Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category
Sunday, September 5th, 2010
If you’re unsure about your vehicle and whether or not it would be legal for you to have a HID Conversion Kit Fitted, please call us on 0871 2887 666 and we’ll go through it with you and give our honest opinion.
A frequently asked question “Are Xenon HID Conversion Kits Road Legal?” and to be completely honest there is no short & simple answer at this present moment in time because currently, we rely on the information given to us by DFT (Department For Transport) and they give only their opinion:
“In the Department’s view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon.”
Taken from source – click here for full article.
This is primarily their “view” on the subject and not necessarily a law in itself. We’ve seen debates across 100′s of forums including the UKPOLICEONLINE forum where officers of all ranks were giving mixed opinions on the topic. We’ve put together this article to outline the main reasons why HID conversion kits are considered illegal for road use but also, there are standards which could easily be met to have your HID conversion kit deemed as road legal and we’ve detailed it all for you below.
Why are HID Conversion Kits considered Illegal For Road Use?
 Many older vehicles have headlamps which are designed specifically for HALOGEN bulbs only. These headlamps have a patterned glass and work to very precise tolerances. Changing the bulbs to Xenon HID will cause a lot of Glare as the light appears scattered due to the patterned glass reflecting the light wrongly. Glare on the road is dangerous as it will dazzle on coming drivers and could be the cause to serious incidences.
Improper alignment is another reason why HID Conversion Kits are a problem. After fitting a HID kit to your vehicle, you may disturb the alignment of your headlights. We always advise that you get the headlight alignment checked to ensure that they are not too high else they will be dazzling on coming drivers on the roads. You can check this against a wall on a level ground.
What Are the Exceptions & How Can I Make My HID Kit Road Legal?
To the best of our knowledge, if you’ve got headlamps with clear lenses i.e. no pattern on the front glass/plastic, then this will help to greatly reduce glare. Now there are two types of headlamps, reflector and projector. The reflector headlamp has a foil-type mirror finish on the inside which the conventional Halogen bulb uses to excel the light outwards. The Xenon HID light will bounce around inside the headlight on this mirror finish and up to 30% of the light will end up being excelled out of the headlamp in the wrong direction (possibly towards oncoming drivers causing glare/dazzling them). The other type is the Projector lens which will help focus the light to where you want it to go, this will eliminate any glare and is the appropriate setup for HID kits.
If you’ve got a reflector type headlamp, then we strongly recommend ugprading any HID conversion kit to the Anti-Glare bulbs. This will ensure that there is minimal glare and not only look better on the car, but will also help to avoid dazzling other drivers on the road.
If you’ve got the projector type headlamp, then either the anti-glare or standard HID conversion kit will do the job fine as the projector lens will focus the light forward to where you want it to go.
Now that’s the main points out of the way, there are just two other things that are a requirement to deem any HID kit road legal:
- Auto-Levelling Headlights / Auto-Levelling Suspension
Most cars after 2000 came with either auto-levelling headlights or auto-levelling suspension. You only need one or the other to be applicable.
- Headlight Washer Jets
Headlight washer jets are fitted to many cars in the bumper, if you haven’t got them already you can have them fitted at a reasonable price.
 If you meet those two above requirements, have clear headlamps (not patterned) and have the appropriate bulb types i.e. anti-glare for reflector headlamps or normal HID bulbs for projector lamps then we believe you have met the requirements to have your HID Conversion Kit deemed applicable for road use i.e. ROAD LEGAL!
However, you must ensure that the HID conversion kit you purchase is also made to the highest quality standard. Ensure it is fully E-Marked & ISO-9001:2000 Approved. All SINSPEED HID Conversion Kits meet & exceed the required standards.
Why Does Sinspeed Sell HID Kits As “For Off Road Purposes Only?”
Well as you can see above, there is much confusion for many people as to what is road legal and what isn’t. By law we can’t sell a HID Kit as road legal (and all those other companies out there stating their kits are road legal, it’s a lie & they’re breaking the law). Therefore, we have to mark all HID Conversion Kits as “Sold For Off-Road & Show Purposes Only” because people buying these HID Kits to fit into their cars with patterned glass headlamps will not be meeting the DFT requirements.
If you’re unsure about your vehicle and whether or not it would be legal for you to have a HID Conversion Kit Fitted, please call us on 0871 2887 666 and we’ll go through it with you and give our honest opinion.
