Thanks Mr. Pete. I'm 61 years old and have been a helicopter mechanic for 40 years so figuring out mechanical things is in my nature but you just taught me something that I've wondered about on a few occasions. Hopefully age will never prevent me from learning new things. Carry on please, sir!
From what I've seen over the years, there's not a lot of people who have ever even heard the click of the flasher because they NEVER use their turn signals!! P.S. Love the What Makes It Work series!
Brings the feeling of those 1950's cars where the whole body was vibrating when the flashers were actuated, every piece of steel in those cars were welded solid together, so the KLUNK was really loud... My first memories were my dad's 1953 Pontiac... ;)
I'll keep the idea of moving the flasher unit out from under the dash in mind. Tinitis and road noise won't let me hear them anymore. Too many hours on an old Cats with loose decking plates and un-muffled pony motors. As a young man, I spent a day running a series of errands with my Father. One task took us by where he worked at the rail yard. At the board marker's office he met one of his peers, Mr. Raymond "Ollie Dolly" (as the female clerks called him) Oliver. They hadn't seen each other for a while, so there was the usual greetings and exchange of news, part of that was about the recent influx of new 'kids' (switchmen) and how 'green' they were. Ollie asked: "Kenny, do you remember when we looked across the yardmaster's desk and thought 'when is this old prune-face going to retire?'" Dad nodded. "Now we are the prune-face." and now I are...
My daughter and I were working on replacing her flasher in her truck when you posted this video. Great timing, and yes girls also like watching your videos. Keep up the good work!
That little metal piece that bends with heat is called a bimetal. Two pieces of metal with different rates of heat/ expansion laminated together. When heated, one expands more than the other causing it to bend. Same technology used in the thermal trip side of most circuit breakers. Neat video Pete!
+Michael Murray "Bimetal" refers specifically to a strip made of two layers of different metals sandwiched together. While it is true that this is used in breakers, and thermostats, and many flashers, if you look closely you will see it is not the case here. The strip with the heating wire around it is spot welded on the two ends to the larger spring. As the strip heats it expands, causing the spring to click over. It just relies on the lengthwise expansion of the metal compared to the cold spring rather than bending from different expansion of dissimilar metals in a bimetal strip heated to the same temperature. The difference is subtle, but important.
Nice video. I troubleshooted a similar flasher (turn signal relay) a few decades ago when my 1962 VW beetle was acting up. The flasher in my old VW even had an adjustment screw to adjust the on/off time ratio (IIRC).
Nice video thank you- Im replacing the turn signal lamps to LEDs on my 61 Chev. This is why I have to also upgrade to a solid state flasher for LED as LEDs do not impose enough load to allow the mechanical fisher to work properly. This was a good refresher to remind me why this is necessary.
I recall when Dad had to hang his arm out the window to signal!! ;-) For years, he did that even with the turn signal on. Thanks for sharing and bringing back some good memories!!
Hi my husband and l restored a 1948 bsa motorcycle it needed flashers we had no idea how a flasher worked, thanks to you we now have flashers on the old bike thanks again for the information cheers from Australia
Great informative video. Loved your comments about the elderly Florida drivers. I'm there for the month and I agree with your observations completely. Lots of youthful aggressive drivers on the road too. I haven't decided which is worse.
Thanks for another great video. I'd like to add that I solved the problem of not being able to hear the "click" by wiring a seat belt buzzer in series with the flasher thus making an intermittent "buzzing" sound. It was just obnoxious enough that I never again forgot to cancel my turn signal. :)
The mother-in-law took her car in for the "flasher" to be fixed. It was but the clicking sound went away. She told the mechanic, with a very strict voice to put the clicking back again,...which he did. Nice video Mr. Pete
My only disappointment was when you disconnected the still-hot wires from the working flasher setup (4:51), and laid them down, they didn't touch each other and create the world's smallest fireworks show, as they most certainly would have done for me...your comments would have been fun. I'm a BIG fan, Pete, and always look forward to the email notice about your newest video being ready for viewing...thank you for being who you are, and for doing what you do.
@mark spencer I see this is an old comment of yours, but maybe you still will read my response. :) This went through my mind too, but in fact, only the light would be turned on, if the two leads had touched each other. So no fireworks, because that would not have been a short circuit. :)
This is awesome! I didn't know anything about this series, I thought you only made metalworking videos. If you get an FLIR attachment for your phone, you'll be able to see and record temperature changes such as this. Keep up the great work!
