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Wiring an LED rocker switch.

Truckcab79

Truckcab79

Extreme Landy Fan
I'll post some pics if it helps but in the meantime....

i have retro-fitted hazards to my landy some years ago. Used an aftermarket kit off eBay. Worked perfectly. When I fitted LED lights to the vehicle sometime ago I had to swap the flasher relay for an LED version. Did so and still worked perfectly.

Recently noticed that the rocker switch itself had stopped flashing though everything else worked fine. On taking it out I ran a new earth from the back of the switch to the bodywork. Light started flashing. All good. Just need to replace the earth or at least check why it's not connecting.

However.....in the meantime I've bought a new RDX rocker switch to replace it. Identical size, but it has the hazard symbol printed onto the switch so I'd like to use it rather than the one I have with a sticker.

RDX switch is meant to be lit with small LED all the time, and hazard symbol lights up when switch on. Both RDX and old switch have three prongs on the back. When I connect the RDX one up it flashes when switched on. However it also flashes when off, if I connect the earth. Is this because the new switch has an LED bulb in it and the old one doesn't, or something else? How do I get it to work properly?

many thanks in advance.

Oh......and I know nothing about electricity, and don't own any testing equipment.
 
I know this is a more technical question :) but where is the switch in the circuit?
Is it between the battery and flasher unit or between the flasher unit and the lamps/LEDs?
 
Series 1 said:
I know this is a more technical question :) but where is the switch in the circuit?
Is it between the battery and flasher unit or between the flasher unit and the lamps/LEDs?
Click to expand...

Ooh. Now you're asking. I THINK it's between battery and flasher unit. I'll post the listing from eBay when I get a chance, and photograph how it's installed currently, and what mine is doing when I attach the RDX version.
 
Ok. So this is the kit I fitted (without the scotchlocks and cable ties I assure you!) when I changed my lamps to LED I fitted an LED flasher relay.

6b903b6b86a6f44cbb4cc8372a6d7fde.jpg


This is the switch I've bought. Both this one and the old one have three pins on the rear.

818ac66a7fcdae6e8b77b2cc767ab229.jpg


This is the blurb which suggests it might not just be a straight swap.

0fed2d7b89686e9969bdc886b315ca37.jpg


The difference between the old and new switches would appear to be:

New switch is LED, old is filament

New switch has two light, old has one.

New switch has one light that is on permanently, even when switch is 'off', and a different light that flashes when it's 'on'. Old switch and light is either on or off.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The circuit of the original hazard warning switch is not clear from the photo.
Also I suspect there is a lot more to the circuit than that... any relays in the circuit?... with relays you can do almost anything in many varying forms of configuration too.

I have given this some thought and I think you need to find out what caused the original earth wire failure to the switch.
The failure may be affecting other parts of the circuit also.

The new switch has two additional features the old one didn't.

1. As you say, it has an LED instead of a filament lamp to flash when the hazard warning lights are operating.
It draws far less current and needs a lower voltage for it to light.
That may affect how the rest of the circuitry operates.
It may also be polarity sensitive depending on what type of LED it is.
That could alter the circuitry operation also.

2. The second additional LED may substantially alter the circuit that the switch is part of too.



Without the chassis wire connected to the switch the two LEDS are in series.
The switch operates correctly.
When you connect the chassis wire each LED has one of their terminals tied to the chassis and the switch does not operate correctly and the switch LEDs (both of them?) flash all the time.
I am uncertain if the vehicle indicators also flash when this happens.
 
I've had problems with LED warning lights and flashers, sometimes the flashers have a small residual current that is enough to flash the LED, can you rig up a substitute with a filiament bulb so you can test if its the cicuit logic or the LED vs filiament that's the issue?
 
Thanks both. I'll try and get some pics of my exact installation over the weekend. It might be more hassle than it's worth given that I can easily get the old one working by sorting the earth connection.
 
Repaired the original today. It was no more complicated than the fact that the earth wire had come disconnected off the other end. Bearing in mind it works perfectly I'll leave well alone until after the MOT, which is due soon. If I ever find out how to do it it's just a case of swapping the red for the new one. Hole size is the same.
 
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