Hyperlites Flash When Converting to LED Brake/Position Lights

I received some replacement 1157 LED bulbs I was talking about here.

Things were going well until I replaced the second stock 1157 bulb and replaced it with the LED. I have a set of add-on Hyperlites I've been running for a long time and work fine with the brakes....but with the LEDs installed the Hyperlites flash permanently without activating the brakes.

Putting one stock 1157 back with one LED and they stop flashing...so it's like they flash if there isn't enough current being drawn?

Any ideas?

Oh, and NO I'm not trying to replace the outboard turn signals with LEDs. It's not a flasher issue with them. They's still the stock bulb.

I'm thinking the same issue that affects cruise controls. The brake wire isn't 0 volts with no brakes when LED bulbs are installed.

Hyperlite set sees voltage, thinks the brakes are on. Put a relay on the brake light wire to trigger the Hyperltes?

wfooshee said:

I'm thinking the same issue that affects cruise controls. The brake wire isn't 0 volts with no brakes with LED bulbs installed.Hyperlite set sees voltage, thinks the brakes are on. Put a relay on the brake light wire to trigger the Hyperltes?

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good alternative.

The reason I'm doing the LED's is because of my subframe and fuel cell I have to tear apart half the tail to replace a bulb. Or I could add a regular bulb to the circuit or maybe a resistor to bleed some jice to trick it, but that seems kludgy.

Ignacio said:

wfooshee said:

I'm thinking the same issue that affects cruise controls. The brake wire isn't 0 volts with no brakes with LED bulbs installed.Hyperlite set sees voltage, thinks the brakes are on. Put a relay on the brake light wire to trigger the Hyperltes?

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good alternative.

The reason I'm doing the LED's is because of my subframe and fuel cell I have to tear apart half the tail to replace a bulb. Or I could add a regular bulb to the circuit or maybe a resistor to bleed some jice to trick it, but that seems kludgy.

Click to expand...

If you're not doing it for the minor watts reduction then a resisitor might just be the answer. I'm not a circuits guy so I couldn't tell you what kind. Still, maybe not as kludgy as putting a relay somewhere that might also fail, that would also be hard to get to.

I use a resistor in my tail light circuit to draw a constant small amount of current (a few milliamps). When I went to spinner LEDs in the tail lights, the ABS light started blinking. Apparently the ABS in my 08 needs to sense current draw in the tail light circuit. Guess a side benefit would also be that the ABS light would blink if both stock tail lights happened to burn out at the same time! (not very probable that they would, however)

Found out that that replacing one of the original incadesent bulbs fixed the problem. So the answer seemed to be the need for a constant current draw. Some manufactures even supply a "load" resistor in their kits to perform exactly the same thing. My spinning LEDs actually have a few milliseconds of "off" time and that is certainly enough to cause issues in a circuit that is designed to have a constant load, however slight.

A high resistance, decent wattage resistor soldered between + and - will do the trick for you when dealing with your situation...you may have to experiment with resistor values to find the best solution. You want the resistor value that draws the absolute least amount of current necessary. That way, you don't lose a lot of available current to heat in the resistor. Then, once you find the resistance value, you need to determine the wattage required, double that for safety, and use a resistor of the appropriate ohm/wattage rating. You don't want to use the wrong resistor value because if you do, it could heat-up and possibly cause incidental melting of adjacent wiring insulation around it and possibly other unpleasant consequences. If you are not sure what to do, then I would suggest finding someone to help you. This is nothing to fool with if you are not certain about what you are installing, your soldering and insulating ability, and the after affects of the install.

Lowcountry Joe said:

If you are not sure what to do, then I would suggest finding someone to help you. This is nothing to fool with if you are not certain about what you are installing, your soldering and insulating ability, and the after affects of the install.

Click to expand...

Thanks and this was initially my guess, but you validated and expanded on a couple ideas. I'll have to go dust off my old electronics kit and see if I remember how to read resistor color values. Or I might just use a bulb instead and wire it into my Pelican case that stays on all the time and kill two birds with one stone.

Turns out my Hyperlites were wired wrong. I figured it out here and all is now well in my little world.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Good job on documenting your experiences Iggie - good to hear all is great 'in your little world'!

Are the LED brake lights DOT approved?

Any interest here?

Adjustable rate flasher relay

Ignacio said:

Turns out my Hyperlites were wired wrong. I figured it out here and all is now well in my little world.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Click to expand...

Hm? 'Magine that.. :lol:

:jester:

Bustanut joker said:

Ignacio said:

Turns out my Hyperlites were wired wrong. I figured it out here and all is now well in my little world.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Click to expand...

Hm? 'Magine that.. :lol:

:jester:

Click to expand...

I wrestled with the idea of outting myself or not. I could have just as easily blamed it on the engineers of Yamaha, Hyperlites.......or odot......and totally gotten away with it! Heck, I might have even stirred up some of the site hornets of whatever Starcruiser/downn2/Captain America or trolling with IP addresses these days and demanded a recall.

But, I remain the idealist and figured karma would bite me in the *** if I didn't me culpa.

So, now I'm hoping to win SPANK a second time by eschewing yet another Faustian bargain.

Or, if that's WAY too much philosophy...try this: :finger:

Ignacio said:

Or, if that's WAY too much philosophy...try this: :finger:

Click to expand...

Now that I understand....

Odot? Who the *** is that? Back at ya. :****:

:jester:

Ignacio said:

Bustanut joker said:

Ignacio said:

Turns out my Hyperlites were wired wrong. I figured it out here and all is now well in my little world.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Click to expand...

Hm? 'Magine that.. :lol:

:jester:

Click to expand...

I wrestled with the idea of outting myself or not. I could have just as easily blamed it on the engineers of Yamaha, Hyperlites.......or odot......and totally gotten away with it! Heck, I might have even stirred up some of the site hornets of whatever Starcruiser/downn2/Captain America or trolling with IP addresses these days and demanded a recall.

But, I remain the idealist and figured karma would bite me in the *** if I didn't me culpa.

So, now I'm hoping to win SPANK a second time by eschewing yet another Faustian bargain.

Or, if that's WAY too much philosophy...try this: :finger:

Click to expand...

I love this forum...even some of the admins

with out doing more homework on the FJR, on a 750 Honda I had and converted to LED turn signals, I had to change out the flasher to a electronic one that did not rely on the current going thru it for the flash rate. Just like a car the flasher and lamps go hand-n-hand, if you ever hooked-up a trailer on a stock flasher the lamps went nuts with a high flash rate.

If I can find the flasher number I will post

Lee