signals

[Johnny K]

82' 850gz. A week ago I had bought 4 new blinkers to put on my bike. The other day when I put them on, the rear ones blink and are nice. The new front blinkers will not blink, only stay lit or off. I followed the 2 wires from the old blinker and tried it on one blinker. It didn't blink. But when I put the old blinker wires together it started blinking. Here is where I bought them from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuki-GS-400-450-500-550-650-750-850-1000-1100-SIGNALS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713Q2em153Q2el1262QQcategoryZ35598QQihZ011QQitemZ320240288000QQtcZphoto

[posplayr]

blinkers v.s. lights

They really are just amber lights(no other electronics) . If you hook them up across your battery they will light up. Assuming that works then you have some type of wiring problem on the bike. Since the front blink, then the Turn signal relay (also know as a flasher) must be working.

Are you sure that you attached the wires from your new lights properly? It says hey are signal filament two wire (one hot one ground). I cant tell if the ground is through a ring lug or not in the picture or you have two wires running to the light.

Even if the light is not working you should see +12V to the hot side of the light. This should not be that complicated just a process of elimination.

Posplayr

[Johnny K]

Yup. I did one blinker at a time and that is where I got stuck because I used the black and the white/black in the same spot as the old blinker and nothing. It just stay lit and off when I disconnected it. When I put the old blinker wires in the same spot, they blink. Just weird that the old ones work and the new ones dont. They both have the same black and white/black wire. I can try again tomorrow and fiddle. Thanks.

[posplayr]

Should have mentioned

The flasher is a electrical device that is designed to momentarily open circuit after it has carried some current. It is something like a bi-metalic spring that heats up from the current running through it and that casue a contact to open. As it cools (with open contact) the contacts close again. This process repeats.

The relay is (in series with and )designed to flash with two lamps(in parrallel; front back). It is likely to flash faster with three lamps. I dont know maybe it won't flash at all with only one lamp. This could explain why one light only stays on. You VOM across the leads will not draw enough current to get it to flash. But you should be able to measure the battery voltage across the two wires.

Measure the voltage here

Yup. I did one blinker at a time and that is where I got stuck because I used the black and the white/black in the same spot as the old blinker and nothing.

[xkalelx]

i would assume the reason the rears work is because the stock rears are monofiliment. maybe you wired the fronts up wrong? the front bulbs are dualfiliment (one ground, one hot for a running light, and one hot for turn light.) i would say, hook up a volt meter to the posi side of your battery and check to see which one of those 3 wires is your ground. then check the remaining two to see which flickers with the turn signal on.

-sam.

[Johnny K]

I talked to my mechanic and he said its because the new bulb is giving more voltage to the wiring. Since I hooked up the rear first and then tried the front, the front's just stay on and not blink. If I were to reverse that and hook the front up first then the back, the back would stay lit. He was talking about buying a $12-15 relay or something that would counteract all that voltage. I am pretty sure that is what he said. But the front old and the new back blinkers work for now.

[seuadr]

I talked to my mechanic and he said its because the new bulb is giving more voltage to the wiring. Since I hooked up the rear first and then tried the front, the front's just stay on and not blink. If I were to reverse that and hook the front up first then the back, the back would stay lit. He was talking about buying a $12-15 relay or something that would counteract all that voltage. I am pretty sure that is what he said. But the front old and the new back blinkers work for now.

what? giving back too much voltage? only think i can think of is he is saying that the new bulbs take alot less juice than the old ones and thus you need an electronic flasher relay instead of an old manual one.

[Johnny K]

I guess. Honestly I dont understand wiring one bit and this is what he told me.

[xkalelx]

electronic flasher is worth a shot. its a 3 prong doodad that connects to your harness in place of the old one. $11 at the auto parts store. look in the isle with the bulbs and fuses.

[Johnny K]

Thanks. I will look for it later on after work. Will keep ya posted:-D

[dennis roy]

I ran into the same problem more or less. I took the flashers off and when I put them back on they didn't flash. I unplugged them again and cleaned the connections and filled them with vaseline. They worked fine then. As far as the ground goes, the ground wire goes all the way back to the battery box. It uses the same ground wire as the rest of the bike. To be honest I would find a better mechanic. I know a few myself and have never heard of something as crazy as what he told you. Maybe if the new lights have diodes instead of a regular bulb but that would be it.

[seuadr]

I guess. Honestly I dont understand wiring one bit and this is what he told me.

.. are these LED bulbs? the old mechanical flashers, as i understand it, are bimetal switches and the LEDS don't pull enough juice to cause the wire to open and close. i'd say definitally try an electric flasher relay.

[Johnny K]

I talked to my buddy last night who can figure out electrical problems to a good extent. I went to the auto part store and picked up a "LED Load equilizer". Apparantly, the new bulbs dont draw enough current to switch the relay and make them blink. They are not LED bulbs, but aftermarket. It is the same thing that my mechanic was talking about. I will install it in the rear blinkers and then put the new blinkers in the front and hopefully will blink. I will keep you guys updated and really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

[psyguy]

so, whats the wattage on those bulbs?

[Johnny K]

The old and the new both say 12V35W. The old one is bigger and the new is smaller. Well when I put that equilizer on, my left rear bulb(only the rear's are new, the fronts are original) stopped working. When the equilizer was hooked up, it would just stay lit and not blink. I guess after a couple of mixing the blinker/ground wires with the equilizer, the bulb went. On the other three that worked, I tested the bad one and every connector would not light the bulb. So I know its the bulb. I just went to the auto store and got a 12V bulb to fit the signal and it is half as bright, lights up, but doesn't blink. Up in the air and just looking for some advice. I dont want to stay with the old ones, and would rather go with these new ones. Hope this helps. Thanks again.