Bad battery? Having blinker issues...

I recently picked up some aftermarket turn signals and brake light. After a while of playing with them, I have come to the conclusion that my battery is not performing as it should. Let me know what you think?

The new blinkers are regular bulb type. Here are my findings:

~ Key in "on" postion w/ new rear blinker - it blinks a little slower the every second w/ some blinks being longer than others. Eventually, 2-20 blinks, it just stays lit up.

~ Key "on" w/ new blinkers on front and back - it never blinks, just stay on.

~ Connected to battery charger w/ new in back - appears to blink normally, lil faster then every second.

~ Connected to charger w/ front and back new - flashes little slower than every second.

NOTE: The headlight doesn't come on till the bike is running. Also, when connected to the charger, 12 volt fast, it only ever reads around 4-6 amps.

Prior to even considering the bad battery, I tried to get a heavier duty flasher from Advance Auto thinking maybe the new bulbs draw more watts. The original flasher was rated at 27watts, new was at 126 watts. Anyway, the new flasher didn't work at all. Are flashers specific to cars/motorcycles?

I don't want to buy a new battery and find out it wasn't the issue so I'm at a stand still until I resolve the issue. Tell me what you know and/or think... thanks

 

Albert, have you checked battery voltage? How often have you been on 12V fast with charger? That can sometimes boil these little batteries dry.

 

The bulbs need to be 1156's and 1157's, (27W bulbs) for the stock flasher.

It does sound as though the battery might be cooked. You don't want to charge a motorcyle battery at any more than about 2A/hr; a 4-6 amp fast charger will cook it.

Fully charge the battery (slowly) then take it to your local auto parts store and have them load-test it for you. Then you'll know for sure; no guesswork.

 

I don't have a battery tender so I can only bring my battery in the house to keep it from the weather. I parked the bike late October and brought the battery in. Since then, I have had it back in the bike a few times to do a few things. The charger I am using has 4 settings: 6V fast, 6V boost, 12V fast, 12V boost. I usually put it back in the bike and let it get juice for maybe 15 minutes. Now that you mention it, I think i did see it bubbling once. I probably cooked it! PISS

 

Does sound like you may have cooked it, like fitz said, take it to an auto store and have it tested. Just for future reference, cold weather does not actually hurt the battery unless the case freezes and cracks. Unless it gets extremely cold you don't have to bring it in for the winter. It looses charge 8-10 times faster at room temperature.
I'd suggest picking up a trickle charger (1.5 or 2 amps) just for the motorcycle battery. I picked mine up at walmart for around $25

 

Regardless of cooked battery...

A. Motorcycle tender/chargers only $20 at Walmart.
B. Some times you need engine running to fully test blinkers.
C. Low battery = slow or no blink
D. Like mentioned above need 1156 or 1157 or 27w bulbs if have weird assembly. This is the wattage OEM blink needs.
E. When running bike to juice the battery you need it choked to idle 3000+ to actually charge the battery.

 

B=only if your battery is low.
C=true, see "B"

 

Soo... after a few days of confusion/ contemplation/ understanding I decided to pick up a new battery. $50 at auto zone, not to bad!

As for the aftermarket blinkers I picked up, I may have lucked out. I went ahead and tore the blinker assembly apart and discovered that they ARE 27w bulbs! I am not certain what bulb they are but they are stamped "12v27w"!

So, from all of your helpful responses, it is my understanding that they will work with the stock flasher? This means that the "27W" rating on the original flasher must just pertain to individual bulb rating, correct? Please correct me if I am wrong!!!!

All that being said, I cannot wait to get this thing on the road for this season!

 

Maybe all you need is a Pair of New Alternator Brushes.

1981 Bike.
Take a peek at them.
If they are worn to 10mm or less, ... you don't get all the juice your Bike could make.

Still got the Stock Fuse Panel?
Better get rid of that thing, ... too!

 

Those bulbs should work just fine with the stock flasher; the original signal bulbs are 1156's which are 27W.

