LED strip for turn signals - which wires?

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Picked up a 4 in. LED strip at Walmart today to use on my mirror cover for turn signal indication. No idea which wires to tap at the turn signal connector. The strip has two wires, power and ground, and the turn signal has a green, an orange and an orange w/white stripe. Could some one kindly help with this simple connection, as I have no idea what I'm looking at on a wiring diagram. Thanks!
 
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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Picked up a 4 in. LED strip at Walmart today to use on my mirror cover for turn signal indication. No idea which wires to tap at the turn signal connector. The strip has two wires, power and ground, and the turn signal has a green, an orange and an orange w/white stripe. Could some one kindly help with this simple connection, as I have no idea what I'm looking at on a wiring diagram. Thanks!
I haven't looked at the wiring diagram yet, but I'm assuming that you can measure voltages and figure it out. One wire should be the running light, so that should be 12v with the ignition on. Another wire should be return to ground, so basically 0v with ignition on. The third wire would be the intermittent turn signal wire, alternating between 12v and 0v with ignition on and turn signal flashing. You'll lose the running light capability with the two-wire LED panel.
 

v8-7

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Green is ground and the solid color wire is the turn signal .
 

T_C

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

You'll lose the running light capability with the two-wire LED panel.
FYI...
He's not replacing his front facing turn signal, he is using these as turn signal indicators around the inside of the mirror housing.
 

SteveST1300

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

And its an ST 1100 not sure if thats the same as a 1300 although color coding for Honda I think is the same green is ground.
 

thepaleobiker

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Picked up a 4 in. LED strip at Walmart today to use on my mirror cover for turn signal indication. No idea which wires to tap at the turn signal connector. The strip has two wires, power and ground, and the turn signal has a green, an orange and an orange w/white stripe. Could some one kindly help with this simple connection, as I have no idea what I'm looking at on a wiring diagram. Thanks!
I'd be interested to see how this PANs out - Could you kindly post pictures of the LED strip & wiring if you have them handy? Thanks!

Regards,
Vishnu
 
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Re: LED strip for turn signals

FYI...
He's not replacing his front facing turn signal, he is using these as turn signal indicators around the inside of the mirror housing.
Ah, wasn't sure what he was trying to do with them, thanks for the clarification.
 

SteveST1300

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Dean you want to keep in mind that you may have to remove the mirror cover at some point so don't make a connection you cant undo.
 

T_C

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

On a situation like that when you are doing a permananet mod and don't want to cut the factory wiring, I prefer an inline splice.

Strip about 3/8" of insulation off a section of the original wire, but don't cut through, wrap your new wire around and solder. Insulate with some good electrical tape.

To strip the insulation, use your wire strippers to make two cuts through the insulation 3/8" apart. Use a razor knife to shave off a bit of the insulation till you get to bare wire. Then peel off the remainder.
 
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DeanR
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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Dean you want to keep in mind that you may have to remove the mirror cover at some point so don't make a connection you cant undo.
(WILL) have to remove the mirror cover at some point. Yes, I have some Posi-Locks that would work, but they are too small.
The LED wires are real small, so I tried to just jam em into the connector before bringing the connector together. Doesn't seem to want to work though.
 
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T_C

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

You can also stop at Radio Shack or Home Depot \ etc, and get a quick wire splice:
quicksplice.jpg
I couldn't.... but maybe you could.
No way would I bring something like that near me.

Send shivers down my spine just thinking about it.... uhhh...:evil:
 

Byron

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

I don't like to splice into any of the factory wiring because it is so small. Instead I like to create a plug and play connector setup. Using connectors like found here.

HB-050-turn-signal-connector-for-Honda-Yamaha-Suzuki.jpg

Add the wiring you need attached between the two connectors and then you simply disconnect the factory connection and plug in the new adapter. If you ever need to remove it you simply un-plug and re-plug. :)

I should have mentioned that I also like to make this a pass thru type connection or "Y" as well. That way if the device you are adding fails the voltage or ground will still have their connection and continue to work.
 
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DeanR
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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Byron, you still need a way to get into the factory wiring, correct?
 

ST Gui

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Byron, you still need a way to get into the factory wiring, correct?
Yeah I don't get it either.

Those 3M Scotchlok type connectors have worked inside my car most of the time and have failed on my bikes most of the time. I won't bother with them.


these are a really good option and are easily taken apart when needed
I think those and some of the Posi-Taps are the way to go. I also just tin the leads of some devices and slide them into the factory connectors. Once snugged they're Ty-Wrapped to the connectors' factory wiring. Works very well. Somebody here does the same.
 
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Re: LED strip for turn signals

I added a number of LED's to my mirrors instead of using a manufactured strip. in the end, though, it makes no difference. My LED's came with about 2 or 3 foot long leads, so I clipped them to the appropriate length and then stripped the factory wires (between Honda's connector and the turn signal) as described above, being VERY careful with that razor blade - you don't want to damage the stranded copper conductors or your fingers! Twist the new lead (called the 'tap') around the factory wire (the 'run'), solder the connection and take some care using good quality electrical tape to insulate it (I use Scotch 33+). Unfortunately you cannot use heat shrink here because you never cut through the 'run' wires.

Then, use a so called 'hitachi' connector - pictured in reply #15 - to connect your taps to the LED strips. Voila, you can now disconnect the strips from the wiring harness and the tap stays with the short wires that go from the factory turn signals to a Honda 'hitachi' connector.

Flies in the ointment here are while the 'hitachi' connectors will set you back around $6 or so (plus some exorbitant shipping charge), a crimp tool might cost $20 or more, and after you ruin the itty bitty metal contact parts you will find you are now one short and have to wait to get more. If you go this route, buy several connectors - male and female, and a bunch of extra metal contacts for each half. For sure you will use them elsewhere on the bike.

Good luck!
 

Byron

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Re: LED strip for turn signals

Byron, you still need a way to get into the factory wiring, correct?
The connector are how you get to the factory wiring. Take a look at this picture, it was from my cruise control install. The red and purple wires were for the cruise control. I found the factory connector for where I needed to make the connection and took it apart. I then used the same connectors and built this adapter. It has the cruise control wires added to the connector and it has pass through wires for all the others that were needed to keep the bike functioning correctly. You then simply plug this in between the two factory connector halves and you have you connection without cutting into delicate factory wires.

I hope this helps.
 

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