LED bulb and information display

[stanG]

I know there is a bypass procedure for eliminating the warning light and indicator when replacing the standard tailight bulbs with LED's, but has anybody thought about modifying the display circuit so that you could use LED's and still have the bulb out indicator. My guess is that stock system monitors the current draw from the bulb. Since the LED's draw less current can the sensor be modified to function with the lower current draw?

[saddlebum]

On the trucks some modules allowed you to adjust the currant draw in the modules software but on those that did not we installed a small adaptor harness between the led light and the connector to the light. this harness had a resister in it that tricked the module into thinking that the led light was a regular light. I can see if I can get the part number may be even pull one apart so it can be copied and post the info.

[Flyinfool]

You could use the load resistors to "trick" the monitor into thinking that it has regular bulbs. But then you lose all of the amps that you were saving by switching to LED.

 

The sensors on a first gen are a reed switch inside of a coil of wire. A reed switch is a small glass tube with a wire coming in each end. the contacts inside are made of a type of iron. The way that this works is that at the correct current level thru the coil it generates enough of a magnetic field to cause the iron contacts in the reed switch to be attracted to each other and close the circuit.

 

You could wind new coils using a lot more turns of wire so that the magnetic field will be strong enough at a lower amperage so the reed switch will still make contact at the LED amperage. It would take a bunch of messing around to figure out what the new windings would have to be. Then you would have to build in install them on the PCB.

Or you could try to find different reed switches that would close with a weaker magnetic field.

[bkuhr]

The warning indicators are controlled by magnetic reed switch/s in the middle of wire coil/s. The current thru the wire coils to the effected lamps creates enough magnetic field to activate the reed switch/s.

The only practical way, IMO, to maintain the warning indicators would be to remove the reed switches, and in their place install another detector circuit that closes an output where the reed switches were.

Here I modified my CMS for future remote control of the reed switch circuits.

The plan is to install a photo light detector in front/ inside of the effected light, and the photo detector circuit would complete the original reed switch circuit.

(Have not completed the photo detector circuit yet)

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58292

[stanG]

Thanks guys. This will give me something to ponder for a while. I think the external sensor is a great idea but I think the extra wiring could have the potential for greater chance of failure in the future. I think I will do a little research on reed switches and see what I can find out.

[Trader]

I get off the bike and look once in awhile.

 

Still working.....GOOD!

 

Not working.....BAD!

 

 

Low tech....works for me!