Great video and thanks for making it. But, I think that at about six minutes into the video, you may have said it backwards. I think the heating element heats up when the contact is closed, and cools off when the contact is open. When the contact is open, no current can flow, and hence the heating element can't heat up.
+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky I think there are two different configurations and his various cut opened examples show both. BTW the older designs had three prongs. The heater circuit was somewhat separate. Missed his six minute explanation.
The old style flashers worked that way (like a thermostat) and started in the ON state but they had some shortcomings: 1. They had to be matched to the current of all the lamps to get the timing right. Say your car has 4 lamps per side - one lamp fails and now there's not enough current draw to heat the bi-metallic strip and open the contact. This lights stayed on and no flashing occurred. If you added a trailer so you now had 5 or 6 lamps per side, the higher current draw heated the strip too quickly and the flasher went too fast for the lamps to reach full brightness. 4 lamp flashers were very common; front, back, and 2 side markers. If a designer wanted to deviate from that he/she had to play with the lamp size to stay within the flasher's range or use a differently tuned flasher. 2. Making and tuning bi-metallic strip flashers was a bit fiddly and took skill to get them all flashing at the same rate like the designers wanted. To get around all that the bi-metallic strip was eliminated and a low current heater was connected across the terminals full time. Now the flasher could work with only 1 lamp or 10 - as long the circuit was completed the heater would operate. A spring steel snap acting switch replaced the bi-metallic strip. The switch is bent back away from the contacts and a small splint (lack of a better term) is attached to hold the contacts open. The heater coil is wrapped around this splint. These flashers start in the LAMP OFF state. The heater causes splint to expand allowing the spring contact to close and light the lamps. While closed, the heater is shorted and all the current goes to the lamps. When the splint cools it shrinks and pulls the contacts apart and repeats the cycle. Remember back when we'd manually flash the signals to make a lane change? The lights came on as soon as we nudged the lever as we had the old style flashers. Then somewhere along the line they no longer did that (new style flashers) and we had to hold the lever until it started flashing on it's own. This caused accidents as folks used to doing the quick flash were changing lanes not realizing the flasher hadn't started yet. I think it was around this time that many people stopped using flashers altogether as they couldn't be bothered to wait that 1 second for something to happen.
+Eddie the Grouch, in the particular example shown in this video, the flasher only has two terminals, and it is connected in series with the light bulb. Therefore, I think it has to be one of the old style flashers, as there is no way that the flasher, in this configuration, can simultaneously interrupt current flowing to the light bulb, and still have a closed loop for current to flow through the heating element.
+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky could the resistive heater be connected in parallel, passing current through the light but not enough to notably light the lamp?
The clue is in what state the flasher's switch is in un-powered. If the switch is closed, the heater is in series with the switch and merely replaces the function of a bi-metallic strip. All the lamp current must past through the heater and the total lamp current can effect the flash rate. I called this the "Olde Style" or type 1 flasher. If the switch starts in the open state (as in the close-up example), the heater is bridged across the terminals in parallel all the time. The high resistance heater only needs a small current to operate and itself passes only a small current to the lamps, not enough to light them, while the flasher switch is open. Once the heater operates and the switch closes, the heater stops because the current flows through the lower resistance path of the switch. The heater is effectively shorted out and ignored. This why the number of lamps has little effect on the flash rate. When the heated strip cools and retracts the switch, the current has to flow through just the heater again and the cycle repeats. This I call New Style or type 2 flashers.
Nice video. I've been in and out of electronics since the early 1990's and was unaware of these thermal flashers. Simple concept though certainly, but very energy inefficient compared to digital technology. Well done video!
MrPete222 as stated below, and as I understand it, the "spring steel" part is indeed a a Bi metal strip with a Kink (or bend) in it and when heated it expands deferentially (one side more than the other) and Clicks (AKA Oil canning) and disconnects the heater then after cooling it relaxes, clicks back again and reconnects the heater for another cycle. I hope i've gotten it right :-) thanks for all your "Classes" in Machining etc.
Another excellent how it works vid ! ! After seeing this I think I now know why the clicking cycle seems to speed up when you have a signal bulb burned out. The extra current not being used by the burned out bulb heats up the bi-metal quicker - with the extra current it quickens the cycle time.
