what kind of headlight plug does this hid ballast need?

[Ben321]

The ballast (meant for retrofitting a halogen headlight fixture) has a headlight connector on it that goes in place of the halogen bulb, then the hid bulb goes on the output of the ballast. The problem I'm having is finding the correct headlight halogen bulb connector to plug into the ballast's input. There are absolutely no polarity markings on the ballast's case. So if I try to connect the ballast to my 12v power supply just guessing the polarity, I'm likely to burn out the ballast's circuits.

I bought on ebay what I thought was the correct plug (complete with color coded wires to indicate polarity) but the plug doesn't fit the ballast's power input connector. The pin spacing on the ballast is wider than the pin spacing on the plug I bought (which was an H11 plug).

I've attached a picture to this post, showing the ballast and plug. The ballast's input socket is black, while the plug is white. So since this H11 plug has too narrow of pin spacing, what is the correct type of plug I should be looking to buy?

[SmallCog]

I'd suggest taking it to an automotive retailer and comparing it to the bulbs hanging on the shelf

This identification chart may be of use for identifying likely candidates: https://www.lucasautomotive.com/globalassets/english/media-uploads-2020-02-21/lucas-bulb-wallchart-en.pdf

I'd start in the HB part of the shelf. Leaving the keyways off their moulding may have been to make the connector compatible across lots of bulbs, eg by not having the ) shapes it can fit any of the HB3 and HB4 derivatives.

It may also fit HIR2 and H10 given that this (unrelated) kit can plug in place of all of these bulbs so there's obviously options to play games with moldings/keyways to allow multifit for aftermarket parts

https://mytuff4x4.com.au/shop/hulk-4x4-products/lighting/led-headlight-globes/hb3-hb4-h10-hir2-electronic-canbus-kit-12v-pkt2/

It may be bipolar too and have a bridge rectifier or something inside to allow connection in either orientation or to allow for manufacturers who don't conform to standards. It is going in place of a bipolar lightglobe which will happily work no matter which pin orientation is used for polarity.

[Ben321]

I'd suggest taking it to an automotive retailer and comparing it to the bulbs hanging on the shelf

This identification chart may be of use for identifying likely candidates: https://www.lucasautomotive.com/globalassets/english/media-uploads-2020-02-21/lucas-bulb-wallchart-en.pdf

I'd start in the HB part of the shelf. Leaving the keyways off their moulding may have been to make the connector compatible across lots of bulbs, eg by not having the ) shapes it can fit any of the HB3 and HB4 derivatives.

It may also fit HIR2 and H10 given that this (unrelated) kit can plug in place of all of these bulbs so there's obviously options to play games with moldings/keyways to allow multifit for aftermarket parts

https://mytuff4x4.com.au/shop/hulk-4x4-products/lighting/led-headlight-globes/hb3-hb4-h10-hir2-electronic-canbus-kit-12v-pkt2/

It may be bipolar too and have a bridge rectifier or something inside to allow connection in either orientation or to allow for manufacturers who don't conform to standards. It is going in place of a bipolar lightglobe which will happily work no matter which pin orientation is used for polarity.

Thanks for that post. As you specifically mentioned HB3, HB4, HIR2, and H10. I specifically went to eBay and bought one of each of those to see by trial-and-error, which one fits that HID ballast. The order deliveries are not coming in all at the same time.

I first received the H10 connector, and it fit perfectly, including the snap to hold it in place.

Just today I received the HIR2 connector, and it with a pair of identical connectors (I guess they figure you would be setting up headlights on both sides of the car at the same time, so they sent 2 in a pack). This HIR2 connector visually looks completely identical to the H10 connector I received before, and fits just as easily. One of the 2 HIR2 connectors in the pack fit slightly too tight though so I was able to push it ALMOST all the way in (enough I could definitely feel it binding with the pins in the ballast connector), but not quite far for enough it to snap into place (the other HIR2 connector in the pair fit just fine, just like the H10 connector did).

Also today I received the HB3 connector which had a significantly different visual appearance. for most of the connector, though it was physically compatible with the ballast's connector. Again as I plugged it in, it fit snugly so I know it was making contact, but unfortunately it didn't fit far enough up for it to actually snap into place with the snap holding mechanism. Again this was a set of 2 connectors, but this time both of them didn't fit far enough up to actually snap into place.

The last one is one I'm still waiting to be delivered, and it's labeled on eBay as an "HB3 HB4" connector. I bought it specifically because it did mention HB4 in the title of the item listing, and I already had ordered a connector that was specifically labeled as an HB3 connector. I'm not sure which type the "HB3 HB4" connector actually is. It seems kinda like the seller used keyword spam to get people to find it, regardless of if they are searching for an HB3 connector or an HB4 connector. As I'm not an automotive technician, I'm not sure how compatible HB3 and HB4 are supposed to be.

[SmallCog]

Fingers crossed it all works out for you

[Ben321]

Ok, so the last one finally arrived (the one that was called HB3 HB4 in the item name on eBay) and while on first glance it looked like the H10 and HIR2 connectors, but it didn't fit far enough to allow the snap to lock and hold it in place (though it did make a snug fit I could feel as the holes fit right with the pins and so it definitely would hold under most conditions just from the snug fit). On second look, the snap mechanism on this "HB3 HB4" connector was just a couple millimeters farther back than the snap on the H10 and HIR2 connectors.

So it seems that for my ballast, the H10 and HIR2 connectors are the ones to use. This makes me wonder something though. Are H10 and HIR2 supposed to actually be identical? Or are they actually supposed to be slightly different according to automotive standards? Maybe someone here with automotive work experience can chime in to answer this question.