kmxtornado said:
Can someone please chime in on how to hook up a flashing AA battery powered LED strip turn signal? I have some parts in mind but have no idea on how to go about hooking everything up. Resistors, relays, etc are all new to me.
This is what I have so far:
http://kmxtornado.blogspot.com/2011/08/turn-signal-light-project.html
I'm sure I can adapt the findings to my little Sharper Image electric scooter too.
OK, this is what I did with another eBay 7-wire switch, same layout, probably different color wires.
I don't see on the eBay listing the wire code, and in your link it looks like there was a bit of Chinese-English maltranslation. So, you'll have to trace the wires yourself. You will have the following:
Headlight in (Hi)
Headlight out (Ho)
Turn the headlight switch on and both turn and horn switch off, see which two wires are connected (ohmmeter or lightbulb).
Horn in (Bi)
Horn out (Bo)
Turn the horn switch on and both turn and headlight switch off, see which two wires are connected (ohmmeter or lightbulb).
Turn signal common (Tc)
Turn signal left (Tl)
Turn signal right (Tr)
You've got the pattern now, just turn on one turn side on (twice). One of the wires will be common to both.
Which wire is the in and out of the Hi/Ho and Bi/Bo pairs is irrelevant.
I would suggest using your headlight switch as a main On/Off switch.
Get a DC/DC converter if the right voltage for your turn signals.
Get an "electronic flasher" from either your local auto parts store or eBay (3 contacts).
1. Run a wire from your battery (+) to Hi.
2. Run a wire from Ho to the (+) input of your DC/DC converter.
3. Run a wire from the (-) input of your DC/DC converter to your battery (-).
4. Run a wire from the (-) output of your DC/DC converter to your battery (-).
5. Run a wire from the (+) output of your DC/DC converter to your flasher ("L" terminal, I think).
6. Run a wire from the "E-" terminal of your flasher to your battery (-).
7. Run a wire from the "B+" terminal of your battery to Tc.
8. Run a wire from Tl to one end of your left turn LED string.
Make sure before you solder it that that's the end which needs to connect to the (+) terminal -
you can check using the DC/DC converter output.
9. Run a wire from Tr to one end of your right turn LED string.
Ditto.
10. Run a wire from the other end of both the LED strings to your battery (-).
11. Operate turn signals and have fun.
Of course, you can connect some (or all) of the battery (-) wires together and have fewer wires connecting directly to the battery.
I also inserted a small fuse between battery (+) and Hi, just in case a short developed somewhere in your circuitry somehow.
Having the headlight switch operate as a mains switch prevents your DC/DC converter from drawing current from your batteries 24/7.
You can also hook up an LED taillight and/or brakelight (with a brake-activated switch of some kind) directly to the DC/DC converter if they use the same voltage.
You can also hook up anything else (headlight, horn, etc) by using a DC/DC converter compatible with its voltage requirement as above.
Go ahead and draw it out, make sense?
Cameron