I was just wondering about this - but I think this is not correct. This flasher acts as a switch, and the current flowing through it is defined by the resistance (the bulbs) and the voltage of the battery. If you take out one bulb, the current will be lower, because you have higher resistance for the same voltage, therefore the flasher will heat up slower. However, what I think really happens is, that the final temperature it reaches, before it turns on, is lower, just a bit over the switching limit, and so it cools down to the turn off limit in a shorter period of time. So the "temperature swing" is reduced, and so also the mechanical movement gets limited, and this results in a higher switching frequency.
Great video Mr. Pete! Very enlightening for sure! Interesting, at 6:46 it looks like the soldered connection in the upper left is liquified! I know it can't be so it must be a trick of the eye, but it really looks like the solder is moving in liquid form.
The strip of metal he's referring to is a bi-metal. Two different metals are sandwiched together to form the strip. Each metal expands at a different rate, when current is applied, which causes the strip to flex...hence, opening the circuit. Once the strip cools off, it regains its original form (closing the circuit) and the process repeats.
Really great explanation / demonstration. Any idea what can cause one of these to go bad? I had two go bad in the last month. My signals would just stay on all the time instead of flash
Great video. The current flows through the heater element and completes the electrical circuit through the filament in the bulbs, however the heater element consumes just enough current to cause the heater element to heat up but not light up the bulbs. When the strip of metal flexes due to being heated it closes the contact points and gives the current a direct path to the bulbs causing the filaments to light up, at the same time the heater element cools down and the strip of metal relaxes and the contacts open and the cycle repeats itself. The reason that the flasher cycles faster when a bulb burns out is because there is LESS electrical resistance in in the circuit and the heater element heats up faster.
Why would be less resistance? The bulbs are conneced in parallel, if one of them falls out from the circuit, the resistance will be more and not less. The current will be less and not more.
MR. PETE, IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT LIONEL TRAINS USED THAT SAME METHOD TO BLINK LIGHTS ON SOME OF THE ACCESSORIES. IT WAS ALSO USED TO RING THE BELL IN SOME OF THE TENDERS. GREAT VIDEO, THANKS.,
Great video! I was looking for an instructional video such as this one explaining how to wire everything. I have two questions for you. Can a 12v Heavy Duty Flasher 537 be used with two 12v LED lights? How would I wire them?
Very nice. If you do another video, maybe test one of the next generation of flasher units patented in 1963. It is not load dependent like the older design thermal flashers and uses a capacitor and two coils. Tridon was originally Canadian and built these in Canada. They were marketed as 'electronic'. You can still buy them under the new brand name of Novita. The part number for a generic old car flasher is HD13 or EL13. The US patent# is 3247402 by Rodney Hayden of Stoney Creek Ontario and assigned to Tridon. This one is a really clever design and even simpler than some of the early Tung Sol thermal flashers.
Very nice! I have found out that the original General Motors flashers are irreplaceable. The aftermarket ones don't work the same and don't sound the same. Therefore, whenever I am at the junkyard, I collect original GM ones for my project cars.
+mrpete222 I actually wired in two, wired directly off the rear flashers. It was made easier with it being an estate. I also seldom have rear passengers to annoy ;-)
+mrpete222 That's all I did, cheap 12v buzzers from eBay, wired in series with the bulb. I left them behind the trim and they were still too loud so I wrapped a bit of foam round them. Been working for 5 years now.
Have you considered fitting a small buzzer tapped into the indicator output? many available on e-bay. Could use the simple buzzer and chewing gum approach to adjust volume - or a more sophisticated volume control using a variable resistor so you can set a comfortable level.
The spring that changes shape is called a Bi-Metal spring. It is a sandwich of two layers of different metals. Different metals expand and contract at different rates and at different temperatures. When the element heats the spring, one side expands faster the other, causing it to warp.
Наука
Thanks Mr. Pete. I'm 61 years old and have been a helicopter mechanic for 40 years so figuring out mechanical things is in my nature but you just taught me something that I've wondered about on a few occasions. Hopefully age will never prevent me from learning new things. Carry on please, sir!
You must be 65 now, how are you doing sir
From what I've seen over the years, there's not a lot of people who have ever even heard the click of the flasher because they NEVER use their turn signals!!
P.S. Love the What Makes It Work series!
