Rapidly flashing LED turn signals. Yes? No?

[R.]

I got my tail lights smoked so I put in LED turn signals and break lights. They help a little bit which I guess is good. The thing is that they use such little power that my car thinks a bulb is burnt out(not really surprised here) and my turn signals flash rapidly. Really rapidly.

My friend thinks its cool, and I see where he is coming from but I feel like it makes me look like I don't know what the eff I'm doing.

Should I get a resistor and make it normal or leave it on drugs?

Thanks for your responses in advance!

[PEZi]

fix it

[nissangirl74]

get a resistor and make it normal

[R.]

Easily answered lol.

I knew it was a failure the second I clicked it on. Then when I was going down the road I noticed a sign at a local shop that said "LED Rapid turn signal fix. Stop by." and it confirmed my opinion but I asked you guys just to check.

I was going to order one from V-LED's but I feel this is something I can do myself and get at radio shack for $5. Time to start Googling.

If anyone has any links to write ups that would be appreciated, also.

Thanks for making me not look stupid.

[Razi]

Rapidly flashing lights?
Gtfo!~

[nissangirl74]

post5574949.html?hilit=LED%20turn%20signals#p5574949

[poems2beats]

Most auto parts stores(auto zone, napa, checkers) sell these specific resistors. They don't cost much. Installation should be easy. Just hook up the resistor is series with the LED....

[RCA]

Video of rapidly flashing tail lights?

[PoorManQ45]

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

Change your actual flasher from a mechanical unit to an electrical unit. Should be ~$7.

[Jesda]

Just put your hand out the window and make a punching motion into the air to simulate a turn signal.

Example:

[poems2beats]

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

Waste power? More like add resistance that needs to be there.
LED lights have much less resistance that a regular light. Thus they draw more amps. The higher amp draw is what causes the "flasher" to quickly go on and off....

[Dittoz7]

Wouldn't that just burn the LED off faster?

[poems2beats]

Wouldn't that just burn the LED off faster?

Not using a resistor might cause the LED to burn out faster. Depends what voltage the LEDs were built to work off of.

[Dattebayo]

Look at the old bulb and figure out how much power the old bulb used and use ohms law to figure out what size resistor you need and solder it in parallel with the LEDs.

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Waste power? Cars have an alternator, you dork.

[Speedy7_7]

Look at the old bulb and figure out how much power the old bulb used and use ohms law to figure out what size resistor you need and solder it in parallel with the LEDs.

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Waste power? Cars have an alternator, you dork.

[PoorManQ45]

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

Waste power? More like add resistance that needs to be there.
LED lights have much less resistance that a regular light. Thus they draw more amps. The higher amp draw is what causes the "flasher" to quickly go on and off....

The resistance does indeed need to be there for standard flashers to work properly, but adding a resistor is not the way to do this.

A resistor will convert some of the electricity into pure heat. It is a waste.

The proper thing to do is to use an electronic flasher that is not dependent on resistance.

[PoorManQ45]

Look at the old bulb and figure out how much power the old bulb used and use ohms law to figure out what size resistor you need and solder it in parallel with the LEDs.

No, a resistor will simply waste power.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Waste power? Cars have an alternator, you dork.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. In parallel?

Two resistors in parallel will have less resistance then either resistor by itself. So you'll make the problem worse.

[Dattebayo]

Hey, I screwed up by saying parallel when I meant series. You have no excuse.

Also, I failed to mention that using a lower voltage LED and a different schematic layout might be required.

[PoorManQ45]

Hey, I screwed up by saying parallel when I meant series. You have no excuse.

Also, I failed to mention that using a lower voltage LED and a different schematic layout might be required.

I didn't screw up. Resistors simply take electricity(amount calculated using Ohm's law) and turn it in to heat. This is indeed a waste. It's small, but it is wasted.

[Dattebayo]

It's small, but it is wasted.

Kinda like this thread now. Thanks.

