LED lighting problem.......
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: On the road to Shambala
LED lighting problem.......
Ill start with the basics, my bike is a 2008 FXSTB Night Train, it does not have a factory or aftermarket alarm. Up until today, it was only equipped with a HD LED headlamp and HD LED tail light. The turn signals/running light were the stock, incandescent bulbs.
So today, I installed my recently received Custom Dynamics LED turn/running light kit. The kit consisted of Custom Dynamics red LED bullet clusters for the rear, white/amber Dynamic Ringz LED bullet clusters for the front, a signal stabilizer(which is their version of a load equalizer) and their Triple Play brake/running/turn signal controller.
The installation was straightforward and everything worked EXCEPT my front right turn/running light. It is supposed to have the white ring brightly illuminated as a running light and when the turn signal is activated, the white LEDs turn off and the center amber LEDs flash. It works perfectly on the left front turn signal, not all on the right. On the right, the white LED ring is barely, and I mean barely, illuminated and when the right turn signal is activated, the white LED ring flashes, still barely illuminated.
I swapped the LED clusters, left to right and back, and both worked fine on the left side, but as described above on the right side. Pretty sure it aint the LED clusters. I also tried it with and without the signal stabilizer but no joy, all that did was cause the signal to flash faster as expected. I tried it with and without the Triple Play, no effect. I tried it with the bike running, no change. I put the stock incandescent bulbs back in, they worked fine. I left the LED in the left lamp and put the incandescent back in the right, the both worked fine. WTF?
Anybody got any ideas? Ive already sent an email to Custom Dynamics about it but it is a weekend so ..
So today, I installed my recently received Custom Dynamics LED turn/running light kit. The kit consisted of Custom Dynamics red LED bullet clusters for the rear, white/amber Dynamic Ringz LED bullet clusters for the front, a signal stabilizer(which is their version of a load equalizer) and their Triple Play brake/running/turn signal controller.
The installation was straightforward and everything worked EXCEPT my front right turn/running light. It is supposed to have the white ring brightly illuminated as a running light and when the turn signal is activated, the white LEDs turn off and the center amber LEDs flash. It works perfectly on the left front turn signal, not all on the right. On the right, the white LED ring is barely, and I mean barely, illuminated and when the right turn signal is activated, the white LED ring flashes, still barely illuminated.
I swapped the LED clusters, left to right and back, and both worked fine on the left side, but as described above on the right side. Pretty sure it aint the LED clusters. I also tried it with and without the signal stabilizer but no joy, all that did was cause the signal to flash faster as expected. I tried it with and without the Triple Play, no effect. I tried it with the bike running, no change. I put the stock incandescent bulbs back in, they worked fine. I left the LED in the left lamp and put the incandescent back in the right, the both worked fine. WTF?
Anybody got any ideas? Ive already sent an email to Custom Dynamics about it but it is a weekend so ..
Novice
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Hi, It sounds like the right side is not make a good contact, I know the incandescent works fine but with the low current draw of the LEDs, any resistance can make a big difference.
Take a small flat head screw driver and scrap both contacts in the socket, then scrape the ground tab on the side, finally take the ground tab and bend it out (ie towards the center) so that it makes better contact with the side of the LED base. That should do it. Thanks Dave
Take a small flat head screw driver and scrap both contacts in the socket, then scrape the ground tab on the side, finally take the ground tab and bend it out (ie towards the center) so that it makes better contact with the side of the LED base. That should do it. Thanks Dave
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: On the road to Shambala
Hi, It sounds like the right side is not make a good contact, I know the incandescent works fine but with the low current draw of the LEDs, any resistance can make a big difference.
Take a small flat head screw driver and scrap both contacts in the socket, then scrape the ground tab on the side, finally take the ground tab and bend it out (ie towards the center) so that it makes better contact with the side of the LED base. That should do it. Thanks Dave
Take a small flat head screw driver and scrap both contacts in the socket, then scrape the ground tab on the side, finally take the ground tab and bend it out (ie towards the center) so that it makes better contact with the side of the LED base. That should do it. Thanks Dave
Road Master
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 983
Likes: 4
From: Fredericksburg, Va
If the light kit is new I would assume that contacts are still good....Any fuses snapping? Fuse snaps would actually be a good thing for you right now. My .02 would be to double check the right switch housing for a grounded wire. The wires get smashed pretty easy if not positioned right when tightening the housings back together. <-----I would put $5.00 on that.
Could be a polarity problem. Try reversing the polarity on the side that does not work. LED's are diodes and it matters which is positive and negative. I think that there is a way to change the pin positions in the sockets.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: On the road to Shambala
I figured it out! It wasn't the LED or the socket per se, it was this:
Factory wiring had the turn signal wiring running to the ground contact in the socket and the ground wire running to the turn signal contact. Apparently the incandescent bulb will work this way because it did just fine but the LED, not so much. Nice quality control HD!
Anyway, it's fixed and works great now. Thanks to all for the input, it helped me figure this out for sure.
Factory wiring had the turn signal wiring running to the ground contact in the socket and the ground wire running to the turn signal contact. Apparently the incandescent bulb will work this way because it did just fine but the LED, not so much. Nice quality control HD!
Anyway, it's fixed and works great now. Thanks to all for the input, it helped me figure this out for sure.
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