+suzukichopper LOL--thats the best one yet--Thanks for watching
bmw
Brings the feeling of those 1950's cars where the whole body was vibrating when the flashers were actuated, every piece of steel in those cars were welded solid together, so the KLUNK was really loud... My first memories were my dad's 1953 Pontiac... ;)
I'll keep the idea of moving the flasher unit out from under the dash in mind. Tinitis and road noise won't let me hear them anymore. Too many hours on an old Cats with loose decking plates and un-muffled pony motors.
As a young man, I spent a day running a series of errands with my Father. One task took us by where he worked at the rail yard. At the board marker's office he met one of his peers, Mr. Raymond "Ollie Dolly" (as the female clerks called him) Oliver. They hadn't seen each other for a while, so there was the usual greetings and exchange of news, part of that was about the recent influx of new 'kids' (switchmen) and how 'green' they were.
Ollie asked: "Kenny, do you remember when we looked across the yardmaster's desk and thought 'when is this old prune-face going to retire?'" Dad nodded.
"Now we are the prune-face."
and now I are...
My daughter and I were working on replacing her flasher in her truck when you posted this video. Great timing, and yes girls also like watching your videos. Keep up the good work!
That little metal piece that bends with heat is called a bimetal. Two pieces of metal with different rates of heat/ expansion laminated together. When heated, one expands more than the other causing it to bend. Same technology used in the thermal trip side of most circuit breakers. Neat video Pete!
+Michael Murray "Bimetal" refers specifically to a strip made of two layers of different metals sandwiched together. While it is true that this is used in breakers, and thermostats, and many flashers, if you look closely you will see it is not the case here.
The strip with the heating wire around it is spot welded on the two ends to the larger spring. As the strip heats it expands, causing the spring to click over. It just relies on the lengthwise expansion of the metal compared to the cold spring rather than bending from different expansion of dissimilar metals in a bimetal strip heated to the same temperature.
The difference is subtle, but important.
+Michael Murray Thanks for watching
+stefantrethan You are right on--not bimetal
Wow what a fantastic video! This is how you make a proper video on how something works.
Thank you very much!
And another fine video class.
Thanks Mr. Tubalcain and to quote the famous teacher you are ..."So long for now"!
John
really enjoy the what makes it work series. Thank you Mr Pete.
This is an excellent series. Thank you for making them.
Nice video. I troubleshooted a similar flasher (turn signal relay) a few decades ago when my 1962 VW beetle was acting up. The flasher in my old VW even had an adjustment screw to adjust the on/off time ratio (IIRC).
Nice job, I'm enjoying this series. Thanks.
Nice video thank you- Im replacing the turn signal lamps to LEDs on my 61 Chev. This is why I have to also upgrade to a solid state flasher for LED as LEDs do not impose enough load to allow the mechanical fisher to work properly. This was a good refresher to remind me why this is necessary.
I recall when Dad had to hang his arm out the window to signal!! ;-) For years, he did that even with the turn signal on. Thanks for sharing and bringing back some good memories!!
Hi my husband and l restored a 1948 bsa motorcycle it needed flashers we had no idea how a flasher worked, thanks to you we now have flashers on the old bike thanks again for the information cheers from Australia
Always wondered how that worked. Thanks!
So interesting, Thanks!!
Great closeups. 👏🏻
One of those things you don't really ever think about how it operates... learned something new today... thanks.
Excellent video.. Awesome work..! Clean and professional .. Thank you so much for the explanation ..
Great informative video. Loved your comments about the elderly Florida drivers. I'm there for the month and I agree with your observations completely. Lots of youthful aggressive drivers on the road too. I haven't decided which is worse.
+eldoradony They are both bad
Thank you a very helpful and informative video!
I found that very interesting. Always wondered how that worked. Thanks for showing us!
What a great video! Thank you so much for making this. Very helpful and interesting
Thank you! Great, thorough explanation and good quality visual representation.
Thanks
Pretty Neat!!! Never gave much thought about that annoying little switch lol Nice to finally see what is in there mystery solved Thanks !
Thanks for another great video. I'd like to add that I solved the problem of not being able to hear the "click" by wiring a seat belt buzzer in series with the flasher thus making an intermittent "buzzing" sound. It was just obnoxious enough that I never again forgot to cancel my turn signal. :)
+Will Shankle good idea
Like the way you explained it. Thank you
Beautiful. I love the level of detail in your film sir!
Thank you
Great video and education... Thanks!
Thanks sir, that was enlightening !
