L.E.D. wiring help!

[Kejtar]

I know you said you already bought a new converter box, but I've only had luck with one brand. The other ones that I've tried.....they may look the same.....and have the same number of wires....including a ground....but they won't work.

It ends up just as you described.....turn signals only work when the brakes are on.

We've had the best luck with the Draw-Tite ones. Rewire it and everything is good to go.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.

Brian
www.projectxj.com
www.formattfab.com

If you're having problems with the converter boxes then you can make one for each side for way less the $2 in parts. All you need is diodes and resistors. The only tricky part is choosing the right resistor to control the brightness of the light (might want to buy a pot first and play with that and once you're happy with the brightness levels measure the resistance and buy that resistor).

The light that you're using: is it a proper stop/turn light which has 2 wires to drive it and one ground or does it only have 2 wires altogether (one for power and one for ground).
This is what you would need to make one that works with a 2 wire (ground and signal) setup.
http://home.socal.rr.com/remi/pics/3to1lights.JPG
The blinker is the brightest so that when you're braking it goes to a brighter mode and that's why it doesn't have a resistor. Next one is the brake which needs to be brighter then the running tail light, so it's resistor needs to be smaller then the one that you use for the tail light signal.

 

[CRASH]

The lights I'm using have three wires, a ground, a signal, and a tail.

I may have to check into the Draw-tite converter box.

That will be the 3rd converter I've bought for this project!

If you're having problems with the converter boxes then you can make one for each side for way less the $2 in parts. All you need is diodes and resistors. The only tricky part is choosing the right resistor to control the brightness of the light (might want to buy a pot first and play with that and once you're happy with the brightness levels measure the resistance and buy that resistor).

The light that you're using: is it a proper stop/turn light which has 2 wires to drive it and one ground or does it only have 2 wires altogether (one for power and one for ground).
This is what you would need to make one that works with a 2 wire (ground and signal) setup.
http://home.socal.rr.com/remi/pics/3to1lights.JPG
The blinker is the brightest so that when you're braking it goes to a brighter mode and that's why it doesn't have a resistor. Next one is the brake which needs to be brighter then the running tail light, so it's resistor needs to be smaller then the one that you use for the tail light signal.

 

[Kejtar]

The lights I'm using have three wires, a ground, a signal, and a tail.

I may have to check into the Draw-tite converter box.

That will be the 3rd converter I've bought for this project!

In that case if you want to do it yourself look at this: http://home.socal.rr.com/remi/pics/3lights.jpg The upper two work in the manner as I described before and the lower one operates as the manufacturer designed it. Only thing is that you might have to use a resistor on it to play with the brightness so that it is distiguishable enough from the adjusted upper signal.

 

[Uglygreenxj]

I had the same "brake pedal blinker" problem. I also bought two different brands of converters (three sets total!) I never got it to work and finally gave up. I've had a year to calm down, maybe I should try the drawtite brand. I'd like to have my backup lights back. I ended up using separate lights in their place for my turn signals.

 

[fatwreck]

Definitely try the drawtite brand....it makes a world of difference.

In my experiences (about 10 installs now), it's the only way to go.

I've had two separate people try to install it themselves with other converters....one being me.....and once the converter was swapped out....all of the issues went away. Don't ask me why...that's just how it is. :wierd:

 

[CRASH]

SUCCESS!

Finally got it to work last night. Reese brand converter was the trick. Tried an old Draw-Tite I had laying around, two different styles of Hopkins, and finally the Reese.

Gawd, a job that should have taken twenty minutes took me 2 hours after work every night this week!

My advice: buy all the converters you can get your hands on, don't molest them during the trial phase of your install, and return the ones that don't work.

CRASH

Definitely try the drawtite brand....it makes a world of difference.

In my experiences (about 10 installs now), it's the only way to go.

I've had two separate people try to install it themselves with other converters....one being me.....and once the converter was swapped out....all of the issues went away. Don't ask me why...that's just how it is. :wierd:

 

[FarmerMatt]

My advise, just use a seperate turn light & be done with it.

Matt