HID Bi-Xenon Solenoid Wiring help please!

[Ocelaris]

Hello,
Me and a few people have taken to retrofitting in HID (High
Intensity Discharge) i.e. Xenon headlights into our non-hid equipped
cars. We use projectors from OEM cars, BMW, Mercedes, Audi etc...
which serve to make the headlights have no glare... i.e. we're not the
bad ricers with blinding blue headlights. I was hoping for some help
with a little problem we're having.

The projectors have a shield which covers up half of the lens, which
ends up inverted, with a sharp cut off just above bumper line. That is
the low beam, The High Beam is when a solenoid triggers and the shield
rotates forward (drops) and exposes the entire lens to light. This
solenoid is the problem. There are 3 wires coming from the solenoid,
red, black and green. We have discovered that the red wire is the
positive, and black and green are grounds tapped at different places
along the solenoid's coil. The red/black combination can drop the
shield (more force needed to activate the solenoid) the red/black
combination also can hold the shield down. The red/green combination
is only good for holding down the shield once it has been dropped by
the red/black set. I.E. the red/black wire is a full coil length, and
the red/green wire is much less. The problem is that the red/black set
will get too hot and burn up the coil if you leave it on too long, so
we have to trigger with red/black and then switch to red/green.

I proposed using some sort of delayed relay/capacitor combination,
seen here:

http://www.the12volt.com/relays/page5.asp

Or the entire thread back on a VBulletin based forum is here:

http://hidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6399

But I knew that the best place to get info is newsgroups, so I'm
respecfully asking if anyone could help with this, It'd be most
appreciated. Thank you

 

[Rich Grise]

Ocelaris wrote:
....

I proposed using some sort of delayed relay/capacitor combination,
seen here:

http://www.the12volt.com/relays/page5.asp

Or the entire thread back on a VBulletin based forum is here:

http://hidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6399

But I knew that the best place to get info is newsgroups, so I'm
respecfully asking if anyone could help with this, It'd be most
appreciated. Thank you

In pinball machines, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do in
OEM, they use an actual mechanical switch that switches from the
hard-pull to the sustaining pull. You might even have noticed it
while playing - if you're holding the flipper button, and the
ball comes at the flipper hard enough to deflect it enough to
close the switch, it'll re-kick the ball.

Otherwise, drive the low-pull one directly, so it's on all the
time, and the other with your delayed relay circuit. If you use
automotive grade components, and the circuit in your link has
been tested, then you should be OK.

Cheers!
Rich