Blinker wiring question - how to get blinkers to stay ON and flashOFF?

Trying to rig up my own system on a enduro bike the previous owner
stripped out.

Right now, the turn signals stay off until the blinker is activated, so
it blinks on. How can I wire it so it stays on, and blinks off?

I know its possible to some extent because some cars do this - the new
Pontiac Grand Prix comes to mind.

Help is appreciated! Thanks!

 

Masospaghetti wrote:

[...snipped...]

Isn't this the way it's supposed to work? This is how my
turn signals operate on my bike.

I'm sure it can be done but wouldn't this put additional
load and drain on your power system?

[...snipped...]

 

You want running lights and turn signals in one lamp housing...

You could find some dual filament bulbs and sockets to replace the
single filament bilbs and sockets. Whatever the rear brake light bulb
is, you want that bulb and socket. It's probably an 1157 bulb if you
have a 12-volt system. You would wire the lower wattage filament to
come on when your headlights are on, the higher wattage filament comes
on when you turn on the headlight...

It might be simpler just to go to www.denniskirk.com and look at
aftermarket replacement front turn signals for motorcycles that have
running lights...

If you have a 6-volt system instead of a 12-volt system you'd want
6-volt
dual filament bulbs...

 

Thats actually how I have it wired now - with dual-filament 6 volt
bulbs, where the lower power filament stays on and the higher one blinks.

However, I'm going to fabricate LED bulbs to replace the filament bulbs
because the bike I'm working with generates so little electricity. With
the LEDs, I figured it would be more efficient and logical to go ahead
and have them at full brightness all the time, because they take so
little power.

 

In that case, I think you'll have to ditch the thermo-mechanical
turn-signal relay and go with a purely (digital[1]) electronic solution;
LED signals almost surely won't draw enough current to activate the
bimetallic switch in the relay. If you can't find an off-the-shelf
solution, any hobbyist familiar with TTL/CMOS SSI ICs and switching
transistors should be able to cobble one up[2].

[1] OK, you need an oscillator, so you could do it analogue, but it's
probably easier to adjust if you use a higher frequency and scale it down.
The combinatorial logic may be easier with digital, too[3].
[2] Sorry, I'm up to my all in assigators at the moment...
[3] Hmm, maybe not, but see [2].

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD, DT175MX "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO# 003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Thanx for responses!

My plan was to leave the rear incandescent bulbs in and replace the
front bulbs with LEDs - I think the current flasher relay will work with
only one incandescent bulb on each side.

Gah, I would need ICs and stuff? I was hoping it was just a clever way
of wiring it

 

Nope I don't think it will work with only one incandescent on each side, the
blinker would only see the current from that one bulb and act as if it had a
burned out bulb in the circuit and not flash but stay on. You need the
combined draw from both bulbs to activate the flasher.

Davehd

 

There's been one or two plans for this sort of thing posted to the group
in the past, so it's probably worth scouring the archives as well as web
sites for info.. I know that I copied off plans for an LED brake light
conversion at one point, anyway.

You might also check around to see what bikes use purely electrical
blinker relays, as I recall reading about some that do so (typically
here, people bitching about the expense and asking whether they can be
replaced with automotive-style bimetallic relays). fwiw, anyway.

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

You can resolve the flasher load issue if you install a resistor in each
circuit (near the signal bulb on either the front or back, but not
both). The problem with this solution is that you then have the same
load on your system that you did with standard bulbs. You lose on the
main reasons for going to LED in the first place (saving watts for
something else).