[PoorManQ45]

It's small, but it is wasted.

Kinda like this thread now. Thanks.

I actually gave the proper answer. You guys are giving ghetto answers...

What needs to be done is change the flasher from a mechanical to an electrical. This will remove the need for resistance on the outputs.

[poems2beats]

No sir, I gave no ghetto response.... Using an "electronic flasher" is simply another way to solve this issue. Either way will work.

There seems to be a lot of bickering in this thread now....

[Beancooker]

http://www.v-leds.com/Electronic-LED-Fl ... 22487-1-3/

They have what you need. I used one for my LED turn signals. They blink at normal speed.

Resistors are the dumbest idea I have heard. LED tail lights and turn signals already have the proper resistors installed to reduce the voltage from 12v to 3v. Adding another resistor will just cause the lights to fail (not light up).

Buy the damned $17 flasher and do it right.

[PoorManQ45]

http://www.v-leds.com/Electronic-LED-Fl ... 22487-1-3/

They have what you need. I used one for my LED turn signals. They blink at normal speed.

Resistors are the dumbest idea I have heard. LED tail lights and turn signals already have the proper resistors installed to reduce the voltage from 12v to 3v. Adding another resistor will just cause the lights to fail (not light up).

Buy the damned $17 flasher and do it right.

Thank you Bean!

[Zydeco]

http://www.v-leds.com/Electronic-LED-Fl ... 22487-1-3/

They have what you need. I used one for my LED turn signals. They blink at normal speed.

Resistors are the dumbest idea I have heard. LED tail lights and turn signals already have the proper resistors installed to reduce the voltage from 12v to 3v. Adding another resistor will just cause the lights to fail (not light up).

Buy the damned $17 flasher and do it right.

yep if a job is worth doing, its worth doing right.

PS. beancooker im totally jealous that you have a Tim Bailey tune.

[Beancooker]

PS. beancooker im totally jealous that you have a Tim Bailey tune.

OMG, someone from NICO who actually knows who Tim is and what he is capable of. At least half of the guys from my Subie meet have a Tim tune, and the other half all seem to be saving for it. Since his shop is 100 miles away, and he also tunes out of PIA in Tacoma (20 miles) everyone up here is running his tunes.

The man can extract gobs of power and do it reliably and very safely.

Thanks for the compliment.

[R.]

I got it fixed. I went to auto zone and picked up something I forgot what its called... like LED bulb corrector or something its in the garbage and I can grab it if someone wants. Its a white block with 2 wires on it and I connect one to positive and one to ground.

All fixed now.

[PoorManQ45]

Yeah, that's a resistor

It works, but it's not the best way to do it.

[Zydeco]

PS. beancooker im totally jealous that you have a Tim Bailey tune.

OMG, someone from NICO who actually knows who Tim is and what he is capable of. At least half of the guys from my Subie meet have a Tim tune, and the other half all seem to be saving for it. Since his shop is 100 miles away, and he also tunes out of PIA in Tacoma (20 miles) everyone up here is running his tunes.

The man can extract gobs of power and do it reliably and very safely.

Thanks for the compliment.

if you have a wrx or STi and live on the west coast and dont know tim bailey, you should hand over your keys to a real subie enthusiast.

[C-Kwik]

The resistance does indeed need to be there for standard flashers to work properly, but adding a resistor is not the way to do this.

A resistor will convert some of the electricity into pure heat. It is a waste.

The proper thing to do is to use an electronic flasher that is not dependent on resistance.

There isn't an improper way to do this if everything works as it should. Chances are a simple electronic flasher is comprised of a fairly simple circuit that is isolated from the light circuit by using an internal relay. As such it likely has some resistors in it as well. Given the waste heat is neglible for this type of application there really isnt a need to make an issue of it. It is however much simpler to use an electronic flashing module than figuring how to set up the LED circuit to have the proper resistance while maintaining the voltage one wants/needs at the LED.