Is hid light colour from ballast or bulbs?

skinnylenny

Hi

I'm just after buying a 2010 volvo s40 d5 in scotland and i was looking to change the colour of the dip beam in headlights. the car has hid projector lights but the colour is very yellow so i was wondering if i just got a 8000k hid bulb and fitted it would it change the colour or is it defined from the ballast?

any info would be great

thanks

Anan1

The colour is determined by the bulb. An 8000k bulb will make your headlights look blue and will give you a lot less light.

skinnylenny

what colour would u recommend? I want something with a hint of blue but not to affect the light output by much? Maybe 6000k

Matt Simis

skinnylenny wrote: »

what colour would u recommend? I want something with a hint of blue but not to affect the light output by much? Maybe 6000k

6k is indeed a good compromise, 8k looks cheap.

Anan1

skinnylenny wrote: »

what colour would u recommend? I want something with a hint of blue but not to affect the light output by much? Maybe 6000k

Honestly, they're headlights - why would you want to weaken them at all?

Wisesmurf

I have 5k's in my car and they're totally white. My missus has 6k and they're a tad blue

mickdw

I think mine are 4.5k from factory and they just have a fresh white light.

Anan1

mickdw wrote: »

I think mine are 4.5k from factory and they just have a fresh white light.

AFAIK 4300k provide the most light, so that sounds about right.

dgt

I used to run 6000k HID's myself, didn't want stupidly blue blue, it was mostly white. Found the light output was fantastic

pcardin

AFAIK it depends on both - bulbs and balasts. 6000k bulbs with 35W balasts will have slightly more blue in them than 6000k bulbs with 55W. 4300k is the best imo, then 6000k. Anything over 6000k is chav ride tbh.

Popoutman

The colour is entirely dependent on the chemical content of the actual bulbs. The ballast has absolutely no bearing on the output colour.

The colour of the output light is a mix of the emission lines from the metal vapours in the spark that goes through the bulb. Different colour outputs are made by having a different mix of the metals. The bulbs take a short time to completely evaporate the metals in the bulb, and that is why there's usually a short delay in the switch on of the bulb, and also why the colour of the output light changes from switch-on to full brightness. You can often see the tiny drop of metals in cold bulbs if you look carefully.

4300k through 5000k are the best matches for night-time adapted vision and is why OEM lights are in this colour range. Bluer than this and our eyes are less able to use the light output as more of the light is in the deep blue and violet and we just can't see this that well. 8000K bulbs are too blue to be useful as headlights. 6000K bulbs will usually give the best balance for someone looking to change the colour of the bulb, without affecting the ability to see at night.

Don't forget that as one gets older, the eye starts to scatter very blue light more than a younger person's eyes, and this is one cause of glare for other drivers - it's pretty antisocial to deliberately make it harder for other people to drive..

dgt

dgt wrote: »

I used to run 6000k HID's myself, didn't want stupidly blue blue, it was mostly white. Found the light output was fantastic

Dug out some pics, you can see the tinge of blue but nothing on the scale of the Sei, which has 12000k HID's in the first pic (completely useless in the dark!) and 3500k in the second







So my advice is no more than 6000k, no less than 4300k

Popoutman

The 3000-3500s make good foglamps (if you want low-glare visibility with correctly aimed and well-designed cutoffs), same colour as the low pressure sodium streetlamps.

dgt

Popoutman wrote: »

The 3000-3500s make good foglamps (if you want low-glare visibility with correctly aimed and well-designed cutoffs), same colour as the low pressure sodium streetlamps.

Oh I know but I'm the kind of c*nt that uses 3000k bulbs as full beams, I want to see where I'm going and what's about to run out of the ditch on a narrow country road! :pac:

skinnylenny

thanks for all the info folks think i'll be looking to get the 6000k. does anyone know the best place to buy online? will be looking for good quality bulbs