LED turn signals don't work (with a el-12 flasher..)

[se7enty7]

Okay... I bought my bike without turn signals.  I looked in the clymers and hooked them up (I believe..) properly..


But; when I first turn the key to 'on' they don't come on at all.  If I push the turn signal switch left or right they all 4 come on.  If I push the turn signal switch (like push it in like a button) they turn off.

What gives?

I've replaced my relay with an el-12.  fwiw my stator is disconnected.. I dunno how/if that would affect it.  Also I noticed in my head a brown and black/white wire.  Clymer's says this is a for a 'signal indicator' but it's not hooked up to anything.

[TheGoodGuy]

u have connected the wires wrong..

normal state of indicators is OFF
When you push left or right those lights will come on, not all 4.
when you push the switch, it goes off. which is correct. Its got a push to cancel feature.

check your wiring.

[se7enty7]

I'm 99.99% sure wiring is correct.  I have a couple 1157 bulbs and when I hook on up the the left side then the left side works fine (blinking..)

[se7enty7]

btw;  it would be an awesome feature to be able to search by title only.   Try searching for led... or led turn signal.... 95% of threads are unrelated...

[TheGoodGuy]

if i read you right, if you use 1157 it lights up fine. left for left and right for right, but when you use LED's all 4 light up?

i know there is a flashing issue with led's it flashes faster.

[se7enty7]

correct.  The wiring is (should be..) correct.



Think that the leds simply dont pull enough power... or maybe they don't work as a universal ground or whatever.

[John Bates]

se7enty7, Have you read this topic?

[se7enty7]

I have, and that 1n2002 diode or whatnot that is needed
1) isn't sold at radioshack anymore
2) I can't find a good place to tap into the turn signal indicator fuse.


Basically I mounted a set of normal-bulb turn signals on the side of the bike; near the rear pegs.  That way they flash properly and people beside me get notified before I change lanes..

[The Buddha]

Damn se7enty7... I told you how mine worked remember .. of course not it was a bleary 1 am when I said that. Buy a wagner 552 at an autoparts store... $1.99. Its electronic instead of the bi metal the stock one is... tiny piece, like a stack of quarters... ziptie to stock location... They also have a heavy duty one... that's all transparent... but its like $8....
Cool.
Srinath.

[se7enty7]

Damn se7enty7... I told you how mine worked remember .. of course not it was a bleary 1 am when I said that. Buy a wagner 552 at an autoparts store... $1.99. Its electronic instead of the bi metal the stock one is... tiny piece, like a stack of quarters... ziptie to stock location... They also have a heavy duty one... that's all transparent... but its like $8....
Cool.
Srinath.

hey man I did...  I bought the electronic one not dependent on voltage... triden el-12.  Still no luck...  the reason yours works is that you have normal front turn signals... if you put leds one up front they wouldn't work either.  I have leds up front and normals in the rear... then another set of leds on the side (I might sell them on the board.. I paid $23 for them locally... lockhart philips or whatnot..)

[The Buddha]

Mine flash with the front disconnected ... electronic but draw based is different from electronic and time based. The heavy duty one can be adjusted a bit for duration and interval... like I said faaaaannnnncccccyyyy I'llcheck somehting else... 1 sec.
Cool.
Srinath.

[se7enty7]

well I dunno..  Maybe our flasher relays require different voltage draws to work.  From my (small) amount of electrical knowledge I thought that led's don't draw enough current to trip ANY relay... that's why people add diodes...

[John Bates]

well I dunno..  Maybe our flasher relays require different voltage draws to work.  From my (small) amount of electrical knowledge I thought that led's don't draw enough current to trip ANY relay... that's why people add diodes...

Your close. :mrgreen:

The OEM bimetal flasher relay requires a certain amount of current to operate correctly.  LEDs don't draw the required amount so they won't operate the OEM relay.  The solid state relay solves this problem.  

If you just replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs without changing the existing ckt, all four LEDs will flash.  The diodes are added to solve this problem.


The diodes can be added inside the headlight housing.
Open the housing, pry the blue connector apart with a large screw driver blade.

Cut the lt. green and black wires that connect to the small half of the connector (female pins). These are the wires that go into the main wiring harness, not up into the indicator lights.

Connect the anode side of one diode to the black wire that goes into the main wiring harness.

Connect the anode side of the other diode to the lt. green wire that goes into the main wiring harness.

anode side -->|-- cathode side

Connect both cathode sides together with the lt. green wire that goes to the connector.

Connect the black wire coming from the connector to the spare black-white wire.

At the rear of the bike:
The extra turn signals can be tapped off of the black and black-white wires for the left side and the lt green and black-white wires for the right side.

Should work.

[se7enty7]

well I dunno..  Maybe our flasher relays require different voltage draws to work.  From my (small) amount of electrical knowledge I thought that led's don't draw enough current to trip ANY relay... that's why people add diodes...

Your close. :mrgreen:

The OEM bimetal flasher relay requires a certain amount of current to operate correctly.  LEDs don't draw the required amount so they won't operate the OEM relay.  The solid state relay solves this problem.  

If you just replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs without changing the existing ckt, all four LEDs will flash.  The diodes are added to solve this problem.


The diodes can be added inside the headlight housing.
Open the housing, pry the blue connector apart with a large screw driver blade.

Cut the lt. green and black wires that connect to the small half of the connector (female pins). These are the wires that go into the main wiring harness, not up into the indicator lights.

Connect the anode side of one diode to the black wire that goes into the main wiring harness.

Connect the anode side of the other diode to the lt. green wire that goes into the main wiring harness.

anode side -->|-- cathode side

Connect both cathode sides together with the lt. green wire that goes to the connector.

Connect the black wire coming from the connector to the spare black-white wire.

At the rear of the bike:
The extra turn signals can be tapped off of the black and black-white wires for the left side and the lt green and black-white wires for the right side.

Should work.

imo that should go into the FAQ.



I have it wired up to where it works; and I like it... the leds aren't quite as bright as the short stalk aftermarket regular bulbed signals I was given.  So, I put those in the rear and they make the relay (aftermarket triden el-12) activate...