David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 11:15 AM |
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Bright6 indicator problem
I'm looking for a few ideas here...
Over the weekend I fitted a Bright6 dash light unit that I bought from SVC at Newark. It's working well (almost) and it has improved the look
of the dash a huge amount.
I have just one problem - my indicators are now blinking almost twice as fast, and the blink rate is a bit erratic. I think it's still legal,
but it's a bit annoying.
I have m/cycle front indicators, Land-Rover style rears & Fiat side repeaters (all conventional bulbs). The flasher relay is an electronic one
from Premier Wiring (as opposed to an old-fashioned hot-wire one).
Everything worked just fine prior to the change-over when I had ordinary filament bulbs on the dash, so I'm wondering what's amiss.
cheers,
David
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shortie
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 11:37 AM |
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Sounds like the bulb in the original warning light was taking enough wattage to load the circuit enough to make the flash rate correct.
What wattage are the front indicator bulbs? They could be small motorcycle ones and therefore not 21w which if fitted should sort it.
Otherwise you could get some ballast resistors from SVC, one for each side that will sort it.
Or you could just wire a hidden bulb in the circuit.
HTH,
Rich.
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Guinness
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 11:38 AM |
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David
I'm no expert in electrics, but I do have a similar set up to you and I know what happened to me.
I would guess that your flasher relay is load dependant. It will require a specific current flowing through it to make it work at a steady rate.
Your previous set up was in effect four bulbs, front bike, side repeater, rear lamp and dash tell tale.
You have removed the tell tale lamps so reducing the load, because the LED's take no effective load. Thus causing the erratic flashing.
Easiest solution is to add in a second set of repeaters, perhaps under the dash / scuttle to make the load up, or increase the power of the bulbs in
the front motorbike indicators.
Hope that helps
Mike
(Beaten to it, must learn to type or think quicker!!)
[Edited on 4/7/05 by Guinness]
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MikeR
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 11:42 AM |
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at a guess the old bulbs resistance helped set the flash rate! Add an extra bulb in temporarily and see what happens........ if it slows down, phone
up SVC, see what they say then probably fit a resistor.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 11:50 AM |
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Loads of good points there!
I can't remember the wattage of my front units - they are m/cycle ones, but VERY bright, so I had assumed that they were a respectable wattage -
they passed SVA anyway! 
I'll take one to bits tonight - maybe I can get brighter bulbs in the same size. I can't imagine that overheating would be a problem, as
they're on a 50% duty cycle and only used for 10 - 20 seconds at a time.
cheers,
David
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indykid
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 03:00 PM |
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is your battery well charged, it's confused me a couple of times now.
if it's flat, the flasher unit doesn't get enough current, so it's like the lowered current draw when you have a bulb out.
hth
tom
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 03:15 PM |
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Yep - the car is connected to a maintenance charger whenever I'm not driving it, and was showing fully charged when I last disconnected it.
The problem is likely to be the front indicator bulbs, as discussed above. We'll see tonight!
David
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splitrivet
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 04:13 PM |
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If youve used motorbike front flashers David they will be 10 watt this with your dash bulbs would have been OK for the indicator relay as both Mikes
and Rich have said.
Exactly the same happened to me just uprate your bulbs mate or if they are the small bulbs and you cant find a 21watt bulb of the same physical size
put a 22 Ohm wirewound resistor between each sides indicator circuit and earth,Maplin part No H22
Cheers,
Bob
[Edited on 4/7/05 by splitrivet]
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 07:54 PM |
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Good info Bob - thanks.
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wilkingj
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 08:14 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Exactly the same happened to me just uprate your bulbs mate or if they are the small bulbs and you cant find a 21watt bulb of the same physical size
put a 22 Ohm wirewound resistor between each sides indicator circuit and earth,Maplin part No H22
[Edited on 4/7/05 by splitrivet]
If you do this Make sure you fit the resistor correctly. They need to be rated well in excess of 6.5W resistors AND thats heat dissipation in FREE
AIR, or with a heat sink in free air. (all the ratings are in free air or with certain types / sizes of heatsinks)
DO NOT HIDE these up and tape them into the loom for neatness.
Worst case is you could put your hazard (park anywhere) lights on, go into a shop and come out to a pair of small wiring fires.
These resistors need to dissipate the heat generated in them.
Please get the installation correct, as you dont want to damage your car.
Best thing is to have a chat with the Premier Wiring man. I was discussing this at the Newark show with him, and he has got it sorted. However he has
some nice big canned resistor packs, but they are expensive at a tenner each.
HE certainly know about the problem that can arise from incorrect installation.
No connection to Prem Wire, other than a satisfied customer.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 08:57 PM |
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Well, I took out one of the front bulbs, and it was 10W. I replaced it with a 21W bulb and it worked OK on that side. Trouble is, the 21W bulb was the
wrong format, having a large round glass bit, but it looks like Maplin do the right-sized bulb in 18W and that should do the job nicely - I'm
only looking to consume an extra 2W each side to get back to where I was before!
Thanks for everyone's help, much appreciated (it's always nice to get info from someone who's already sorted the same problem!)
regards,
David
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Hellfire
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 09:21 PM |
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dave - to take you back to the original point. I thought digital switching relays were supposed to work independant of load???
Or am I missing something?
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splitrivet
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| posted on 4/7/05 at 09:25 PM |
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Your darn right Geoff, me being a bit blaise, if anyone uses a ceramic wirewound make sure its in free air they chuck out loads of heat errr 10 or 15
watts if you tape it up your goose is cooked or your car will be for sure.
The Maplins part No is 10 watt rated so should be OK for what he wanted.
No they arent Hellfire came as a shock to me.
Cheers,
Bob 
[Edited on 4/7/05 by splitrivet]
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 5/7/05 at 07:16 AM |
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I believe that it's deliberate - the driver gets a clue that a bulb has gone by the rapid flashing of the remaining bulbs.
Anyway, "electronic" is a grand term for a very crude bit of circuitry that's barely advanced from the original hot-wire system!
cheers,
David
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 10/7/05 at 12:13 PM |
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Solution!
I tried to find some bulbs with a higher wattage in the local motor factors, and in Halfrauds - no luck.
Went to a local bike shop, explained that I was using bike indicators, and was told "they all use 23W bulbs now". Paid £1.50 for two! Now
the indicators work as they should.
David
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