Will my system be able to handle running 6 55w HID's at the same time?

[honestabe]

With the coming together of my new lighting setup I'm starting to wonder if my stock electrical system (specifically the alternator and battery) will be able to handle my setup. My alternator is a freshly reman'd 100 amp stock unit and I don't have a bumping stereo (just a basic head unit and fairly stock speakers). I am wanting to run 6 total 55w HID projectors at the same time, turning 1 pair on at a time of course and letting the light get warmed up before turning on the next.

All the wiring for the projectors will be completely aftermarket with their own independent circuit and aftermarket switch and will each have an inline fuse and relay. What are ya'lls thoughts on this? I'm far from an electrical expert so I have no clue.

Also, I should add that my mirrors aren't powered up right now and that I don't have heat or A/C anymore so that's less electrical draw, but I do have dual electric fuel pumps (Walbro 255 LPH's) and dual electric SPAL fans.

 

[GrimJack]

IMO, no. The three pairs of lights by themselves are going to be close to too much, the heater fan removal doesn't give you much headroom, the AC removal doesn't affect it significantly at all (the only electrical component is the clutch on the compressor), and the bit that will push you over the edge is the SPAL fans. Those things pull a LOT of power, especially when they are spinning up.

 

[Poodles]

Why 6? I'd assuming low beams, high beams, and fogs. Fogs won't do anything but make your foreground too bright making it harder to see. It won't seem that way, but your eyes adapt to the bright foreground making it harder to see in the distance. That's fine if you're going 10MPH, but not highway speeds. They'll also function far worse as actual fog lights if they're HID. Using HID in high beams isn't recommended since they have to warm up and HID's don't like being cycled quickly.

Also, OEM HID's are 35w. 55w is asking for issues (overlit foreground, higher temps, higher UV, burnt reflector bowls, etc).

Could the car handle it? Maybe, as long as they're not all turned on at once (startup is the highest draw from HID's).

 

[honestabe]

The way I have my lights setup is that I have 2 55w HID projectors used as low beams, 2 identical 55w HID projectors aimed a little higher as high beams, and I will be using 2 OEM fog light projectors out of a car that came with them and adapt them to work on my Supra. Yes the fogs will be the proper yellow hue that they should be and aimed right. I want to put them inside the factory housings to they look stock until you take a 2nd look. I don't plan on turning them all on at the same time, I will power them up one pair at a time and wait until the bulbs are heated up properly before turning on the next pair.

 

[bloodasp90]

adam.. are you doing yellow lenses on your fogs or going with a like 4700k or lower HID? cause thats a big difference man.

ohh, what size ALT. are you running too?? arnt you running a larger one or just a stock one??

 

[honestabe]

I want to put OEM yellow projector fogs from another car into the factory Supra fog light housings (giving them the appearance of being stock). I'm using the stock 100A alternator.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Why would you ever need all 6 on at once? That seems like incredible overkill. Are you lighting a crime scene? I imagine you'd barely even notice the fogs on with the lo beams and high beams on as well.

Why not do it with a bi-xenon setup and use the ONE projector for your headlights both Hi and Low?

 

[CajunKenny]

With the right tools, you can easily figure out how much draw your car has now (with everything turned on and at its max) and then add to that the load of the additional lights. If you don't have access to such tools, Automotive Electrical places will typically check your system draw for free.

Tools:
Current Probe
DMM

 

[honestabe]

I have an obsession with lighting up the area where I'm driving and being seen at night. Most likely I'd just have 4 lights on at a time (either the low or high beams and the fogs). I currently have an electrical draw somewhere in my system so I need to fix that before I can test how much of a draw my system currently has with everything on. That, and I still need to re-wire my headlights.

As for using just one bi-xenon light for each side, I won't do that since I want the dual light setup. Last I checked the best lights are all solo projectors.

---------- Post added at 09:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

I have an obsession with lighting up the area where I'm driving and being seen at night. Most likely I'd just have 4 lights on at a time (either the low or high beams and the fogs). I currently have an electrical draw somewhere in my system so I need to fix that before I can test how much of a draw my system currently has with everything on. That, and I still need to re-wire my headlights.

As for using just one bi-xenon light for each side, I won't do that since I want the dual light setup. Last I checked the best lights are all solo projectors.

 

[Poodles]

The best lighting is solo projectors, but a low beam aimed high to give a high beam isn't a high beam. With all those lights on, you'll have a super bright foreground and no range. It makes you feel safe, but in reality you can't see crap. This is especially true for what amounts to a quad setup at 55w with HID's in halogen designed lights.

I know you can buy the 90mm HID modules without the ballasts and bulbs for tons cheaper than buying the whole kit, might be able to talk to a hella vendor and get the ones you're using. A projector designed for HID has a far wider beam, better throw, and less foreground as they're designed for the light source that's twice as bright as halogen. I still don't recommend HID for high beams on a quad setup as they take time to warm up. They make an H9 high beam though.

There isn't a single HID fog light on the market. You'll get better actual fog performance out of a halogen. Now they do make HID pencil beam driving lights that look like fogs, but they're not.

 

[honestabe]

Eventually I'll be upgrading to HID projectors with D2S bulbs in them. For now I have to use what I have. Unfortunately, I can't go larger than a 50mm light because of size restrictions. As it is, I need to cut the upper bumper to allow for the full range of my lights to hit the ground.

As for the fogs, I didn't realize that HID's would actually be a bad thing for them. The fogs I'll be using will be OEM Halogen projectors. As it stands, the stock MKIII fogs don't light up shit.

 

[Poodles]

Keep in mind you don't want to see right in front of you. A lot of factory HID's don't start until well over 10 feet in front of the car, if not farther because 1) you can't see it anyway because of the hood 2) light that close is useless at driving speeds.

Fogs aren't really meant to light much up, and I can't comment on the function of the pre-89 fogs

 

[#04]

not sure about your state, but in Ontario (canada) 4 forward facing lights are the most allowed under traffic laws...

might be a consideration too...

sorry for the room for misinterpretation.

yes I meant 4 forward facing lights - on at one time..

so you can have a light bar on a JEEP but only 4 lights on (doesn't include low watt marker lamps) at a time...

it discourages douchebags from running 4 fog lights with their headlights - because they are night blind..

 

[GrimJack]

not sure about your state, but in Ontario (canada) 4 forward facing lights are the most allowed under traffic laws...

might be a consideration too...

Really? I know Canada is considered BizzaroLand, but that seems kind of silly.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Really? I know Canada is considered BizzaroLand, but that seems kind of silly.

Maybe he means turned on at once?

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[Poodles]

Laws are goofy about lights. Most of them are listed as actually being in use (i.e. on) while others say forward facing. It's why some places require offroad lights to have covers on them when driven on road.