Turn signal works ok when motor is off, but...

[40-A Twins]

When motor is running, turn signal lights stay on with no blinking. Works fine when the motor is off. Using LED bulbs for both front and rear signal lights.
Signal flasher is a 6 volt unit from one of the Ford online vendors. Wire terminal block is mounted to the firewall to a bracket sandwiched between upper and lower firewalls, so no holes needed to be drilled. Hopefully the wiring is out of reach of my clumsy feet. Front lights are a pair of old generic fog lights mounted on brackets that I fabricated. Rear lights are bolted between the bumper bars. Lights are wired independent of stock wire harness, just getting power from the firewall terminal block, and brake light is not hooked up to the signal switch. Do I need to add some more resistance to make the flasher function when the generator is running ?
Kevin

[Patrick L.]

Generally the flasher goes nutz in that situation and flashes like crazy. So, there can be 2 issues. 1. The flasher. New thermal flasher made of Chinezeum [ love that term] are junk. Try an old 535. 2. There is not enough resistance to fire a thermal flasher.

There are supposed to be new 6v electronic flashers that will work, but, I haven't found one yet.

So the fix I've found is to use incandescent higher candle power front bulbs along with an old 535 flasher.

[nkaminar]

I am not sure what you need to do but suggest you try adding a couple resistors. They are available online. I had to do that to my system, the same system as you have, to make my lights flash.

As an aside, on a modern car with computer control, there is no flasher relay. I had to add resistors to my modern truck when converting over to LED's to get the flashing correct to keep the computer from reporting that I had burned out bulbs. I converted over to LED's because they last a lot longer than the incandescent bulbs.

[nkaminar]

Different flasher relays have different pinouts. You may have to change the wiring at the relay socket to make a different relay work. You can rig up a wiring harness to try different relays without changing the wiring, in case you want to go back to the original relay.

[nkaminar]

You can mount extra components like your turn signals by using magnets. No holes. Drilling holes in the gas tank generally does not work. Epoxy the magnets to the components.

[jayvee34]

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Originally Posted by Patrick L.

So the fix I've found is to use incandescent higher candle power front bulbs along with an old 535 flasher.

This is how I did my turn signal's, Bulbs in the front, L.E.D.'s in the rear.
6Volt flasher.

[eagle]

THe problem you are having is from the noisy electrical system in a Model A. You need to install a filter in front of the power point for the light/flasher wiring. They are available from ebay or amazon. Pay attention to the polarity! Make sure the ground wire coming from the filter is getting a good solid connection to chassis ground. Scrape paint, use a thin coating of dielectric grease and a star washer. The simple capacitor based filters won't likely be enough, get an active DC filter.

[40-A Twins]

I installed incandescent bulbs in the front turn signal lights and get the same results: signals work when motor is off, stay on solid when motor is running. Then I tried to compare voltage at the generator cutout terminal using my HF digital multimeter. 6.4 volts with motor off, and multimeter freaks out with motor running. Perhaps an old fashioned multimeter with pointer could average out the output. Now I agree that electrical system is noisy.

[Patrick L.]

These systems are 'noisy' but that shouldn't effect the signals, unless the switch is some kind of new fancy electronic do-dad. Just what front bulbs did you try ? The higher the CP the better. I think there may be a flasher issue, if the flasher is made from chinezium,,,,,,,

However the 'noise' certainly will/could affect s meter.

[nkaminar]

If the multimeter is freaking out then I will go with noisy electrical. Could be coming from the generator or ignition. Try the noise suppressor on the generator first.

[40-A Twins]

The signal flasher unit installed is 84787, and the bulbs came out of the taillight stop light socket when I replaced those with LED. Stamped 6v21w, probably #1129

[Patrick L.]

The 21W bulbs should be fine in the front lites, nice and bright.

I'm not familiar with that flasher. I've tried several electronic units and none have worked. I'd still recommend an old non-chinezium 535. Ebay will have them.

A filter/suppressor would't hurt, worth a try. But, these electrical/ignition systems are noisy. I haven't had an issue with that before.

