SuzukiSavage.com - Turn signals flash too fast

Aitatxo YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5 UK Gender:	Turn signals flash too fast 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
Back to top	IP Logged

Sandy Koocanusa Serious Thumper Offline Don't blame me. I didn't vote for him. Posts: 1878 Bigfork, MT Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #1 - 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.
Back to top	Savage: (adj)1. Wild 2. Uncivilized : Primitive 3. Ferocious 4. Cruel or merciless : Brutal --- Webster's. (n.) 1. A motorcycle named for its seat.--- Sandy's unabridged IP Logged

Charon

Serious Thumper

Offline

Posts: 1811
Harvard, NE
Gender: male

Re: Turn signals flash too fast
Reply #2 - 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.

Back to top

Eschew obfuscation.

IP Logged

T Mack 1 - FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline sold 2001 LS650 for a 1986 XLH1100 Posts: 2919 Emmaus,Pa Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #3 - 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.
Back to top	Engineers design things, Technicians make them work. --- 30% of being mechanical is confidence/30% is knowing to go slow when needed/30% is looking repeatedly at what you have/10% is dumb luck IP Logged

Yonuh Adisi FSO Serious Thumper Offline Savage Jedi (Knight) Posts: 3622 Pilot Valley NV, aka Tatooine Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #4 - 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.
Back to top	Check out Flight of Destiny http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9130XC IP Logged

Charon Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 1811 Harvard, NE Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #5 - 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.
Back to top	Eschew obfuscation. IP Logged

Yonuh Adisi FSO Serious Thumper Offline Savage Jedi (Knight) Posts: 3622 Pilot Valley NV, aka Tatooine Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #6 - 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.
Back to top	Check out Flight of Destiny http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9130XC IP Logged

ALfromN.H. FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Dragon Slayer Posts: 1421 Rochester, New Hampshire Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #7 - 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.
Back to top	2006 Harley Electra Glide 2014-Present 2009 Suzuki C50 2010-2014 2005 Suzuki S40 2006-2013 IP Logged

Aitatxo YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5 UK Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #8 - 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!
Back to top	IP Logged

justin_o_guy2

Serious Thumper

Offline

What happened?

Posts: 55279
East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: Turn signals flash too fast
Reply #9 - 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.

Back to top

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

IP Logged

Charon Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 1811 Harvard, NE Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #10 - 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.
Back to top	Eschew obfuscation. IP Logged

justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #11 - 07/23/08 at 07:32:23 A lab experiment is always better than the classroom time, good going!
Back to top	The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke. IP Logged

wrenchbender

Full Member

Offline

Posts: 189
wild side of the Great Lk
Gender: male

Re: Turn signals flash too fast
Reply #12 - 07/23/08 at 09:59:56

justin_o_guy2 wrote 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.

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.......

Back to top

IP Logged

Charon

Serious Thumper

Offline

Posts: 1811
Harvard, NE
Gender: male

Re: Turn signals flash too fast
Reply #13 - 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.

Back to top

Eschew obfuscation.

IP Logged

Aitatxo YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5 UK Gender:	Re: Turn signals flash too fast Reply #14 - 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?
Back to top	IP Logged