LED blinkers

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maury
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LED blinkers

#1

Post by maury »

So I decided to go with LEDs for all bulbs. The headlight required a resistor inline due to the low voltage required and so the instrument panel would not show the headlight was out. Anyway.......all was going well, front blinkers/running...... check. Rear running and break light.........check.
Then the rear blinkers. When I put the LED bulbs in, they blink but don't turn completely off with each blink cycle and the blinker speaker (or whatever it's called) stops working. I've tried a number of things and none of it has changed anything.
YES.... I did change the blinker module/controller (or whatever it's called) to one for LED's.
When I put the old bulbs in........... all is well. Yeah I know, I know........just leave them in. But the brightness of the bulbs are fantastic. The headlight alone is unbelievably bright.

Any thoughts........... yeah kinda weird I know. I HATE chasing down electric problems.
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Re: LED blinkers

#2

Post by desertrefugee »

Adding resistors (as you've done with the headlight) can solve problems associated with LED low current conditions. But, that kinda defeats the purpose - unless your purpose is solely the brighter output. For me, the conversion to LED was to reduce the load on the charging system. Brighter light was a bonus, not the goal.

But the flasher in an older vehicle is a heater (of sorts) that deforms a metal plate with the resistive load created by the bulbs. The trick is to get one that lets the circuit develop enough current to begin the oscillation with the new, smaller load the LEDs present. The new units are solid state. If your fronts are blinking, it doesn't make sense that the rears are staying lit. They're on the same circuit. You might try pulling the LEDs from the front units to see if the rears work. If they do, (which I still think would be odd), then you have a stack up issue with the chosen hardware - front and rear LEDs and flasher unit).
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Re: LED blinkers

#3

Post by Toehead »

Sounds like you are still running the Reserve lighting unit. Not related to your problem, but those will tend to burn out randomly. Most bypass them.
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Re: LED blinkers

#4

Post by maury »

desertrefugee wrote :
You might try pulling the LEDs from the front units to see if the rears work. If they do, (which I still think would be odd), then you have a stack up issue with the chosen hardware - front and rear LEDs and flasher unit).
So, I pulled the LEDs from the front units (put original bulbs back in) and when then placing the LEDs into the rear units, all blinkers DID indeed work. Yes that is odd (I agree).
I do not know what a "stack up issue" means/refers to.
Like I said previous....... I have a LED flasher installed. Are some of them different from others? Solid state, etc.
My next step is routing around the RLU I suppose.

Thanks
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Re: LED blinkers

#5

Post by maury »

So I just ordered this......... I'll let you know how it works out.
And as far as why did I change to LEDs.... It was not about the amps/draw from the charging system (although that's a good thing) it's about the increased brightness !! I like being as irritatingly visible as possible.

12V Electronic Signal Flasher Relay w/ Ground Wire for LED
https://www.hipoparts.com/12v-electroni ... e-for-led/
$11.85
RELAY-LED-02

2 pin LED Signal Flasher Relay w/ Ground!

This is a 12V electronic signal flasher (blinker) relay that is a plug and play design. This relay is designed to fix "no flash" problems that sometimes result after installing LED bulbs as turn signal lights. This is for vehicles with 100% LED bulbs in the turn signals ONLY! This flasher is not designed to be used with any incandescent bulbs. Doing so will damage this unit. Please make sure that all bulbs in the turn signal circuit have been replaced with LED bulbs BEFORE installing this flasher. If your vehicle has some LED bulb and some incandescent bulbs in the flasher circuit, then please see our 12V Electronic Signal Flasher Relay, which is designed for combination systems.

This flasher has a ground wire that allows the flasher to sequence even when the load would be invisible to other flashers. Simply ground the wire to your chassis and plug the flasher into the stock flasher location. There are no other modifications required to use this flasher. These high quality electronic flashers are designed to replace standard two terminal flasher relays and operate at the normal DOT blink rate for motor vehicles with stock LED bulbs installed. If you are upgrading to 100% LED turn signal lights, this is a must have item.

We only carry this in the common 2-pin design. Please verify the correct flasher type for your vehicle before purchasing. Some vehicles may require two flasher relays, one for the turn signals and one for the hazard lamps.
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Re: LED blinkers

#6

Post by SnoBrdr »

Did you buy quality LED bulbs. Have heard horror stories about trying to use the cheapo bulbs like they sell at Wally World.
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maury
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Re: LED blinkers

#7

Post by maury »

I got got quality bulbs for sure !!
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Re: LED blinkers

#8

Post by desertrefugee »

maury wrote:
desertrefugee wrote :
You might try pulling the LEDs from the front units to see if the rears work. If they do, (which I still think would be odd), then you have a stack up issue with the chosen hardware - front and rear LEDs and flasher unit).
So, I pulled the LEDs from the front units (put original bulbs back in) and when then placing the LEDs into the rear units, all blinkers DID indeed work. Yes that is odd (I agree).
I do not know what a "stack up issue" means/refers to.
Like I said previous....... I have a LED flasher installed. Are some of them different from others? Solid state, etc.
My next step is routing around the RLU I suppose.

