led tail light turn signal combo

[stang65pony]

im working on a sequential tail light/turn signal systme. basically i have 2 circular hi/lo led pods, my question is; if i put them in place of my tail light and turn sigs, and wire them in will they still blink if i have the brake on? i mean if the brake switch is sending the light a signal, and im trying to use the tail light which would be sending it another signal, will it flash? im trying to explain this but its confusing me lol.

 

[Pockets]

It may work if you have a separate power feed from the flasher lead. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure.

 

[stang65pony]

i think it will be fine. i'll find out later tonite though when i get stuff welded and plugged in. we'll find out!

 

[Pockets]

If you have one bulb wired to both the brake and turn leads, make sure you wire in a resistor between the turn lead and the bulb. You don't want to over voltage the LED.

 

[stang65pony]

its a cluster of about 10 leds per side. what resistor should i use? i ossume i would just put it in line with the hot wire to the led correct? thanks for the advice!

 

[gear2078]

Okay, first thing to know is you can't over voltage the LED with two +12v wires, you would have to have two 12V batteries wired in series or a malfunctioning voltage regulator for this to happen.

Secondly, if I am understanding you correctly you want one light to be bright constant with the brakes applied and the other to flash the direction of your turn signal. This can be accomplished with a special adapter made for trailer lighting which converts a 5 wire left/right/brake/tail light system to a four wire marker/left/right combination signal. On these adapters, left is yellow, right is green, markers are brown or black, stop is red on the input side, and ground is white.

Third thing to consider, your flasher requires a certain mount of current to flow through it or it won't flash. In order to get the proper current flow, most led turn signal conversions are sold with a resistor to jumper from your signal+ to a ground.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pockets]

Gear2078- Duh, yeah I spaced on that one LOL. 12V is 12V regardless of wiring. Need more caffeine.
Great idea on the trailer lighting adapter!

 

[stang65pony]

gear- that is exactly what i am after. do you know the name of this "special adapter"? and for some reason i am real confused by your second paragraph lol. i have read it over several times. i guess im the kind of person that needs **** drawn out or right in front of me. if i get ahold of this adapter i will probably understand more. there is a trailer place by my house that may have something like this. all i know is i spent some time making this thing and thinking it all out (apparently not all the way though haha) and dont want to just have to slap on some micro turn sigs. thanks for all the advice and any more to come.

 

[gear2078]

Pockets, I'm just trying to add in my .02 when it can help. This kinda falls into my field and we all have our days.

Stang65pony, I'm looking for a better description of it online now. They have been in use for at least ten years now, the simplest ones are probably a half inch thick, 2x3" and should fit nicely under seat. I've seen them at Wal-mart, Napa, Checkers... I'll keep looking and see if I can make a link.

 

[gear2078]

Okay, I found a taillamp converter from Napa for 14.09. PN BK7551086 http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?R=BK_7551086_0006398230

I will be interested to see it work. Did you put a partition between the two sets of LED's to make sure your signals can be clearly seen?

 

[stang65pony]

gear and pockets you guys kick ass. yeah i divided up the tail lamp. i plan to do a little weld cleanup work and then either get the piece pc chromed or just some highly reflective paint. but i hope this works. i'll try to get ahold of one this weekend. i may have to ask for help again though. im not wetalldid but i literally had to read your paragraph like 3-4 times lol. it just sounded confusing for some reason. thanks again for your time.

 

[Pockets]

Stang- try out the spray chrome from Testors. It's paint for models, but it works great! Just go easy on the coats. It runs easily.
I for one can't wait to see how this turns out!

 

[stang65pony]

i picked up the tail lamp converter. goin to wire it up now. will post up plenty of pics after i get this functional and realize i didnt waste my time lol

 

[stang65pony]

worked perfectly!! now all i have to do is clean up the wiring, clean up the light housing and make the divider better to help with the turn signals. that and get a relay or a resistor got a part number or advice for that?

thanks for the advice!!!!!

i will post up pics when im done. all together (not including my time) i have about 40 bucks into this. thats a lot better than spending 140 for a purchased integrated turn signal. but there are some differences between mine and thiers of coarse.

 

[gear2078]

Stang, that's great news! If the signals are working there is no reason to buy resistors. The best part has got to be knowing that your bike will be unique! I hate buying aftermarket upgrades just to be like everyone else.

 

[flaya564]

You can get the relay at napa. I bought the ep-36 relay. It says l.e.d. on it.

 

[stang65pony]

do you have a part number? i was considering buying a led light specific resistor out of a catalog just so its easy. i tried a new relay but i think i bought a ep 26. i went to napa, autozone, and o'rileys and couldnt find an ep 36.

 

[stang65pony]

found my note i made at napa.

ep 36 did not work, i plugged it in and the relay clicked but the signals just stayed lit and didnt flash. but it did plug right in

ep 26 was a 4 prog (my bike is a 3 prong)

ep 37 is a 2 prong


so thats where i am at with that. any ideas?

 

[Stevenc150]

Seen some have used an EP35 also, might try it.

 

[gear2078]

I believe you need a pair of ten ohm ceramic coiled wire resistors but I will double check.