HID Ballast failure-Water damage-this might help somebody

[Orionaut]

Just posting this in case it helps somebody.

Car in question is Volvo V70 with bi-xenon headlights. but the same ballasts are used across a wide range of makes/models

Hids not working as a result of water getting into headlights and flooding the electronics package. One was just wet, the other was filled with horrible brown rusty sludge

(Nil Points for the, no doubt Highly paid, useful idiot who thought it was a good idea to locate the electronics package in a sealed chamber at the lowest point of the headlight unit such that it is the first place the water will collect if there is any ingress! What on earth were they thinking )

The EMI shields are easy to dislodge, both circuit boards were then gently scrubbed under a hot tap with a toothbrush to remove any deposits and sluge (I am sorry I didn't take any pictures) and then left in a fan oven at around 50C for a couple of hours.

Amazingly both units now work just fine, so if you find yourself in a similar situation, you have nothing to lose by trying.

Now all I have to do is find how the water is getting in/create a route for it to safely escape.
HTH

 

[theone8181]

Drill a small hole so water drains out?

 

[Orionaut]

Drill a small hole so water drains out?

Unfortunately not so simple.

The ballast is at the lowest point in the headlight so unless I can find (and stop) the ingress of water, it will still drip all over the ballast even if I do drill a drain to stop the water from accumulating.

On another note, the thing that startled me somewhat is that the "Bad" unit was FULL of the sort of corroded oxide sludge that one normally associates with old and neglected domestic radiators, It had clearly been immersed for some considerable time, and yet with a wash and blow dry it now works just fine!

Very impressed actually. I am surprised at how tolerant of being operated underwater in an environment of conductive sludge this electronics was.