Do I need an LED flasher if I change my indicators & hi/low beam to LED lights. I've gone through two sets the come and then puff!; will the LED flasher make a difference to the signals on the exterior of the truck?

 

Julie must be on rotation or she would be all over this like a wet tee shirt. Ok, I need some clarifications here, are you saying that when you have installed LED indicator lights in your dash when they turn on they quickly “blow” or burn out? If that is so, you have a dead short, a hot wire that shouldn’t be is attached or touching a ground source. Dash indicator lights are wired in parallel with whatever they are hooked up to, the power side of high beam indicator light is wired into the high beam power side of the dimmer switch somewhere and then the ground side of indicator light to ground. Could be wrong here but I think what you mean by LED flasher is the electromagnetic type that is not dependant on current load to make it flash like the cheap ones? Do you have the turn signal bulbs wired in yet? A “LED” flasher would help the turn bulbs flash if there is no other load but it will not solve your problem of the indicator lights burning out.

 

Do you have LEDs that are rated to be used with 12V (or 6V?) or just off the shelves bare LEDs? LEDS require a dropping resistor to be used with 12V. Also how are you wiring them? If you are running them in series like a standard indicator bulb might be wired, you are trying to pass all the current to opperate the turn lights thru them, which will burn them out for sure. They would need to be wired in parallel.
Changing the flasher won't help your indicator lights unless you also change all the turnlight bulbs to LEDs. Standard flashers work by a bimetal strip heating up and shutting off the circuit, it then rapidly cools and restores the circuit. That is the clicking you hear, the switch making and breaking contact.
LEDs do not draw enough current to heat the strip so the mechanical flasher does not work. LED turn light bulbs use an electronic flasher than works by timing and switching the on and off cycles electronically. If you put a flasher designed for LEDs in a circuit with standard incandescent turn light bulbs it will likely blow out the first time you turn the signals on.

 

Hi all,

Nope not on a trip, just lazy this weekend!

I think you've pretty much nailed it, LED lights usually draw less amperage than incandecents and there shouldn't be a problem with the swap out as long as they are rated for the application (6V 12V, DC, Etc).

Those original sockets still have fabric covered wire and when you pull them the insulation tends to break right at the base of the socket. I'd say chances are good that you have cracked the brittle insolation on one and it's touching somewhere.

The socket wires are easily repaired by pushing the wire out the front opening of the socket (be careful not to loose the spring) and backing on about an ich of "heat shrink" onto the wire.

Also, try taking the indicators out of the panel, checking for a bare wire and trying the signal lights again without them installed - see if you still get a burn out. If you do, your short is somewhere other than the lights. The lights ground to the panel and won't work (draw any current if they are unplugged (ungrounded).

 

Below is what I have the bulbs are the ones from MF as I mentioned I went through two sets the current ones are just there they don't work. The bublbs that were in befor worked great. I have the EZ wire wiring harness. I just switched out the panels and wired everything the same that's whay I thought maybe it was an LED thing.

 

Hi Jaye,

Ok I'm a little confused???????

Is it your LED lights that are burning out, or the flasher unit itself?

 

See my answer. LEDs are NOT light bulbs they are electronic devices, you cannot simply interchange them for a light bulb and expect them to work like one.

 

jaye
If it ends up you need a led flasher, check e-bay # 150325925933. This is the one I used
without any problems. Good luck with your led install.
Gary

P.S. The above one is over in about 10-12 hours.

 

Flasher Specifications

 

Please note in the original post: from what I read, he changed only the dash INDICATOR lights to LEDs, not the outside turn light bulbs. If the indicator LEDs do not have the correct current limiting resistor designed for use with 12V in series, and you wire them up like an incandecent light bulb they will not last but a few moments. You can get LEDs with the right sized resistor and extension leads already attached at your local Radio Shack store, just be sure they specifically say they are for direct wire 12V use. Using a flasher designed for LED turnlights will only compound the problem by burning out the flasher when you apply the current draw of incandescent turnlight bulbs through it. The only time you need to use a LED flasher is if you are using LED tailights and turn lights that will NOT flash with a standard flasher.

 

If you use the led flasher I have mentioned in above post on your dash turn indicator
led lights and you also use your original stock turn signal flasher, you will have no conflicting problems. This is what I have done successfully now for over a couple of years. Me thinks everyone is making this much more complicated than it really is.

Gary

 

As Axracer mentioned I only changed the turn signal indicator with the small ones from Midfifty; I'm going to try radio Shack to see if they have some less than a 1/4" dia.
Thanks for all the replies

 

Jaye,
OK I did the research for you. If you want to use 3mm LEDs, I couldn't find them already assembled for 12V, so here's how to DIY:
When you buy your LEDs, also pick up a 470 Ohm resistor for each one (the color bands will be yellow, violet, brown with a gold or silver 4th band)
If you do not have one, you will need a SMALL electric soldering pencil of about 25W (Whatever you do, do NOT buy one of the "cold soldering" pencil RS sells for about 50.00! They are pure C*#%P.) and a small amount of small diameter rosin core (electronics) solder and some heat shrink tubing slightly larger than the resistor diameter.
Look at the LED, one leg will be longer than the other, we will add the resistor to the LONGER leg. Clip the resistor leads to ~1/2" long on both ends. Lay one of the leads along side the longer leg on the LED, holding the LED by the lead you'll be soldering to with a pair of needle nose pliers or a pair of tweezers close to the "bulb" to act as a heat sink so you don't overheat the LED. Solder the resistor lead to the LED lead.
Solder a piece of stranded (red) wire of 24 ga or smaller (i.e. higher ga number, LEDs don't require a heavy wire), to the other end of the resistor. Solder another length of stranded wire (black or white) to the other lead of the LED. (Hint: when soldering stranded wire to a solid wire lead first twist the stripped wire tightly and apply solder to the strands, heating from the bottom of the wire until the solder sucks into the strands. There should not be a blob of solder sitting on the wire. This is called "tinning the wire. Now clip the tinned portion of the wire to about 1/2" long and solder to the shorter leg of the LED again using a heat sink to protect the LED. Cut 2 lengths of the shrink tubing long enough to cover all the bare leads, solder joints and resistor, slide over each leg up to the led and shrink each tight.
Now your LEDs are ready to be wired into your dash circuit. Attach your "hot" indicator wire to the lead attached to the resistor, and attach the other wire to a good "ground" somewhere under the dash.

 

Thanks Axracer,
I was off work today so I went to Radio Shack and got some 7/32" 12V red & green indicators, they work great! I just had to drill out the holes to fit the light dia.