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real tail light questions


cavscout73

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I just spent the past few days trying to wire in my hotbodies undertail so that I had brakes turns and running lights, well I cut a few corners and put a universal converter on.. It works like a charm except for the fact that there is almost not difference in the brightness of my running and brake lights... is there a way to reduce the voltage to the running lights so that there is a more noticeable difference between them??

and other than that my turns flsh pretty fast with the LED's on it but I dont mind I kinda like it actually!!!

alright let the suggestions begin !!!

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put a resistor inline with the wire for the running lights. if the running lights and brake lights are running through the same wire then youd have to look at a wiring diagram to figure out where the split is. you can also slow down those annoyingly fast flashers (though they do add about 5hp to your bike) with a resistor inline.

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do you have a voltmeter?

Voltage=current*resistance

measure the voltage from ground wire to running light wire, then turn the bike off and measure the resistance from the battery to the running light. solve the equation and you have your current. use the current and make your voltage number like half or so, then solve again for your new resistance. subtract your original resistance from the new value and then take a trip to radio shack or just use digikey.com to buy your new resistor. then you have to solder that resistor inline with the running lights so they will be in series.

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you can also slow down those annoyingly fast flashers (though they do add about 5hp to your bike) with a resistor inline.

alternatively, you can get a time based turn signal relay instead of a draw based one.

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well i have to go with the horsepower then..

what size resistor would be the way to gofor the turns and the running lights? and my brake and running lights are wired separately

Im not sure how much current your LED runing lights are drawing, but here are some typical resistor setups...

try a 100 ohm first, if thats too dim, try a 47ohm.

if its too bright with 100ohm, try a 220ohm, if still too bright try a 330k ohm, and if still too bright try a 1k ohm.

all of those resistors you can buy at radioshack. 1/8 watt will be fine for led tail light assembly.

You can get an assortment resistor pack for like 7 bucks at radio shack that has every typical value in it.

using the wrong value is not going to hurt anything in your situation, so just experiment until you find the brightness you like.

Edited by 12oclocker
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I have those Auto Zone trailor universal tail light intergrator ( $15 ) on 3 of my bikes, 2 of those bikes have leds and all the brake light and tail light brightness work correctly.

I think yours are not wired correctly probably the ground. You could check the brake light brightness and tail light brightness difference in your bulbs buy wiring them directly to a power source to see what they are suppose to look like.

Auto Zone also sells an electronic flasher to fix your flash rate $10. Just get one with the same number of prongs as your flasher, 2 or 3. You can also get an electronic led flasher on ebay $40.

Good Luck

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I will recheck my grounds tomorrow, and see if that makes a difference.

it is an 1157 LED bulb in the rear , before I hooked the converter up when I would use the turns they would light up on all the bulbs in the light and the running would use only the middle 4, .. weird.. oh well if I didnt have issues I would just be bored!!!!

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It sounds like you have the power for the tail light running to the brake portion of the bulb and the brake power running to the tail light side of the bulb. This would cause the brake light to be on all the time then the tail light to come on when the brakes are activated.

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alright I rewired it today, I used the converter for the brake and turns and then used regular running light wiring for the tails.. it improved it but I still think the running lights are too bright so I am going to put a couple resistors in and see if I can get it where I want it... with any luck by the end of the day and a 6 pack later it will be good...

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Im not sure how much current your LED runing lights are drawing, but here are some typical resistor setups...

try a 100 ohm first, if thats too dim, try a 47ohm.

if its too bright with 100ohm, try a 220ohm, if still too bright try a 330k ohm, and if still too bright try a 1k ohm.

all of those resistors you can buy at radioshack. 1/8 watt will be fine for led tail light assembly.

You can get an assortment resistor pack for like 7 bucks at radio shack that has every typical value in it.

using the wrong value is not going to hurt anything in your situation, so just experiment until you find the brightness you like.

Just an update I put in the 220 ohm 1/8 watt resistors. seemed to do the trick, I may try it with the 330's but not sure if I feel like unwiring it all now that it is back together.. Thanks 12oclocker!!!!

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