led flasher?

[ZTraz77]

I have been converting all of my incandescent bulbs to led and have been reading about the hyperflashing issues they tend to have due to difference in resistance, and since the load resistors don't really take any load off of the circuit plus they get very hot and could cause wiring damage if they find a stray wire, I was wondering if anybody knew which led flasher I would need, the location of it in the vehicle, and where I could get one for a decent price?

 

[01STrunner]

I'm also interested in this.

 

[Maniak]

An electronic flasher wont hyperflash. I use this on he X and on our 78 van. Without them pulling a trailer causes the lights to flash fast.

The only downside is you won't know when a bulb is out.

~Mark

 

[ZTraz77]

Know exactly which brand and model number works best Maniak?.. I've read positive and negative things about them and wanna make sure I get the right one so I'm not spending a ton of money or causing any issues

 

[01STrunner]

I believe it was ChallengerDave that said he'd used them on their older dump trucks at work. I'll have to dig back a few months and see if I can't find if it was him that'd said that.

 

[Vic_Ferrari2002]

I worked up north building firetruck for about 10 years when the led lights first took off and we had to use a Tyco brand (model # unknown) solid state flasher relay to control them. What I remember about them was they were a square (1"x1" about 3" long) flasher with 3 prongs and a ground wire. This was about 10 years ago so I am sure they have changed since then but hope this helps.

 

[ZTraz77]

So I put a tridon el-12 flasher in my truck today and it didn't help the flashing one bit.. The blinkers actually did nothing cause the bulbs are pulling a combined 397 mW which is nothing.. So I guess I'm gonna get nowhere with this flasher on my leds.. Can anybody here tell me where I can get a plug and play led capable flasher please

 

[Maniak]

I didn't see your request for the p/n.. but Its an EL-12 (which is what you got)..

If I put in the factory (mechanical) flasher and hook up the trailer with LED bulbs if flashes extremely fast. I put on the EL-12 and it flashes at normal speed..

I did do some digging online and the EL12 is not an "electronics flasher".. it still is partly mechanical and works if "some" of your bulbs are LED, not all.

This thread seems to make sense.. I looked up the EP37 and EP34 flashers and they "say" it works with all LEDs

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=88022

Sorry the EP-12 didn't work for you.. I knew it "helped" but it never occurred to me it wouldn't work if all the bulbs were LED. It did solve the issue for me but I don't have all LEDs.

 

[ZTraz77]

No problem Maniak.. I kept digging and found out that Napa sells a led compatible electro mechanical version of the EL-12 flasher.. The part number is EL-12L-1 and it states that it begins working at a 100 mA current draw which should work perfect since my 2 watt leds draw 166 mA per bulb x 2 = 322 mA per signal (not counting the dash signal light).. So I've ordered one and ill let u know how it works around the end of the week

 

[FIND]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247220

Using resistors for the flashers isn't really a problem though, since the flashers are rarely on, and only on for a short while. You are saving next to power with the LEDs on flashers just given the incredibly small amount of time they are actually on. Running lights are where the real benefits from LEDs come in, or brake lights, since LEDs light faster than incandescent bulbs.

If you go to the last post in that thread, I did all the calculations to illustrate what I am trying to explain, but the thread is about adding an electronic flasher.

Also, just note that if you change your 3rd brake light to an LED, you WILL need to use a resistor on it, otherwise you will lose your cruise control and your 3rd brake will light up every time your marker lights are on.

FWIW, An EL-12 worked perfectly in my first gen, but if you have any problems, don't feel bad about switching to using resistors, because, as I said, there isn't much difference.

 

[ZTraz77]

Ya I did read that article before and I agree with what your saying about the minimal energy savings of an led blinker.. I guess I'm just going for that brighter look and trying to take a little strain off of an old wiring harness on my truck, especially since I've added extra led markers and turn signals that I actually forgot to add into the equation in my last post.. The resistors just eliminate the load reduction on the blinker circuit so I'm gonna just gonna see what the flasher does and if it doesn't work I'm gonna then install resistors

 

[ZTraz77]

Success!! (kind of anyway)

So I tried the Napa EL-12L-1 flasher which was identical to the standard EL-12 except for a ground wire that came out of the top of the plastic housing and had no success. I then called my buddy who works at the local Napa store and he contacted their tech line. The tech line confirmed that that particular flasher SHOULD work with all LED configurations in the vehicles its compatible with, 1991 ford explorer included. Since the first one hadn't worked, they ordered me another one which was also unsuccessful. After digging for a solution we found another flasher which was PN EL-12L-2 also sold by Napa ($28.99 price) and with a amperage range of 20mA - 25A. This flasher works very well with an all LED bulb configuration in my truck, sounds great right? The only issue is that this is a square base flasher and the older fords use a round base flasher, so jumper wires need to be made to connect the unit to the pins on the truck wiring. Done yet? NOPE!!! You will also need to reverse the pins on the flasher so they plug in opposite of the truck orientation (using the jumper wires you have made) to get the flasher to function correctly, then put the flasher in a safe location since its not held by the fuse box assembly. I certainly hope this helps anybody else looking to do this project and if anyone has any other questions feel free to ask.