Keep on trucking (from France)
+MakeFix thanks for watching
Wow I was curious about these! Thanks for this clear explanation. K.
Thank you for the great explanation! :)
Wonderful video thank you Pete
Great explaination Mr. Pete!
The mother-in-law took her car in for the "flasher" to be fixed. It was but the clicking sound went away. She told the mechanic, with a very strict voice to put the clicking back again,...which he did. Nice video Mr. Pete
+Mike C. Good one
Pete....Like the way you explained and demonstrated...Great
Thank you
You're old. Yet you make a better video than most folks can produce! Seriously good work. Thank you #subscribed #sorryidrankwhiskey
Thanks
Thanks a lot, keep them coming.
Great Video! Really helped me out
The old ways are still the best ways in my opinion. Great display and helped me with my 1971 HQ Monaro.
Thanks
Great video ,very detailed 👍👍
Thanks
Excellent. Amazing what a little heat can do. Thanks for sharing. regards from the UK
+Gary C Thanks for watching
Thank you, I really enjoyed, that!!
Very informative and helpful!
Thanks
Great video
This is SO FASCINATING
Sir you are the best teacher!. Thanks
😀😀😀
Thanks for the visual of the ROFs in FL.
explained in great detail as always.. thanks for sharing sir....
+Kevin Willis Thanks for watching
didnt expect that subject ,-but it was interesting!thx man.
great video!! I use this video to show my Diesel Technology electrical class. thank you!!
Thanks
An interesting explanation. Thank you
Thanks
Nicely done!
pretty cool Thanks for Sharing!!!
Great Video!
Thanks for teaching me.
My only disappointment was when you disconnected the still-hot wires from the working flasher setup (4:51), and laid them down, they didn't touch each other and create the world's smallest fireworks show, as they most certainly would have done for me...your comments would have been fun. I'm a BIG fan, Pete, and always look forward to the email notice about your newest video being ready for viewing...thank you for being who you are, and for doing what you do.
@mark spencer I see this is an old comment of yours, but maybe you still will read my response. :)
This went through my mind too, but in fact, only the light would be turned on, if the two leads had touched each other. So no fireworks, because that would not have been a short circuit. :)
Lovely thanks great video
+Dave Jones Thanks for watching
This is awesome! I didn't know anything about this series, I thought you only made metalworking videos. If you get an FLIR attachment for your phone, you'll be able to see and record temperature changes such as this. Keep up the great work!
Thanks
Great video sir
Thank you
Great explanation. Thank you! Can I wire something to my turn switch without turning off with the relay turning on and off (light blinking)
Im amazed at how simple it is! back when you could actually understand how everything worked just by looking at it.
Mr Pete that was great
+Doug Van Allen thanks for watching
thank you, this is very helpful!
👍
Great video and thanks for making it. But, I think that at about six minutes into the video, you may have said it backwards. I think the heating element heats up when the contact is closed, and cools off when the contact is open. When the contact is open, no current can flow, and hence the heating element can't heat up.
+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky
I think there are two different configurations and his various cut opened examples show both. BTW the older designs had three prongs. The heater circuit was somewhat separate. Missed his six minute explanation.
The old style flashers worked that way (like a thermostat) and started in the ON state but they had some shortcomings: 1. They had to be matched to the current of all the lamps to get the timing right. Say your car has 4 lamps per side - one lamp fails and now there's not enough current draw to heat the bi-metallic strip and open the contact. This lights stayed on and no flashing occurred. If you added a trailer so you now had 5 or 6 lamps per side, the higher current draw heated the strip too quickly and the flasher went too fast for the lamps to reach full brightness. 4 lamp flashers were very common; front, back, and 2 side markers. If a designer wanted to deviate from that he/she had to play with the lamp size to stay within the flasher's range or use a differently tuned flasher. 2. Making and tuning bi-metallic strip flashers was a bit fiddly and took skill to get them all flashing at the same rate like the designers wanted. To get around all that the bi-metallic strip was eliminated and a low current heater was connected across the terminals full time. Now the flasher could work with only 1 lamp or 10 - as long the circuit was completed the heater would operate. A spring steel snap acting switch replaced the bi-metallic strip. The switch is bent back away from the contacts and a small splint (lack of a better term) is attached to hold the contacts open. The heater coil is wrapped around this splint. These flashers start in the LAMP OFF state. The heater causes splint to expand allowing the spring contact to close and light the lamps. While closed, the heater is shorted and all the current goes to the lamps. When the splint cools it shrinks and pulls the contacts apart and repeats the cycle. Remember back when we'd manually flash the signals to make a lane change? The lights came on as soon as we nudged the lever as we had the old style flashers. Then somewhere along the line they no longer did that (new style flashers) and we had to hold the lever until it started flashing on it's own. This caused accidents as folks used to doing the quick flash were changing lanes not realizing the flasher hadn't started yet. I think it was around this time that many people stopped using flashers altogether as they couldn't be bothered to wait that 1 second for something to happen.
