Small engine bay dilemma re; space for hid install

[zoomahh]

So as the title says, anyone with a Mazda 3 2012 will attest to the fact that there's hardly enough room for any addons, let alone 1 Morimoto hid ballast :(.
Since I already Installed my lows (under the hood on top of the front wheel wells, ziptied), I was left standing in front of my engine bay the other day pondering where the hell I was gonna put the fog ballasts.... Before you say it, lemme say that anyone that has done HID's knows the ballast fack up sooner or later, so putting them behind the fogs where they are hard to get to at the best of times (when it comes to swapping them out), plus subject to moisture and water was out of the question for me.
So when, and I say when, they go, I wanna just be able to open the hood, unplug the bad ballast, an plug the new one in.... Wham bam Thankyou ma'am, bobs ur uncle.. Well ... U get it

My solution; make extension cables with plugs on each end!!!!
After searching for a spot I finally found them a good home
Drivers side fog; inside battery box
Passenger side; just under the plastic shroud there is a dry spot to Velcro n zip tie the other one.
I'll post more info on how n pics later tonite if anyone cares to know

[Impressive]

Honestly I left mine hanging out in the wheel well behind the covers. I've never once had an issue with either of my fogs in over a years use.

I'm interested to see your setup however...it sounds very unique.

[zoomahh]

Hey Impressive, Just finished the final solders, electrician shrink tube, and wire loomed the extensions. Should be able to post a few pics of them this week. I'll take a shot of where I'm gonna install em too.
When I was deciding how to go about putting my fogs in last month, I learned a few things about hids ....and that is that ballasts are almost always causing most of the issues when it comes to lighting up. And one of the things you have to do to trouble shoot and solve it is;

a) swap them out for a ballast you know is good
b) switch them around to see if it fixes the problem
c) maybe it's the bulb

Either way, before any distributor will agree to rma your product, the dud has to be identified. And that means doing just what I explained in order to get an exchange. Or you may just want to fix it yourself and just to get rid of the "bad apple". And that's a lot of bullshit if you mounted them under your bumper as I'm sure many guys on here have had to do at one time or another, then weather is a factor, then location. I don't know about you, but I don't have a hoist bay at my fingertips :( . So that's what got me to thinking about how can I make this an easier task. And with these extensions it will make installation as easy as it gets. The only time I will have to go back under the bumper is if a bulb burns. That's why I soldered plugs on both ends of the extension. To make it easy from either end. All I will have to do, pop the hood, swap out, close hood, done!!

I know some guys here might say why do you deal with that crap, just go get a set of Phillips or prolumen or whatev. I'll tell ya why....cuz I don't have the money to fork out 4 to 500 bucks. I only spent about $160...for my morimotos. The ballasts I have for my fogs are cheap DDM's I got from a Montreal distributor on another forum from an RMA and never used em. I'll use them till I have an issue, then I'll buy a pair or morimotos ($70 for ballasts only) unplug the DDM sheit, kick em ta tha curb, hook up the Mori's and I'm back in business faster than a Times Square hooker on NewYears Eve :D

Not sure when I'll be able to install them. Guess I'll have to wait till the warmer weather gets here. When it does, I'll be ready. ;)

[Impressive]

Hey Impressive, Just finished the final solders, electrician shrink tube, and wire loomed the extensions. Should be able to post a few pics of them this week. I'll take a shot of where I'm gonna install em too.
When I was deciding how to go about putting my fogs in last month, I learned a few things about hids ....and that is that ballasts are almost always causing most of the issues when it comes to lighting up. And one of the things you have to do to trouble shoot and solve it is;

a) swap them out for a ballast you know is good
b) switch them around to see if it fixes the problem
c) maybe it's the bulb

Either way, before any distributor will agree to rma your product, the dud has to be identified. And that means doing just what I explained in order to get an exchange. Or you may just want to fix it yourself and just to get rid of the "bad apple". And that's a lot of bullshit if you mounted them under your bumper as I'm sure many guys on here have had to do at one time or another, then weather is a factor, then location. I don't know about you, but I don't have a hoist bay at my fingertips :( . So that's what got me to thinking about how can I make this an easier task. And with these extensions it will make installation as easy as it gets. The only time I will have to go back under the bumper is if a bulb burns. That's why I soldered plugs on both ends of the extension. To make it easy from either end. All I will have to do, pop the hood, swap out, close hood, done!!

