flasher unit??

[fat lad]

Hi me again, got my battery charged cleaned all connections and now the indicators are flashing realy fast! is this a unit fault? i did notice once before i got a belt of the casing of the unit please help cheers jonny

[SteveD CB500K0]

The flash rate is determined by the amount of current drawn by the circuit. It heats the bi-metal strip inside the unit which makes/breaks the connection.

Normally, when the flashers are slow (or don't flash at all) it is because there is too little current - ie the battery voltage is low or there is a poor connection(s) (or one of the bulbs has blown!)

Too fast means the opposite.
Wrong bulbs? - should be 12V 21W
Battery voltage too high  - measure at 3000rpm and let us know (should be ~14.5V)

Of course, the unit could be faulty. Is it the correct one?



When you see cars or vans on the road with this problem, it is usually because they have a trailer unit fitted and it's been wired up wrong!

[fat lad]

Cheers steve ill have a look into it, im sure all the bulbs are correct as i restored it last year and they are all new, as the flasher unit goes its the nippon denso one i belive to be original? would the fact that i got a belt off the casing be anything to do with the battery drainning? ( my other post??) as this would point me to a short? i did pull it in bits when i did the resto and it had a bit of corroding where the earth touches the casing, i cleaned that and it was fine until now, ill check all bulbs the power voltage at 3000 rpm and report back many thanks

[JonnyB]

Are these orginal indicators? I have dinky (smaller) lights on my CB650, and they flash faster as Steve said it's due to the current they draw changing the voltage drop across the flasher unit, I think there is an MOT requirement on speed of flashing, but mime passes each year

[SteveD CB500K0]

IIRC (what a great "forum acronym"...) the MOT rate is between 60-120 flashes per minute.

[Bryanj]

Or:-
You can say one and two and three etc but not thirteen fourteen fifteen etc

[fat lad]

hi all, checked the bulbs 21w pulled the flasher unit in bits again ( i dont know why) put it back together and low and behold they work!! i dont know why but im not going to argue with the honda genie thanks again for all your speedy words of wisdom, regards jonny