RU660R Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HANKSXXX Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance What was the problem that you found? Which wire is overheating? I'm not quite clear on that... BTW, I have the same kit and it has been flawless since installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU660R Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance What was the problem that you found? Which wire is overheating? I'm not quite clear on that... BTW, I have the same kit and it has been flawless since installation. The problem was the wire on the starter button that goes to the headlights. When I first took the housing apart it looked like the solder just broke. So I resodered it. Before I put the housing back together I turned on the lights to make sure it was working and after about 30 seconds the wire popped back off. So I resoldered it again. This time when I turned on the lights I held my finger on the wire and I had to take my finger off because the wire was getting so hot. Then the solder let lose again. Is this clearer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HANKSXXX Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance What was the problem that you found? Which wire is overheating? I'm not quite clear on that... BTW, I have the same kit and it has been flawless since installation. The problem was the wire on the starter button that goes to the headlights. When I first took the housing apart it looked like the solder just broke. So I resodered it. Before I put the housing back together I turned on the lights to make sure it was working and after about 30 seconds the wire popped back off. So I resoldered it again. This time when I turned on the lights I held my finger on the wire and I had to take my finger off because the wire was getting so hot. Then the solder let lose again. Is this clearer? Unfortunately, yes... There were no problems with the original lights right? Problem started when you installed the HID's, right? I'd try changing the low beam lead to the other ballast and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesail Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance What was the problem that you found? Which wire is overheating? I'm not quite clear on that... BTW, I have the same kit and it has been flawless since installation. The problem was the wire on the starter button that goes to the headlights. When I first took the housing apart it looked like the solder just broke. So I resodered it. Before I put the housing back together I turned on the lights to make sure it was working and after about 30 seconds the wire popped back off. So I resoldered it again. This time when I turned on the lights I held my finger on the wire and I had to take my finger off because the wire was getting so hot. Then the solder let lose again. Is this clearer? Unfortunately, yes... There were no problems with the original lights right? Problem started when you installed the HID's, right? I'd try changing the low beam lead to the other ballast and see what happens. The solder is melting because of the combination of current flowing through the switch and the switch resistance. One or the other is too high. It is possible that the HID is consuming too much current, try using the original halogen bulb to check this possibility. If it still gets hot with the old light bulb, then the issue is simply a poor contact inside the switch, not at all uncommon. Most bike switches I've seen can be taken apart, and the contacts gently sanded until they are shiny clean copper again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU660R Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yeaterday I installed the DDM Tuning Hid Kit Hi and Lo on my Bird. Worked great but last night headlight stop working on the way home. So this morning I found the problem with the help of this site. (Thanks by the way.) I resolder the wire back and they worked. But now the problem is that wire gets so hot that it brings the solder back to its melting point which breaks the connection. It gets so hot I can't hold my finger on it. Has anybody had this problem and what is the fix? Oh I wired the power to the hid kits to the stock headlight wires. Is this wrong? Thanks In Advance What was the problem that you found? Which wire is overheating? I'm not quite clear on that... BTW, I have the same kit and it has been flawless since installation. The problem was the wire on the starter button that goes to the headlights. When I first took the housing apart it looked like the solder just broke. So I resodered it. Before I put the housing back together I turned on the lights to make sure it was working and after about 30 seconds the wire popped back off. So I resoldered it again. This time when I turned on the lights I held my finger on the wire and I had to take my finger off because the wire was getting so hot. Then the solder let lose again. Is this clearer? Unfortunately, yes... There were no problems with the original lights right? Problem started when you installed the HID's, right? I'd try changing the low beam lead to the other ballast and see what happens. The solder is melting because of the combination of current flowing through the switch and the switch resistance. One or the other is too high. It is possible that the HID is consuming too much current, try using the original halogen bulb to check this possibility. If it still gets hot with the old light bulb, then the issue is simply a poor contact inside the switch, not at all uncommon. Most bike switches I've seen can be taken apart, and the contacts gently sanded until they are shiny clean copper again. As you where typing the response I was outside cleaning the switch. I figured since the only problem with heat was across the switch it had to be a poor or dirty connection. Still gets a little warm but not nearly as hot as before. I will be a little more confident in the solution since someone else had the same thoughts. Riding home last night without any headlight really sucked. I will have a back up plan if this happens again, at least till my new switch get here. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackStreet Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 See how much current the HIDs draw. Most are 35W. They draw more on startup. If that is OK, I suggest you run a new hot wire and have the switch circuit work a relay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU660R Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 I ordered the 55W kit. DDM says they should not pull much more current than the regular bulb. So I'm going to replace the switch. If that fails than the relay will be used. Headlights probably should of been wired through a relay in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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