aftermarket turn signals tip

DaveB · Full Member Joined: Sep 30, 2007 Posts: 64

ok, so I did a bit of research on here about moving to some smaller turn signals and getting rid of those massive ugly stock ones. It seemed clear that the general problem people ran into was the "my signals just turn on, but don't blink" problem after they installed something that was not a stock-spec bulb, which my new signals did as well.

Turns out there's actually a pretty easy alternative to using a load balancer: a flasher relay with variable load! I ended up picking up this one:

www.customdynamics.com...OT_Flasher

which was a breeze to install. Gets rid of the stock relay and the self cancelling unit instead of adding more "stuff". Just ground the third wire on the frame, hook up the other two and you're done! Should work with pretty much any turn signal you want to install.

No affiliation with the guys at CD, I just figured I'd share my findings.

BTW,

KYLEPRESTON

ALL YOU NEED IS A RESISTOR TO MAKE THE LIGHT BLINK THAT'S WHY IT DOES NOT LOAD BALANCERS ARE NICE AND WORK BUT RADIO SHACK I THINK I PAID 2.50 FOR THE LAST SET OF RESISTORS I HAD.

DaveB · Full Member Joined: Sep 30, 2007 Posts: 64

you're probably right... post was more intended to provide an alternative to buying an off-the-shelf load balancer like the badlands unit which I've seen discussed before. Ultimately this doohickey does the same thing, just from a different angle. The one advantage I saw was the variable resistance... which is a nice thing for an electrics noob like me, because I'd have no clue how to figure out which resistor to use Smile

KYLEPRESTON

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS LOOK ON THE PACKAGE OF THE SIGNALS YOU BOUGHT THEY WILL TELL YOU HOW MUCH DRAW. YOU NEED THE MANUAL TO SEE WHAT THE DRAW FOR THE STOCK SIGNALS ARE (SORRY I DON'T KNOW OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD) THEN MAKEUP THE DIFFERENCE WITH A RESISTOR. THAT'S WHAT I DID WHEN I PUT AFTERMARKET TURNS ON MY VIRAGO.

AYBE THERE IS A DIFFERENT WAY I AM NOT THE MOST KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT ELECTRICAL EITHER.

jayel

Volts squared divided by Watts = Ohms (resistance) since you know it's 12 volts and the wattage of the bulb to be used is easy to find (usually marked on bulb) stock system bulb is 12v 27w 144/27 = 5.33 Ohms @ 2.25 Amps

DaveB · Full Member Joined: Sep 30, 2007 Posts: 64

jayel wrote:

Volts squared divided by Watts = Ohms (resistance) since you know it's 12 volts and the wattage of the bulb to be used is easy to find (usually marked on bulb) stock system bulb is 12v 27w 144/27 = 5.33 Ohms @ 2.25 Amps

So does that mean that when you go to a different wattage bulb, you want to add a resistor to end up at the same (5.33 Ohms @ 2.25A)? That's the area where my knowledge just didnt cover what I needed to get done...

jayel

yep that is the way to get them to work with the light checker if you want to still use it, if you have eliminated it however you don't need to do this just put in the new bulbs and go

murph

Makes sense... Question: What if you only have rear or front but not BOTH after market turn signals? Do you have to make up the resistance of the lacking bulbs?

jayel

do you have the light checker? if you do it will show bulb fault if there isn't enough resistance (as in trying to use LEDs)

murph · Posted: January 3, 2008, 6:27 am Post subject: Re: aftermarket turn signals tip

light checker...where would it be located? That sounds like it could be the problem.

jayel · Posted: January 3, 2008, 10:31 am Post subject: Re: aftermarket turn signals tip

the box in the tray right behind the top of battery

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