OK, so I got the Sonar projectors from eBay after reading so many rave reviews over them and now I have questions. On the back where it all goes together there is a rubber cap that covers a H1 bulb. I am putting my 6000K HIDs in there and I know that I have to open up the cap a bit to get the wires through. Thanks SparkyJJO for taking the pic of yours...

Here is the question. Doesn't the HID bulb come in a socket preformed to fit our housings and if so, how does that work out with getting it in the projector housing? I understand that the fit is tight but I haven't taken them apart yet at all since they are already at the paint shop to get tinted before install. Also does the H1 need a ballast to light? I was thinking I could end up using the spare one in my high beams since I so rarely use them anyway with HIDs. On the subject of ballasts my new HIDs for the fogs came with the thin ballast and I liked how others have tucked it into the headlights from behind to neaten things up. Can I do this and just use the larger with the fogs? Thanks for all the help and thank you everyone that has shown all the pics of the different projectors. My intent is to eventually retro the stockers I have in there now that are Whistler modded and tinted. How high should the cutoff be once installed and adjusted on a stock height car? Two feet off the ground on the wall and the fogs about one foot?

 

OK here is how it works.

I suggest putting the bulbs in first before mounting the headlights, it makes it a little easier so you can see what you're doing since the fit is tight.

You take that rubber cap off and take the bulb out. The HID bulb just slides right in, only one way and yeah it is tight. I found you have to have it aligned just so to make it slide in but you don't have to force anything. Make sure it is seated down fully. The latch is HARD to get latched down, you might need to use some pliers to grab onto the wire and get it under the hook.

Chop a small hole in the back of that rubber cap in the center, smaller than the plug. shove the plugs through - the rubber will stretch.

Yes, the H1 bulbs still use ballasts. Looks like this:


That little return wire on the outside will be on the bottom (slightly angled) to put it in. You'll see how it only fits one way because the base has that a notch and 2 bumps on it.

You can interchange ballasts as long as they are the same wattage. I prefer the thin ones though, they are digital and generally more reliable in cold weather. Mine came right on at -15 for example.

Adjustment height is a little lower than the height from the ground to your headlights or thereabouts I think... others may have more input though.

 

Thank you for the help. Any other ideas on aiming anyone?

 

bringing this thread back for anyone else who intends to put hid lights in the sonar projectors. i used the DDM Tuning H1-bulb 35 watt in 4.5k, (but it looks closer to 5-6k).

i had a slight problem; as stated above, the bulb only fits in one way and is pretty tight. h1 based bulbs have that flat spot on the base which makes sure you put the bulb in one way - unfortunately, the h1 hid bulb base does not work with the placement of the wire in the h1 hid bulb (pictures below will explain this better).
i wasn't sure that the bulb would sit far enough in the housing for proper light output without modification of the H1 base.... so i cut a small notch in each base (very, very carefully to avoid fracturing the entire base) so that the bulb fully goes into the housing. i wouldn't really recommend notching the base like i did, because the plastic base can easily be fractured and ruined in the process - so if you do it, be extremely careful.

i'll add some pics here to illustrate. excuse the crappy phone quality.

here's a photo of the sonar projector light


if you look at the housing, you'll see the bulb is only going to go in one way due to that fat wire that runs along next to the bulb.


if you cram it in, you'll see there's a slight gap


you can see here where the h1 based hid bulb will go in only one way and that does not work well with the metal piece on the housing. the bulb will not fully seat because of it. i cut the notch where you see i have highlighted the h1 base in red (sorry, no picture of the notched base).


i actually tested the lights before notching the base and noticed lesser light output. it looked like there was a dark spot in the middle of the light beam.

here's a few pictures of the sonar projectors with hid...




light output is decent. it really lights up everything in a wide area, but i could use more visibility further down the road. high beams are generally not needed anymore unless i want a specific concentrated beam at the far end of the road or if i'm on a curvy/hilly backroad and need to see up a steep grade.

 

To light up further down the road you may just need to raise the aim up a tad (just don't go too high).

You've got me curious about the bulb seating though, I think mine sat flush with some fiddling but I'll have to double check them now.

 

yeah, i'm still making some adjustments to the alignment. seems like the best way to do it is to remove the housing and work with that one screw that pushes out the bottom.
i'm open to any suggestions about the easiest way to get these adjusted (horizontal seems to be the main issue). it seems like the driver's beam starts to head to the left about 80ft out. if i tighten the bottom adjustment screw (the one that you have to remove the headlight to get to), it brings it down and towards the center.

the light was a little too blue for what was advertised, so i contacted ddm.
since i notched the h1 bases, i couldn't return them, so i decided to upgrade to a 55watt ballast. it is supposed to provide 40% more light and bring the color temperature down a bit. i cleaned up and returned the 35watt ballasts and they gave me the 55watt ballasts for $15. great customer service...

they say the bulbs they use are 60watt, so if you can find a 60watt ballast, you can use them.

 

I did exactly what you have did to the H1 HID bulbs, however I f*cked up on throwing those screws and the metal wire retainer away. Suprisingly, the HID bulbs are so tightly fit in the housing they haven't backed out so it's good to go for now.

My 35 watt ballast is plenty bright to me.

 

i got the 55watt HIDs put in and the lights are a little whiter and a bit brighter (40% advertised seems to be right on the money). here are a few shots to show the color, cutoff and beam pattern.
these were taken in a pretty well lit garage which had an incline at the far end, so the wide shot has the beam hitting lower than it is.

 

Hey guys, im having a problem with my passenger side Sonar/hid lights. Basically the drivers side is fine with a perfect cutoff. The passenger side, basically has a big splotch of yellow right at the cutoff point and obviously isn't as a bright as the driver side, both lights are 4500k. Also the passenger side light isn't straight. It arcs downward like an unhappy face on one side though.

I notched the base on both and they went in fine. Any ideas? Im going to try to take some pics if i have time.

 

Double & triple check that the bulb is seated and secured correctly. A small misalignment can cause output issues. If its definitely sitting correctly, compare the bulbs. Its possible that the seat/base is slightly bent or malformed. Also, swap bulbs. Does the issue follow the bulb or stay with the housing? If it stays with the housing, compare the housings where the bulbs sit. Maybe something is bent or malformed.

 

Wow.... those cutoffs are terrible. I barely see the line, and what's up with all the scatter? Is that one of the issues related to the seating of the bulbs?

 

That flare above the cut-off is most-likely a design of the projector & housing. It could one one of two things: "squirrel finder" hole in the cut-off shield to help light up above-road signs -or- reflection off the lower part of the housing in front of the projector.