Lektrickary problems

[boomer]

I've gone back to havin the tail tidy on the bike which has the aftermarket leds for indictors. i've wired it all up, again, and they work fine; just back from a 10 minute trip on the waterfront and the whatthemacallit device that stops the indicators flashing too fast is smouldering. Hot Hot Hot as the little old lady at the chinese food mall likes to say.

The plastic on this 'device' has got so hot its melting... ANY IDEAS guys?

please.. no one ask me what voltage or to try an amp meter or any other teknimological stuff... cos i only just know my ass from my elbow .. i need answers ;)


churr churr..

[Karma]

Well I'm not that hot on electrics eh... umm...

Anything changed since the last time you used the tail tidy? New battery or anything? Sounds like it's probably getting more voltage than it can handle so is bleeding some of it off as heat.

[boomer]

Well I'm not that hot on electrics eh... umm...

Anything changed since the last time you used the tail tidy? New battery or anything? Sounds like it's probably getting more voltage than it can handle so is bleeding some of it off as heat.


When i put it on again now, i saw that the 'slowtheflashingdown' unit looked like it had been remorphed .. so it was obviously gettin a tad hot last time too.

ps.. i added some wire to join the main wiring to the wiring on the aftermarket unit, this 'new' wire if 5amps in size if that matters? maybe theres some congestion in the wiring.. so to speak :whistle:

[Grahameeboy]

You got a new exhaust since so maybe it runs hotter and affects something.......mmmmm I fee fy fo fum I smell the red cheeks of an Englishman....

[Karma]

When i put it on again now, i saw that the 'slowtheflashingdown' unit looked like it had been remorphed .. so it was obviously gettin a tad hot last time too.

ps.. i added some wire to join the main wiring to the wiring on the aftermarket unit, this 'new' wire if 5amps in size if that matters? maybe theres some congestion in the wiring.. so to speak :whistle:

My guess is that it's trying to step down too much power, so you might wanna look at getting a different (i.e. bigger) one to handle the job.

That's just my laymans opinion mind.

[boomer]

You got a new exhaust since so maybe it runs hotter and affects something.......mmmmm I fee fy fo fum I smell the red cheeks of an Englishman....


i'm daft not stoopid :sunny: the exhaust was on there last time and the wiring specialunitslowtheflashingdown jobby is no where near the exhaust.. and i definately haven't plugged the yoshi into the mains :bye:

[R6_kid]

send sAsLEX a PM and he should be able to help. Putting a resistor in the circuit may help cool it down and take some heat away, but it'll probably also slow the light flashing down again... like i said ask sAsLEX

[Ixion]

OK. Some questions.

1. Do the flashers actually work? All of them? And at the correct flashing speed.
2. Do the other lights all work properly
3. You say it gets hot. Try starting the motor, and run for a while NOT using the flashers at all. Does it get hot ? If not, then turn the flashers on for a bit. Does it get hot now? Do both sides make it get hot? Or just one.
4. Have you double checked you connected all the wires. To the correct other wires. That's good, now check again.

[boomer]

send sAsLEX a PM and he should be able to help. Putting a resistor in the circuit may help cool it down and take some heat away, but it'll probably also slow the light flashing down again... like i said ask sAsLEX


Churr :D


OK. Some questions.

1. Do the flashers actually work? All of them? And at the correct flashing speed.
Yes sir

2. Do the other lights all work properly
Yes Sir

3. You say it gets hot. Try starting the motor, and run for a while NOT using the flashers at all. Does it get hot ? If not, then turn the flashers on for a bit. Does it get hot now? Do both sides make it get hot? Or just one.
not tried that.. will do :D

4. Have you double checked you connected all the wires. To the correct other wires. That's good, now check again.
no..to both.. will do :D



be back soon!!!

[boomer]

OK. Some questions.
part deux;

3. You say it gets hot. Try starting the motor, and run for a while NOT using the flashers at all. Does it get hot ? If not, then turn the flashers on for a bit. Does it get hot now? Do both sides make it get hot? Or just one.
only gets hot when the flashers are turned on and only that flashers wire gets hot.. not both

4. Have you double checked you connected all the wires. To the correct other wires. That's good, now check again.
umm.. now surely, and i may well be wrong here, but they will only connect one way if they're working??

will go check number 4... :yes:

[Gremlin]

The resistors are to slow down the flash rate, as LED's draw less current than conventional indicators.

