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Upgrading Lightforce 240 Blitz to HID with LF Upgrade Kit

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  • Upgrading Lightforce 240 Blitz to HID with LF Upgrade Kit

    I recently upgraded my Lightforce 240 Blitz spotlights to HID using Lightforce's own HID upgrade kit, and took a few photo's along the way. From a local supplier here in Perth, each kit cost me a cool $200.00 :shock: One upgrade kit does one light, so you need to buy two kits if you have two lights like I do. So if you decide to go this way, prepare to part with $400.00. :? A set of Lightforce HID's off the shelf will cost you in the region of $800.00 in any case, so if you have the 100watt halogen Lightforce spots it's worthwhile to go the upgrade route. Whether you choose the Lightforce upgrade kits, VS something off EBAY, is a debate for another time and place. So lets get to it!

    The kit boxes. You can read right off the box what's included, and which Lightforce lights the kits apply to. HID powerheads will note the paltry ( :roll: ) 35 watt Ballast & Ignitor. If you were looking to go down the brighter 55watt HID path then you'll need to look elsewhere. As far as I know, Lightforce do not make a 55watt HID upgrade kit.






    So here's the contents of the kit all laid out for you to see. There really isn't much to it. Ballast, Ignitor, leads and globe are the major components. Plus another bag containing shrink tubing, plugs and grommets. Lightforce also give you the allen key you'll need to tighten the HID globe in place. The instructions are fairly good with very decent illustrations showing you the steps required. However they have one Achilles heel. They aren't in colour, which doesn't help much when you're trying to check which colour wire needs positive power and which is negative. You need to hunt around a little for that information.






    Lightforce's compact 35watt Ballast. During start up, a HID globe needs about 25,000 volts to bridge the gap between the electrodes in the globe. Once up and running though, this can be maintained with about 85 volts. The ballast controls this alternating current, as well as checking the globe is running at peak performance during operation.



    The Ignitor and HID globe. Interesting how they use the spelling "Igniter" on the unit itself, but use the spelling "Ignitor" on the box. Hmmmmmmm. HID globes are either designated D1 or D2. D1 globes have the ignitor as part of the globe. Therefore we're looking at a D2 type globe here with a separate ignitor. The 240 Blitz spotlights are simply not designed to fit the larger sized D1 type globes. This means you have the added issue of finding a spot to attach the ignitor, and as you can see, they need to be very close by. Fortunately, this isn't a problem with 120 Prado's. :mrgreen: You can see in the Pic below how much wiring you have to play with between the globe and the ignitor, not a heck of a lot.



    The HID globe itself with the protective casing removed. Being HID mad, you will all know that HID lights do not use a filament to create light. Instead, an electric charge is passed across the gap between two electodes, which creates an arc. The arc excites an inert gas, such as Xenon, that cause metallic salts to be vaporised, giving off light, a heck of a lot of it. A high voltage is needed to start this process, and this is why HID lamps can sometimes take a while to reach full intensity.



    And so it's time to start pulling things apart. Unscrew the reflector completely and put it aside, it rotates anti-clockwise to comes off the arm.
    Pull out the 100watt halogen bulb, which will come out with a simple tug. Lightforce say to wear cotton gloves for this and safety glasses. I can only assume this is in case the globe shatters and sends glass fragments flying all over the place. I'd say you'd need to be very unlucky for this to happen. I had safety glasses and my workshop rag at hand for this task.
    Remove the arm from the mounting by undoing the cross bolt. This will end you up as in the picture below.



    You're going to need your trusty drill, fitted with a 3mm (or 1/8) sized drill bit. My trusty GMC cordless was pressed into service here.



    The existing globe holder for the halogens is held in with a pop rivet, extremely high tech on Lightforces part. :roll: You need to drill the pop rivet out, carefully.. Lightforce take great pains to tell you to be careful and not allow the pop rivet to spin around in the housing as this will cause damage. Well, as long as you don't go mad and don't allow the pop rivet to spin around like a jet engine you'll be quite ok. Slowly is the order of the day. You can see the little bloke in the pic below whose about to get drilled........ :mrgreen:



    So here we are with the pop rivet history.
    The next step is to remove the black rubber grommet from the back of the arm. This is where the wiring goes through and up into the globe holder. Use pliers to get a decent grip on the grommet if necessary, but I got mine with just finger power. :wink: You can throw this grommet away, as Lightforce give you a new one with the kit.



    At this point you can remove the old Halogen globe holder. There is nothing else holding it in place. It's a fairly snug fit though and I had to use a small flathead screwdriver to get it moving, it should come out with a little firm pressure on the screwdriver.



