HID headlight color question
 

I put new projector headlight with 6000k 55w low and high beams. I was wondering why the low beam in the projector is a more is yellowish, almost a halogen color, and the high beam in the reflector style is the color I was expecting. I have 6000 k 55w fog light also and they match the high beams in terms of color....... bluish white. Can anyone explain this. I'm stumped.

It may have something to do with the projector lens causing the color change... But that is my best guess.

Are your HID's all from the same manufacturer? Have you tried plugging the ballast from the low beam into the high beam to see if you got the same results? Also was the car running when you tested? Did you give a chance for the lights to warm up?

I haven't tried switching the ballast. I will start with that and see what happens. Thanks to everybody for the helpful info.

I'm not sure HID high beams are a very good idea, unless you've rewired to keep the lows and highs on at the same time - It gets pretty black out there at 70 mph while you're waiting for your bulbs to warm up...

Got a 4-High harness that fixed that.

It's most likely the projector causing the color to look different, they tend to do that (assuming you have 6k in hi/low) regardless in a projector housing they will always look a little different than in a regular reflector lens. Changing the ballast won't change the color of the lights. I would say stand back a hundred feet from your car and look at the lights from further back, you should see the lights match up better.

:iagree:

Reflector vs Projector = main reason

That and possible color-temp variations between brands or even in batches of bulbs from the same brand.

I am running RadioFlyers stuff... I too am running the 6K....
http://imageshack.us/a/img337/7306/night2l.jpg

This is exactly correct. Light from a projector bends slightly as it goes around the edges of the cutoff shield resulting in a prism like effect that typically only shows a section of the visual spectrum.

A well-tuned projector will show a crisp cutoff with often a blue line at the top. The "step" should be clearly visible. This photo is from one of our Bi-xenon Modified ACA Projector headlights.

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/IMG_3636.jpg

A poorer quality projector may barely show a defined cutoff and (due to the flat cutoff shield) will typically show a reddish-orange color near the center of the beam. This is the pattern from the ACA headlights' factory projector using the same 5000K 55w HID light source as the projector shown above:

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/IMG_3635.jpg

Since the light is being bent both around the shield and refracted through the lens, it tends to change color compared to purely reflected light. What we typically see as headlight color when looking at the car comes from this variable.

I wonder if I change the bulb to 8000k in the projector if it would match the color of the other bulbs a little more. I can see so much better now maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

Typically the projector makes about 500 K difference. If you want to match the high beam, there's not much you can do in that color range with HIDs.

I do offer a High-powered LED bulb option for the high beam on the ACA style headlights, but it's HIGHLY recommended you get the bi-xenon upgrade as the LED bulb is not suitable for projecting light. The Bi-xenon projector will take care of projecting light for the high beam and the LED bulb will serve to match the color:

This is shown next to a 5000K 55w HID in the projector.

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps173e18d4.jpg




You can purchase the Bi-xenon modification here:

http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...cation-016.htm