"Blinking" with the engine off (or below 2000rpm) is entirely dependent upon your battery (and the wiring.) Even with a fully charged battery and perfect wiring, you will get a slightly slower blink from just battery voltage than when running down the road (at more than 2000 or 2500rpms.)

 

check through your box of old chargers from boom boxes, cordless phones, any of those little black boxes. find one that says 12vdc to 14 vdc output, theres your trickle charger.
1200ma or 1.2 amps is a charger leave it on only for 8-10 hrs
800ma leave it on for days if you want.
check your over flow hose, water and polarity of the charger
bubbles are normal when charging a battery, a new battery takes about 12 hrs to charge fully, leaving a battery less than full reduces it's life

 

Fitz is right on that one. If your battery isn't 100% (mine wasn't yesterday) you may have to have the rev's up around 3,000 to get them to blink (I did) but your stock relay and self-canceling feature will work. Threw mine on the charger last night.

 

Thanks guys. I'm headin back up to the bike today! Maybe I'll remember to take more pictures while I work.

I picked up the Schumacher 6/4/2 amp charger/maintainer from Walmart for just $30, last night. I had to get a charge to the new battery before I got back to the bike today. I filled the acid last night, waited as instructed, then plugged her into the Schmacher and selected the 2 amp charge. The unit is indicating it has taken a full charge. We'll see how she works.

With any luck, I will be able to get the bike to an inspectable state today...

 

If you change the signal flasher, go with the electronic flasher instead of the mechanical heavy duty one. They work for most turn signal lights and even work with my LEDs.

 

I'm not sure which of the flashers the new one was. I thought I was in a pinch so I just picked up one from advance auto parts with a higher rating and the same plug. It wouldn't do anything with any configuration of lights, battery, and charger so I returned it.

I will keep that in mind though. How can I tell the difference of the two types you speak of?

 

The electronic flashers say "electronic flasher" right on them, or you can just ask the attendant for one. Just make sure it's electronic and not the mechanical type.
The mechanical "heavy duty" ones are mainly for more turn singals added to the curcuit (ie: pulling trailers or semi tractors, etc.) so the flasher doesn't heat up and make the signals flash too fast. That' actually backwards for motorcycle use. The electronic flashers stay at the same flash rate no matter what the signal lights your using.

 

Chargers and New Batteries are a moot point it the Alternator Brushes aren't up to spec.

Measure your charging Voltage above 2000 revs.
If you are making less than 14.2 Volts ... you can't keep the System charged.

It only takes about 20 minutes to look at the Brushes.

 

I spent the yesterday with the bike! Got the new battery in and wired the new blinkers, all four. She fired right up! Blinkers work out good. I did see a very slight difference in the blinking time between idle and 3g rpms as you guys mentioned. I went right in to figuring how to mount them. I just cut and drilled short tabs for the rear pair and am still pondering the front.

Also, I was able to try out the new cat eye tail/brake/plate light. I was stumped for a short while. The old light used 3 wires and the new only offered two. Turns out, the new unit does not have a sold ground wire. The ground is completed by mounting it, like the front blinkers do. DUHH!!

To avoid any troubles, I went with a center mount on the rear fender. Just made some small tabs with the appropriate bends and mounted it over the original plate mount, worked out nicely.

One last thing gentlemen, somehow I have fried one of my new blinkers. The bulb is blackened and does not light as bright as the others. I pulled the bulb to try and replace it. I then realized it is only rated 12v 23w. Is the lower 23w rating going to cause me issues?

 

???

 

You could try an electronic flasher to get those new blinkers to flash at the proper rate. How bright are they?
Some of those after market signals are made pretty cheap and don't hold up very well in the long run. The ones I had kept losing a good contact inside the units because of how cheap the bulb sockets were made. That's when I decided to go with a little better made LED version instead, which are pretty much bullet proof and never have bulb issues again. Just sayin'.