I bought a pair of LED turnsignals mirrors. Hooked up directly to 12v, they work (LEDs light up just fine). These have small LED inside on the mirror and larger LED on the outside of the mirror, facing forward. Once properly wired into the bike's harness, the little LEDs work but the larger forward facing ones do not. Not enough voltage? I guess??
This is on a 1985 with resistors from RPM installed. I take it the flashing unit can't be swapped out due to the auto-canceling feature.
What does the wiring look like to make them work?
Have you tried the turn signals with the bike running? Current draw for the LED's should be less than an AMP. On the other hand, the LED's may need a solid 12volts or better to operate correctly.
Fred
Quote from: copper on April 26, 2019, 12:25:56 AM
What does the wiring look like to make them work?
two wires, no running lights
Quote from: aviationfred on April 26, 2019, 03:17:07 AM
Have you tried the turn signals with the bike running? Current draw for the LED's should be less than an AMP. On the other hand, the LED's may need a solid 12volts or better to operate correctly.
Fred
Good point! no I haven't tried with the bike running. I figured it wasn't getting enough volts through the bike's wiring, but didn't dawn on me that running would provide steady juice through a running alternator. I'll fire her up before I try anything drastic. Thanks Fred!
No luck. The bike fired right up although there is gas leaking out of one of the carbs but that's another story.
The outer section of the built-in turn signals don't work. The inner section works as so do the led rears with resistors. Like I mentioned, the built-in led turn signals work when connected directly to 12 v batt but not when hooked up to the stock turn signal circuit. Any ideas?
Just to keep things clear, does each mirror/signal have only 2 wires per side? And when connected directly to a battery both the forward and backward facing LEDs light up. But when connected to the bike, only the backward facing LED lights up?
Quote from: FJmonkey on June 03, 2019, 05:15:17 PM
Just to keep things clear, does each mirror/signal have only 2 wires per side? And when connected directly to a battery both the forward and backward facing LEDs light up. But when connected to the bike, only the backward facing LED lights up?
Yes, that is correct. Like it's not getting enough power to the forward facing turn signals.
Thinking about trying a LED 5 pin flasher
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/ep27l-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/784/838/ (https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/ep27l-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/784/838/)
It may sound ridiculous but, were the mirrors mounted to the bike when you connected them directly to the battery?
If not, try connecting to the directly to the battery with the mirrors mounted to the bike.
Using a multi meter, measure the voltage at the point where the mirrors connect with the battery leads. (the end of the mirrors cable)
Then try connecting the mirrors to the bikes wiring and measure the voltage at the same point.
Please report back on findings.
A load resistor may be required for correct operation of the flasher unit, thou you may loose the "Burnt out bulb" (fast flash) feature of the flasher unit.
Gavin
My experience with LEDs is they require very little power. They need proper voltage but tolerate lower and higher voltage some as well. They do not tolerate reverse polarity unless other components are added to sense and switch it. If both LEDs in each mirror are powered off the same two wires then polarity is not the issue. What happens if you switch the +/- wires at the mirror when on the bike? Reversing the +/- will not hurt the LEDs, they just fire only one way.
I learned about led polarities while swapping out bulbs in my boat. And yes, i tried both polarities when testing the mirrors connected directly to the battery and it didn't matter which way the polarities were, odd. And no they were not mounted on the bike when connected to the battery. I'll test again while mounted and report voltages.
Quote from: jahearne on June 04, 2019, 12:20:57 PM
And yes, i tried both polarities when testing the mirrors connected directly to the battery and it didn't matter which way the polarities were, odd.
Not odd, it seems like the mirror has polarity correction built in if both sets of LEDs light up regardless of +/- connection to the battery. This also might be the cause of one lighting and not the other on the bike. I cannot explain why, I know enough about electrical to get myself into trouble. Trying it again on the bike and checking voltages and swapping +/- might tell you more about the mystery of the LEDs.
If polarity does not matter, then the circuit would have a built in Bridge Rectifier.
https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graetzov_most%C3%ADk
Gavin
Can a Bridge Rectifier work with DC input? I thought it was used to convert an alternating current (AC) to a polarized (DC like) current?
The volt meter is reporting 6 volts while mounted on the bike. BTW, polarity now matters. I swapped the wires and sure enough they didn't work. With proper polarity, the inner lights works. Still no lights on the outer leds. I have yet to hook up the led mirrors directly to the battery while mounted.
6 volts will be a problem. A typical LED will power with 5 Volts DC. To run them on a 12V system they add resistors to cut the voltage. So the 6 volts are going through the internal resistors to an even lower voltage. So one side tolerates the lower voltage and the other does not. Get the voltage back up to to 10+ and you should be good to go. Your problem is low voltage at the mirror/LED signal assembly.
Yes indeed, a Bridge Rectifier will work with DC Inputs.
Using a Bridge Rectifier on the supply allows the polarity to be connected either way and the device will still work.
Using a single diode on the supply will provide reverse polarity protection, but the polarity must be connected correctly for the device to work.
6 volts certainly is to low and I find this hard to believe. Definitely something wrong here.
Each individual LED requires between 1.8 and 2.2 volts to operate.
The usual maximum current for a typical 5mm LED is 20Ma.
There could be up to 7 LED's wired in series in each mirror and two lots of seven wired in parallel.
Maximum current would only be about 30 to 40Ma. .
Did the standard blinkers work?
This will indicate if the blink unit was working and the contacts are in good condition.
A high resistance in the contacts would account for the low voltage.
Please connect direct to the battery again and report voltage.
If the Load Resistors are not installed, one would still expect to see the LED's illuminate but not blink.
Thanks for the info! I'll get her hooked up to 12 direct. Currently I'm dealing with a carb leaking fuel, so soon as i get that dealt with...
Quote from: aviationfred on April 26, 2019, 03:17:07 AM
Have you tried the turn signals with the bike running? Current draw for the LED's should be less than an AMP. On the other hand, the LED's may need a solid 12volts or better to operate correctly.
Fred
You were right all along! I did get her running and even on choke the LED turnsignals weren't flashing. But during tune-up mode, I rev'd her up past 2,000 rpm and they lit up!!! They work once she was rev'd up. But nothing at idle. Which might be an issue at stop lights. However, could just be a bad battery, but she starts right up. Lights are bright. Anyways, I'll charge the battery overnight and hook up a voltmeter to the battery and while she's rev'd up to see where my voltage is at.
Battery full charge! Same issue, the led turn signals light up when rev'd past 2,000 rpm.
Quote from: jahearne on June 27, 2019, 10:13:52 PM
Battery full charge! Same issue, the led turn signals light up when rev'd past 2,000 rpm.
What was the voltage? Could it be a bad alternator not producing enough voltage for them to light properly?
Quote from: ryanschoebel on June 27, 2019, 11:04:35 PM
Quote from: jahearne on June 27, 2019, 10:13:52 PM
Battery full charge! Same issue, the led turn signals light up when rev'd past 2,000 rpm.
What was the voltage? Could it be a bad alternator not producing enough voltage for them to light properly?
That was my first thought, but have yet to test it
Sure enough, not producing 13-14 volts until it's rev'd up well past 2,000 rpm, more like 3000 to 3500. Nippon regulator on order!