Thanks
As I recall, the LED compatible flasher units are simply designed to work with essentially no load. A typical LED array draws only 100mA or so. So, yours "should" have worked even driving fronts and backs. Stack up refers to the cumulative effects of a combination of components. Sometimes that means they don't play nice - as in your case. You'll have to just experiment - lacking actual specs on each device.
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Re: LED blinkers

#9

Post by Track T 2411 »

I notice the info says 100% LED. Don't forget the little indicator bulb in the instrument panel...
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Re: LED blinkers

#10

Post by maury »

Track T 2411 wrote:
I notice the info says 100% LED. Don't forget the little indicator bulb in the instrument panel...
Oh WOW, I forgot about them. I guess LEDs come even in that small a bulb.
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Re: LED blinkers

#11

Post by desertrefugee »

Better to just get a flasher unit compatible with both or a combo of both. I didn't realize they made them!
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Re: LED blinkers

#12

Post by SnoBrdr »

maury wrote:So I just ordered this......... I'll let you know how it works out.
And as far as why did I change to LEDs.... It was not about the amps/draw from the charging system (although that's a good thing) it's about the increased brightness !! I like being as irritatingly visible as possible.

12V Electronic Signal Flasher Relay w/ Ground Wire for LED
https://www.hipoparts.com/12v-electroni ... e-for-led/
$11.85
RELAY-LED-02

2 pin LED Signal Flasher Relay w/ Ground!

This is a 12V electronic signal flasher (blinker) relay that is a plug and play design. This relay is designed to fix "no flash" problems that sometimes result after installing LED bulbs as turn signal lights. This is for vehicles with 100% LED bulbs in the turn signals ONLY! This flasher is not designed to be used with any incandescent bulbs. Doing so will damage this unit. Please make sure that all bulbs in the turn signal circuit have been replaced with LED bulbs BEFORE installing this flasher. If your vehicle has some LED bulb and some incandescent bulbs in the flasher circuit, then please see our 12V Electronic Signal Flasher Relay, which is designed for combination systems.

This flasher has a ground wire that allows the flasher to sequence even when the load would be invisible to other flashers. Simply ground the wire to your chassis and plug the flasher into the stock flasher location. There are no other modifications required to use this flasher. These high quality electronic flashers are designed to replace standard two terminal flasher relays and operate at the normal DOT blink rate for motor vehicles with stock LED bulbs installed. If you are upgrading to 100% LED turn signal lights, this is a must have item.

We only carry this in the common 2-pin design. Please verify the correct flasher type for your vehicle before purchasing. Some vehicles may require two flasher relays, one for the turn signals and one for the hazard lamps.
Did this work and solve the problem?

I ask as I switched to all Led on the turn signals, brake light and the two indicator lights for the turn signals.

I had a Sylvania 552 flasher when it had the old light which is a 2 prong flasher.

There was always a 3rd wire in the group that I can never remember using.

It is a green wire which means it should be a ground but like I said it was never used.

All the lights light but when you turn on the flasher, the front bulb goes out. The rear and the dash light do not.

I wrote to SuperBrightLeds, where I bought the bulbs but have not as yet received a response.
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maury
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Re: LED blinkers

#13

Post by maury »

It's been some time since I posted all this and I wanted to FINALLY do a follow up.

I did put LED's in all the blinkers and a new (I purchased 3 different ones) flasher made specifically for LED's. The end result was the same no matter which flasher or combination of LED's I tried.

Result - When I put in 2 LED's (just front or just back), the blinker circuit worked perfectly fine (including the annoying speaker). When I then placed the additional 2 LED's (so all 4 were in place), the blinkers would not function correctly and the speaker did not operate. So I wound up just using the LED's on the rear. I'm only fairly good with electrics but I gave up trying to figure this out.
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Re: LED blinkers

#14

Post by 77Gowing »

I bought all the LED bulbs and associated flasher etc from Superbright and had only partial success myself. My instrument cluster had the LEDs too, but I could not get one to seat no matter what. I just gave up...(wimp) and put my bulbs and old flasher back in. I'm an electrical guy or err used to be or pretended to be, or whatever. Maybe during the winter I'll address this again, then again maybe not. Weather is too nice not to ride.
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Re: LED blinkers

#15

Post by SnoBrdr »

77Gowing wrote:I bought all the LED bulbs and associated flasher etc from Superbright and had only partial success myself. My instrument cluster had the LEDs too, but I could not get one to seat no matter what. I just gave up...(wimp) and put my bulbs and old flasher back in. I'm an electrical guy or err used to be or pretended to be, or whatever. Maybe during the winter I'll address this again, then again maybe not. Weather is too nice not to ride.
I did the same as you, all my bulbs went it but wouldn't blink.

Ended up sending it all back to SB.
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