Page 1 of 1

blinkers stopped working

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:06 pm
by paisano
Hey all! - a quick question:
all 4 of my blinkers and dash indicators stopped working suddenly. The flasher unit makes a noise when both left, right and cancel are activated from the switch. ground is good and there is 12 volts to at least one of the pins on the flasher. Am I looking for a short somewhere, or is there something simpler?

Thanks, Paisano

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 9:40 am
by paso750
did you do anything on the bike since the last time everything worked normally (like dis- and reconnecting the flasher relay)?

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 11:45 am
by paisano
well, I just changed the chain - maybe that did it!

after looking at the schematics of the internals of the flasher, I'm thinking the capacitor is shorted. I've ordered a univesal replacement and will see how that goes - thanks!

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 5:40 pm
by Derek
Capacitor? I've never seen a flasher unit with a capacitor in it. Usually just a wire wound round a bi-metallic strip which opens and closes a set of points to turn the flashers on and off. Maybe your's is an electronic one.

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:10 pm
by ducapaso
Some trouble with ground wires.

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:44 pm
by paisano
Derek wrote:Capacitor? I've never seen a flasher unit with a capacitor in it. Usually just a wire wound round a bi-metallic strip which opens and closes a set of points to turn the flashers on and off. Maybe your's is an electronic one.
ehhh, I almost never know what I'm talking about...

installed this:

HELLA H42750001 12V 3-Pin Flasher

direct replacement for the sipea? unit that was in my bike. Works perfecty, $17 US from amazon, but won't change flash rate if a bulb burns out.

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 9:05 am
by Mc tool
Capacitors are common as in blinker flasher units , the charge rate / capacity of the capacitor is what governs the flash rate .... same deal as the intermittent wiper on your car ,in which either a variable cap or resistor is varied to increase or decrease the wiper rate . They are not ( normally ) load dependant so if you wanted to vary the blinker rate you could fit a solid state flasher unit to your blinkers . I think someone has recently mentioned this in a related thread

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 10:20 pm
by higgy
They are not ( normally ) load dependant so if you wanted to vary the blinker rate you could fit a solid state flasher unit to your blinkers

electronic flashers are load dependent in the effect that all four bulbs must have the same load. In plain English you can not mix and match the bulbs. You must have the same bulbs within the circuit at all four load paths. Depending on the design of the flasher you "may" get away with two different loads(bulbs) on the same side of the circuit

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:02 am
by Mc tool
:lol: :lol: Now how did I know you would pipe up and tell me Im wrong :lol: :lol: . I meant ( ass covering here ) the wiper timer units , the retro fit ones , mine has a timing circuit and a power transistor thingy
:D

Re: blinkers stopped working

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 8:04 am
by Derek
Mc tool wrote:Capacitors are common as in blinker flasher units , the charge rate / capacity of the capacitor is what governs the flash rate .... same deal as the intermittent wiper on your car ,in which either a variable cap or resistor is varied to increase or decrease the wiper rate . They are not ( normally ) load dependant so if you wanted to vary the blinker rate you could fit a solid state flasher unit to your blinkers . I think someone has recently mentioned this in a related thread
Most of the blinker units the I've ever opened up were the cheap and cheerful 2 pin sort, as fitted to early V-twin Ducatis. All they had in them was a set of points controlled by a bi-metallic strip.