Turn signal ghosting

[ssaxman]

I had Genright Tube fenders installed on my 02 TJ. Part of the installation included using LED turn signals and marker lights. They look great and work fine with the exception of the following problem. When I turn my lights on (parking or driving) the turn signals in the instrument panel both light up about halfway. When they are flashing (hazards or indicating a turn) they are about twice as bright.

The Genright relay is installed so they are are blinking at the original cycle. Obviously this is not a problem during the day but is a little irritating at night.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Scott

[AZLugz]

Sounds like "feedback" thru the light circuit and that is commonly caused by a faulty ground. You see it a lot in trailers where they try and use the trailer ball as a ground point.

Thats all I can think of so far

[macinyart]

Sounds like "feedback" thru the light circuit and that is commonly caused by a faulty ground. You see it a lot in trailers where they try and use the trailer ball as a ground point.

Thats all I can think of so far
X2
Most of the problems with automotive 12v systems are due to a faulty ground. Take the grounds loose, buff 'em up and try again. Let us know the result? Thanks.

[SavageSun4x4]

X3 on that. You have a bare wire that is touching somewhere in the install. The dim light is most likely due to the wire or a if its multi-strand wire a filament touching. If it is a bare sport then it might be in contact with rust/paint, dirt etc to getting a good contact.

Since it appears the light stays on all the time and is not intermittent you need to look at your connection points or anywhere the wire is "jammed" into a crevice or space. If it was intermittent then it could be hell trying to find it.

Also check to make sure that you have not swapped poles on yourself somewhere.

Let us know what it was, pics if you have them.

[TRLR8TDTJ]

Mine does this as well, but only with headlights on. They are on very faint. I thought it was just the nature of the beast with L.E.D lights.

Kyle

[ssaxman]

I will be checking this out. Thanks for all the input. I will get photos if I can track these to the bad ground.

Scott

[AZLugz]

Mine does this as well, but only with headlights on. They are on very faint. I thought it was just the nature of the beast with L.E.D lights.

Kyle

It shouldn't be unless they were made that way. This is a case of the running light circuit backfeeding into the turnsignals.

The lights may ground off the mounting studs also and if so, the mount washers are prolly against paint and not bare metal. I don't have and have not installed LED lights on the Jeep so I am not sure, I have had LED tails on trailers that have done this tho and everytime it has been a grounding issue

[ssaxman]

OK, there is a ground wire on each side where the light harness splits between the markers and the headlights. I removed the screw and got down to bare metal and reattached the ground wires. No luck. :bigcry: Any other suggestions. Thanks for all who have helped so far.

Scott

[lancetkenyon]

Don't look directly at them. Or wear sunglasses at night.

[Stoodty]

you have led's all the way around huh??? i do and i have same issue! but when i hook up to a trailer they work perfect! so, with that said, i'm pretty sure it has something to do with the amount of amp draw the leds dont take... so jeep thinks a buld is burnt out! there for giving you an indication..... can some one chime in here that actually knows about this stuff???

[ssaxman]

I like Lance's solution the most so far... :beatnik:

Genright got back to me and said that it is an impedance issue that can be taken care of by a) leaving the oem marker lights in series or b) installing a resistor inline. Asked for a resistor value... we shall see. Easy enough to solder one in and shrink it.

Scott

[AZLugz]

Well, when I read Stoodty's response saying it worked right with the trailer I was going to say a current difference but it looks like you already got there.

[Stoodty]

i fixed mine by installing a third tail light (55wat) that installs in bumper hitch!! lol keeps everything happy!

[TRLR8TDTJ]

I thought you could install diode in there somewhere to correct this as well I thought I read article about this before that is why I figured it was nature of the beast

Kyle

[ssaxman]

Let's see... Ohms law V=IR and R=V2/P :sorcerer:

Assuming that the 55W is enough of a load then a 2.6 Watt power resistor in the line should be enough. Does this make sense and since the circuits are in parallel I should only need to do one side?!?

Feedback appreciated.

[ssaxman]

OK found a good resource for this topic:

http://ledcalc.com/

Based on two white LEDs per side I need a 180 Ohm 1/8 Watt resistor.

Boy was I wrong...

Thank goodness for the Internet!!!

[ssaxman]

Genright came through with a solution.

You basically wire a power resistor (Radio Shack 271-133) 50 Ohm 10 Watt across the flasher. This has the effect of keeping it off except when using your turn signals or flashers and it is off in the instrument panel as well. I have attached pictures of the fix. This does not affect the marker lights at all (they can be seen from the front and side) and they are on when the lights are on and flash when the turn signals/hazards are activated.

The steps are:


find original wiring
prep the wires
solder in resistor
environmental protection (electrical tape)
tuck the wires up out of the way

[jim0352]

Thanks for posting up your solution. I'm getting ready to wire up the same set of lights and now I know what extra parts to get. Seems a lot of people post up problems, but never the solution. Thanks :2thumbsup:

[ssaxman]

You are more than welcome. It was hard pinning down a fix because it wasn't just limiting current. It was trying to make it look like there was a load on that end of the circuit.

Works well so far :fashizzle:

Thanks for posting up your solution. I'm getting ready to wire up the same set of lights and now I know what extra parts to get. Seems a lot of people post up problems, but never the solution. Thanks :2thumbsup: