View Full Version : LUMINICS BURNED MY HARNESS


danman04x
01-18-2006, 01:59 AM
well i was driving home when i realized that only one of my headlight was working so when i got home i tried my stock and still nothing. well i loked and the connectors and they were fried. were and howdo i get a new harness? is this a problem with my bulb and should luminics pay for my new harness? :tap:

SquallLHeart
01-18-2006, 02:04 AM
you can get a new harness from any car parts store or online, but you're gonna have to do the wiring... might as well buy a better harness if you're gonna still use the luminics bulbs...

this isn't the first time that luminics has had problems with frying stock harnesses. (you can probably do a search here and find multiple incidents) i took mine out for that very reason.. luminics sells "beefier" harnesses that is supposed to prevent such things from happening (but i haven't personally purchased them so i don't know of it's effectiveness)

sorry to hear another harness is down. luminics only has warrenty on the bulb, and not your harness.. they won't do anything for you. (except maybe suggest spending money on their other harness)

danman04x
01-18-2006, 02:07 AM
thanks, how difficult is the wiring and about how much is a harness?

krdshrk
01-18-2006, 02:46 AM
This is the exact reason not to buy luminics. They refuse to admit that their bulbs cause the harnesses to fry. I would put in your stock bulbs and go to the dealership and have them fix it.

SciontCya
01-18-2006, 02:51 AM
^^^ absolutely lame! Every time one of you cheats the dealer, we all pay.
Please don't act like and a$$ - if you make a mistake, don't make someone else pay for it.
Sheesh.
Read this thread (click me) (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=101603)

Yanki01
01-18-2006, 03:10 AM
^^^ absolutely lame! Every time one of you cheats the dealer, we all pay.
Please don't act like and a$$ - if you make a mistake, don't make someone else pay for it.
Sheesh.
Sorry, but at least he's putting use to that "Warranty?"


well i was driving home when i realized that only one of my headlight was working so when i got home i tried my stock and still nothing. well i loked and the connectors and they were fried. were and howdo i get a new harness? is this a problem with my bulb and should luminics pay for my new harness? :tap:
Sorry to hear man, but i think you should of done some searches before you got them on. I have luminics too and i love them! Kinda hard to let them go. Once i heard that luminics had a wire harness that can handle more watts i jumped on it. After hearing about peoples harness fried like some southern chicken i didnt want that happening to me! Good luck on getting it fixed!

bubblemyster
01-18-2006, 03:46 AM
Here you go.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=73376&highlight=luminics

D1G1T4L
01-18-2006, 03:47 AM
luminics sells "beefier" harnesses that is supposed to prevent such things from happening
I couldn't find anything about those on their site... can you throw up a link?

Eppopipe
01-18-2006, 04:05 AM
mine have been in for 19,000 miles
i think its just the tc,,,not the bulbs...
my buddys harness blew using piaa bulbs..

bubblemyster
01-18-2006, 04:13 AM
mine have been in for 19,000 miles
i think its just the tc,,,not the bulbs...
my buddys harness blew using piaa bulbs..

I think your right, but in our current situation it doesn't really matter. In the end, no company wants to take responsibility or help the consumer find the culprit. I had a set of these in my dad's highlander for way longer than in my tC and it didn't do anything to his highlander, so i think your right.

SciontCya
01-18-2006, 04:16 AM
Did you guys with fried wires get higher-wattage than stock bulbs?
Just curious - most of these makers have standard and higher wattage units...

Scott

FLINT
01-18-2006, 04:32 AM
we talked about not using these bulbs a long time ago.
search please

TerryStolmeier
01-18-2006, 06:03 AM
If the connecter that is damaged plugs directly into your headlamp assy... call your dealer and order a "pigtail" for the front left or right headlamp.

This is a very common part and shouldn't be too expensive. Cut the old connector off, butt connect the new one on. Done deal.

Part of modding your car is knowing how to fix things that don't go as planned. You changed it, you fix it. Don't try to pass it off at the dealership as a warrenty issue.

bubblemyster
01-18-2006, 07:37 AM
i took my car in as is with the burned harness and the burned aftermarket bulb that was burned. I told them my situation and i managed to get it fixed under warranty.

phoenixtc
01-18-2006, 09:42 AM
luminicsdirect.com has the harness. $19.95 for the set. Use these next time. It will save the factory harness.

