How important are blinkers?

[Tom_Veatch]

...
I have rear work lights and typically turn them on if I am on the highway after dark. They help you to be seen.

I fully agree they help visibility and might even prevent some cellphone talker from joining you in the operator's seat.

However, I was pulled over one night several years ago and given a warning because my backup lights were on. Switch was stuck closed. Seems, at least in some parts of the country, at least at that time, showing a white light on the rear of the vehicle wasn't permitted. But, showing the white light that illuminated the license plate seemed to be OK. Never quite able to reconcile that.

 

[Soundguy]

You must have a cheapy old style thermal flasher.. a newer electronic flasher will solve that issue. The led's draw very little current.. thus the thermal unit won't open.. etc..

Soundguy

O.K. The LED marker light idea doesn't work.

It seems the blinker circuit for my tractor whether by design or by old age is a low current/high current type of pulse rather than a full off/full on type. I saw this with my test light but didn't think anything of it. When I got the LED marker lights hooked up they were just on all the time. No blink. The test light blinks, but the LED's don't.

In retrospect, that makes perfect sense due to the nature of an LED. I just didn't take the time to think about that untill after I got everything hooked up.

Looks like it's back to the good old incandescent bulbs.

Bummer.

I custom fabricated my brackets for those exact lights.

 

[Soundguy]

Try asking 2 different LEO's a 'legality' question, and you will get as many answers as people you ask. I.E. seems many issues are either open to interpretation, are selectively enforced, or sufficiently burried into too much legaleeze for the law to be applied correctly. Add to that the mood of the LEO, and the time of day, and what else s/he is doing or has on their mind...

Soundguy

I fully agree they help visibility and might even prevent some cellphone talker from joining you in the operator's seat.

However, I was pulled over one night several years ago and given a warning because my backup lights were on. Switch was stuck closed. Seems, at least in some parts of the country, at least at that time, showing a white light on the rear of the vehicle wasn't permitted. But, showing the white light that illuminated the license plate seemed to be OK. Never quite able to reconcile that.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'll see about the electronic flasher vs. just getting incandescent lamps. I think the lamps will be cheaper than a new flasher and I know they will be easier.

On another note, though, should I fuse the blinkers? I added the work lights at the same time I added the blinkers, and I realized that night as I lay awake in bed that I never put a fuse on the work lights. I'm off to the parts store today at lunch to get the fuses for the work lights, and I just wanted some input from you all as to whether or not to fuse the blinkers/flashers.

 

[Soundguy]

Not a bad idea to either individually fuse all accessory lines.. or at least have them fed from a fuse box tap that is fused to protect the wire gauge you are using.

You may be surprised to find that the blinker module is pretty darn cheap.

Soundguy

 

[Iplayfarmer]

LED flasher was $20. Two new lights were $8 together.

Guess which one I got.

 

[Soundguy]

Gosh.. wherever you are buying the electronic flasher module from sure likes them. I think I got my last one at napa.. it was? 7.99 And only 3$ more than the mechanical unit.. Buy a package of 1 ohm 10w power resistors for a couple bucks ( 271-131 is the radio shack part # for a 2-pack ) and series them to make a 2 ohm / 20w resistor, and connect it from the blinker 'out' terminal, and then to ground, on the old mechanical blinker. Also connect your led lamps to that same terminal, and then ground. The 2 ohm load will look like incandescent lamp to your old style blinker module, and it will provide the current drawn to heat the metalic strip and break the circuit. the led lamps will then blink on and off.. Tell whoever is selling the 20$ module where they can put it.

There is also an easy way to make a blinker trigger module using a mainly a blinking 12v led and a mosfet or relay and a diode and resistor... Also.. only about 3-5$ in parts.... works great....

Soundguy

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'm re-evaluating your thought process, Soundguy. You're telling me that the LED isn't drawing enough current to cause the flasher to trip, right?

That could very well be the case, but let me ask you another question...
When I hook up the test light it blinks a dim/bright pattern, not an on/off pattern. Would this not also just keep the LED on all the time? I.e. wouldn't the low current/dim light keep the LED just as bright as the high current/bright light due to the nature of LED's?

I had actually already considered your suggestion of attaching an additional current draw to the circuit to cause the flasher to work, but I talked myself out of it due to the above line of reasoning.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm not familiar with what kind of a module you have that is doing dim/bright. All the mechanicalones I've ever taken apart were a simple bimetalic strip that touched a set of contact points in a housing with 2 blade connectors. Current for the lamps went trhu one connector, thru the strip, thru the contacts, thru the other connector and to the lamp. That current heated the bimetalic strip.. which heats unevenly, causing the metal to bend.. breaking the circuit, it cools, reconnects.. thus.. the blink.. etc. Sounds like you already have some sort of electronic flasher.

You can check it.. the 'dim' may not be enough voltage for the led to come on. it depends on how they are rated. if rated for 6-24volts.. you are hung.. the dim is probably at least 6v. Now.. if the led was more strict.. specs.. say.. 9-15v thent he dim may actually let the led blink. Try it with a lamp in parallel with the led.. see what they do.

You can always hit a npa or walmart and get a 1.99$ generic 2 terminal flasher like i spoke of.. then just load it with a resistor or a lmap.. then parallel the led's...

Post back... I'm curious as to what type of module you have... perhaps it is a mechanical one with a bias resistor across the terminals + a bimetalic strip, thus allowing a dim/bright blink?

Soundguy

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Post back... I'm curious as to what type of module you have... perhaps it is a mechanical one with a bias resistor across the terminals + a bimetalic strip, thus allowing a dim/bright blink?

I don't know what the internal mechanism of the module is, but it does have the dim/bright pattern.

I tested your theory last night. You were right! The led just isn't pulling enough current to open the circuit...

I took my test light and put it in series with the LED. The LED lit, but the test light didn't. Obviously no blinking there. Then, I put the test light in parallel to the LED and everything flashed, including the LED.