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LED Indicators, Fitting / Wiring problems


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I have fitted a set of RDX LED indicators to my 1984 Land Rover 90, fitting was the easy bit, my problem is the wiring, when fitted and all wired up with good soldered connections all four flash together, I have a proper RDX flasher unit (it does not matter how this is adjusted the problem still exists) the dash warning light is also very faint, before this the trailer warning light used to flash occasionally with out a trailer, I don't know if this has any significance, also the old flasher unit was damp inside.

Thanks in advance Ronnie.

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From my limited knowledge of LED lamps you must use adhesive lined heat shrink to seal the joints between the loom and the lamp leads. There are special flasher units to be used with LED indicators as the lamps themselves draw much less current than a conventional incandescent bulbs.

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Thanks JDexter, I have a proper flasher unit designed for the led indicators, I am interested in the adhesive lined heat shrink for the joint sealing I just used normal heat shrink, my son fitted the same to his 110, but its a lot newer so the plugs supplied were used a straight swap.

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I fitted these and had a problem

The earths are crucial esp in the front wings..

The earths are used to make the telltale flash in the cluster.

If your earths are not right it could be that voltage it triggering the opposite LEDs via the tell tale.

Check your earths are perfect.

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The flasher adjuster is only to stop the trailer flasher flashing when there is no trailer.

I do not think it matters what kind of connecting you do, I just used bullets and insulation tape.

Are you sure you wired up the indicators the right way round as both sides circuits are used when you indicate as I explained above.

As LED's need so little current, any leakage could trigger both sides.

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yes, all was well, good earths with no previous problems other than dodgy bulb holders. Set the flasher relay as instructed and found all four flashing together when indicating left or right. I rang them, as i did not suspect a poor earth, and they were aware of the problem, they suggested i replace the dash indicator lamp with a led one. I was sceptical but it worked.

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I had this problem when fitting them to mine, there was a lot of swearing as I checked everything to find the problem.

In the end I tracked it down to the dash indicator light, the origional wiring has the indicators for each side of the indicators wired to the sides of the dash light, so when you indicate left the power is supplied to the left indicators as expected and goes to earth through the bulbs to light the indicators, power is also feed to the left side of the dash light, this powers the dash light going to earth via THE RIGHT INDICATORS, with normal bulbs not enough power goes to the indicators for them to actually light so all is fine. With LED's because they need so little power the right indicators will light. I fixed it by wiring each side to a different dash light, bit of a bodgy but it works. A dash bulb with something different about it so less power is transmitted to the opposite side would also work I expect and this is probable what they supply.

As a test remove the dash bulb and see if all the indicators work as expected, if they do this is a good place to start.

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I have ordered a LED bulb from Bolt on bits, it must be more than just a LED bulb, I think he said it had a earth, I thought of trying other fixes like two dash lights, but did not want a bodge, so I hope this works. My son fitted LED's to his 300 TDI 110 without all this trouble.

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Hi all, I took the easy way out and fitted a warning light from RDX, this has a separate earth and solved the issues I had.

Thanks for the replies as It saved me a lot of time, I don't know how long it would have been before I figured it out on my own.

It would be helpful if RDX mentioned this in their instructions or even supplied a light with the kit as it must be a common problem or they would not have warning lights on the shelf.

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  • 2 years later...
On 11/28/2014 at 8:34 AM, Crofter said:

Hi all, I took the easy way out and fitted a warning light from RDX, this has a separate earth and solved the issues I had.

Thanks for the replies as It saved me a lot of time, I don't know how long it would have been before I figured it out on my own.

It would be helpful if RDX mentioned this in their instructions or even supplied a light with the kit as it must be a common problem or they would not have warning lights on the shelf.

Resurrection of an old topic I know, but I have just done the bolt on bits LED upgrade and have the same issue, as Crofter says it would be helpful if they put some info about this in the kit.

I rang them and they said "oh yes we know all about it and sell a kit to fix it". However their kit is £15 (plus delivery no doubt) which I thought expensive for what is probably a bulb holder, an led bulb and two diodes. Shopping around revealed this on a motorcycle site

http://matchlessclueless.com/store/led-indicators/led-indicator-diode/#tab-reviews

Now ordered and I will review once fitted.

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46 minutes ago, easytiger said:

Resurrection of an old topic I know, but I have just done the bolt on bits LED upgrade and have the same issue, as Crofter says it would be helpful if they put some info about this in the kit.

I rang them and they said "oh yes we know all about it and sell a kit to fix it". However their kit is £15 (plus delivery no doubt) which I thought expensive for what is probably a bulb holder, an led bulb and two diodes. Shopping around revealed this on a motorcycle site

http://matchlessclueless.com/cart/#tab-reviews

Now ordered and I will review once fitted.

Can you update your link? It takes me to an empty shopping cart!

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Hi , I would be very interested in this, do you just splice the wire with the diodes in and use the original bulb and holder? The Bolt on bits conversion works but it's very dim and in daylight it's hard to see, or at least mine is.  

 

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  • 4 months later...

Update on this.

The item took a while to arrive, I didn't realise that the motorcycle club concerned is not UK based! However when It did arrive it was simple to fit and has worked faultlessly since. While waiting for it to arrive I simply removed the bulb from the warning light.

I am not sure what Bolt on bits provide but all that is required is a couple of diodes and some connectors so I have no idea how BOB justify the price.

M

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On 4/16/2017 at 5:32 PM, western said:

This post appeared on LRO forum last week, anout led indicator post fitting problems & how to cure it, ---- http://forum.lro.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=98620

I had seen that solution elsewhere (though the LRO poster explains it very well) but was looking for a cheap plug and play cure which is why I went the Matchless Clueless route.

I think that Bolt on Bits and other suppliers of the LED kits should really put something in the kit to explain the indicator problem instead of leaving their customers to reasearch themselves. (that's probably how they manage to get such a high price for their solution)

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