Monarch
01-18-2006, 12:13 PM
just put stock bulbs in and have it replaced for free, it happen to me too. Then get the upgraded harness.

danman04x
01-18-2006, 03:26 PM
thanks for all the replies, i think i might just go buy a pigtail and do it myself. The only part that is burned is the connector

BIGRKtC
01-18-2006, 04:20 PM
Hey guys, I've been looking at the luminicsbulbs.com site and don't see anything anymore about beefed up harnesses. Was looking for them because I am doing a retrofit on my car and need a relay harness to diffuse the huge current that HID ballasts draw on start up. I remembered that luminics had harnesses and wanted to see the specs on them so I could judge if they would meet my needs, kinda fishy they don't sell them anymore. You still even have to be careful with the aftermarket beefed up harnesses. Lots of companies use cheap low grade wiring and advertise it as a beefed up harness. Not sayig that this is the case with luminics, because I don't think they offer harnesses anymore, or at least not on the website, which is already pretty suspicious IMHO. So I have no info on their harnesses. Not to mention that this company started with a full year warentee and then dropped that too.

But as far as HIDs go, it is recomended that the wire quality be at least 12 AWG in order to handle the amps from both ballasts, 10AWG would actually be better. While looking for harnesses I stumbled across Xenon Depot, which sells HID components and they had a "Xenon quality" beefed up harness for sale. I emailed them to see what gauge they were and they replied that they were 20 AWG, which is flimsy and would probably fry after a month. I'm not sure what gauge the stock wiring is, but I can't imagine that 20AWG is an upgrade. So you have to becareful and take every precaution or else don't bother with aftermarket lights. I was lucky that my crappy luminics bulbs blew before they were able to totally screw up my harness. They had been the third aftermarket bulb I had bought in 5 months, so I said screw it and decided to go back to stock untill I could afford real HIDs. When changing back to stock bulbs I noticed that my passenger side light kept going out. It was because it was slipping due to the fact that the luminics bulbs had partially melted the inside of the connector. Thankfully it wasn't too demaged and I got the bulb to stay in the clip.

Since then I've done lots of research on HIDplanet.com/forums and decided to go with a retro. Now I'm just realizing the importance of having the propper harness and not just buying what you see. On the site they show you how to make your own, using the proper wire and waterproofing. Also there are members on the site who have perfected the process and can make you a harness to suite your needs for a reasonable price.

I've learned on this site that it is important not to jump on new fads without researching. When I first joined this site spring '05, every one was singing the praises of Luminics and you could not say anything bad about the product with out getting flammed. A few months later after everyones bulbs blew, or harnesses fried it was a different story.

I say all that to say this. DO YOUR RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN! Don't trust word of mouth from people who bit the same fad as you did. After you research you might realize that stock is probably the best way to go. Manufacturers knew what they are doing. If you must have more lighting and color, use OEM products as much as possible. Trust me I've had every aftermarket halogen you can name in the first 9 months of me buying the tC (Nokias, Ebay brands, Silverstars, Luminics, etc). None of them match the output of the stock bulb. Any bulb that has a color coat on it blocks light anyway. Most people that are exited about the tremendous output of their new aftermarket bulbs, usually find this out when their bulbs blow and they return to stock only to find that the road is now 5x brighter. Also, ripping of the factory is not cool. No the definition of the warentee. :no: Take stock of all the risks involved in each mod you do, anticipating funds that you will need to spend to undo your damage. Then decide if the mod is worth it to you. Hope all this is helpful to somebody. If you search you can avoid making the same mistakes that others have made. I learned this the hard way. Sorry for the rant. Hope everything works out. O.K. my hands hurt from typing, I will stop now. :eyes:

pillage
01-18-2006, 08:54 PM
ive had mine in for 6 months and not a problem. hopefully it will be ok. Ultimately I am not concerned cause it is only a 5 watt diff.

BIGRKtC
01-18-2006, 09:15 PM
So countless reports of 55 watt bulbs melting harness clips doesn't worry you? I guess nobody has reported a completly fried wiring harness yet, or at least not on this site.

R2D2
01-18-2006, 09:27 PM
mine have been in for 19,000 miles
i think its just the tc,,,not the bulbs...
my buddys harness blew using piaa bulbs..