    Fit the new HID bulb in place!
    You'll need to feed the wiring through the arm first, so they come out the bottom where the rubber grommet was. Slide the HID bulb home in the housing and align the threaded hole in it with the hole in the arm where the pop rivet used to be. Using the supplied hex set screw (comes with kit) fasten the hid globe in place and tighten the screw with the supplied 2mm allen key. That's it! The HID bulb is now fitted.



    At this point, Lightforce don't want you to damage your expensive HID bulb. Considering the money paid for the kit, I agree with them. So fit the arm back into the reflector, that way no errant knocks, well meaning cups of coffee or dog paws are going to ruin things.



    So! your next dubious task will be to thread the HID bulb leads through the fancy new rubber grommet that Lightforce seems to think you need. Honestly, it looks like the old one but what the heck! New is better than old right? The way to do this is with thin wire, fairly stiff stuff if you have it, the stuff I have has the charismatic name of "Handy Wire" and comes from Bunnings. Use pliers to fashion a hook at one end and feed this through the grommet. Then simply hook on to one of the power lead connectors and pull the wire back through the grommet, bringing the power lead back with it. I know I know... pure genius! :mrgreen:



    Lightforce recommends you get hold of some superglue gel, such as this from Loctite. The Idea is you apply a little superglue to the outside of the rubber grommet to ensure it stays in place and is as water tight as possible. Considering the tight fit, I think you'd be able to get away not doing the superglue thing. The old grommet certainly wasn't superglued in after all. But then again HID lights call for extreme measures.... I suppose.... :? You won't need a lot, just a thin line around the grommet in one spot will be fine.



    there is a 3rd hole in the grommet, which seems to have the sole purpose of having a small flathead screwdriver inserted into it. Once the screwdriver is in place you can errrrr........ slide the grommet home up into the arm. The idea here is to make sure there will be no tension on the wiring once the grommet is fully pushed up into the arm. So push it along the wiring until you have around a 2cm gap with the arm remaining as below. Then use the screwdriver to push the grommet home without sliding anymore wiring through it. Once complete, you will be left with a nice amount of slack in the wiring inside the arm.



    All done! Make sure the bottom of the grommet is flush with the underside of the arm. Too easy!



    Next up you need to attach the connectors that Lightforce give you to the ends of the bulb power leads. Look at the wiring harness that the globe / spotlight will eventually be plugging into. You need the opposite piece to what's on the harness. Other than that, the small metal pieces at the ends of the negative and positive leads are different shapes, and by studying Lightforce's diagrams carefully you'll be able to tell which shape goes with which plastic connector. All you need do is clip the metal ends into the plastic plugs and you're done. CAREFUL though! You might need to thread the wiring through your bullbar etc first, before connecting the plugs for good!



    Use your stove lighter on the shrink tube! Works a treat! You can see I got a little too trigger happy there with the red lead, so be careful about that. You'll soon see the shrink tube shrink away when the lighter flame gets near. Tried the missus hairdryer on it, but got nowhere....... :roll:



    Here's where I mounted the Passenger side Ignitor, with a couple of decent cable ties. Unfortunately, there's no mounting bracket / hole etc that helps with securing the ignitors. It's left up to you to find a way to stash and secure them. This bracket holds the air conditioning line in place, and handily sits behind the passenger side spotlight if it's mounted in the indentation on the sovereign bull bar.





    I have an Outback battery tray fitted on the drivers side, which is where I mounted the ballasts for both lights. The ballasts have 4mm threaded holes at each end for mounting. A simple case of drilling the 4 mm holes, visiting Bunnings for the 4mm bolts and you're away. Lightforce do not provide the ballast mounting bolts in the kit. It should be noted that I only had just enough cable to reach the passenger side light from here, running the cable across the the bottom of the radiator (see below).





    It's probably a good idea to do a quick test before you get too carried away with fastening down all the wiring. On the right is the original 100watt halogen. On the left is the upgraded HID light.



    Looking back at the lights now. On the right is the upgraded HID light, on the left is the original.



    The mounting position for the drivers side ignitor. A much messier fit, but you can get away with it with a little effort. I attached it below the Aircon line bracket on this side.



    Here's how I ran the power leads up to the ballast from the passenger side spot, and back to the spotlight itself. Cable ties are your friend. Covered everything in plastic cable sheath as well, can't be too careful.. and looks good to boot!! :mrgreen:



    For the drivers side light I had a bit of spare cable to deal with. For the moment I've just coiled it up and tied it in the battery tray with the ARB compressor.



    Job Done!



