HID on and off question

[vinh766]

i heard somewhere that it is bad to turn HID's on and off a lot continously, is this true? i am asking this because i want to hook my HID's up with my alarm setup. so that when i arm or disarm my car, my HID's would blink also. i have a 4200k kit in audi projectors. im curious because, if my alarm goes off, my lights blink, and my HID's would blink also, if i hooked it up with my alarm. i know the HID's on the Escalade blinks with its alarm. i want to know if this is harmful to the ballast or the bulbs or any part of the setup, before i try this.

 

[TrystanGST]

Yes, it is bad to cycle HIDs on and off a lot.
From http://www.omsdive.com/hid10-man-p4.html

# FIRST time the HID lamp is turned on - allow 5 minutes warm up time before turning off.
# To prevent damage to the lamp and optimize lifetime, do NOT turn lamp on and off repeatedly.
# If lamp is accidentally turned off, wait 15 seconds for it to cool (minimum 10 seconds) before restarting. This will help insure maximum lamp life. HID, like other arc lamps, lose most of their life during the ignition-start-up.
# Constant on-off-on-off use or shutdown prior to warm-up time (approximately 3 minutes) may damage the lamp.

(Yes I know it's a site talking about diving lamps, but the principles are the same).