LED indicators not working all together, any ideas?

[Grug]

Hey guys,

I've just finished creating some brackets to mount my new LED indicators to the bike (front and rear) so I got to mounting them and wiring everything up, however although installing the first 3 indicators worked just fine (they'll all flash away happily) as soon as I disconnect the 4th and final bulb-indicator and replace it with the final LED-indicator - none of the LED indicators will flash.

Does anyone know what might be causing this problem? I'd rather not ride around with a single big chunky indicator on one side if I can avoid it! 

Cheers,

Mark

[minnesotamonster]

Common problem. No need to worry. You just need to wire in a couple of resisters to two of the signals. I wired mine into the rear signals and hid the resisters underneath the seat. You could also hide them in behind the side covers.

[Grug]

Common problem. No need to worry. You just need to wire in a couple of resisters to two of the signals. I wired mine into the rear signals and hid the resisters underneath the seat. You could also hide them in behind the side covers.

Cheers,  I was wondering whether that might have something to do with it. I actually have some resistors in the post at the moment, so I'll just leave the single old indicator on until they arrive (hopefully that won't take too long).

[DucME]

So when replacing all 4 bulb indicators with LED indicators, you only need a total of 2 resistors?

[minnesotamonster]

That's all I needed when I swapped mine out.

[Grug]

The resistors have just arrived, however I attached them to the rear indicator wires and still get nothing. Do I need to run the grounding wires through the resistor as well? I'm a bit lost. 

[minnesotamonster]

yes

[Grug]

Well I ran both wires through the resistor and promptly blew a fuse!  did some more research and came across a wiring diagram that showed that I had to wire the indicators up normally (as I'd done initially) and then attach the resistors between the two wires (rather than trying to run the wires through the resistors), now everything is working perfectly!  And my only problem is the enormous mass of wiring sitting under my seat 

so if anyone has any tips for cleaning up the wiring (I'm wondering whether a long, thin box with holes at each end, might work) I'd be much obliged.

[ungeheuer]

C'mon then Grug, show us some pics of your LEDs, hmmm??

[DucHead]

Well I ran both wires through the resistor and promptly blew a fuse!  did some more research and came across a wiring diagram that showed that I had to wire the indicators up normally (as I'd done initially) and then attach the resistors between the two wires (rather than trying to run the wires through the resistors), now everything is working perfectly!  And my only problem is the enormous mass of wiring sitting under my seat 

so if anyone has any tips for cleaning up the wiring (I'm wondering whether a long, thin box with holes at each end, might work) I'd be much obliged.

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=20916.0

Take your time, it's not too difficult. 

[Grug]

Okay, some pics for your perusal...

The front. I ended up making some brackets to mount the LEDs to original mounting points rather than drilling the headlight bracket and mounting them there. They do look quite naked and exposed, but then with a Monster that's kind of the idea - I'm pretty happy with them there.


The rear. Not as clean as it was with just the integrated taillight, but I feel so much more confident about the visibility of the indicators now (compared to integrated ones at least) that I feel a fair bit safer, they're pretty small and unobtrusive anyway so not a big deal. I mounted these with some custom bracket I attached to the rear of the taillight.


The wiring mess. Considering there's no space under the seat to actually be used for anything, this isn't really a big deal. But I'd prefer things to be neater so I'll clean them up eventually, probably mount the resistors to the ends of the brackets I have holding the licence plate and registration.

[ungeheuer]

Lookin neat Grug  What LEDs are they?  I been thinkin about some Rizoma LEDs for my 696 but I'm not sure I can be arsed with the resistor horsecrap...

Are the bright?

[greenohawk69]

Well I ran both wires through the resistor and promptly blew a fuse!  did some more research and came across a wiring diagram that showed that I had to wire the indicators up normally (as I'd done initially) and then attach the resistors between the two wires (rather than trying to run the wires through the resistors), now everything is working perfectly!  And my only problem is the enormous mass of wiring sitting under my seat 

so if anyone has any tips for cleaning up the wiring (I'm wondering whether a long, thin box with holes at each end, might work) I'd be much obliged.

I'm not sure I follow what you said above...between vs. "through."  Do you have a picture? 

[Grug]

Lookin neat Grug  What LEDs are they?  I been thinkin about some Rizoma LEDs for my 696 but I'm not sure I can be arsed with the resistor horsecrap...

Are the bright?

No-name brand, got them for $40 from an ebayer in China called "grapebaiwan-us". Those Rizoma LEDs look gorgeous, and based on the quality of the Rizoma stuff I already have I'm sure they'd be top notch. The resistors are a pain in the arse, and for all the miniaturisation of the lights themselves you gain all of the extra bulk back in wiring mess.

As for brightness, personally I don't think the LEDs are in the slightest bit brighter than the original bulbs. And I'm still not convinced they're even equal to the regular bulbs in daylight. So in my opinion, if you could get miniaturised bulb indicators, you'd be better off than going with LEDs anyway. Especially since the main reason for switching to LEDs in the first place is for aesthetic reasons.

I'm not sure I follow what you said above...between vs. "through."  Do you have a picture? 

This wiring diagram explains it better than I could:



basically, by "through" I meant that I was attaching the wires from indicators to one end of the resistor, and attaching the wires from the bike to the other end of the resistor. But what you need to do is just connect the indicator wires to the bike wires normally, and then attach one end of the resistor's wires to the indicator's positive wire and the other end to the indicator's negative end - so you're running the resistor "between" the positive and negative wires.

[Drunken Monkey]

There's your problem right there.

You need to wire it up in series with the LED not in parallel