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so I'm now into my 2nd week of trying to make the turn signals on my honda CX500 flash and its driving me mad
I replaced the stock signals with mini ones NOT led, connected them up and all they do is just stay on ?
I have tried 3 different relays/units, the original, bimetal type, a new bimetal type and a second hand electronic type and they all do the same? just stay on. I have ordered a brand new electronic flasher unit but don't have geat expectations,
there are two wires that come from the new indicators i'm presuming earth and live I have conncted them up correctly but still no flash. i'm wondering now if the switchgear is earthing properly thats my next step
I'm close to just removing them and sticking my arm out !!
i'm not a complete electrical numpty having been around bikes for 30 years but this problem has really got me stumped :-[
HELP, please, cheers wayne.
No originals, long gone. I connected all the signals to load the unit but they all just stayed on ?
Anyway the electronic flasher just arrived 5 minutes ago, ripped open the box, ran to the garage, connected it up, nothing.............connected it up differently, and FLASH FLASH FLASH yay !!......................................................but no wait..........they now flash at 101 miles an hour far too quickly to be legal as fast as a fast thing AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH what gives ?
Sounds like you need a resistor on the circuit - the fast-flash is built-in to warn you when you have a bulb out. Since LEDs have less resistance than incandescent bulbs, the flasher "thinks" you have a bulb out.
Do a search for "LED resister" here or on Google and you should find what you're looking for - all you need to do is solder the resistor across the circuit to add a bit of extra resistance and slow the blinking back down. Alternately, some suppliers like SuperBrightLEDs sell LED bulbs with resistors built right into the lamp base that correct the low-resistance issue from the LEDs - this is typically how I go, so I don't have to worry about stripping and soldering resistors into my circuits.
Since you stated you're not using LED's, we can rule that (and the need for inline resistors) out as a cause for the rapid flash.
The new flasher relay, is it digital or thermal?
If it's digital, I'm at a loss. A digital flasher relay will flash the same rate (around 60 flashes per minute) regardless of what kind (or how many) of bulb it's attached to.
If it's thermal, the mini bulbs might be the culprit. I'm not 100% on the specifics, but the mini bulbs may be drawing less current than what the thermal flasher is rated for. And as ImagoX mentioned, less resistance will make a thermal flasher rapid flash.
I'm 95% certain that the new flasher is electronic not thermal. The 2 thermal ones that I tried just made the lights stay on, this one makes them flash real fast, I have bought some in line resistors so I'll see how they perform
The bulbs are NOT led.
Thanks for your replies.
Yes redbird you are right the inline resistors made no difference, still very fast flash.
I'll have a look what make it is, it's coloured blue if that's any help ??!
I replaced the stock signals with mini ones NOT led, connected them up and all they do is just stay on ?
I have tried 3 different relays/units, the original, bimetal type, a new bimetal type and a second hand electronic type and they all do the same? just stay on.
This sounds like the mini bulbs are not providing enough load to heat the thermal switch (flasher) in order to break the contact. They reall are simple units. once the contact heats up from the load, it opens until it cools off then it closes again until it heats up and opens... repeats over and over.
BUT if too little of a load were the case, I would have thought the electronic flasher would have taken care of it. Not flahed super fast
there are two wires that come from the new indicators i'm presuming earth and live I have conncted them up correctly but still no flash. i'm wondering now if the switchgear is earthing properly thats my next step
Yes, you presumed right, earth (ground) and live (power). Did you verify it is getting a goodsolid ground (earth)?
If you have a meter, check the restistance from the connector of eath wire on the lamp straight to the battery negative post. Should be no resistance... Don't shortcut it and say, "well I am fastening it to this bolt and I know it is screwed into the frame so if I test here"... you need to test right at the connector so you get the whole picture. We all like to paint our stuff an a little paint in the wrong spot can really screw with electrical connections.
If you don't have a meter try making up some temporary jumper wires that take the earth connection of the lamp directly to the battery negative terminal.
It would seem to me though, that if the flasher was thermal, the inline resistors should take up the slack of the mini-bulbs.
At this point I'm thinking you may have a defective flasher relay.
You can check the relay with a simple test light and any 12v battery. A digital relay will flash at the same rate whether there's one bulb or ten bulbs attached to it.
If you hook it up with the test light and it flashes fast, it's defective (or it's not digital). If it flashes normal, the problem would have top be within the signals.
I had similar issues with I swapped my stock blinkers for compact LED units. I went with a Tridon EP34 flasher unit, requires you to run a ground wire but worked great. Got a normal flash rate with 4 LED units and two incandescent dash indicators. Cheap too, like $6 at Autozone.
I've had issues with electronic flashers as well. The absolute best I've used are from www.superbrightleds.com. Everything I've plugged it into works like a charm - led's, standard bulbs, 2 / 4 bulbs, mini Chinese bulbs, etc.
Ok. Was the bike running. This may sound weird but my honda cm had this issue. If the bike was not running and I threw the blinker switch, the lights came on solid. If the bike was running they blinked. They were after market mini incandescant signals. Oem thermal flasher unit. For some reason the bike had to be running to get the signals to flash. I am currently worki g on a cx and.noticed that it is almost identical wiring to the old cm. Good luck
Battery is fully charged but I haven't tried it with the engine running. It could be that the bulbs in the new indicators are not of a big enough wattage to make the mechanical unit flash so they just stay on. I have no idea why the electronic flasher flashes so fast. It's brand new.
There are 3 wires going to the original unit. The electronic unit has 3 connectors but some of the mechanical units have only 2 ?
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