Issue with turn signals

I noticed the other day that the turn signals were just staying on and not blinking on the wifes 55 ford. It has been converted to 12 volt. I replaced the relay today and it worked, drove it around and noticed it did it again. Any ideas? It isnt blowing the fuse. Thanks Doug

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If you have the old type flasher, then one of the bulbs is either going bad or the wiring is intermittent to the bulbs. Check your grounds at the bulbs too.

 

You say you replaced a relay... Was it actually a relay or do you mean the flasher?

Changing from 6 volt to 12 volt reduces the amp load in the circuit. You may need to make sure you have the right voltage flasher. Or switch from a heavy duty to a standard duty flasher.

 

If everything had been fine for a good while after the upgrade check the Grounds on all 4 light housings. Corrosion is a common problem. Pot metal and Aluminum oxidise and can drive ya nutz.
The Wizzard

 

Changing from 6 volt to 12 volt reduces the amp load in the circuit. You may need to make sure you have the right voltage flasher. Or switch from a heavy duty to a standard duty flasher.[/QUOTE]


Think you have that backwards. A heavy duty flasher will flash with only one bulb working, or for that matter, with no bulbs working.

 

thanks guys checked light and replaced relay and flasher unit and so far it is good to go.

 

Hmmm... Let me run that thru my giant brain again ... But I think I'm explaining this right. I'm assuming this is a mechanical, thermal resistance type of flasher, not one with some kind of electronic circuit board inside it. And by a "standard duty" flasher I'm meaning one meant to operate with a single park lamp bulb and a single tail lamp bulb in the circuit. By a "heavy duty " flasher I mean one designed to work with a single park lamp and tail lamp bulb, plus an additional tail lamp bulb like you'd have on a trailer. Or an additional tail lamp bulb on the car.

Here's a post I made a couple months ago on another thread. I probably could have explained it more clearly but think I've the theory right.

Think of the flasher as a circuit breaker that is designed to reset itself quickly after the current load is removed from the circuit.

To keep the math simple let's say the flasher is designed to open when there's a 5 amp load on the circuit. And lets assume that the park lamp and tail lamp bulbs each draw 3 amps. You hit the turn signal switch and the flasher sees a total load of 6 amps. The circuit breaker in the flasher opens the circuit temporarily turning off power in the circuit and the bulbs go out. With no load on the circuit the breaker cools and resets itself and restores power to the circuit and the bulbs go back on. Then the whole cycle repeats itself until the power is cut off at the turn signal switch.

If a bulb is burned out in the circuit then the flasher may only see a 3 amp load when the turn signal switch is on. As a result the breaker may never open and the bulb will never blink. Or it may only blink less frequently depending on the actual amp rating of the flasher.

Now consider what happens when you add another turn signal bulb to the tail lamp or connect trailer light wiring to the circuit. You end up with three bulbs in the circuit and a total of 9 amps load feeding thru the flasher. As a result the circuit breaker in the flasher opens more quickly and frequently to deal with the increased amps. A short to ground in the circuit will also affect the amps.