DDE ballast burned out, need help??

i wash my car yesterday, driving it around i notice a strong burning smell but i didnt know where it was coming from. this morning i realized that my passenger dde's were out, open the hood and found that the ballast must of got wet and burned out.

now, can i get the ballast seperatly or are the dde's on that side perhaps are damage also and need replacement???

Same issue here.... Need one ballast! Drivers side DDE's out after washing.

Originally Posted by BET325

i wash my car yesterday, driving it around i notice a strong burning smell but i didnt know where it was coming from. this morning i realized that my passenger dde's were out, open the hood and found that the ballast must of got wet and burned out.

now, can i get the ballast seperatly or are the dde's on that side perhaps are damage also and need replacement???

What brand?

I had the same issue and went to Bavarian where I bought them and they gave me a new one with the exchange of the old one.
Good Luck Guys!

Makes sure to check all of your connections because I had a simialr problem and one my wires had just gotten wet then i re wired them and now they work fine the ballast wasn't damages at all.

your ballast is def burnt out if you got it wet...go on ebay and search CCFL, buy the ccfl light tubes for $.99 ($7.00 shipped) and they will send you a ballast that illuminates dde's!!! have replaced mine 3x with these before i finally got sensical and waterproofed them...have predator chromiums btw...

If you bought the predator chromiums, you can email Nick to see if you can buy one from him. You'll probably have to pay for it.

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

If you bought the predator chromiums, you can email Nick to see if you can buy one from him. You'll probably have to pay for it.

No, he doesn't need to pay for them as they have lifetime warranty. They should be replaced for FREE.

^I believe the warranty is if the product becomes/is defective, not if a ballast gets wet (user error, should have ensured it would stay dry).

You think BMW would replace your radio after you poured water in it?

Originally Posted by russ330

^I believe the warranty is if the product becomes/is defective, not if a ballast gets wet (user error, should have ensured it would stay dry).

You think BMW would replace your radio after you poured water in it?

That's funny, because a lot of the vendors have water proof ballasts. Although, if my memory serves me correctly, the Predator Chromiums don't. If I am not mistaken, Umnitza (Matt) was boosting about how they didn't need to be if installed in the right spot.

Oh yea, I hear it's a nightmare to cash in on the warranty with them as well. There was a member less than a month ago complaining about it.

Originally Posted by dankbmw

your ballast is def burnt out if you got it wet...go on ebay and search CCFL, buy the ccfl light tubes for $.99 ($7.00 shipped) and they will send you a ballast that illuminates dde's!!! have replaced mine 3x with these before i finally got sensical and waterproofed them...have predator chromiums btw...

What did you do to waterproof them?

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

That's funny, because a lot of the vendors have water proof ballasts. Although, if my memory serves me correctly, the Predator Chromiums don't. If I am not mistaken, Umnitza (Matt) was boosting about how they didn't need to be if installed in the right spot.



Oh yea, I hear it's a nightmare to cash in on the warranty with them as well. There was a member less than a month ago complaining about it.

^I've never had a problem with warranty items with Umnitza.

As far as water proof ballasts go I'm not sure about the Preds. Doesn't Jim Powell have a display with one of his ballasts floating in water? Now that's just plain cool.

Originally Posted by russ330

^I believe the warranty is if the product becomes/is defective, not if a ballast gets wet (user error, should have ensured it would stay dry).

You think BMW would replace your radio after you poured water in it?

First of all, I don't think that comparison is quite relevant. A more fair comparison is if your BMW (say e39, e60, e90, etc) had stock angel eyes and one of them went bad because the ballast (or any component that contributed to the failure) got wet, then YES, BMW will replace it for free. My point is that the ballast should have some water-proof resistance on it because it will get some water/moisture somehow, and if it got damaged that way, the customer should get a replacement. I'm not saying to pour water or sink it in water and be resistant to that, but to a drop or two of water, some moisture, etc, it should be resistant to that.

Originally Posted by russ330

Doesn't Jim Powell have a display with one of his ballasts floating in water? Now that's just plain cool.

That's exactly why I buy Xtec over the other products out there.

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

That's funny, because a lot of the vendors have water proof ballasts. Although, if my memory serves me correctly, the Predator Chromiums don't. If I am not mistaken, Umnitza (Matt) was boosting about how they didn't need to be if installed in the right spot.

Oh yea, I hear it's a nightmare to cash in on the warranty with them as well. There was a member less than a month ago complaining about it.

+1. The ballasts should be waterproof (See my previous reply). Again, it's time for the original poster to contact the vendor to resolve this issue, and get a replacement ballast for free if it is damaged.

Originally Posted by russ330

As far as water proof ballasts go I'm not sure about the Preds. Doesn't Jim Powell have a display with one of his ballasts floating in water? Now that's just plain cool.

I didn't want to bring up the competitor's product into this, but I do have DDEs from Jim Powell and they for sure don't have problems with water and moisture like the original poster has.

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

That's exactly why I buy Xtec over the other products out there.

Yours aren't water proof though.

The water resistant ballasts are actually on the cheaper ebay kits for some reason. They've been dipping the PC board in a silicon sealant and covering that with heatshrink (later replaced with palstic) for a couple years now. Usually if you wrap the entire region in heat shrink and some generous amounts of electrical tape you won't see water instrusion onto the balalst, but its good to keep it dry anyway.

The water proof ballasts Jim has are for the heated raptors. FWIW.

Originally Posted by Tyler@UniqueDesign

Yours aren't water proof though.

The water resistant ballasts are actually on the cheaper ebay kits for some reason. They've been dipping the PC board in a silicon sealant and covering that with heatshrink (later replaced with palstic) for a couple years now. Usually if you wrap the entire region in heat shrink and some generous amounts of electrical tape you won't see water instrusion onto the balalst, but its good to keep it dry anyway.

The water proof ballasts Jim has are for the heated raptors. FWIW.

Hot glue gun baby!



BTW, if mine ever break, I'm holing you and Ken personally responsible!

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

Hot glue gun baby!



BTW, if mine ever break, I'm holing you and Ken personally responsible!

If yours ever break you can hold Hans responsible

Its straight, I have a spare ballast for yours/Adarshes because he thought he had a dead one.

Originally Posted by Cal

My point is that the ballast should have some water-proof resistance on it because it will get some water/moisture somehow, and if it got damaged that way, the customer should get a replacement.

My comparison was to illustrate that the ballasts aren't advertised (AFAIK) as being water proof or resistant (just like the radio in the car). As such when a ballast is subjected to any sort of water why would you be surprised that it fails? Whether it should be water resistant or not isn't the issue, but rather if the item failed due to something outside of the manufacturers control.

Originally Posted by russ330

My comparison was to illustrate that the ballasts aren't advertised (AFAIK) as being water proof or resistant (just like the radio in the car). As such when a ballast is subjected to any sort of water why would you be surprised that it fails? Whether it should be water resistant or not isn't the issue, but rather if the item failed due to something outside of the manufactures control.

But, in defense of the consumer....

I the retailer gives very detailed install instructions that specifically say to install the ballasts in specific locations, and they become damaged in those locations due to water intrusion, would it not be caused by the instructions of the vender?

I replaced a TON of ballasts when I was selling the Leistung kits and found that out of all of the failures, maybe 3 weren't water related. It was my fault because the instructions wree initially unclear on where to put the ballasts.

Inside the headlights is ideal, but the E46 headlights are very tight for space. There used to be a good DIY with the location shown where the ballasts were kept inside the headlights, but they've now been taken down.