I know some guys here might say why do you deal with that crap, just go get a set of Phillips or prolumen or whatev. I'll tell ya why....cuz I don't have the money to fork out 4 to 500 bucks. I only spent about $160...for my morimotos. The ballasts I have for my fogs are cheap DDM's I got from a Montreal distributor on another forum from an RMA and never used em. I'll use them till I have an issue, then I'll buy a pair or morimotos ($70 for ballasts only) unplug the DDM sheit, kick em ta tha curb, hook up the Mori's and I'm back in business faster than a Times Square hooker on NewYears Eve :D

Not sure when I'll be able to install them. Guess I'll have to wait till the warmer weather gets here. When it does, I'll be ready. ;)

You're definitely right about the troubleshooting guide...I'll have to run those procedures on my headlights as my 4300k HIDs both stopped working about a week ago. Driving in the rain/post-rain at night without them is a straight up hazard (even with HID fogs). Hopefully my issue is just a loose connection because like yourself I can't be shelling out $400+ bucks for HIDs when I could swap in an $80 6000k China kit and save significantly. I would be disappointed having to ditch 4300k...definitely the best output by far!

[zoomahh]

Ya got that right ;)

Say if your interested, I can put together a supply list of what you would need to make a set for yourself. Can you solder? It's not that hard to do.

And per my previous post, it makes swapping out a "snap"!! :D

[zoomahh]

Just got the pics done....it's good coffee this morning :thumbsup cuz I decided to do it anyway;
This one shows both left and right. Both extensions are about 6 ft long..(I pre-measured it by going out to my car, roughly routed it where I wanted it to go).I wanted to make them with plenty of room to route though around and down to the fogs with room to spare, in case I have to take an unexpected path to the lights. Any spare length left at the fogs I can just ziptie together and tuck it away because there is lots room behind the fogs. As you can see, I finished the wiring by putting 1/4" wire looms around all the wires and ziptied the ends to keep it strack :super smiley . I luv overkill ;)
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/paybax/zoomahhs%202012%20GS%20SkyActiv/HIDFogextensions1.jpg

Here is one with all connections attached;
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/paybax/zoomahhs%202012%20GS%20SkyActiv/HIDFogextensions2.jpg
Before I hit the solder bench, I traced each wire back to the ballast connections and ballast-to-bulb connectors to make sure there were NO CROSSED wires. Once that was done, the soldering commenced. I made sure the wires behind the fogs were EXTRA solid and all electricians shrink tubing was DOUBLE covered as were the ones that end up in the engine bay. And once I do the install, and connections are done, I will also follow up by slipping sections of bicycle tubing cut to appropriate lengths over each connection and ziptie them so they look like a sausage. After doing HID mods to my previous cars, and with our brutal winters n stuff, I find this to be a solid way to keep electrical connections dry and free from water spray such as when we use a power spray at carwashes and during heavy rainstorms etc.
***You will note the small spade connectors near the bulbs in the pic...these are for the stock H11 plugs. And if I come across a set of H11 female plugs, I can always cut the spades and solder an H11 one onto it instead
Like I said, if anyone is interested, I can post a detailed list of supplies and a walkthrough if anyone is interested. Oh and I'll snap pics of the finished product once it's installed ;)

[Impressive]

Ya got that right ;)

Say if your interested, I can put together a supply list of what you would need to make a set for yourself. Can you solder? It's not that hard to do.

And per my previous post, it makes swapping out a "snap"!! :D

I can hold a flashlight for someone willing to do the work...otherwise I'm about as useful as a mechanic without arms :chuckle

Judging by your pictures the extensions turned out great! Almost looks like you bought them that way :) great job...look forward to seeing the installed photos :)