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HID retrofit issue

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electrohead

10+ Year Contributor
43
7
Mar 5, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia
I just did a retrofit on some OEM style headlights. Did the conversion with Morimoto H1 projectors. I just looked at the headlights and noticed melted spots on the black housing bezels. Is this a normal issue, or is it because they are replicas? Sorry for the crappy picture, but I kept getting glare otherwise.
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I'm struggling to see much of anything from your picture, partially because it's very blurry and partially because I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for.

But I did a retrofit last year with FX-R 3.0 and Morimoto 50W ballasts and haven't seen any damage of any kind to the housings. You definitely shouldn't be seeing any melting in your headlights.
 
The damage is right under the lens. It looks like a reflection, but it's melted. When you did your retrofit, did you cut the back of the reflector out or just use the headlight bulb opening? I'm not about to tear apart my old factory headlights to modify and reuse the black bezels if the problem will return.
 
I've had the same problem with OEM bezels with the Morimoto D2S's which are shorter. I've also had issues with slight lense melt/craze also. Mounted in stock reflectors.
 
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These were the only two pictures that I found from when I did the retrofit back in late 2018. The DSM is in many pieces right now but I'll grab a few photos of the headlights. What would be most helpful for you to see in a photo?

The damage is right under the lens. It looks like a reflection, but it's melted. When you did your retrofit, did you cut the back of the reflector out or just use the headlight bulb opening? I'm not about to tear apart my old factory headlights to modify and reuse the black bezels if the problem will return.
I had to cut a fair bit out of the back of the bowl just to get the lens to fit inside the clear plastic of the headlight (also the D2S bulb is way too large to fit through the 9006 opening) and I also had to trim the black bezel at the bottom to make room for the projector and shroud. The Mini H1 is WAY smaller so that probably isn't necessary for you.
What are you doing to combat the heat?
I personally didn't do anything special at all. I did use aluminum tape but that was just to cover a hole in the shroud at the top where one of my cuts was visible through the front of the headlight. I seriously doubt that is doing anything to combat heat, especially in the bottom of the headlight. It doesn't seem like electrohead did anything in his housings either.
 
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I just found this other picture from headlight assembly. In the top left you can see how far the FX-R 3.0 bulb holder sticks out of the back of the reflector bowl, and even then the lens still touches the front of the headlight housing. I am also remembering that these were brand new aftermarket headlights, not my spare OEM set.
 
What are you doing to combat the heat?
I only added the little vents you can buy on Retrofit Source. Looking at it last night, I was using a flashlight to try mimicking sun position, and the melting definately happened from the sunlight bouncing through the projector lens and focusing onto the bezel. Could this just be a replica headlight issue? Anyone have issues from the factory headlights? I'm thinking, just like replacement door handles, the oem-used plastic is just better. This is how my setup looks. Pics taken right after retrofit was completed. I did shorten the shrouds to sit more flush against the projector. I hope I don't have to disassemble the light, since JB quick was used as an addition to the threaded shaft, to keep the projector locked to the reflector bowl.
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