Triumphrat

harlam · 05-02-2005

Hi all,

I was going to post a pic of the light output of these lights but haven't been able to get them to work right. I didn't want to do them injustice by posting pics of "semi-working" lights. Anyhow, here are the problems I'm having:

-the taillight running light and turn lights seem really dim.
-taillight will only turn on with the engine on, not with the key to the "on" position

what works is the brake light. That's super bright. The turn lights don't flash too rapidly, actually probably the same rate as before. I have the taillight pigtails hooked up correctly. The yellow turn light leads are going to the green stock turn signal leads. I haven't put the resistors on because the turn blink rate was fine. I did call Clear Alternatives and they've been great help. They did suggest adding the resistors and/or replacing my turn signal relay. Other than that, there was not much left but a refund.

Anyone have this problem or advice? I really like the look but have gotten one too many honking horns from people who couldn't see the turn signal.

Harry

DEcosse · 05-03-2005

Well, it sounds like something is wired up wrongly for sure because of the non-operation with ignition only.

- a couple of questions

1) Did you leave the stock incandescent lamp flashers in place?

If you did, then that explains why the blink rate doesn't change - as long as there are two bulbs for each side, then the current draw through the relay will be satisfied and so the blink rate will be normal.
If you disconnected the stock lamp flashers at the rear however, the blink rate should be really fast, which apparently it isn't? The only thing that would allow the blink rate to be normal would be if the flasher module had been replaced to match the leds, perhaps an already installed turn signal led conversion? (are you original owner?)

2) Something defintely wrong if the tail light doesn't light up with ignition, only engine running - do you know if your battery is fully charged? What did you hook up the running light wire to on the Triumph harness?

It's a bit hard to diagnose without a little more info - can you describe exactly what wires on the new light you connected to where on the bike (colour wires & location). Also it would be helpful if you include the instructions for what colour wires are the key on the CA light module per their install guide.

This is a stretch but ..... I have a feeling you may have hooked up the running light to the "ground" side of the connection - the reason it may be coming on dim is perhaps because of the slightly higher voltage when motor is running & the voltage drop between the wire at the tail-light & true ground is enough to make it "glow"

[ This message was edited by: DEcosse on 2005-05-03 01:19 ]

harlam · 05-03-2005

I added the resistors to the turnlight circuit and the things lit up. Pretty good output now on the turn signals. For some reason, the running lights are also brighter after this, so I think I'll keep 'em. Took me near an hour and a half to setup because of all the wire splicing, testing, retesting.

Some notes on my setup:
-it is a stock flasher unit on the bike that had incandescent lights mounted before.
-the integrated taillight comes with pigtails which only fit in the stock 1157 sockets one way.
-the running lights still don't come on without the engine on.
-a friend of mine tested my battery and it's putting out 13V w/o load. Forgot to test with load though.

I'll try to get pics tomorrow when it's all setup and I rewire it again (didn't like the splice connections).

Only one problem, which I'll call CA about tomorrow, is that it's hard to see the turn light when the brake is applied.

Thanks for helping me troubleshoot.

Harry

harlam · 05-03-2005

I added the resistors to the turnlight circuit and the things lit up. Pretty good output now on the turn signals. For some reason, the running lights are also brighter after this, so I think I'll keep 'em. Took me near an hour and a half to setup because of all the wire splicing, testing, retesting.

Some notes on my setup:
-it is a stock flasher unit on the bike that had incandescent lights mounted before.
-the integrated taillight comes with pigtails which only fit in the stock 1157 sockets one way.
-the running lights still don't come on without the engine on.
-a friend of mine tested my battery and it's putting out 13V w/o load. Forgot to test with load though.

I'll try to get pics tomorrow when it's all setup and I rewire it again (didn't like the splice connections).

Only one problem, which I'll call CA about tomorrow, is that it's hard to see the turn light when the brake is applied.

Thanks for helping me troubleshoot.

