Making aux brake lights work

[RiderRocketman]

Ok, I tried installing two different auxilary LED brake lights, like Back Off LED panels, on two different bikes (my Rocket and a Honda Shadow) and the results are the same. They just don't seem to work in conjuction with the existing taillights.

If wired per instructions (3 wires: ground, running/tail light, brake light), neither the original or auxilary taillights will work - no light at all or braking function won't work.

I've tried every sensible wiring combo I could and blew more than a few fuses, but in each both cases I had to wire the aux brake light as a running light only.

Are there any wiring tricks I should know about to make these things work like they should - with the existing taillight and not replacing them?

[tmiller11147]

As a wild guess, I would say you may have fried the Led unit by connecting it up backwards. I believe they are polarity sensitive and may not have reverse polarity protection.

Can you confirm it works by connecting to a 12 volt battery, ground wire to the negative terminal?

If it is internally shorted, it will become apparent quickly.

Regards,
Tom

[RiderRocketman]

Yeah, the aux LEDs work fine when used alone such as on a battery or if wired separate from the existing taillight, in which case then the original taillight won't be plugged in.

[Aussiekeeper]

Yes they are polarity sensitive, but usually they just fail to operate when connected in reverse......




Ron

[rodburner]

Could the impedence correcting diodes pack be at fault? I have 3 conventional brakelights [small cats eyes] wired in parallel and haven`t had any fuse issues. :???: