I've had a set of 4" LED taillights on my runner for a few months now. Put them in the tailgate to keep them out of the rocks. I used a "Hoppy" taillight convertor to split the signal from the separate tail/turn lights on a Toyota. Now when I turn on my parking lights and use either turn signal, both signals flash. If I have my foot on the brakes, everything is working as normal. It's just when the brake lights aren't on and only the pakring light cicuit is that the wierdness happens. I already changed the convertor, still the same. Tried regrounding things, nothing. If I put my standard incandescent 4" ones back in, it works fine.

Do I need to install a resistor somewhere in the parking light circuit to give the taillight convertor more resistance like it had when 2 regular 1157 bulbs were in it's place? If so, how many ohms of resistance do I need to add?

Thanks,
Pat

i have the same exact prob, the blinkers dont work if the brake lights are activated on my LED's????? or vice versa:rasta: i cant remember, ive been on jackstands for a month...

Originally posted by pmurf1
I've had a set of 4" LED taillights on my runner for a few months now. Put them in the tailgate to keep them out of the rocks. I used a "Hoppy" taillight convertor to split the signal from the separate tail/turn lights on a Toyota. Now when I turn on my parking lights and use either turn signal, both signals flash. If I have my foot on the brakes, everything is working as normal. It's just when the brake lights aren't on and only the pakring light cicuit is that the wierdness happens. I already changed the convertor, still the same. Tried regrounding things, nothing. If I put my standard incandescent 4" ones back in, it works fine.

Do I need to install a resistor somewhere in the parking light circuit to give the taillight convertor more resistance like it had when 2 regular 1157 bulbs were in it's place? If so, how many ohms of resistance do I need to add?

Thanks,
Pat I had this with 1157 bulbs, I had a short to the body where a wire got pinched.

Could be a poor ground. Had the same thing on a trailer.

The last time some guys were trying to solve blinkers and LEDs it turned out that the LEDs require so much less current that the incandecent style blinker module wouldn't work.
So the solution was to use a different (lower resistance?) plug in blinker module.

SEARCH


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34598&highlight=LED+blinker

took less than 5 mins!!!:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

I did search and read through all those useless posts IMO. A bunch of arguing back and forth about what to do.:flipoff2:

This isn't my first rodeo with control circuits, I do a lot of it for a living. Just not on such a small scale. That and the fact that it just started after 3 months of running the things fine.

Here's what I know, convertor is good. Ground is perfect, I already had that problem and solved it with a wire straight to the frame. When I ohm out the regular 1157 bulbs, I get 2.5 and 3.5 ohms on either circuit, parking or stop. When I ohm out an LED taillight, I get about 150 kilo ohms. That's far less than the 1/10th I've heard they draw. It's not the bulbs, I have them on my trailer and switched them, same thing. When I wire in 4 LED lights instead of the two, the problem is solved. Except I dont want 4 holes, just the two that are there.

The only thing I can think of is that since there is so little resistance in the LEDs, they are backfeeding into each other through the convertor. If I know each 1157 bulb has about 4 ohms of resistance, I think throwing a 5 ohm resistor on each LED's parking light circuit should give it the resistance needed to keep from flashing. The pulse of 12v power should be just "absorbed" by the resistor, not letting the LED's come on.

Sound like a plan? I could also easily splice in a bigger than 5 ohm resistor to try and slow down the stock flasher too? Say 10 ohms? They flash a little fast, but I actually think it's easier to see and draws more attention. That and the fact that those LED's have to absolutely blind the people behind me at eye level.

I had similar problems with my LEDs until I installed an electronic flasher unit. Now everything works better than before.

I am a little unclear about the sequence of events. Did you install the lights, run them ok, then install the converter, and thats when the problem started, or has the converter been on the whole time, and the lights just started working wrong?
Did they ever work properly?

I Just put 4” LED’s on my Jeep and had the same problem. The solution was to do what Jaffer said and replace the flasher module. I had to try a couple before I found one with the correct resistance but they work perfect now.

10 ohms resistors on each light's parking light leg weren't enough. How much do the electronic flasher modules go for? Will they work with the convertor or does it need to be removed? Do you have the part # and brand for the replacement flasher you used oldmanscj7?

You placing the 10 ohms in series or parallel with the LEDs?

Gotta be in parallel....and will pull a little over an amp
so better be 15 watt or better rating.

You running LEDs to hang with the ricer gangs?

Jay

try one of these:

http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?SourceArea=SHOP&SourcePage=SEARCHRESULTS&CategoryCode=&QueryID=747929&QueryCounter=2&BeginRecord=1&EndRecord=25&PreviousPage=PartTypes&LastRecord=25&TopLevelCategoryCode=&TopLevelCatDesc=&PartType=121&UnitPrice=7%2E99&MfrCode=TRD&MfrPartNumber=EL+12++++++++++&ProductDescription=FLASHER+ELECTRONIC+++++++++++++ ++++&ShipmentRestriction=2++&Quantity=1&Weight=0%2E7&HandlingCost=0&CoreCharge=0&StoreCount=5251&DcCount=1&HomeDelCount=0&SoItemFlag=1&ShipRestrictionCode=2++&SearchFor=Flashers&AppliedDiscount=0&SpecialType=

matt

I picked up one of the EL12 electronic flashers, but the pins are different than Toyota ones. We couldn't find a drop in electronic one at NAPA either. It's a real close 3 pin pattern on Toyotas, most have 2 pins. The EL12 unit has two pins, L and X, the stock one has an L, E and B. I'm assuming the E is for emergency as in the hazards, the L is the load, and B is battery. I don't need my hazards, so I'm thinking if I can find the socket for the 12+ supply (probably stock B terminal) and the load (the taillights), I can just make up little jumpers to use the EL12 two pin flasher. Sound viable to everyone? Or does anyone know what the letters designate on flashers?