My resistors gets hot when the indicator is used, just figured it was it doing its job, and adding load to the circuit... meh

Just try not having your indicators on permanently... and the coating on my resistors isn't plastic, more ceramic...

sAsLEX might be able to tell you more

[boomer]

The resistors are to slow down the flash rate, as LED's draw less current than conventional indicators.
No shit Sherlock!...Thanks :sherlock:


My resistors gets hot when the indicator is used, just figured it was it doing its job, and adding load to the circuit... meh
You must be the brains of the operation

Just try not having your indicators on permanently... and the coating on my resistors isn't plastic, more ceramic...
i turn 'em of when i've completed the manouver, funnily enough :yes:

sAsLEX might be able to tell you more


There MUSt be someone who can help me; :shutup:

[Ixion]

OK.

So, we've established that it's not justa straight forward short (cos then nothing would work). I gather the flashers flash at the "correct" speed, so the slowemdown box is connected and working.

I also assume that at one time it did all work correctly? The resistors are presumably connected to earth, to increase current draw across the flasher unit. So they will get quite hot. But not so hot as to melt one would imagine. I'm still opining to something plugged in wrong. Or, a faulty earth The flashers themselves will have a very low current draw so they will probably work even if there is a near short.

Some of those slowemdowns are supposed to also have a connection to the taillamp (I think when that is LED too) Does yours?

You mention at one point that the WIRES are getting hot? Do you mean just the wires, or is it the box itself. If it is JUST the wires, it maybe that you need either heavier guage wire, or heat resistant wire.

[boomer]

OK.

So, we've established that it's not justa straight forward short (cos then nothing would work). I gather the flashers flash at the "correct" speed, so the slowemdown box is connected and working.

I also assume that at one time it did all work correctly? The resistors are presumably connected to earth, to increase current draw across the flasher unit. So they will get quite hot. But not so hot as to melt one would imagine. I'm still opining to something plugged in wrong. Or, a faulty earth The flashers themselves will have a very low current draw so they will probably work even if there is a near short.

Some of those slowemdowns are supposed to also have a connection to the taillamp (I think when that is LED too) Does yours?

You mention at one point that the WIRES are getting hot? Do you mean just the wires, or is it the box itself. If it is JUST the wires, it maybe that you need either heavier guage wire, or heat resistant wire.


oooh.. now your talking;

The resistors are wired straight through on the existing wiring, colour coded and matched as per OEM
The wires arent gettin hot, just the resistor..jobby
My tail light is LED but i haven't hooked it up to the tail light as thats ok..standard OEM
As for working correctly once.. the standard lighting did, the tail tidy and attached leds ive just refitted had gotten too hot before as the electicians tape i'd put around it had melted too.

[Ixion]

Hm. So maybe it's ALWAYS gotten hot?

And maybe its not actually a fault per se

Each signal lampp will need about 20 watts of load to simulate a bulb. so they are going to get pretty hot. Are the mounted to something that will allow them to shed heat? A good solid metal thing , with airflow over it.

And try putting some heat sink paste on the mountings.

[boomer]

i've just taken another squizz at 'em and its only the gaffer tape thats melted; the actual unit hasn't deformed at all.

So MR ixion, i believe your onto it..however these things need to be relocated if thats the problem to somewhere as you state and the gaffer tape removed. They're currently sat under the pillion seat on plastic, which ain't good


i woudn't have expected 'em to get soooo hot tho ..

cheers Ixion !

[imdying]

As Ixion says, the resistors you've put in are to simulate the load the 20w standard bulbs would have. LED indicators don't have this load, so you need to add a dummy load else where, hence the resistors.

The heat is normal, as you've discovered, the resistors can take it, just your tape doesn't like it.

What can you do?

