't know how this happened because they were well protected under the hood. Anyways, the connections somehow got wet and I am unsure as to what I should do to fix the problem.

I understand basic electricity and I understand that ions in the water would have been more that capable of causing a short.

Is my HID ballast bad, is the coil pack bad?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[ej20_876]

Well... I opened up the ballast and it is fried =(

These new Philips ballasts were supposed to be corrosive tested and water-proof. What a scam.

[ProdriveDreams]

they are only water proof if the connectors are on, other wise you are missing a seal. just a thought.

Are you positive it is fried? first step i'd try would be swapping ballasts from side to side to be absolutely positive.

[ej20_876]

The ballast is done. I swapped it to the other side and it didn't work. I contacted the distributor and this will be covered under warranty...

[Handsdown]

Originally Posted by ej20_876

What a scam.

too bad. at least it will be covered under warranty.

[GeoffSFAs10]

its a fake philips. they do not make HID kits. somepne just put their name on a ****ty balast id bet.

[Handsdown]

yeah i was thinking that but didn't want to bully the thread starter.

there are also fake hella ballasts. the whole kit market is full of seedy backhanded sleazeballs selling terrible expensive mistakes.

[jdubya301]

and everyone wonders why HID kits suck.

props on getting one with a warranty tho.

[ptirmal]

It's not just kits, most ballasts aren't meant to get wet, especially submerged. Factory xenon cars place the ballasts in waterproof locations. You should always find a location away from water (under the hood isn't good enough), face the electrical connections down when applicable and use dielectric grease on all connections.

[GeoffSFAs10]

Originally Posted by Handsdown

yeah i was thinking that but didn't want to bully the thread starter.

there are also fake hella ballasts. the whole kit market is full of seedy backhanded sleazeballs selling terrible expensive mistakes.

wasnt trying to bash but thats just the way it happens sometimes. stupid chinese and anti copyright laws...

[ej20_876]

I didn't know that Philips didn't make ballasts. I had always heard that Philips ballasts were trusted products. Well I guess I learned a lesson.

I knew there were a lot of shady HID dealers and kits, but I thought I was staying away from that by buying a Philips set-up.

Thanks for the info.

[GeoffSFAs10]

Originally Posted by ej20_876

I didn't know that Philips didn't make ballasts. I had always heard that Philips ballasts were trusted products. Well I guess I learned a lesson.

I knew there were a lot of shady HID dealers and kits, but I thought I was staying away from that by buying a Philips set-up.

Thanks for the info.

they do make ballasts, which is the real stinker.

however, Phillips makes ballasts only for OEM applications because in the US HID kits are illegal. However, some companies to promote their products and get more attention will say they are using a phillips or slyvania ballast, when in fact they are just stickers saying such. it would be possible for you to have a phillips balast, but it would be connected to an OEM bulb, which an h1 is not, itd be a d2s or d2r.

from re-reading your orginal post and actually not offering any help in the beginning i'll say this. since the bulb connection was unplugged and the ballast connecters had gotten wet, the fuse then blew, your ballast is toast. they hate being wet and if they are they will arc and short out.