Topica Loopframe_Guzzi Archive
 

Subject: RE: Strange Blinker Bulb Problem

Author: Keith Ruff

Date: May 10, 2001, 8:10 AM

Post ID: 1706666853

So confused and frustrated on this one. I got the blinker working fine,
so I'm not worried. Flashers work but blink quick and in short burst.
But, this dilemma really has got me wanting an answer. Checked all the
connections again and even used a lead off of my meter and touched it to
the bulb base, then to ground. No change. Checked the blinker switch
and flashers, they seemed fine too. It is too strange that one filament
on a dual filament bulb can cause either the blinker or flashers to not
operate properly (depends on how the bulb is installed). Moe at Cycle
Garden says that the flashers operate off of resistance, so perhaps it's
time for a new flasher - they depened on the wattage of the bulb to
operate. Others mention ground problems or a short in one of the 2
wires. Thing of it is, if I switch the bulb around, or just switch the
wires going to it, it will cure the faulty light (blinker or flasher)
but then start a problem for the other light. This would tell me that
there isn't a ground problem or break in a wire because it would be bad
all of the time, not just when the bulb filament is changed. Changing
bulbs didn't help either. For some reason, one side of bulb is causing
this problem and I can't figure it out. Guess these problems occur with
30 year old wiring harnesses? Not sure what to do now, like I said,
it's not a true concern since I will rarely use the flashers, just one
of those things I want to figure out since it has eaten me mentally. My
auto mechanic feels one of the wires is bad and has offered his
assistance in helping me troubleshoot, will take him up on his offer
when I get a chance.

Keith Ruff
71 Police Amabassador - NJ


Ian Adkins wrote:
 Keith.....first things first. Check to make sure you are getting a good
ground to the frame. I had all kinds of irregularities with my brake
light
and finally I figured it was a bad ground acting intermittently.

Regards...Ian


 OK, ready for this one??

The right and left rear blinkers were working intermittently. Found
that the rear connectors were pretty crapped up, so I cut them off,
stripped the wires, and intalled new connectors. All is well with the
right side, but here is the strange thing with the left. There's 2
wires to each rear blinker. Using a meter, it was determined, as I
thought, that 1 wire was for the blinker, the other is for the rear
flashers (police model). The blinker would work very slow, sometimes
locking up, and when the bike was running, it would either go normal, or
as I revved the engine, would flat out stop working. The flashers,
however worked just fine. What I did next confused the heck out of me
and I am still stumped. The bulbs in the blinkers are dual filament,
one higher than the other (don't know the bulb #). I watched the right
rear bulb to see which filament was used for the blinker versus the
flasher (think the blinker used the low filament, flasher used the
taller filament). I then checked the left side and noticed it was
opposite, so I removed the bulb, and reversed it so the filaments used
for the blinker/flasher would be the same as the right side. After
doing this, the blinker now worked perfect, but the flasher would just
blip real quick. Why would a bulb have this effect on the
blinker/flasher not working correctly? Am I using an incorrect bulb? I
even swapped the right side bulb with the left and had the same problem,
and the suspect bulb from the left side worked fine on the right side.
What the heck is going on where a bulb can cause this problem?

HELP!!

Keith Ruff
71 Police Amabassador - NJ

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