LED Turnsignals that won't light up

[jahearne]

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??

[jahearne]

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.

[copper]

What does the wiring look like to make them work?

[aviationfred]

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

[jahearne]

What does the wiring look like to make them work?

two wires, no running lights

[jahearne]

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!

[jahearne]

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?

[FJmonkey]

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?

[jahearne]

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.

[jahearne]

Thinking about trying a LED 5 pin flasher

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/ep27l-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/784/838/

[fj-f3a]

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

[FJmonkey]

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.

[jahearne]

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.

[FJmonkey]

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.

[fj-f3a]

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