Tweety

Well, you didn't say if your bike is actually wired for running light's or not?

As for the resistance... Making the resistance lower isn't going to help much, and by the way, adding any resistor in any way won't lower it anyways... Back to V=IR... V remains constant, your new bulbs have a lower I, so you need to increase R to get the same result...

Wiring up both filaments in paralell makes no real difference as you then get the current split over the two filaments, ie both are on, but the resistance remains the same since both filaments have the same resistance... Wire them in series and the resistance is added together...

The reason you add a effect resistor in paralell with LED signals are that the resistor has a higher resistance than the LED and then affects the resistance as a whole...

The easy and clean solution is the relay linked above... With that you can pretty much throw any and all on the bike and it just doesn't care...

kraher

The bike does have the wiring for running lights, it has just never been used to my knowledge (although it had aftermarket signals by the time I got it).

Wiring my new aftermarket signals to use the running lights does not change anything other than the light stays on all the time, it still fast blinks.

I assumed i needed less resistance as the old signals/bulbs I removed had a lower resistance than the new ones, I was thinking about adding a resistor in parallel so the resistance of the new bulbs matched the resistance of the old. I assume the new higher resistance bulbs are causing the current to drop which in turn puts the bike into "quick-flash-warn-the-rider-a-bulb-is-out" mode. Wiring a resistor in parallel should fix the problem (assuming this IS the problem), no?

Unless I am seriously confused, wiring the dual filaments in series would further exacerbate the problem.

I do agree that perhaps the easiest thing is the aftermarket flasher linked above, I was looking for someone to confirm this.

Tweety

Yeah, a relay of that type solves the problem quite nicely without much work... But it won't really give you a good result...

It's far cheaper and not too complicated to solve it using basic knowledge on how electric parts work... You know, you should probably go read up on your basic electronics... You seem to have misunderstood some of the basics as to how effect, resistance, current and voltage correlates to each other...

If you wire a resistor in paralell you increase the load on the relay, not the resistance of the bulb... The difference is that the LED uses a very small current (I), but still 12V (U)... And the relay is designed for 2*21W + 2*21W for each side that is stock... Ie 42W (P) or usually they work if the get 20W or more... If it get a lower load it blinks rapidly... This means that the paralell load-resistor makes the load constant, but decreases the current to the blinker to suit the LED's...

The W rating on the bulb is also a function of the same formula we used above... P=U*I... U=12V... Read the rated wattage on it (might be rated for the filament separate or together) and you can figure out I... Then R is a function of U=R*I... And if you look at that, you quickly figure out that less resistance means that either the R or the I have to change since U remains constant... Less R means more I and the opposite...

In your case you have two bulbs in one bulb... It's designed to work with one filament on at all time's then "adding" the second filament for the brighter blinking vs the dim always on light...

Each filament wants 12V, since that's how the bulb is designed... Using just one as the blinker will also be pretty dim and not a good idea in bad visibility... Neither is adding a loadresistor in paralell since that will only decrease the light even more...

Running the two filaments in paralell connected to the blinker (Not the running light wires, forget them!) could work if that's a large enough load... Or running the two of them in series... Then they share 12V across the two bulbs, so they will each be a bit dimmer than optimal, but should be a large enough load together...

The part that's going to trip you up is that the bike is wired for running lights... And with a pair of blinkers that have dual filaments, ie they are meant as running lights... Then the socket and plugs on there are wired up to go into the bike harnes as is and be running light + blinker... So if you want it another way, you have to rewire the blinker part so it connects to the blinker wires on your bike only...

Not plug and play... Have fun...

kraher

First off, I am no expert I do think I do ok on my basic electronics, it does factor into my job on occasion. I blame miss-communication.

Agreed, 100%. If you read my posts you would have noticed too things:

• I am not dealing with LEDs I have replaced incandescent bulbs with different incandescent bulbs.
• I am attributing the quick-flash to a reduced load on the flasher relay, therefore, my theory is to wire a load resistor in parallel to the filament to INCREASE the load on the flasher relay and as a result get it out of quick-flash mode. As you said V = IR.... I = V/R therefore with V=constant a lower R (original bulbs) equates to higher current. Install higher resistance bulbs (new) and the current drops, I can reduce the resistance in the circuit by wiring a resistor in parallel with the bulb.

I disagree that a parallel resistor reduces the light output of the bulb. Please enlighten me.

Again, V=IR. Parallel loads recieve the same V as if they were run stand alone (think multiple light bulbs on one switch in your house, all current flows through the switch but they all still get 120Vac ). The resistance of the bulb would not change, meaning I is constant.

In my mind it would only increase the current flowing through the flasher relay, unless of course the flasher somehow limits total current output? That being said I am still only going to match the load of the original bulbs...I am not up-ing it by several amps or anything.

As I said in my other posts I wired the two filaments in parallel and it did not change anything, still fast blink. I also tried to wire them up using the running lights (I don't want them, but I thought I would try), the lights stayed on constantly but they still were on fast blink.

Sorry, I am not trying to be a dick and I am grateful for the input from all. I do question some of your logic though.

Thanks.

Tweety

Well, the two filaments in paralell an still fast blinking means one thing... That you are below 5W on each filament... ie 4 filaments in total... 4*5W 20W... and that's the borderline for most relays...

Also agreed on bad communication, both ways... The LED was just an example of a case where you do two things with that loadresistor... Both lower the current going to the LED and make the relay happy...

In your case the two filaments in paralell and a loadresistor in the same way as a LED would work then, giving a correct blink rate... But it will also dim the signal...

BTW the reason there is no change when using running lights is the fact that the relay never sees the load from the running light part, it's separate...

BTW why would I consider you a dick? This is a discussion, not an argument...

kraher

Agreed, except the ******** have a $25 minimum order for shipments leaving the US.

So now I have LED bulbs coming too, for no good reason.

Tweety

Heh... I live in Sweden, so I know how that works... Shopping in the US is an exercise in patience...

kraher

Pfff, that's nothing. At least your shipments have some very real distance to cover. The minimum order/shipping price is somewhat justified.

In NA people in the US can ship an item 4000km across the country for considerably less than they can ship it 100km over the border.