Not true..Unless maybe he got the different wattage ones (55watts or higher).
Incase yall didn't know our bulbs are suppose to be @ 51Watts, therefore if your buddy got PIAAs with 55W or more its going to be just as risky as any other brand.
I've been riding my 51Watt PIAAs for atleast 6 months without a problem.

HuskerChub
01-18-2006, 09:44 PM
I find it interesting that I've read 2 threads on this issue and one think stands out. This seems to be happeneing on the TC's. Now I'm only making an observation but in the 2 threads there are 5 people reporting issues and they all drive a Tc. I also understood that one Tc had the luminics removed and the stock bulbs put back in and it still burned out, I may have misunderstood that.

There is one mention of a slightly burnt looking wire on an xB, an xB FOG light issue (doesn't say if it was a luminics bulb) and a Xa issue with a PIAA bulb. There may be xB's and xA's that I don't konw about, but I do know a couple of people that have been running these bulbs in xB's for more than a year with no issues.

So I'm not convinced that it's a bulb problem as much as there may be something else going on with the Tc that is made more evident with the bulbs i.e. there is rubbing/shorting going on that may show up sooner rather than later from the additional 3-4 watts.

Just some thoughts...

danman04x
01-19-2006, 01:55 AM
well after i took out the luminics i put the stock ones back in and it still didnt work but today when i was driving i realised that it was. my connector is definantly burned but the light is working now

Sam_J84
01-19-2006, 02:00 AM
^^^ absolutely lame! Every time one of you cheats the dealer, we all pay.
Please don't act like and a$$ - if you make a mistake, don't make someone else pay for it.
Sheesh.
Read this thread (click me) (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=101603)

yup, you made the mistake. dont take it back to the dealer to get it fixed.

higher wattage bulbs cause the factory harness to that sometimes. it doesnt happen to everyone, maybe 1 out 10 people will experience this problem. just go to a local auto part store and buy a higher wattage harness and splice the wires yourself. 10 mins. max.

SciontCya
01-19-2006, 02:03 AM
Sam's right - my daughter had this happen - the Mustang she bought had these crappy bulbs i them and fried her harness.
It took me 30 minutes and about $15 worth of parts.

Scott

Revilo
01-19-2006, 02:14 AM
The Wiring Harness is in www.luminicsdirect.com

engifineer
01-19-2006, 02:21 AM
I find it interesting that I've read 2 threads on this issue and one think stands out. This seems to be happeneing on the TC's. Now I'm only making an observation but in the 2 threads there are 5 people reporting issues and they all drive a Tc. I also understood that one Tc had the luminics removed and the stock bulbs put back in and it still burned out, I may have misunderstood that.

There is one mention of a slightly burnt looking wire on an xB, an xB FOG light issue (doesn't say if it was a luminics bulb) and a Xa issue with a PIAA bulb. There may be xB's and xA's that I don't konw about, but I do know a couple of people that have been running these bulbs in xB's for more than a year with no issues.

So I'm not convinced that it's a bulb problem as much as there may be something else going on with the Tc that is made more evident with the bulbs i.e. there is rubbing/shorting going on that may show up sooner rather than later from the additional 3-4 watts.

Just some thoughts...

There is nothing wrong with the tC, or I dont see that as evident here. They just didnt allow much headroom above stock. So, maybe a not so great design item, but it works perfectly for the stock lights. Anytime you go over and above rated values you need to do the math or the research to make sure it works. An alternative would be to either buy the pigtail or buy a beefier harness end off another vehicle, and wire your headlights using beefy wire through a relay directly to power and ground. Then trigger the relay off the stock harness. Then you can run a much higher rated bulb without issue as long as you stay in spec of the new harness, wiring and relay. Your next worry as you get higher in power is the headlamp housing being able to withstand the extra heat.

Yanki01
01-19-2006, 02:44 AM
The Wiring Harness is in www.luminicsdirect.com
Yea they've been in.......BUT i ordered high beam harness and high beam titanuim bulbs on x-mas eve, still have't gotten it? Their being really lazy! I think new years eve was a big party for them! Really getting me mad!

Yanki01
01-26-2006, 03:18 AM
still nothing 1 month later!


Lazy a$$es!