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
We get asked this question all the time, a customer will ring up and say “I bought a pair of Xenon HID bulbs from H******s last week but they weren’t as bright as claimed on the packaging, so why should I buy your Kit and why does it cost so much more than what’s available to me in H******s?” – The simple answer being, what you purchased from your local store wasn’t a Xenon HID Conversion Kit but in fact it was merely replacement Halogen-Type bulbs that were filled with a bit more of the Xenon Gas.
A HID conversion kit will convert any standard halogen headlight setup to the lastest technology Xenon High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting. The light output from a HID conversion kit could be compared to that of the OEM standard light output from say a 2010 Range Rover Sport, they will burn up to 300% brighter than any standard Halogen bulb and the way they do this is by the power packs provided in the kit. All HID conversion kits come complete with real Xenon High Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs and HID Ballast units (also known as power packs or blasters). The ballasts convert your 12v car power into 85-23000v giving you ultra bright lights on the road – remember you must focus these correctly so not to blind on coming vehicles.
Many people sell upgraded Halogen bulbs which are just Xenon Gas filled and are describing them as Xenon HID bulbs but the truth is that they contain the Xenon gas as found in real HID bulbs but they do not have the capabilities to burn as bright because there is no power converter, they are simply drawing the 12v current which your vehicle already supplies – seriously, how much brighter can you get from a standard halogen taking a 12v feed to a Xenon Gas Filled Bulb taking the same 12v feed. In some cases, we’ve seen a decrease in light output so don’t get fooled by cheap gimmicks.
 If you’re not quite ready to go the full way and invest in a real genuine Xenon High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting Conversion Kit then the next best thing would be to grab a set of Philips Xtreme bulbs which are the best Halogen upgrades available on the market and reports have proved they can give out as much as a 75% increase from standard Halogen bulbs.
All the Sinspeed range HID conversion kits come with a 14 day money back guarantee so if you’ve been stung by cheap gimmicks in the past, try our kit & if you’re not entirely satisfied you can return it for a full refund. We’re confident you’ll love the quality of our kits!
You can see our wide range selection in our Sinspeed Shop here or call us on 0871 2887 666.
Tags: difference between halogen and hid, difference between halogen and xenon, difference between xenon and HID, different hid kits, hid bulbs, hid conversion kit, hid conversion kits, hid kits, xenon gas bulbs, xenon hid bulbs, xenon hid conversion kit
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Sunday, August 15th, 2010
You can search through all our HID Conversion Kits Here or alternatively call us on 0871 2887 666.
HID Conversion Kits come in many different colour temperatures (also known as Kelvin Temperature) and is referred to as follows: 4300k, 6000k, 8000k, 10000k & 12000k. It’s not so hard to understand but we’ll elaborate on it a bit without getting too technical so you have a better understanding before making any purchases.
Technical Overview
The HID bulb will always burn pure i.e white as the bulb itself is not coloured at all, however, depending on the temperature of the burn, the colour of the light emitted from the burn will vary. The higher the temperature, the deeper the colour but at the same time the amount of light emitted is also reduced so you have to find a balance. The best & most sought after HID bulb colour is 6000k which we refer to as Crystal White with a hint of Blue.
Below is the colour temperatures we offer:
- 4300K – White With Yellow Tint
- 6000K – Crystal White With Blue Tint
- 8000K – Crystal Blue
- 10,000K – Deep Crystal Blue
- 12,000K – Dark Ice Blue
Sinspeed Recommended Colour
The recommended colour for all applications would be the 6000K and the best way to describe it would be to look at all the new Mercedes, Audi’s & Range Rovers coming out with OEM Xenon HID lights fitted, the light they omit is a Crystal White with a Blue Tint and our 6000K bulbs are the closest match.
We get asked all the time, what colour is classed as an MOT pass?
Blue bulbs and Red Bulbs & other colour bulbs are MOT failures because when the lights are turned off, the bulbs are still coloured. HID bulbs on the other hand, no matter what colour light they omit, the bulbs remain clear when the lights are turned off and therefore all of them can be passed through the MOT. In regards to beam patterns, you will sometimes find there is not a clear pattern but we’ve had our bulbs through several MOT’s and had no problems levelling the lights and having them omit on the road perfectly.
Another pre-sale question we’re always asked is, what colour is Road Legal?
