after market brakelights flashing too fast

[tom203]

My conclusion is.... this unit is defective- they said it would work on 11 to 15 volts.
Here's what we used to do for radios- the transformer (actually a choke) blocks the AC component and the capacitor sends it to ground

http://radioproshop.com/filters/cf2.htm

A more up to date version would be like this

http://radioproshop.com/filters/ns2.htm

But the lights should have been designed for this problem. get another

[posplayr]

The problems seems to be a sensitivity to voltage noise. The R/R's tend to create deep negative spikes (1-2 volts) at the 3 phase power rate.

The attached filter is actually a simple two stage device. The first diode/cap pair does a real good job at reducing the negative spikes. Depending upon the size of the cap you use and the current draw from the load you could be able to reduce negative spikes to less than 0.25 volts.

The zener shunt second stage provides active suppression of noise from what is left over because the zener adjusts it's current to maintain the output voltage at the 10V or 11V rating of the device. It is not a perfect regulation so you will still see some variation coming out.

Note the only reason I'm recommending this shunt zener regulator is because you only have an LED load of less than 100 mAmps. Anything requiring more current could use a 3 terminal regulator to supply up to 500 mAamps or more.

This simple device will be smaller and more effective at filtering the power than any choke or other linear filter

[posplayr]

My conclusion is.... this unit is defective- they said it would work on 11 to 15 volts.
Here's what we used to do for radios- the transformer (actually a choke) blocks the AC component and the capacitor sends it to ground

http://radioproshop.com/filters/cf2.htm

A more up to date version would be like this

http://radioproshop.com/filters/ns2.htm

But the lights should have been designed for this problem. get another

IIRC, the noise spikes are at RPM/10 Hz (18 pole stator)
So 5000 rpm ==> 500 Hz. This is not RF noise it is very low frequency.

[tom203]

IIRC, the noise spikes are at RPM/10 Hz (18 pole stator)
So 5000 rpm ==> 500 Hz. This is not RF noise it is very low frequency.

Yes, you are correct, but it was an example of filtering out the ripple AC current inherent in a charging system- most stuff would ignore it, but this flasher is responding to it.

[posplayr]

Yes, you are correct, but it was an example of filtering out the ripple AC current inherent in a charging system- most stuff would ignore it, but this flasher is responding to it.

The point I was making was that the frequencies are so low that the physical size of any linear componenets (e.f. a choke or r-c filter) that would provide significant filtering would be very large. Instead, the non-linear devices (i.e. diode, zener) are effective at these low frequencies.

[skip]

The problems seems to be a sensitivity to voltage noise. The R/R's tend to create deep negative spikes (1-2 volts) at the 3 phase power rate.

The attached filter is actually a simple two stage device. The first diode/cap pair does a real good job at reducing the negative spikes. Depending upon the size of the cap you use and the current draw from the load you could be able to reduce negative spikes to less than 0.25 volts.

The zener shunt second stage provides active suppression of noise from what is left over because the zener adjusts it's current to maintain the output voltage at the 10V or 11V rating of the device. It is not a perfect regulation so you will still see some variation coming out.

Note the only reason I'm recommending this shunt zener regulator is because you only have an LED load of less than 100 mAmps. Anything requiring more current could use a 3 terminal regulator to supply up to 500 mAamps or more.

This simple device will be smaller and more effective at filtering the power than any choke or other linear filter

Posplayer, I really appreciate your help and I know your speaking English, but all im hearing is blah blalbla bla bla bla .( picture charlie browns teacher) I kinda get what your saying but I am a retard when it comes to electricity and schematics . what exactly do i need to build that thing in the drawing? can I get the parts locally?

[posplayr]

Posplayer, I really appreciate your help and I know your speaking English, but all im hearing is blah blalbla bla bla bla .( picture charlie browns teacher) I kinda get what your saying but I am a retard when it comes to electricity and schematics . what exactly do i need to build that thing in the drawing? can I get the parts locally?

You are going to have to do some experimentation, I went to radio shack to find the parts you would need. As i mentioned before the shunt regulator is little touchy so I would build one each for each pod, and use two 1/2 watt zeners stacked to make the single voltage reference on either side. Basically it is the same as what I sent before just that there are two zeners in series to get close to the 10V net output (5.6v+5.6v=11.2v)

Radio shack was out of 30 ohm power resistors so you will need to find an alternate many be even a something between 25-30 ohms depending upon what your pods need. Lowering the resistance below 30 ohms will increase the current capacity. It might work with 30 ohms if the device only needs 60-80 mamp.
NTE 2W030-10 - Res-2W 30-Ohm 10-pack (sold out on web)


Model: NTE 2W030-10

| Catalog #: 55050277

Your local Radio Shack might have all of this in stock.

[posplayr]

I updated the schematic to reflect the Radioshack parts

You could assemble the whole thing on one piece of vector board (perforated circuit card). It has two wires going in (from the brake switch and ground) and 4 wires coming out (+/- to both pods)

I should reiterate that the first stage of diode and capacitor might solve the problem by itself. It won't let the negative spikes through.

[skip]

wow thanks for all the time you put into this! I am waiting to hear back from the manufacturer, they have been interested in my situation and already sent me one solution that did not work. ill stop by my radio shack and pick up the parts as soon as i hear back from them. Once again Thanks!!!

[skip]

I just heard back from the voice president of sales for street fx . He has met with his r&d team on my problem and they are going to design and ship a one off filter that should take care of my problem...at no charge. Ill let you know how it works when I get it