DIY HID ballast repair?
 

One of the HID ballasts on my XK8 is out. Since folks have opened up and repaired their ABS and other controllers, why not the ballasts?

It took a bit of searching but I discovered this forum http://www.saabclub.su/showthread.php?t=30855 where this is being done. Note that it is in Russian so used a Chrome browser and do the auto translate,

It appears that the common failed part is a Sanken SLA2402MS driver IC. Looks to be a straightforward repair. I couldn't find any US distributors for the device but there is a guy on eBay selling them out of HK for $4.00 + shipping (10-14 day). I'm going to order a few and give it a shot.

Thoughts?

Lots of photos please - I see a 'How To' coming up.
Don't electrocute yourself before posting.
You may need an oscilloscope.

Will do

+1

Great thing to add to the How-to catalog. Just watch out for charged capacitors, lest ye end up with an Einsteinian hairdo.

For those that don't want to "repair" a ballast, but still looking for the best price on a replacement, it would be worthwhile to search other auto brands for the same ballast unit. I found a Cadillac ballast that was a perfect replacement for the rusty failed ballast on an XJ8 VDP. I believe it was a 12 pin Valeo unit from an SRX. Same part numbers...

I'm intrigued, and subscribed! i've got a flicker in both of my cars myself...and I don't want to buy used parts in this case... so $250 each is pricey. A DIY fix would be very welcome.

I fitted a used ballast I sourced from a UK breaker for £50 18 months ago and it's been fine (touch wood). A DIY repair how-to would be great, though.

Can you post the Ebay link?:)
The only sites I could locate were out of China.

I have 3 of the LAD5G Ballast that I can experiment with. I opened one of them this past summer and was very surprised to see 1980-90s tech used in a 04 Jag!:icon_emm:

Helpful link: http://www.grafen.se/web/Xenon/lad_5g_c.htm

All the eBay sellers are out of China re. my OP HK= Hong Kong = China.

Actually the tech looks pretty current to me - double sided surface mount and at least one ASIC

The link you posted is extremely interesting and shows something I've been concerned about as well. If moisture gets into this thing it can wreak all sorts of havoc. The post seems to indicate that it can be resolved with a good cleaning but if the moisture leads to arcing of the HV, the unit may not be economical to repair. The post discusses coating the board with a moisture sealing spray which I think is an extremely good idea and clearly is something the OEM should have thought about. It's entirely possible that the failure mode in some units may be due to moisture ingress and not failure of the driver IC...........or maybe the moisture is what causes the IC to fail???

@reyesl: Did you see corrosion in the unit you opened?

I'll have a LAD5GL available in about a week if you want to look at that one also...either of you. Just send me a PM.

I went ahead and ordered 4 units to experiment with. No evidence of damage yet, I will be removing the board this week and hopefully will have no hidden moisture damage.

I bought my used ballast from this UK breaker for £50.

i smell progress!

OEM HID Valeo LAD5G Ballast Repair
 

Shortly afterwards this OEM HID Valeo LAD5G Ballast Repair procedure description appeared. :icon_photo:

I actually did this 'chip' replacement myself, and I'm no electrician. It turns out I had chinese 'fake' OSRAM bulbs, and my flickering on BOTH sides that began simultaneously after about 6 months of use were not the result of my ballast failing; I never considered the bulbs until after I purchased a brand new 'genuine' bulb from Amazon, did I discover it was the bulb(s) all along. So, if you can determine your problem is the ballast, you should definitely try this fix. Oh, I may have an extra one or two of these chips, if anyone wants to give it a shot on theirs. Just PM me and I'll stick it in an envelope.