[Badpuppy]

The 535 requires more current to work than LEDs provide. As someone mentioned before, run incandescent bulbs (21CP/18W) either front or back with a 535. You can also parallel a pair of ballast resistors like the vendors sell, one on each side, with the 535.

The E-flasher that you have is probably the best, but they all seem to exhibit erratic operation with the engine running.

[katy]

The sticker on the flasher says: LEDlight.com , have you tried contacting them about your problem?

[Ruth]

I used an adjustable flasher to cure my issues with my LEDs. They are 12v tho. I only mention this to possibly help any members with 12v flasher issues.

[40-A Twins]

I sent this question to LEDlight.com and the response was "Please use 1 led load equalizer for each led bulb in your turn signal circuit". Catalog description : Used with a LED Light to simulate that the original light bulb is installed. Easy to install. Keep away from plastic or painted surfaces, resistor gets very hot. Includes 7" of 20 awg stranded Teflon wire. 2 wire crimps included. Use one 6 Ohm equalizer for each LED bulb, or use one 3 ohm for 2 led bulbs for each turn signal control side that you replace.
To me this negates the primary reason for installing LED lighting in the first place, which is to reduce the amperage demands on the wiring. I also think this solution does not address the fact that flasher does work with a clean 6.4 volts, but not with noisy generator output.
Kevin

[Patrick L.]

Originally Posted by 40-A Twins

I sent this question to LEDlight.com and the response was "Please use 1 led load equalizer for each led bulb in your turn signal circuit". Catalog description : Used with a LED Light to simulate that the original light bulb is installed. Easy to install. Keep away from plastic or painted surfaces, resistor gets very hot. Includes 7" of 20 awg stranded Teflon wire. 2 wire crimps included. Use one 6 Ohm equalizer for each LED bulb, or use one 3 ohm for 2 led bulbs for each turn signal control side that you replace.
To me this negates the primary reason for installing LED lighting in the first place, which is to reduce the amperage demands on the wiring. I also think this solution does not address the fact that flasher does work with a clean 6.4 volts, but not with noisy generator output.
Kevin

Sure thats what they would say. There are many that are in favor of the resistors.

From my responses it obvious I'm not. But, my concern seems different from yours. I want the brightness the rear LEDs offer. The high CP incandescents in the front are bright enough for me. I'm not too concerned about the fronts. If folks can't see the brighter parks and cowls then they're not looking.

[nkaminar]

I am going to go back to the pinout question. You should see letters on the flasher that correspond to battery, ground, and the lights (or turn indicator switch). They are sometimes labeled B, E, and L. B for battery, E ground, and L for light. Most flashers are set up for 12 volts negative ground, so the B will be + and the E will be -. If you try a different flasher the pins may not be in the same place. You will have to make up a set of short wires to switch things around to try the flasher with the pins in the different places. You can burn out an electronic flasher if the flasher is not hooked up correctly. If you cannot see any letters or if they are labeled differently, look up the part number on the internet to see what the connection scheme is.

So, bottom line: You cannot just substitute different flasher relays without checking the pinout. Every one I bought to experiment with had a different pinout.

[rotorwrench]

Around 35 years ago or so, a person could still source a mechanical turn signal flasher. They were expensive but they didn't rely on the amount of current draw in the system to function. Many signal stats work off the current draw to heat the bi-metallic switch to open the circuit and then it would cool down and close in similar fashion to a short stop type resetting circuit breaker except it works on a much lower current load.

The mechanical types had a rocker switch that was opened by a small eletro-magnetic solenoid that pulled the switch open against a tension then opened the circuit on the solenoid to close it again and the tension was such that is would have a normal flash rate similar to the bi-metallic type switches. They didn't last a real long time but they worked well for trucks that had a lot of lighting on them.

[eagle]

I prefer to run a good quality filter/suppressor. Any modern accessory is going to have trouble in a stock A. Once you have a nice clean filtered power source you can use it for other things. Also a 6 to 12 volt converter, negative ground output is nice. It can all be installed in a neat little box under the dash.