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Post by judgeroy on Jul 20, 2011 17:16:52 GMT -5
Hello guys and gals. Have been doing lots of reading and have not come up with a proper solution to my problem. I see there are some wizards here and could possibly help a fellow biker out.
I'm building a new custom bike and spotted some Great looking third brake lights that I want to use. They are from a Saturn Sky/Pontiac solstice. Third brake lights! One hot one ground, I added a 180ohm resistor which makes for a nice transition from run to brake intensity. I'm having a problem getting these to work as a turn when the brakes are applied. the turn is overridden by the brake signal on the 5wire setup from the bike-brake,run,right,left,ground. Thought a trailer converter might work and tried that! same thing with the LED but with regular 1157's seems to work.
I was thinking this would be an easy setup but like I said I have been doing a lot of reading and looking over schematics of different setups. None however deal with a single wire LED light such as I have. Thanks in advance for any help and I will try and draw something up as to what I have, with a big space between the light and my standard 5wire setup. Thanks again, Judgeroy in Michigan
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Post by dogbunny on Jul 21, 2011 6:54:15 GMT -5
Maybe I can help someone else to help you.  This is the basis of what judgeroy is talking about. The resistor reduces the voltage to the bulb for tail light purposes. When you apply either brake the bulb gets full voltage and brightens. An even better way is to use diodes. With a resistor, you have to swap them out until you get the desired brightness [dimness] because the voltage drop will vary with current draw. If you change the LED you will likely have to adjust the resistor to match. Silicon diodes have a constant voltage drop regardless of current draw of 0.7 volts. For example, a good choice would be 6 silicon diodes wired in series for a drop of 4.2 volts. (The picture is a little misleading. At the LED bulb, the red and blue wire are the same wire, I.E. it is a two-wire LED bulb.) So, anyways, that's how you make a two-wire LED work as a brake/tail light. However, I don't know the first thing about blinkers and LEDs. If it's possible to make a two-wire LED work as a brake/run/turn signal, maybe someone else can take it from here. |
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Post by speez on Jul 21, 2011 7:18:32 GMT -5
how many wires do you have coming out of the new light? if its a brake light only? does it have turn signal capability?
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Post by speez on Jul 21, 2011 7:22:28 GMT -5
are you putting 2 of them???
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Post by judgeroy on Jul 22, 2011 20:29:06 GMT -5
Hey Guys, thanks for the posts, I've been working on it and have found there is no easy way!lol Anyway, it is a third brake light from an auto/ 12v.I think 14 LED's in the array. There is two wires, one ground and the positive. I am installing two, one on each side between the fender and saddlebag.
I'm running this electronic control module from Ultima which has an output for right turn,left turn, brake and running/tail. It has the flash twice then brake setup included. I assumed that the turn wires from module were not brake lights also! But when hooked up they do work as brake lights UNTIL you activate a turn signal!! Then the opposite light form the blinker, dimms back to running light, I lose all brake lights, except that I have a tourpak with tail/brake, three wire LED. So for now, until I figure out how to fix this single stage LED to work as run,brake,turn. I'm going to settle for what is working.
I'm sure this can be done with some circuitry and not some big relays, might have to use an IC of some sort. I lost touch with a fellow worker that was really into this type of stuff and hope to touch base with him soon,lol
I'm sure it will pass state inspection as is, and I'm ready to ride it. Just need to doctor up the kick stand and fill with fluids.
I know this is the XS650 boards. I've been racing and riding since 1968 and been around the block myself.
When and if I get the right info. the third brake light business will pick up. There are some nice ones out there but pricey new. These ones I've got sticker at $85 GM dealer.
I'll post some pics. Thanks, Judge
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Post by speez on Jul 23, 2011 6:49:20 GMT -5
what kind of flasher are you running with? will it flash the light by it self? in theory if you have the resistor/s and a trailer converter it should work it might be your flasher thats throwing you off! your flasher might be load sensitive and won't work, besides that there are micro relays you don't need to use those big automotive type your not running a big load
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Post by mrriggs on Aug 7, 2011 23:58:18 GMT -5
This is the circuit I built for my bike.   I'm using two single "element" LED beehive marker lights. This circuit will only work with LED bulbs. It uses several diodes in series to dim the lights for the tail function, you can substitute your resistors for these. The IC is an XOR meaning that it will only make the bulb brighter if it gets a signal from either the turn signal OR the brake switch. If it gets a signal from both at the same time then it goes back to dim. That way it will still blink when the brake is applied. I bought a whole tube of these ICs and only used the one. If anybody wants one, it's yours for the price of shipping. |
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