indicators help??
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi all
Right I've acquired a wiring loom from a later car that had side repeaters on it, however the car I've fitted it to doesn't have them,

The problem I'm having is that the indicators wont flash without all six bulbs in I've tried different flasher units to no avail is there a way around this as i don't really want be hide to side repeater lights somewhere!! as it will look stupid.

Cheers Luke

mine always worked ok without the bulbs in

cheers for the reply nic, i didnt think it would be a problem when i got the loom and its got me rather confused??

luke

they branch back to part of the loom where the indicator supplies branch off from, theres no reason why they will be needed.

If you have a metal flasher is it earthing on the body correctly?

i will check that tomorrow!! it is touching but i will make sure, thanks, i will let you know how i get on

cheers luke

or if its a plastic one make sure that there is an earth

Do the hazards work ok?

Mine work fine without them either. I cut mine off and taped up the loom.

We put a late loom in Minimadmotormans yellow mini without any side repeater bulbs and the wires just strapped out of the way. Worked fine

Edited by apbellamy on 19th Aug, 2009.

Sounds like you have a dry earth path in your indicator circuit forcing that supply path to return through one or both of your side repeaters. Removing a bulb is akin to pulling a fuse or throwing a switch.

The earth returns for the side repeaters are done through seperate wires that connect into the loom a lot higher up than the earth returns for those elements further forward

Own the day

same here, mine also work fine without them.

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

cheers for the responses guys.

Right well i've managed to get the indicators to flash now rather than stay on (iffy earth connection) but now if i don't have the side repeaters in then it flashes to fast, is there a way around this??

cheer luke

different flasher unit??

Well ive been thinking a little about how i can reduce the flasher speed today and ive had an idea id like to run past you guy's,

my current plan is to use resistors of equal resistance to the side repeater bulbs, and wire them in place of the side repeater bulbs there by tricking the flasher into thinking its got 6 bulbs rather than 4, now am i right in thinking this will work or just being plain stupid??

The theory, assuming a 21w bulb and 12v supply the resistance of the bulbs should equal V^2/P = 12^2/21 giving 6.857142857142857 Ohms, so if my theory is correct i need 2 resistors of 6.5 to 7 ohms or there abouts which will give me the right flasher speed

so will it work??

cheers luke

Edited by 998turbomini25 on 20th Aug, 2009.

Theory is sound but

1 - surely the side repeaters aren't 21W (I thought only the front/rear ones were 21W)

2 - the resistor would need to be the same power rating as the bulb it replaces (maybe not quite as high as it only passes current for the flash period which is probably only 50% of the time the indicators are on) but quite a high power rating anyway. Your average hobby electronics (Maplins) type resistor is only 1/4W or 1/2W. To get anywhere near 21W you are looking at fairly bulky wire wound resistors.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Side repeaters use a 5w capless bulb.

I was thinking something like this

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/0160714.html


any good??

cheers luke

Edited by 998turbomini25 on 20th Aug, 2009.

That RS one would do to replicate a 21W bulb (12.5Watts without a heatsink would probably be OK for 50% duty) but if the bulb you're replicating is 5W as Tom says you would only need a 5W resistor and the value would be 27ohms (closest standard value) so you could use a smaller cheaper one (probably ceramic case, wire wound).

However, as has been said by others, you should be able to make it work just by finding a suitably rated flasher - they are purely current sensing devices so you should be able to find one that works at the right speed with 2 X 21w bulbs

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Side lights are 5w brake,reverse, fog's and indicators are 21w
As stated above your flasher unit is rated to take the power demandto the tune of 126 watts for 6 bulbs you only require one rated for 84 watts. A standard early type unit would solve your problems.

Edited by Mr Joshua on 20th Aug, 2009.

Own the day