There is not a colour specification for Road Legal HID’s as such because the bulbs themselves are clear. Also, no matter how many times a seller tells you their kit is “Road Legal” we can assure you it’s NOT. There is NO SUCH THING as a Road Legal HID Conversion Kit. Our kits are the closest to being road legal and by that we mean they are E-Marked and ISO-9000:2001 Approved to the highest quality standards which meet & exceed the OEM specifications. To make even our kits fully road legal, your vehicle will have to comply with the following:
- Your Vehicle Should Have Clear Headlight Lenses
- Your Vehicle Should Have Headlight Washer Jets
- Your Vehicle Should Have Auto-Levelling Headlights Or Suspension
If you have the above three things on your vehicle, then it is to our best knowledge that fitting a Sinspeed HID Conversion Kit will be deemed as road legal.
You can search through all our HID Conversion Kits Here or alternatively call us on 0871 2887 666.
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Monday, July 19th, 2010
We get a lot of customers who have purchased HID conversion kits from other companies or even from ebaY. Not knowing which type of kit they really need, other than the bulb size and colour temperature preference. You can find kits as cheap as £25-£50 without much struggle and an average of £60-£70 for a hid conversion kit. The problem is, if you don’t know your vehicles wiring type, you may run in to many problems along the way which can be very frustrating, especially because you’ll find that many of the sellers are simply “sellers from home” who know nothing about the technicalities behind choosing the right kit for your car and in some cases, will not even honour their warranty / refund policies.
Every day we’re having people come to us saying they’ve bought a kit off ebaY or from another company and went to install the kit (all fine) but when going to turn the lights on, they come on and then go off again. Or they come on and just flicker constantly or bring up errors etc. These problems are flagging up everywhere and are becoming more apparent. The problem is not the kit, the kit will work on an older vehicle without canbus wiring but if you’re facing these problems, then you will need a kit that can accommodate your vehicles electrical expectations. Our Dual Canbus kit does just this, the very latest technology and ours are the ONLY kits currently with Dual-Canbus technology.
The most common problems are:
- Lights turn on then automatically turn off (Ballast Shutdown)
- Lights turn on but then flicker
- Lights turn on then one headlamp with turn off
- Bulb Out / Warning Errors Appearing On Dash
- OBC errors appearing on the dashboard
If you have experienced any of the above problems then there are now canbus kits available for you on the market which 9/10 times are all plug & play. Most of the times these kits will work fine, however, there have been cases where even with canbus kits you will experience problems for example the Volvo XC90.. even with a canbus HID conversion kit fitted, the car will flag up a warning on the dashboard and sometimes the lights will cut out making it un-drivable at night.
 The Dual-Canbus kit eliminates all these kinds of problems. It was designed & manufactured with cars like the Volvo XC90 in mind, so that it could accommodate for all the current cars with Canbus wiring but also fix problems that cars such as the Volvo XC90 have. In fact, it is currently the ONLY Dual-Canbus kit available on the market and yes, it’s a SINSPEED Dual-Canbus HID Conversion Kit.
You can buy a Dual-Canbus HID Conversion Kit here and if you need any more information on this topic, do not hesitate to call us with any questions or queries you may have.
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Posted in Lighting | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
If you’re looking to buy a HID Conversion Kit then head over to our online store!
If you’re unsure about what a HID conversion kit is exactly, you can read all about it here.
We thought we’d blog (or brag?) about the worlds slimmest digital ballast HID conversion kit. Newer cars are becoming more & more compact and the demand is clear, people want kits they can install with ease.
We love being in the spot light, the Sinspeed digital super slim HID Conversion Kit is by far the worlds slimmest conversion kit on the market.
Most conventional kits are quite chunky and some of the newer electronic kits are coming out smaller and thinner but digital is the way to go – because an electronic kit just won’t protect the cars electrical system the way a digital kit can.. avoid power surges and produce a consistently bright light with minimal power usage.
Our digital slim kits have been sold by the 1000′s, worldwide we sell not only to the retail sector but also to trade & many garages / companies are taking on our products to resell to consumers. Why do they choose our kits? Because they’re reliable, safe, quick & easy to install but most importantly because we back our products 100%
We offer a full (no-quibble) 12months warranty on all our kits. If in the unlikely event a kit was to fail, just return it and we’ll replace it right away.
If you’ve had a hid conversion kit in the past, there’s a high chance it was an electronic kit and a very good chance that it didn’t last long. Most people experience having to change the kit every 6-7 months because they just stop working.. sometimes it’s due to water damage but a majority of the time it’s bad manufacturing.
Our kits are designed to last the life time of the vehicle and only after 3-5yrs are you expected to change the bulbs.
Our super slim hid conversion kit will continue to dominate the market place and alongside it we’ve now launched the worlds first & only Dual Canbus kit.
If you’re looking to buy a HID Conversion Kit then head over to our online store!
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