Slow flasher

[John Stacey]

For years I have been a slow flasher. Then at the National we were parked next to Geoff Arthur when the subject of flashing came up.
"Fit an after market electronic unit" he said.
I bought one the other day. It fitted in the instrument binnacle in place of the old unit. Very easy to do.
It cost £3.00 Yes Three pounds and now I flash very speedily even with all the winter electrics on.
I also fitted kitchen foil around the bulb holders to act as reflectors and now I flash brightly and quickly.

John Stacey (Bristol)

[dorsetflyer]

Another way of increasing the brightness of the reflector is to get a small aerosol can of Chrome finish paint. This is readily available from good artist material,hobby shops and does a very good job.
I also use the Gold version to freshen up the gilt badge on the grille.

[Phil Nottingham]

The electronic units do give a constant rate of flash but assuming the old electro-mechanical unit is OK slow flashig is due to a high circuit resistsnce somewhere either inthe lamp earthing or the contacts therein as they always corrode up.

This will result in lower voltage and light output so the "cure" only solves the symptoms not the cause. Eventually the resistance wil increase to the extent where it will not work the electronic version either

[Deleted]

Where does one start looking? I have a slow flash on both sides so it must be the supply.
The nearly new unit mews slightly when it gets really slow.

[dorsetflyer]

Start wherever there is an earth contact to the body of the car at each lamp point.

Or check the resistance between the lamp body connection and the end of the earth lead having removed it from the car body earth. There should be no resistance reading on the meter.

All the earthing points should be cleaned, if necessary with emery paper. Then coat it with WD40 before re-assembling.

It's not a five minute job but if it works OK afterwards it's a job well done.

[Phil Nottingham]

What sort of unit have you got?

[Deleted]

Its an 8FL12V
Ithink it is the second one I hve bought. If the two terminals are connected together and the unit taken out then the lights light with full force. If the new one dosent work then I shall go for a modern flasher.
To think that I nearly stripped the steering column housing to look at the contacts.

[Phil Nottingham]

These mechanical types are very dependent on load and even the smallst high resistance contact in the numerous bullets or lamp earths added together wil make a lot of difference to the flashing rate.

Degradation of te cables inernally will aslo cause the volt drop.

Id cleaning every single connection and switch conract has no effect then try wiring direct to bridge out old wiring.


The electronic type are nowhere near enough as sensitive but are not as long lasting or reliable as well as expensive

[stantondavies]

My flasher has always gone TOO FAST! But like everything else I live with it!! Life's too short.

[Deleted]

I got a new unit and they work fine now. It is held in place with its own clip and I can even hear it now.

[dorsetflyer]

Excellent news, it is nice when you can actually hear the unit ticking. It seems it's hit and miss with the volume of the ticking. I have fitted two of the same type units, and one you could hardly hear and the other was perfect. (Probably to do with quality and made in Taiwan).

[Ed from Surrey (member 236)]

my indicators were illuminatng and not going off at all. I cleaned up both sides and now the near side flashes slowly as before but the off side does not. I replaced the small oblong 8FL Type 41 with a cylindrical FL5 12 v 42w and the near side remained ok but the off-side flashed like crazy. What does this suggest about the earthing ?

[Phil Nottingham]

It may still be bad earthing due to corroded units but also check carefully by removing them all bullet coonectorsl

[Ed from Surrey (member 236)]

ok Phil. Will try again. More exciting that watching England