    The only thing left to say is that this process requires no modifications to the actual light housing whatsoever. The only drilling needed is to remove the pop rivet holding in the original halogen bulb holder. Nothing else. You will of course need to modify your wiring harness though, but this is simple. All you're essentially doing is adding the ballast and ignitor into the existing cabling that runs to your spotlight currently. So, the ballast has two leads coming from it. One connects to your original spotlight power leads. The other has the ignitor in it and runds down to the spotlight. That's it! No rocket science at all! :mrgreen:
    [b]#[/b] 2007 D4D GX [b]#[/b] Full Privacy Tint [b]#[/b] [color=#FF0000][b] Flinders Red [/b][/color] [b]#[/b] 2 x HID LightForce 240 Blitz [b]#[/b] ARB Winch Bar [b]#[/b] Alloy Rims [b]#[/b] Hilux Washer Jets [b]#[/b] Stebel Nautilus Compact Truck Horn [b]#[/b] ARB Alloy Roof Rack [b]#[/b] ARB Dual Battery System [b]#[/b] Charcoal Rough Country Canvas Seat Covers [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]Suspension:[/color]Autocraft Bilstein Shocks/Struts & Ridepro Coils [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]L.E.D[/color] Side Marker Lights [b]#[/b] ARB Onboard Air [b]#[/b] Pirelli Scorpion LT ATR 265/70's [b]#[/b][color=#0080FF]--Custom 3"exhaust---[/color]

  • #2
    Re: Upgrading Lightforce 240 Blitz to HID with LF Upgrade Kit

    Very nice IP

    I have thought about this as well, as i like to see where Im going

    But gee, theres a bit of $ sitting out front isnt there? The Skippys down here arent small, so I dont know if I want to see them better, or just less $ if I do get one??

    No doubt you are happy with the results?
    Cheers

    Daz

    2004 TD GXL Auto Prado

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Upgrading Lightforce 240 Blitz to HID with LF Upgrade Kit

      Yeah.. the money is the real sticking point. As far as I can see though, if you want a decent set of HID lights you're looking at around $800.00 anyhow. You could just get the halogen Lightforce lights and then search around for a cheaper upgrade kit from Ebay. The "Lightforce" tag has to be adding a fair whack to the price. Anyone stealing the lights will simply not get my ballasts and probably not even my ignitors either. Skippy though may well ruin things, you're quite correct. 4X4 Action recently did a very detailed write up on many many different brands and types of spotlights. Very good reading if you're thinking about HID lights. Interestingly they gave the upgraded 240 Blitz's a reasonably good score, not perfect, but very decent.

      Haven't tested these properly yet. Hopefully that will change soon. 8)

      They are much much brighter though. Damn but they're bright!
      [b]#[/b] 2007 D4D GX [b]#[/b] Full Privacy Tint [b]#[/b] [color=#FF0000][b] Flinders Red [/b][/color] [b]#[/b] 2 x HID LightForce 240 Blitz [b]#[/b] ARB Winch Bar [b]#[/b] Alloy Rims [b]#[/b] Hilux Washer Jets [b]#[/b] Stebel Nautilus Compact Truck Horn [b]#[/b] ARB Alloy Roof Rack [b]#[/b] ARB Dual Battery System [b]#[/b] Charcoal Rough Country Canvas Seat Covers [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]Suspension:[/color]Autocraft Bilstein Shocks/Struts & Ridepro Coils [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]L.E.D[/color] Side Marker Lights [b]#[/b] ARB Onboard Air [b]#[/b] Pirelli Scorpion LT ATR 265/70's [b]#[/b][color=#0080FF]--Custom 3"exhaust---[/color]

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Upgrading Lightforce 240 Blitz to HID with LF Upgrade Kit

        Just a question to throw out there.

        My ballasts make a noise when the lights are on. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? It's difficult to describe the noise but ... sounds a bit like tinny static coming through cheap speakers. I have read that ballasts can start making a noise when they are on the way out. As these have made the noise from new though I'm wondering if I need to go back to the 4WD place and let them hear it. Lights operating A1 at the moment however.
        [b]#[/b] 2007 D4D GX [b]#[/b] Full Privacy Tint [b]#[/b] [color=#FF0000][b] Flinders Red [/b][/color] [b]#[/b] 2 x HID LightForce 240 Blitz [b]#[/b] ARB Winch Bar [b]#[/b] Alloy Rims [b]#[/b] Hilux Washer Jets [b]#[/b] Stebel Nautilus Compact Truck Horn [b]#[/b] ARB Alloy Roof Rack [b]#[/b] ARB Dual Battery System [b]#[/b] Charcoal Rough Country Canvas Seat Covers [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]Suspension:[/color]Autocraft Bilstein Shocks/Struts & Ridepro Coils [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]L.E.D[/color] Side Marker Lights [b]#[/b] ARB Onboard Air [b]#[/b] Pirelli Scorpion LT ATR 265/70's [b]#[/b][color=#0080FF]--Custom 3"exhaust---[/color]

        Comment

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