Erratic Indicators

[Guest RoborRoss]

Hi,

 

I'm new here, but have just downloaded the membership form as my insurer has given me a discount if I join a club. This club was recommended by Mick (sorry, I forgot your surname) who I met at the 2012 KC show at Donington at the weekend with his car on display somewehre between MK & GBS.

 

Anyway, I've bought one! It needs a tidy here and there and a few things fixing:

 

Temp Gauge does not seem to work correctly

Fuel Gauge works in reverse (i.e. 1 is empty and 0 is full)

Indicators are erratic

 

....probably a few more that I've not yet spotted,

 

But my question is about the indicators, the flash & the sounder are erratic. Yes, they flash, but not with the usual precise timing I'm used to as a drummer!

 

Any thoughts what this could be?

 

Thanks

Bob

[Guest RoborRoss]

Thanks for the response.

 

I'm off to the paralymics later today, but I would have love to have come to the meet. I'll try and make the next one. I'm sure the car will be recognised as I have paperwork showing it for sale on RHOCAR from a good few years ago!

 

I'm in Wingewrworth, but I'll add my locatiion.

[richardm6994]

Hi rob, the technical director where I work is from wingerworth and keeps telling me that he's seen a kitcar similar to mine in his village.....probably yours!!!

[Guest RoborRoss]

I only picked it up yesterday, but yes I have seen anther kit car knocking around but not sure what it is. Looks like a 7 from the front, but has the sloping rear similar to a morgan.

[edbond]

Have any of the indicators been swapped for led ones? Some posts on here suggest the conventional relay suffers with low resistance of them. There is an electronic one:

 

http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=33545&hl=+triumph%20+relay#entry252289

 

Didn't help mine....may help yours!

[sj-bradley]

Yes, that happened to me when I swapped out the IVA bulbs for shorter stubby LED indicators. You can do any of the following.

 

1) wire in a 21W bulb inside the engine bay to increase the load on the relay to slow it down.

 

2) wire in a 50W 6ohm resistor (does the same thing without lighting up and shouldn't blow like a bulb could)

 

3) use a flasher relay specific for LED indicators.

 

I decided to use option 2.

 

Simon.

[richardm6994]

Simon.....do you mean bulbs or lamps

[fry61]

He wasn't sure so used a 50 watt resistor!!!

[sj-bradley]

Ok, so I mean LAMPS then

 

The 50W resistor is overkill as it will draw a constant 24W through 6 ohms, but being intermittent (as indicators do) the average load should theoretically be 12W. So 50W should not get very hot and be able to cope with it.

 

That, and being in solid contact with the aluminium angle iron, should keep it cool.

 

(Oh, and for the previous poster, wired in parallel with existing front indicators, not series)

 

Simon.

[richardm6994]

And I'm not even goin to mention led bulbs

[fry61]

Is that similar to a lead ballon but with the filament?

[Guest RoborRoss]

Hi all, thanks for all the replys. One question before I try either the led flasher unit (after I've checked my 'lamps' to see If they are led) or the resistor: why would this cause them to flash randomly, not faster like u used to get on cars when one of the bulbs had gone? As I mentioned it's seems to flash with an irregular pattern, speeding up and down but not associated with engine rpm. Next I need to find where the builder hid the fuse box / flasher units. Thanks all.

[stevedohc2b]

Could be an loose earth as well?

 

stephen

[Grim]

or a crappy contact in the bulb holder?

[edbond]

At a complete guess heating and cooling could change the resistance.

 

With the the fuel gauge one, what gauges do you have? I have a superspec with the escort dash and my fuel guage does the same. For my problem there are 2 solutions really - colour in the bottom of E to make it a F and paint an extra line in on the F to make it F! Or take the sender out and reverse the connection of where the float meets the sender to reverse the resistance.

 

Rather than buying a LED relay, if you can wait to the next area meet (I think the Malt Shovel one is nearest) I aim to come to that and can bring mine along and you can try it at the meet.