Signals not flashing at idle. LED's a good solution?

Hey guys,

Interesting question for you guys...

You see, my signals will only come on at above 1500rpm or so, so when I'm at idle, no flashy flashy.

I have a broken signal casing anyhow, so I was about to buy a replacement. Then the thought occurred to me: I've poked around the forums on relevant topics but none answered this:

Usually the problem in the flashers not flashing at idle is that there is too much draw on the power provided... Seeing that LED's take next to nothing power-wise... Would that be a good route to go rather than incandescent replacement? Thanks!
(That and I'm not too horribly partial to these signal lights, kinda ugly IMO)

 

I'm no expert but i think that would solve your problem, but you need to remember that L.E.D. flashers run at about a million miles an hour when they are on a thermal flasher (i think thats what xj's have stock) so you would need to get an electric or timed flasher so they would blink closer to normal speed... i'm not 100% sure but i think that's what i'm remembering from my ninja project.

 

Actually the problem is they don't draw enough when the voltage is low, keeping the flasher from working.

You'll need to replace the flasher if you go LEDs. And I believe you will lose self canceling or the signals.

 

ya i dunno something or other makes you not be able to use the stock flasher

 

get to the root of the problem first, if everything is in working order they should blink at idle
battery and alternator brushes or good grounds would be the first things to check

 

First off, check all the connections and grounding points, like Polock said. If all else fails, you can try a trick I used on both of my bikes to get them to blink:

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=57125.html#57125

 

Consider this: Power consumed equals volts squared divided by the circuit's resistance, or P = V² ÷ I.

So, let's say that at high-idle our bike's voltage measures 14.4VDC and our light bulb's resistance measures 6Ω resistance, we can then solve for power (or watts).

P = 14.4² ÷ 6,
P = 207.36 ÷ 6,
P = 34.56 Watts

Now, let's say our bike's alternator is only producing 12.8VDC at idle. Our power consumed would then be:

P = 12.8² ÷ 6,
P = 163.84 ÷ 6,
P = 27.31 Watts

A 1.6VDC drop results in over a 20% drop in power consumption. Does the turn signal flasher's working threshold fall in that 20% band? More than likely.