fast blinkers

[Mcrow]

So i bought this 97' jetta with fast blinkers a year and a bit ago. I have had enough of the fast blinker and i have no idea how to fix it. The hazards flash at normal speeds but the turn signals are twice as fast. All my bulbs are working. Thinking it might be my turn signal stalk or my turn signal relay.

Any ideas? i am stumped.

[BaggedGLI]

Re: fast blinkers

Are they bulbs or LED's?

[Mcrow]

Re: fast blinkers

i got bulbs in the back and wired 24cm strip led's for the front. Just spliced my signal wires.

[VRado6]

Re: fast blinkers

i got bulbs in the back and wired 24cm strip led's for the front. Just spliced my signal wires.

Thats why. The LEDs do not produce enough resistance so the car thinks there is a burned out bulb.

[BaggedGLI]

Re: fast blinkers

You need resistors in the system

Something like this, Click for resistors

[Mcrow]

Re: fast blinkers

sweet thanks, that makes sense. i used to have a little 194 wedge bulb (non-LED) as my signals in my FK front markers and they blinked fast with those too.

[vee_dubbin]

Re: fast blinkers

Thats why. The LEDs do not produce enough resistance so the car thinks there is a burned out bulb.

I forget what the resistance is in a normal bulb, but its easy to check. Find the proper bulb size for that application and put an ohm meter across the two bottom contacts. Then take your led's and find that resistance the same way. Subtract the regular bulbs resistance (minus) the led's resistance, equals the total resistance needed in the circuit. Wire in a resistor of equalivalance and there you have it. No more hyper blinker.

Normal bulb ohm - led ohm = total resistance needed for cicuit.

[Stonewall]

Re: fast blinkers

PS you can get those resistors (or near wattage) from places like Active Electronics or MRO in town. You can also order them from Digikey.ca. Getting them these ways is a hell of a lot cheaper then ebay.

[Chris]

Re: fast blinkers

Check your fuses. I remember having the same issue when I had my GTI and it turned out to be the fuse for the trunk light needed changing.

[vee_dubbin]

Re: fast blinkers

Check your fuses. I remember having the same issue when I had my GTI and it turned out to be the fuse for the trunk light needed changing.

Completely different circuit man!

[Chris]

Re: fast blinkers

Completely different circuit man!

That may be, but in the case of my old GTI, it was a 'notification feature' of sorts. Similar to a door chime, the fast blinkers were a sign that you had a fuse blown - even though they are a completely different circuit, man.

[100%VAGitarian]

Re: fast blinkers

how does the power flow to the lights to make them blink faster, if you have a blown fuse?

[Satnam]

Re: fast blinkers

on newer flasher circuits, it's a chip that monitors current (power flow). It is possible for the chip to have more than condition for a fast flash. ????

OP if you know electronics, you could modify the flasher, so it doesn't flash fast with a lower loading.

[vee_dubbin]

Re: fast blinkers

That may be, but in the case of my old GTI, it was a 'notification feature' of sorts. Similar to a door chime, the fast blinkers were a sign that you had a fuse blown - even though they are a completely different circuit, man.

Uhhmmm, I've never heard of such a thing. You might have your facts mixed up just a tad. The only reason for a fast blinker on either side, is due to a burnt out bulb (turn signal) on either one of the four corners of the car. Once again, a rear trunk light is a completely different circuit dude!!!

[shconer]

Re: fast blinkers

The flasher is just a coil of small guage wire wraped around a bi-metalic strip as the current flows through the wire it heats up and the bi-metalic strip deforms and breaks the circuit. If you have lower reistance in the circuit there will he more current flowing through the flasher causing the bi-metalic strip to heat up quickier and thats why the flasher falshes quicker when a bulb is burnt out or you replace a bulb with an led. Prolonged use will eventually cause the flasher to prematurly fail. Special flashers are also avaliable to solve this issue. Some newer cars use a smart juntion box replacing flashers with transistors, lower resistance may not affect this style of system.