LEDs won't blink

[mikeymed8]

Hey,

I just bought clear lights for my '94 Explorer. I decided to put in some LEDs to make them nice and bright. They work great when I'm braking, but my turn signal won't flash it just lights up. I can turn my hazards on and they blink. So what's the deal with that?

Mike

 

[FitzMatt]

That's weird. Did you get the right bulb size, 3157?

 

[gijoecam]

it sounds like they're not drawing enough current to heat up the flasher enough to break the circuit. If you have a heavy duty flasher, that's probably why. A light duty one will work well until you hook up a trailer, and then it will probably flash too fast. Go buy an electronic flasher unit. It will blink the same speed whether or not you have 2 lights or 16 lights on it. You used to be able to buy them at Murray's, but I'm not sure if they still have them... I'll be there tomorrow, so I'll check on a part number and make.

-Joe-

 

[gijoecam]

found 'em....

they're made by Littelfuse (the company that also makes fuses and standard bi-metallic flashers)

They have a bunch of different types to fit a plethora of different vehicles, and the electronic ones range in price from $8-$10. They are part numbers:
102
103
233
243
363
Just depends on the setup and the number of lights you're looking to use.

-Joe-

 

[mikeymed8]

What would be the best flasher to buy? I'm not going to be hooking up a trailer or anything, just the LEDs. I was also thinking, what if I put a resistor in parallel with the light bulb to make it draw some more current. I could do few calculations and make the LED plus the resistor equal the resistance of the stock bulb.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Originally posted by mikeymed8
. I was also thinking, what if I put a resistor in parallel with the light bulb to make it draw some more current. I could do few calculations and make the LED plus the resistor equal the resistance of the stock bulb.

Mike, You can not do that, as current divides in a parallel circuit and in order to increase the current you would have to use a smaller resistance value then the value of the LEDs to lower the resistance, but the current would take the path of the lower resistance and you would not gain anything by doing that. Usually you have a resistor in series with the LEDs. It is used as a current limiter. If you use a smaller value on that resister, then you can increase the current to the LEDs, you just have to make sure that you con't exceed the limit, or you will burn them up. Remember LEDs don't use alot of current. They are in the milliamp range, usually around 20 to 50 milliamps.

 

[EliteConcept]

would he need that if he has a trail wiring harness already?

 

[DarkFox1]

I just posted somethign similar about this heh, if yer having trouble with the flasher, and its a jamstrait LED, email the guy at www.jamstrait.com you can get a variable load flasher from him for about $15.. hes real friendly