Looking for a good on/off switch for HID projectors

[esabado]

I recently did an HID projector retrofit on my bike with two halos behind and in front of the shroud. I am planning on putting in a power switch for the hid bulb since the bulb does not seem to matter much during day and the two halos omit more than enough light for my bike to be seen. This will also allow the two halos to be more visible during the day time, as well as save some bulb/ ballast life.

Any body have any recommended on and off switches they have used in the past or are of high quality ? I plan on installing it unto a flat surface as well

 

[FIZZER6]

I recently did an HID projector retrofit on my bike with two halos behind and in front of the shroud. I am planning on putting in a power switch for the hid bulb since the bulb does not seem to matter much during day and the two halos omit more than enough light for my bike to be seen. This will also allow the two halos to be more visible during the day time, as well as save some bulb/ ballast life.

Any body have any recommended on and off switches they have used in the past or are of high quality ? I plan on installing it unto a flat surface as well

You just need a high quality 12V rocker switch. Hopefully you used a relay harness to power your HID ballasts in which case you have a wire going from the original low beam 12V headlight output to the relay and when the headlight is on the relay is on which turns on your HID's. All you need is to install a good quality rocker switch on that 12V headlight wire to your relay to serve as an HID On/OF. Now this may not work if you powered your Halos off the same low beam feed instead of the running lights?

Explain your wiring setup and you'll get more help.

- J

 

[esabado]

yeah i have a whole wiring harness from morimoto, and i am planning on inputing the switch unto the main power lead of the wiring harness.

this is the wiring harness attached

 

[MattR302]

I pretty much just did the same thing. Here's the switch I used. Switch down is halo's only, switch up is HID's only.
Waterproof Boat Truck Rocker Switch 12V SPDT ON-OFF-ON 4 PIN Red LED Light

That's a SPDT switch On-OFF-On. If you want just on-off, it's SPST. There's a billion switches on ebay, I found this one by searching "waterproof switch SPDT LED"

Edit- if you put it on the power line coming from the battery, you'll need a switch capable of handling all the current. If you put it before the relay, you don't need as high of a current rating.

Here's a pic of my switches. The top one is for the halos/HIDs, and the bottom one is my grip heaters.

 

[FIZZER6]

Edit- if you put it on the power line coming from the battery, you'll need a switch capable of handling all the current. If you put it before the relay, you don't need as high of a current rating.

THIS! Don't put a switch on the main ground or high power lead with the fuse coming from the battery. You want to put the switch on the "Input from bike" wiring.

 

[esabado]

Is there a particular reason why I shouldn't put the switch in the main power lead?


I'm a bit confused how the wiring would look like if I were to put the switch on the "input from the bike"

 

[esabado]

Did you place switch on the main power lead coming from the battery?

 

[MattR302]

Did you place switch on the main power lead coming from the battery?

On my dual-headlight mod setup, the H4 right side connector plugs into the relay. The "new" wire for the H4 low-beam, I split that and put the switch in there, then plugged the connector in to the relay like normal. When the stock switch is on low-beam, it depends whether the new switch is on HID or halo's. Switching the stock switch to high-beam overrides the new switch and activates the HID's and switches the solenoids.

 

[FIZZER6]

Is there a particular reason why I shouldn't put the switch in the main power lead?


I'm a bit confused how the wiring would look like if I were to put the switch on the "input from the bike"

The main reason is you would have to use a switch rated for high current to handle the load of the HID's since it would have to handle the entire 10-13 amp start up load of the ballasts. If you put the switch in the connection between the headlight socket and the relays it would be 100 times less electrical load for that switch.

 

[FinalImpact]

If the inrush current to power the HIDs is as high as Fizzer stated, you need a good switch if used on main power. Its best to leave the main power fused and run it through a relay. The switch will live a longer life.

• In **most places** it is illegal to run without head light. So pay attention to your local laws...

Off topic but something to consider; - The Regulator Rectifier will likely run a bit warmer without the load of the headlamps. With just the halos, that's basically another 55 watts the RR has to shed as heat. Well unless you have something else in its place that's on when the proposed HIDs are off.

 

[FIZZER6]

If the inrush current to power the HIDs is as high as Fizzer stated, you need a good switch if used on main power. Its best to leave the main power fused and run it through a relay. The switch will live a longer life.

It depends on the ballast and bulb used and whether you are running dual projectors or a single in a naked conversion.

I've seen ballasts show a full load inrush current as high as 6.2 AMPS per ballast but some of the higher quality ballasts are as low as 4 AMPS inrush and 2.5 AMPS steady.

 

[elus1ve]

Installed this on a friend's bike with great results. Looks like out of the factory at a glance and it is easily accessible.

Motorcycle Black Fog Light Switch 1 inch Handlebar 12V DC Electrical System

 

[esabado]

if i find out the voltage of the fuse that came with the harness would that give me a good idea about how much current is running through to the ballast ?

if i put the switch on the input form the bike wouldnt that mean that the ballast would continue to run?

 

[MattR302]

No, because according to your diagram, the ballast has a built-in relay inside. With your thinking, the ballast would continue to run even if the bike was powered off, since it's still connected to the battery.

 

[FIZZER6]

What Matt said. Your wiring harness has a relay that keeps power from going to the ballasts unless your headlight (input from the bike) is on.