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TR2/3/3A TR3 Electrical issue flasher unit

prb51

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My old flasher unit was dead so I replaced it with a flaps 3 screw type.
My dash turn signal light illuminates on L/R but does not flash.
Are the flasher units sold by the TR suppliers special and work off of lower wattage or what?
Horn etc works fine.
 
My experience was that most of the 3-terminal units sold by FLAPS simply do not work correctly in the TR turn circuit. (I bought one of each, tried them all.) Not a matter of wattage so much, as the way the dash light is wired.

A Tridon EL-13 works, but the plastic case is kind of fragile. The first one I bought eventually broke, apparently just under the force from the clip. Being somewhat disgusted with that, I got one of the other ones to work, by rewiring the dash lamp from ground to the ignition circuit.

But then for the project TR3, I bought another EL13. Decided it's flash rate was a bit slow for my tastes (which might have something to do with my rather novel turn signal circuit), so I popped the plastic housing off and adjusted the tabs to get a higher rate. I'm reasonably happy with the result, although I still couldn't get it quite as fast as I wanted.

Of course, the sensible solution is to buy a proper reproduction from your favorite LBC vendor. But some of us are too stubborn for that!
grin.gif
 
Randall,
Thanks for the info.
Never had a flasher apart. I assume you bring the tabs closer together for a faster switch?
 
The EL-13 'electronic' flasher is quite a bit different inside than the usual 'thermal' flasher. It's more or less a relay with two windings, and a capacitor.
Unfortunately, I don't recall just what I did overall; it was kind of a trial and error process. I do recall that the margin between "faster" and "not working" was very small.

I don't particularly recommend the mod to others, just reporting what I did. If I manage to find an original Lucas can, I'll probably try to stuff a 'real' electronic flasher inside. NE555 anyone?
 
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