Topic: LED blinkers and electronic flasher relay trouble. (FIXED)

[Gorms]

I know this has been discussed before to some degree but I can't find a definate answer to my question.  I dont have blinkers on the front of the bike (yet) and am replacing the rears with simple LED strips.  The stock mechanical flasher unit wont flash the LEDs because there is not enough current draw.  I have read that an electronic flasher would fix this.  I just grabbed one out of our Ford Taurus (3 prong) that is destined for Goodwill or the junkyard and the leds dont blink at the rear.  With the stock mech. flasher, they just stay on and dont blink.  Could grounding out the leads to the front signals get me blinking at the rear?  Is there still not enough current?  Rather than wait for a LED specific flasher to be shipped to me, I was considereing replacing a resistor in the Ford flasher with a small potentiometer that I have, so that they will hopefully flash and I can control the flash rate.  Got the idea from this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Automotive-electronic-flasher-rate-modification./ Will this work?

[Toxic]

Don't know and you lost me at "potentiometer "

Here is a free bump because I would like to know the answer.

I have installed some Rizoma led turn signals which come with resistors if needed but I won't be at the point of wiring them up for a month or two.

 cheers

[Gorms]

Toxic,

I figured it out!  The flasher unit from the ford did not have the pins labeled so I hooked them up according to every picture of one that I googled.  When I hooked up the + and - pins to a 12v battery, the solenoid clicked so I asumed I had it right.  When I turned the key on the bike, I heard it click then as well.  Well just for sh*ts I switched them and lo and behold I have working blinkers!  I may also note that the front blinkers are still not hooked up to anything and the wires are just hanging free.

The resistors you are referrring to are just there to make the LED's work in a 12v circuit.  LEDs run lower voltage and those resistors fix that.  The resistor I was going to change in the flasher I thought mimicked the load from a 12v bulb to provide the required current to actuate the flasher but I think I was wrong.  It just changes the flash rate and has nothing to do with putting a load on the system.  By the way, a potentiometer is just a variable resistor with a little knob.

So yes, an auto electronic flasher will flash led blinkers, even if the fronts aren't hooked up.  You dont need to buy an "LED flasher" from ebay.

[Toxic]

Awesome, that I understood.  So it is confirmed that the stock flasher unit will not work with led turn signals.

Could you post or pm me the details on the Ford flasher you got.  It will save me some experimenting.

thanks

[Duke McDukiedook]

The electronic flasher you are using needs a minimum amount of load to "see" before it actuates- otherwise it thinks you have a burnt out bulb or no bulb- no flash.

The LED's you hooked up don't naturally use that minimum amount of load alone, whatever resistor you put on there gave it enough load to actuate.

If you were trying to save some watts you defeated your purpose with slapping a resistor or potentiometer on there.

But if you just wanted a working flasher without going to fleabay, you succeeded.

[Raul CB750K1]

I used the spanish word for potentiometer -"potenciómetro"- for years. It is a misnomer if there ever was one, as it doesn't measure anything. At University, the teachers used always "variable resistor", I get used to it, and have very rarely used "potentiometer" ever since.

[Gorms]

Dukiedook,

Read my second post and you'll see I did not add anything afterall.  I used a generic electronic flasher, and two strips of LED's. The LED strips have built in resistors, reducing the voltage so they will work on a 12v system.  I dont think adding the "variable resistor" to the flasher circuit would defeat the purpose of using LED's vs incadescent bulbs.  I think I am saving power with these signals.  The resistor doesnt mimic the load of the bulb, but rather is used for the 555 timer chip in the flasher circuit to set the baseline flash speed (Hz) which would be seen when a bulb is burnt out or you use LED's (too low of a load would not cause the blinker to stop working like you say, but rather causes them to blink too fast).  My new LED blinkers blink fast because of this but I like the speed as it is more visible.  By adding a potentiometer, I could slow it down.