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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Turn signals flash too fast /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1216722861 Message started by Aitatxo on 07/22/08 at 03:34:19 |
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Title: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Aitatxo on 07/22/08 at 03:34:19 Hello all, I've just picke up a '88 model, the turn signals flash really fast and more so at higher revs, so much so that at high speed (ahem) the turn signal looks like it is fixed on and not winking ;). Any suugestions? Cheers |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Sandy Koocanusa on 07/22/08 at 04:49:02 I'm no electrician, but I'll throw out some food for thought. If the voltage regulator isn't working right, could it be that the flasher heats up too fast? I guess that would make it stay off, maybe. Like I said, no electrician. :) |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Charon on 07/22/08 at 05:45:23 If it works like the ones in cars, I'd guess the bulbs are too high wattage. Second guess would be a chafed wire between the flasher and the switch, drawing too much current. Or last, a defective flasher. If the voltage regulator were putting out a high enough voltage to make the flasher run fast you would probably be burning lights out very quickly, as well as overcharging the battery and running it dry. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by T Mack 1 on 07/22/08 at 14:55:45 Since it's an older bike, the other possibility is that someone put a 6v flasher unit on. It would do what you say but for only so long before it burned up. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by YonuhAdisi on 07/22/08 at 15:08:12 Stock signal bulbs or LEDs? The LEDs from what I understand draw less power making the relay think a bulb is out so it flashes faster. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Charon on 07/22/08 at 21:54:47 On cars a burned-out bulb usually makes the signals flash very slowly or not at all. If you add an extra bulb (think trailer) the flashers usually flash very fast. LEDs would draw less current, slowing the flasher or stopping it. This would be for a conventional flasher, not an electronic one or a heavy-duty one. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by YonuhAdisi on 07/22/08 at 22:55:13 It's always been my experience that a burned out bulb either caused it to flash fast or not at all, not slower. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by ALfromN.H. on 07/23/08 at 02:39:14 on my bike, when I put LED signals on the back, they flashed alot faster than normal. When I changed them back to regular bulbs, they flashed normal again. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Aitatxo on 07/23/08 at 02:48:09 Many thanks guys, I only picked the bike up at the weekend, so I have little experience as yet of the LS. I'll pull the bulbs out tonight and report back. BTW, I'm starting to really love the little bike already! :) |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/08 at 05:10:00 The svc manager at the chevy house told me this about "Fast Blink". There is a Bulb OUt sensor that detects the higher resistance & rapid flashes the thing. He said LEDS are high resistance & create the same.. NOW, Disclaimer time. He is the SAME guy who tried to get me to believe that my car needed a 15 amp fuse replaced with a 25 in order to handle the added current of pulling a trailer, he tried so hard to BS me, but, I didnt buy it & they had to work on it.. NOW, I gotta study that car before I accept it. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Charon on 07/23/08 at 07:28:25 Rather than discuss theory, I went out and performed the experiment. I removed the right rear turn signal bulb from my '07 S40. The remaining bulb flashed faster. The left side stayed normal. I did not start the engine to see if that made any difference. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/08 at 07:32:23 A lab experiment is always better than the classroom time, good going! |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by wrenchbender on 07/23/08 at 09:59:56 697670776A6D5C6C5C64767A31030 wrote:
I have to disagree on the part about LED's being high resistance bulbs. LED's inherently have a lower current draw and as such would not have higher resistance. Now it's possible if the LED's are clustered in an assembly, this assembly may also include shunting resistors to either bring the voltage more in line with the designed operating voltage for the LED or for the purpose of triggering a mechanical flasher. I have not personally seen this on simple LED turn assemblies. Think of it this way; if your battery were to drop down to 8VDC the incandescent lamp flash would be expected to slow as a result of the reduction in available current. Conversly if your resistance at the lamp assembly drops, more current is available for a given voltage producing a faster triggering of a mechanical flasher. huh what'd I just say....... |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Charon on 07/23/08 at 10:45:00 To be really pedantic, an LED is a Light Emitting Diode, not a bulb at all. It has nonlinear current characteristics. An LED requires about 2 volts before it even conducts current, but once it starts conducting the current increases very rapidly with little voltage increase. The voltage required is different for different colors of LEDs. For use with a 12 volt system several LEDs are connected in series, and a series current limiting resistor (or more expensive, an electronic current limiter) is added to control the current. A higher current results in a brighter LED, but a shorter lived one, behavior also exhibited by incandescent lamps. It is usual for the LED assembly to use less current than an incandescent lamp of similar brightness, which precisely correlates with higher resistance. Especially in applications where a single color light is desired, such as red brake lights or amber (yellow) turn indicators, much of the light emitted by an incandescent lamp is filtered out and wasted by the colored lens. LEDs emit only the desired color, so much less of their output is wasted in filters. |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Aitatxo on 07/25/08 at 02:58:24 Ok Guys, I pulled out the bulbs, and they are all 12v 21w filiment bulbs, not LEDs. The other main point is that the flashing gets quicker the higher the revs, is this a Reg/rectifer problem? :o |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Sandy Koocanusa on 07/25/08 at 06:51:47 0A2633330229292835470 wrote:
I wish someone would have mentioned that earlier. It sounds like a valid idea to me. But I'm no electrician. :) |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Aitatxo on 07/25/08 at 07:30:01 I though I did at the start of all of this? :-[ |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Sandy Koocanusa on 07/25/08 at 07:50:40 You did. I was making a tongue in cheek referrence to the fact that I did too in an effort to make myself look like I know what the heck I'm talking about. ;D |
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Title: Re: Turn signals flash too fast Post by Charon on 07/25/08 at 09:07:14 You need a voltmeter, preferably a digital one, to check that. Connect it to the battery and observe the voltage, everything off. The meter shoiuld show about 12.6 volts. Then start the engine and observe the meter. Engine idling, probably about the same. Engine revved (not to screaming levels) voltage should rise as it charges the battery to about 14.4. Much over that will overcharge the battery pretty soon. Before you go mad changing out regulators, repeat the test with a known good, fully charged battery. On an older motorcycle it doesn't hurt to check all the wiring connections. Battery terminals corrode, connectors corrode, connections loosen, and any of that can cause grief. Make sure to check any ground connections where wires or cables are connected to the frame or engine. |
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