flashing turnsignal

ok.. i removed my front turnsignals and now my flasher won't work. if i put em back on they work. i twisted each side together r/l thinking that would close the circut but nope.. is there any way to wire this w/o front turnsignals but i can still have the flasher work for the rear?

thanks,

kevin

vach wrote:

ok.. i removed my front turnsignals and now my flasher won't work. if i put em back on they work. i twisted each side together r/l thinking that would close the circut but nope.. is there any way to wire this w/o front turnsignals but i can still have the flasher work for the rear?

thanks,

kevin

The first thing you have to remember is that the stock flashers rely on just the right amount of load on the line to work as expected.

You might want to try an electronic (a.k.a. Heavy Duty) flasher that you can get for under $10 at a local auto parts store. They don't care about the load, they flash at 12 volts, period.

That just might solve it, no guarantees...

yea, the turnsignals won't work even if a bulb burns out. I've seen load equalizers that allow LED's to trigger the mechanical flasher units, and I've also seen electronic flasher units, like toast said above. I think something like this would work:

Link to flashers

I'm not 100% sure, so hopefully someone will chime in, but I think the electronic flashers will flash regardless of load (again, as toast said). If that's the case, you can plug one in you'll be all set.

I've also read that you can install a resistor in place of your missing turnsignals (or inline with led's) to fool your mechanical flasher.

Keep us posted.

Post edited by: 79MKII, at: 2008/02/24 16:01

The electronic flashers work great, and you can get them at any auto parts store. Just be sure you tell them you want an electronic flasher. Somtimes if you tell them you want a heavy duy flasher they will give you a heavy duty thermal one that you use if you are hauling a trailer.
An electronic flasher, actually has a printed circuit board in it with a 555 timer on it that controls the flash. A thermal flasher has a bi-metal strip that heats up and bends and opens the contacts, then when it cools again it flattens out and makes contact again. That is why, if a bulb is blown it may not flash at all or flashes slowly. With only one bulb in the circuit, the bimetal strip isn't getting hot enough to open the contacts. Which is also why they don't work with LED lights.

Post edited by: The Milkman, at: 2008/02/24 18:34

alright, thanks for the info.. i'll get the electronic flasher and let you guy's know.

thanks again!

The electronic flasher will do it. I just have rear signals on at the moment, and they flash using an elec. flasher relay.

There are actually several types of electronic flashers. There are the truly load-independent ones, like Milkman mentioned (usually with 3 prongs), but there is also a slightly inferior one made with a simple relay and capacitor (usually 2-prong). Those are still slightly load-dependent. The 2-prong will work to drive led lights, but sometimes they won't properly drive an integrator for turn/brake.

79MKII wrote:

I'm not 100% sure, so hopefully someone will chime in, but I think the electronic flashers will flash regardless of load (again, as toast said). If that's the case, you can plug one in you'll be all set.

They do. They are a circuit with an internal oscillator that cycles a +12v "high side" swicht transistor to connect +12V to the turn signal line up and down at the flash rate. They should flash with any load on the output line.