Topic: single wire turn signals come on but don't flash

[gecko672]

I'm currently trying to hunt down what/if  I may have done wrong in the wiring but thought I might ask in case some one has had the same problem and has a quick answer.
When I turn on the turn signals left or right all 4 come on but do not flash.
The signals I have are single wire aftermarket ones and I'm sure I have them connected to the right signal wires. Light blue and orange  (Although I will double check)
I bought a cheap winkler unit to double check it wasn't that and it was still the same.

Is there something else I have to do with a single wire light?
Jump/ground something? Or is it more likely I mis wired something?

1971 cb750

Cheers.

[MoMo]

Are you saying all 4 come on at the same time? ...Larry

[bjbuchanan]

If it is just a single wire, like no ground wire then they ground thru the housing so you gotta have metal to metal

Wiring is powered black wire to signal flasher the gray wire up in to bucket to grey wire that goes in to handlebar controls. Out of handlebar controls is the light blue and orange. Simple straightforward

Check battery voltage. For stuff like that I like to have 12.5~ at the terminals atleast because the flashers in my experience did funny stuff closer to 12 and under

[raymond10078]

Could be that the electrical load with the aftermarket lights is too low to actuate the flasher.  There are two types of flashers - thermal and electronic.  The cheapest and most common (and stock) is the thermal.  These require a certain amount of electrical load to flash.  In these cases you need an electronic flasher.  These are common (Autozone, etc), and not very expensive (less than $20).

[wowbagger]

I just had a similar issue on my cb500. Turning on the left blinker turn both front and rear blinker lights on but they stayed on and did not flash. Right blinker did likewise with the right lights. I took a wire brush and some sand paper to the leads that connect to the flasher relay to clean them up a bit. Afterwards, the lights would flash once but then stay on. I picked up a 2 prong electronic flasher relay at Advanced Auto Parts for $12 and now everything flashes as expected.

[gecko672]

thanks for the responses..sorry to clarify, switching either left or right, turns on all four (left,right,front,back) with out flashing.

[gecko672]

I think the cheap flasher I picked up at auto zone was a thermal one, so I go an electrical one, but I suspect i may have a wire issue first as all four come on, sounds like I should at least get both left or both right even if they dont flash.

[Vinhead1957]

I think you have a dirty control switch

[phil71]

are these LED or incandescent?

[gecko672]

Im pretty sure they are incandescent, but to tell you the truth I never opened them to look at the bulbs. Does it affect things if they are either LED or incandescent?

The Control switch is a new one I purchased not long ago. I think its a repo but it wasnt cheap.

[gecko672]

As far as I remember ( I have to go home to check) I put both front rear lefts in the the light blue and both front,rear right in the orange ( or visa versa, I used the wiring diagram and cant recall off hand).

[phil71]

LED vs. Incandescent does matter some.. a one wire incandescent can act like a connection. If the housing isn't actually grounded well, the system can attempt to draw ground through the filament of the bulb, making it light dimly even when you don't intend for it to light. When all 4 light, do you find the intended directional side is brighter than the other side.

[gecko672]

Phil, I will have to check that.
The lights must use its metal housing for the ground.
The rear lights are connected to a long hollow threaded bolt that runs through the fender and frame to the light. The fender is painted and the frame powder coated, so they may not have a good ground. Could this affect it?

The fronts are the same except they are threaded through that metal bracket with the ground wires in the headlight bucket. those ground wires are connected to grounds in the main wiring loom.

I could just wrap a wire around the metal housing of the rear lights and ground them to the ground wire on the frame, to check.

[phil71]

there you go, that'll help eliminate some variables. Also, the replacement switch.. are you certain it's from a K1, or is it from a later model that may have had front running lights? (it would have a black wire with an orange stripe or ring, and a black with a blue )

[gecko672]

Cheers Phil
Ill check the switch for the wires. Theres a good chance it may be from a later model. It was one of the first things I bought on the project and truth be told didn't know much about these bikes at the time. So I shall do some investigating.
Thanks  all for the input.

[phil71]

take a pic of the tail in the bucket, and the control.. I'll know which it is.

[gecko672]

will do.

[gecko672]

Ok these are the wires from the switch. In the center. Blue, green/blk stripe, grey and orange.

[gecko672]

These are the light connections. First is the blue 4 way. The green wire is the one from the light. The second us the orange 4 way.
I didn't get a chance to check the ground on the rears  but the lights are all on even light, no difference if I have the switch set to left or right.

[MoMo]

Have you added a jumper wire to make sure there is a proper ground?  Is the flasher electronic?  It needs to be as I am pretty sure those are LED lights...Larry

[phil71]

in that first pic, is there something other than green joined with the green?

[trueblue]

If the lights are LED, you will need a 3 pole electronic flasher unit, one with its own ground wire.  Without this they won't flash at all because there isn't enough load, even the 2 pole electronic units won't work properly with LED indicators.  The 3 pole type will flash at a steady rate regardless of the load.  I would be inclined to say that you have some wires crossed somewhere because of the 4 lights coming on together.

[gecko672]

Phil that picture with the green wire, is actually one green wire ( light) and 3 light blue, one of the light blue is faded and looks a little green, its the wire that goes to the speedo instrument lights and I assumed it was the flash bulb.

looks like I may have two things going on here. The lights are LED so looks like I need the 3 pole electric to get them to flash
and I must have a wire connected wrong. I also noticed that the flash bulb does not come on on in the speedo.

[RAFster122s]

Sounds like you have the lights wired with power going to the filament and you don't have a ground via the lights. You sure they were intended to be markers and flashers? Dual filament bulb?

Time to ohm out the bulb contacts and see what you have in the housing to correctly identify the wires to the sockets and their colors.

[phil71]

Ok, you have multiple problems there. First, get that blue out of the green.  All light blues go together, and all sherbert orange go together.
Second, that indicator in the clocks is why all 4 come on. You need to pull that bulb asap, or the pigtails in the bucket where they meet the rest of the signal wiring.
Get your signals doing what they're supposed to, and then you'll need to take a trip to the shack for a couple of diodes
http://m.radioshack.com/radioshack/product/detail.do?itemId=13125970&categoryId=&cust_categoryId=&path=

To wire the diodes in and restore function to the signal indicator, you will need to ground one of the leads (orange or blue).
 the other lead will have the diodes connected to it, flowing + in one direction, and connected back to the signal hot wires (orange and blue) in the bucket. You don't have to pay attention to which is which, only that both diodes are in the right direction.