Mount the resistors with something that doesn't melt, somewhere where the heat isn't going to melt anything expensive like fairing.

or

Get some resistors of the same ohm rating, but with a heavier current capability (wattage). Probably an arse thing to find.

or

Replace the stock flasher unit with what they call an electronic flasher unit. It doesn't give a shit if there's any load of not, it just flashes the same rate all the time. They're about $30 from just about anywhere, and easy to fit. Fit that, and you can ditch the resistors all together.

or

Attach some small heatsinks to the resistors with some araldite. They'll give the resistors a larger surface area, so the heat gets spread around. They'll still get hot, but as the heat is spread about, the whole heatsink/resistor will get up to less temperature. You can get a heatsink from any computer geek, or from Jaycar/DSE. A bit of pissing around, but no lecky knowledge needed.


I'd go option three myself.

[imdying]

Oh yeah, you could always just strap the resistors to the subframe, which would be like attaching a big mother heatsink. As the subframe is huge, it can handle that little heat load no worries at all. It should be able to dissipate that heat sweet as. Just strap them as tight as you can to the subframe. Try some cable ties. If it is able to keep the heat down enough, they won't melt. It's the easiest and cheapest to do, and you probably have cable ties... try it and see how it goes, might be problem solved.

[sAsLEX]

Any luck?

Just got PM.

Just buy a bigger wattage resistor would be my guess, skim read it only though.

[Dafe]

Definately just replace the resistor with a higher wattage of the same value.
Unless the module was intended for multipurpose usage. Just replace the resistor with a rheostat and mount under your seat. Presto - Seat warmer!

[Brian d marge]

Led flashers require a different current, and what is happening is that there is to much erectricty ( trying ) going through the slow the flashersdown thingy

Dont know your bike/layout colors ,, but the thing to do is work out how much electicity those LED use ( written on box ,,Watts ) , then this will give u the current ( Amps ) ...then you need to put a resistor in ( R ) before the slowtheflasherdown thingy ( the thing that is melting )

Just remember Watt/Are xVirgins and Virgins/ Are x Rare

You can but new Smoke from any Lucas agent,,,,,,

Stephen

how come those threads offering the same advice have Just appeared !!! Doh ....and much better at that ,,,( I thought it was the flasher unit getting hot and there were no resistors in the circuit ....

[boomer]

cheers guys,

teh flahers came with the tail tidy and had no box/packaging to speak of. i'll be buggered when its WOF time next.

As for the resistors, i may go buy a big ass mofo one from ... i'll hunt around.

but i've attached teh current ones to metal which is dispersing the heat nicely. I just need to remember to switch of indicators :D

cheers all!

[Pixie]

There MUSt be someone who can help me; :shutup:

The problem is,(long intake of breath) the flasher system is designed to flash at the correct rate when 2 twenty watt bulbs are connected to the flasher relay.
Because the replacement LED lamps are less than 1 watt each, you need the resistors to draw the same current as the 40 watts of the original bulbs.
of course these resistors need to dissipate 40 watts as heat, which is not easy.
So you will have to arrange some kind of heat sink and provide it with airflow.
Or,alternatively,find a 'no load' flasher relay to replace the original.
I've seen these at supercheap for around $30.Someone said they found them for $5, but I think they must've been on the drugs.

[Pixie]

Any luck?

Just got PM.

Just buy a bigger wattage resistor would be my guess, skim read it only though.

Still gotta get rid of 40 watts,regardless

[Ixion]

Bigger wattage reistor won't reduce the amount of heat , just ensure that the heat doesn't blow the resistor up (as Mr Pixie observes) .

[boomer]

right, now we're getting places. I know why, how and what to do to fix it.

cheers guys, i'll save ma money and use bag ties to attach to them to the sub frame.

[davereid]

Ya only got to use the indicators for 3 secs.. so just do that and dont spend a cent. Find corner, push button, go round, turn off indicator.

There is an indicator that indicates when your indicators are indicating. Its all you need.

[gammaguy]

get down to Jaycar or Dick Smith and grab yurself a heat sink,mount box to it and preferably somewhere in the airflow.Should sort it I had to do the same to the Reg/Rec on my TDR.:done: