LED Mirror Mod - partially working....help please

[jemo]

I've had my ST1300 for a couple weeks and doing a few mods I've seen on the forum. I'm about 10 years late to the party but wish I had bought this bike a long time ago, what a terrific bike.

This weekend's project was to install the LED bulbs in the mirror housing so I followed this thread best I could: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/st1300-led-mirrors-now-you-get-noticed-with-style.96091/

I used yellow LEDs if that makes a difference and 270 ohm resistors in the following order:

GROUND - 270 ohm Resistor - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - 12V Indicator Light Source

The bulb closest to the resistor is the only one that blinks or illuminates. Can anyone point me what I might've done wrong? Both sides do the same exact thing. The one light on each side is amazing, I love it so three must be incredible.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Dave.David]

I've had my ST1300 for a couple weeks and doing a few mods I've seen on the forum. I'm about 10 years late to the party but wish I had bought this bike a long time ago, what a terrific bike.

This weekend's project was to install the LED bulbs in the mirror housing so I followed this thread best I could: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/st1300-led-mirrors-now-you-get-noticed-with-style.96091/

I used yellow LEDs if that makes a difference and 270 ohm resistors in the following order:

GROUND - 270 ohm Resistor - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - 12V Indicator Light Source

The bulb closest to the resistor is the only one that blinks or illuminates. Can anyone point me what I might've done wrong? Both sides do the same exact thing. The one light on each side is amazing, I love it so three must be incredible.

Thanks,
Jeff

Are you asking about the little LEDs placed in the outside edge of the mirrors? I've never seen those that need the resistors.
Resisters are for 7334 replacement to LED bulbs. And if you replace 1 or all 4 to LED I recommend just changing the flasher unit to a $5 "timed flasher unit instead of the stock one that measures draw. Then no need for resisters at all.
Pictures are ALWAYS recommended.

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[jemo]

Thanks. I understand pics always help but I did exactly what the person in the post I copied did. I also have LED switchbacks so the flasher relay has been changed.

 

[Dave.David]

Start by putting 12 volts straight ( no resistors ) to the little LEDs. If I understand what you got you'll see that those LEDs want the full 12v .

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[Dave.David]

Thanks. I understand pics always help but I did exactly what the person in the post I copied did. I also have LED switchbacks so the flasher relay has been changed.

If the Flasher unit has been changed then you do not want the resistors on those LEDs either. The whole point of LED is brightness and less current draw.

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[jemo]

Thank you Dave. I’ll give that a try

 

[ST Gui]

He is talking about three raw LEDs placed in the outside edge of the mirror housing. They need a resistor to keep from blowing the LEDs.

Depending on the specs the LEDs will run at 2-3V. Three in series will still probably blow when fed 12V so a resistor is needed.

You can buy a pre-assembled '12V' LED or LED string but it already has a resistor concealed in the shrink tubing or enough LEDs to handle 12V.

The Switchback LEDs are separate from the mirror LEDs and one shouldn't affect the other. You might pull the LED bulbs while working with the string of LEDs just to be sure.

You might double check to see if the leads on the non-illuminating LEDs are shorted and maybe double check the polarity.

Also double check the values used. For three LEDs 270ohms seems a little high.

 

[jemo]

Not positive but from what I’ve read the longer of the two leads on led bulbs is the POS and shorter is NEG. I soldered them in alternating order as the guy in the post above did, ran the ground wire thru a resistor and grounded it to the mirror mounting bolt. POS wire went to signal wire. I took it all off in frustration and went to find the pack of a million bulbs I had to buy from China and can’t find them so lol now waiting for more to arrive.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

The anode is the positive wire of the LED and is the longer one.
The cathode is the negative wire of the LED and is the shorter one.

Twist and solder the anode of the first LED to the cathode of the second LED.
Connect the third LED to the second in the same manner.
Solder the remaining anode to a length of wire. Mark it so that you know that it is the positive wire.
Solder the remaining cathode to the side of the resistor with the dark brown ring. (1)
Solder a length of wire to the side of the resistor with the gold ring. (1) Mark it so that you know that it is the negative wire.
(1) Depending on the resistors that you have these colors may not be the same- I'm not sure about that. You will have to figure out which way the resistor needs to be connected.

Make the connections: ST-1300
On the R/H turn signal the solid light blue wire is the turn signal positive. Solder the cathode lead (the positive wire) of the LED array to this blue wire.
On the L/H turn signal the solid orange wire is the turn signal positive. Solder the cathode lead (the positive wire) of the LED array to this orange wire.
On both turn signals the solid green wire is the ground. Solder the remaining anode lead (negative wire) of the LED array to this green wire.

 

[MajorTom]

Unlike LEDs, resistors don't have +/- polarity, so it can be connected from either side.

 

[Turbine2]

If one of the LEDs is flashing then you have the polarity correct, the question then is about the voltage drop. If you have a volt meter can you measure the voltage at each LED.
Another thing you could do is short out one of the LEDs and see if the others come on. If thy do then it’s a case of them dropping too much voltage, in which case you can /probably/ do without the resister. I’d be surprised at that, but it is possible.
What LEDs are they? I’m assuming they are 5mm standard ones like you use for small electronic projects rather than more specialised 5v ones.

 

[Dave.David]

Dang, been long time sense I did all that. Nowadays I buy the cheap 5mm or 8mm LEDs that run 12v for many years.
Pics taken just now. If anyone wants the link just PM me.

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[ST Gui]

GROUND - 270 ohm Resistor - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - NEG/POS - 12V Indicator Light Source

Ok, you've correctly identified the polarity and connected all components in series, as is proper. Again, the 270 Ohm resistor may be a little high in value. Look online for a guide for LED/Resistor value recommendations.

Nowadays I buy the cheap 5mm or 8mm LEDs that run 12v for many years.

+1 I've got a bag of those too. They have the resistor already attached. Plug n play! Raw LEDs are great for a custom design but a sack o' PnP LEDs is really the way to go.

I'll add that when Stan v8-7 started the 3-LED project he sourced some bright LEDs. That can always be a pothole in the road to farkling.

 

[v8-7]

270 ohms should be ok, ,,but verify their value as it does sound like a voltage problem and verify the voltage requirement for the led's you have...

 

[jemo]

I went ahead and ordered some of the pre-wired LEDs that David and ST Gui mentioned. Coming from China, should be here mid December.

 

[ST Gui]

I went ahead and ordered some of the pre-wired LEDs

Apologies if you already know— those will be wired in parallel not series — Pos to Pos and Neg to Neg etc then the Pos side to the +lead from the indicator connector and Neg to Gnd (green wire or frame etc.)

 

[jemo]

Thanks ST, I was hoping that's the case. I plan to do 3 lights per side so I guess it will be alright to splice 3 of them together and then to the POS and GRD. Thanks again.

 

[Dave.David]

Thanks ST, I was hoping that's the case. I plan to do 3 lights per side so I guess it will be alright to splice 3 of them together and then to the POS and GRD. Thanks again.

That's exactly what I did.

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[Andrew Shadow]

Jemo:
Reading through this thread I noticed that you used a 270 ohm resistor in your 3 LED array. The post that you are copying from used a 120 ohm resistor. The pre-made set of 3 LED arrays that were being sold by a member on this site used a 150 ohm resistor. I am not much in to electronics so I don't know if this could be the cause of the problem or not. I guess if you used different LED bulbs than you could need a greater resistance also. I simply noticed that your choice of resistor has a significantly higher value than what the others used and it seems odd to me that there should be such a large difference.

 

[jemo]

Thanks Andrew, that could be it. I used a LED resistor calculator the person posted in the thread above and using the specs on the bulbs I bought, they recommended the 270 Ohm resistor. Nevertheless, I'm going a different route and bought the pre-wired 5mm lights this time around. I think the resistance is built in on those bulbs. A $2 investment.