Harry

DEcosse · 05-04-2005

Deinitely something still not right Harry - the resistors shoud have done nothing for the intensity & the running lights being off with just ignition is simply not right - I still think the polarity of the pigtails is reversed, naybe at source from CA - or even the bike's pigtails were wired incorrectly originally! A bulb doesn't care about polarity so you would never have noticed prior.
Adding the resistors effectively could have created a a forward voltage vonnection between the + & - that would not have been there in the LED circuit only - the resistors just shouldn't help & frankly I think they are a hokey solution to the flasher speed problem for which they are intended anyway.
Do you have a voltmeter tester you can check some measurements with?

DEcosse · 05-04-2005

Deinitely something still not right Harry - the resistors shoud have done nothing for the intensity & the running lights being off with just ignition is simply not right - I still think the polarity of the pigtails is reversed, naybe at source from CA - or even the bike's pigtails were wired incorrectly originally! A bulb doesn't care about polarity so you would never have noticed prior.
Adding the resistors effectively could have created a a forward voltage vonnection between the + & - that would not have been there in the LED circuit only - the resistors just shouldn't help & frankly I think they are a hokey solution to the flasher speed problem for which they are intended anyway.
Do you have a voltmeter tester you can check some measurements with?

harlam · 05-04-2005

OK, let's see if this works. Here are two pics of my bike with the running lights on (and the engine on as well). There is a lot of glare in the pics but the running lights aren't THAT much brighter in person. The second pic has much more glare and the lights are brighter than shown in that pic.

I do have access to a voltmeter and would really like to track down why the running lights don't come on but don't really want to tear up the pigtails or other wiring. My feeling is that the system is sensitive to not having a load on the running lights circuit as well and without an adequate load, the led's won't light up. Not sure if this is right but based on what I've looked up on the web, this may be an alternate cause.

Harry

[ This message was edited by: harlam on 2005-05-04 16:25 ]

harlam · 05-04-2005

OK, let's see if this works. Here are two pics of my bike with the running lights on (and the engine on as well). There is a lot of glare in the pics but the running lights aren't THAT much brighter in person. The second pic has much more glare and the lights are brighter than shown in that pic.

I do have access to a voltmeter and would really like to track down why the running lights don't come on but don't really want to tear up the pigtails or other wiring. My feeling is that the system is sensitive to not having a load on the running lights circuit as well and without an adequate load, the led's won't light up. Not sure if this is right but based on what I've looked up on the web, this may be an alternate cause.

Harry

[ This message was edited by: harlam on 2005-05-04 16:25 ]

harlam · 05-12-2005

This is kida strange replying to my own reply :-D but just thought I'd update in case anyone was still interested.

What I decided to do was order a set of pigtail Radiantz LEDs from customdynamics and make my own LED taillight.

Here's the photo album that compares the clear alternatives with the Radiantz. The first three are the CA and the last one is the Radiantz. Note that these are all with the running light, not brake light. One note about the CA is that it has a very narrow view so looking at it from an angle will not be even as bright as what the pics show.

The main reason for not going with CA was that the turn signal really can't be seen in the daytime. A friend of mine was riding behind me and couldn't even tell they were on.
Hey, and now the running lights come on with just the "on" position, not only with ignition!

Photos

DEcosse · 05-12-2005

So, since your Radiantz works correctly with ignition etc, goes to show there is something wrong with the CA pigtail - did you try reversing the wires to see what happened?

Let me understand current configuration correctly Harlam - you are using CA shell, but with the Radiantz lamps/harness?

Which Radiantz part did you use (i.e how big an array) and did you have to modify the CA shell to make them fit - also, would you have to modify the OEM shell to make the Radiantz units fit?
You are apparently still using the tail light for flasher mode also, so did you use the CA part for this?

I currently use These Led Towers from TMI LED which fit in the stock shell with no mod - they look good on my Triumph, however when we tried them in my friends Kawasaki, they didn't work so well - the filter is perhaps more intense on the kawi for that particular light wavelength.
These would work really well on the clear CA shell I bet.