Faulty Flasher

[Mad Mac]

I think my brand new 6 volt flasher unit might be faulty. Is there a quick and easy way of testing to see whether it is faulty before installing it in the car?

[Lenny Bruce]

My brother just had the same issue with his flasher. He switched the coupe to LED lighting which requires the flasher itself to be grounded to work with these kind of lights. Hope this helps. If your running stock lighting there must be another issue. I have also heard from others that the flashers can be garbage right out of the box. Good luck friend

[Mad Mac]

Mine is not an LED flasher - it is for normal incandescent bulbs. On the flasher there is current at the "P" (power in) terminal but no current on the "L" (lights) terminal. I think there should be current on both?

[CT Jack]

If you are using old school incadescent lamps you need to use a standard electro-mechanical flasher. This type of flasher is designed to be used with higher wattage lamps.
If you are using LED lamps you need to use a different type of flasher designed to be used with lower wattage LED lamps. Using LED lamps with an old style flasher will cause rapid flashing of the lamps which is called hyperflashing. The very low power consumption of LED lamps will sometimes prevent this type of flasher from working at all. This is why resistors have to be added to the circuit to compensate for the difference.

[Bill G]

[QUOTE=Mad Mac;2267386]Mine is not an LED flasher - it is for normal incandescent bulbs. On the flasher there is current at the "P" (power in) terminal but no current on the "L" (lights) terminal. I think there should be current on both?[/QUOTE


The flashers I have seen have two or three prongs. X is the power; L is the load, and P is the pilot light (not power). If there are only two connections, the pilot light is omitted and there would be just X for the power and L for the load.

[Mad Mac]

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[QUOTE=Bill G;2267442][QUOTE The flashers I have seen have two or three prongs. X is the power; L is the load, and P is the pilot light (not power).

Thanks Bill, you have solved my problem!
I did not know what X or P or L meant, and wrongly assumed that "P" meant "Power" and X was for the pilot light. Connecting the wires to the correct terminals based on your letters, instantly made my indicators work!! You saved me a big headache

[Mad Mac]

I am bumping this thread because now I have a new problem: My new 6-volt 3-pin flasher makes the indicators work well (yay!) but it will not make the pilot light flash on the end of the stalk! I am sure there is no problem with the switch or the wiring, so there must be a problem with the flasher unit. I have tried 2 brand new flasher units but neither will make the pilot light flash! I am using 6-volt incandescent bulbs, not LED bulbs.

A retired auto-electrician friend says the modern flasher units are too "electronic". He suggests I buy an "old-school" flasher unit which works a different way. So can anyone tell me what an "old-school" flasher unit is and how it operates and where I can buy one?

[nkaminar]

The indicator light on my flasher did not work either. I wired it up to the same circuit that powers the bulbs but the light stays on all the time. So I put a piece of black electrical tape in the middle (off) position so I don't see the light when not using the turn signals. I still forget to turn the switch off.

[jak]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

I am bumping this thread because now I have a new problem: My new 6-volt 3-pin flasher makes the indicators work well (yay!) but it will not make the pilot light flash on the end of the stalk! I am sure there is no problem with the switch or the wiring, so there must be a problem with the flasher unit. I have tried 2 brand new flasher units but neither will make the pilot light flash! I am using 6-volt incandescent bulbs, not LED bulbs.

A retired auto-electrician friend says the modern flasher units are too "electronic". He suggests I buy an "old-school" flasher unit which works a different way. So can anyone tell me what an "old-school" flasher unit is and how it operates and where I can buy one?

Try running an independent ground wire from the signal stat on the steering column to a good known ground. BAd ground of the switch is issue 99% of the rime,

[Badpuppy]

Another problem is that most TS switches come with 12V pilot bulbs. You may need to change out that bulb.

[Mad Mac]

Thanks - I am using a 6-volt bulb on the pilot/stalk light

[Mad Mac]

I have done that and am sure that it is ground properly

[Swingle]

I had /have the same problem with mine - the blinkers work, but the pilot light does not. Checked voltages and wiring with the multi-tester, checked the bulb, all good.
I ended up making a buzzer that buzzes when the blinkers are on. I ran a wire from each wire from the turn signal feed, through a diode, to the buzzer. Have never left the blinkers on since.

[nkaminar]

My hearing is such that I would not be able to hear a buzzer. Maybe a Model T trembler coil run to the steering wheel?

[Banditorama]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

I am bumping this thread because now I have a new problem: My new 6-volt 3-pin flasher makes the indicators work well (yay!) but it will not make the pilot light flash on the end of the stalk! I am sure there is no problem with the switch or the wiring, so there must be a problem with the flasher unit. I have tried 2 brand new flasher units but neither will make the pilot light flash! I am using 6-volt incandescent bulbs, not LED bulbs.

A retired auto-electrician friend says the modern flasher units are too "electronic". He suggests I buy an "old-school" flasher unit which works a different way. So can anyone tell me what an "old-school" flasher unit is and how it operates and where I can buy one?

Idk how you have your system/car wired, installed, or which indicator stalk you're using. But, the steering column is grounded which could cause issues depending on how you're setup. Don't know if that applies to you or not, but its something to check

Old school thermal flashers use a bi-metallic strip and a resistor to generate heat which causes it to expand and complete the circuit to the light bulb. When that circuit is completed, the strip cools down and retracts which opens the circuit and shuts the bulbs off. This repeats over and over until the turn signal switch is disengaged

An electronic one is all solid state. Controlled by a timing chip and transistors.

You can get the old school mechanical ones at autozone or any other parts store. But, I would bench test the one you have first. Get a test light and put it on the pilot pin, then apply power/ground to the relay and see what happens

[nkaminar]

When I installed LED bulbs in the tail lights of my 2016 Chevy truck the flasher would flash very fast, which is supposed to indicate a burned out bulb. I spent half a day looking for the flasher unit. I finally figured out that the tick-tock noise and flashing lights are generated by a computer and the noise fed to the speakers. I ended up putting resistors in parallel with the LED lights.

I could have just used the bulbs that came with the truck but I wanted the reliability of the LED's.

For those of you changing the flashers, be aware that the pin-outs on different flashers can be different. Compare the pin-out of the one you are taking out with the new one. If necessary, re wire the system.