+Eddie the Grouch, in the particular example shown in this video, the flasher only has two terminals, and it is connected in series with the light bulb. Therefore, I think it has to be one of the old style flashers, as there is no way that the flasher, in this configuration, can simultaneously interrupt current flowing to the light bulb, and still have a closed loop for current to flow through the heating element.
+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky could the resistive heater be connected in parallel, passing current through the light but not enough to notably light the lamp?
The clue is in what state the flasher's switch is in un-powered. If the switch is closed, the heater is in series with the switch and merely replaces the function of a bi-metallic strip. All the lamp current must past through the heater and the total lamp current can effect the flash rate. I called this the "Olde Style" or type 1 flasher.
If the switch starts in the open state (as in the close-up example), the heater is bridged across the terminals in parallel all the time. The high resistance heater only needs a small current to operate and itself passes only a small current to the lamps, not enough to light them, while the flasher switch is open. Once the heater operates and the switch closes, the heater stops because the current flows through the lower resistance path of the switch. The heater is effectively shorted out and ignored. This why the number of lamps has little effect on the flash rate. When the heated strip cools and retracts the switch, the current has to flow through just the heater again and the cycle repeats. This I call New Style or type 2 flashers.
Thanks Mr Pete
Another title might have been 'What makes it tick'. Thanks for all your efforts, I've learned a lot.
+chuck fischer I like that. I just added it as a sub title. thanks
Good stuff..thanks
Cool, now I know what that little tunk noise is with the blinker on! Thanks!
Nice video. I've been in and out of electronics since the early 1990's and was unaware of these thermal flashers. Simple concept though certainly, but very energy inefficient compared to digital technology. Well done video!
Thanks
MrPete222 as stated below, and as I understand it, the "spring steel" part is indeed a a Bi metal strip with a Kink (or bend) in it and when heated it expands deferentially (one side more than the other) and Clicks (AKA Oil canning) and disconnects the heater then after cooling it relaxes, clicks back again and reconnects the heater for another cycle. I hope i've gotten it right :-) thanks for all your "Classes" in Machining etc.
Lovely, thank you.
Thank you for watching
Another excellent how it works vid ! ! After seeing this I think I now know why the clicking cycle seems to speed up when you have a signal bulb burned out. The extra current not being used by the burned out bulb heats up the bi-metal quicker - with the extra current it quickens the cycle time.
exactly
I was just wondering about this - but I think this is not correct. This flasher acts as a switch, and the current flowing through it is defined by the resistance (the bulbs) and the voltage of the battery. If you take out one bulb, the current will be lower, because you have higher resistance for the same voltage, therefore the flasher will heat up slower.
However, what I think really happens is, that the final temperature it reaches, before it turns on, is lower, just a bit over the switching limit, and so it cools down to the turn off limit in a shorter period of time. So the "temperature swing" is reduced, and so also the mechanical movement gets limited, and this results in a higher switching frequency.
good explanation
thanks for showing this.
keep up the video's
+novartec Thanks for watching
Great video Mr. Pete! Very enlightening for sure!
Interesting, at 6:46 it looks like the soldered connection in the upper left is liquified! I know it can't be so it must be a trick of the eye, but it really looks like the solder is moving in liquid form.
+ShysterLawyer Ha, it really does look just like that.
In HD you can see it's just a reflection and the wire is actually spot welded there.
+ShysterLawyer Thanks for watching
Thank YOU 😊
very helpful for me. putting turning light's on a motor cycle that never had them
Good video! Thanks
Thanks
LOL -- men in florida, flashers and the "early bird special"!!!
The strip of metal he's referring to is a bi-metal. Two different metals are sandwiched together to form the strip. Each metal expands at a different rate, when current is applied, which causes the strip to flex...hence, opening the circuit. Once the strip cools off, it regains its original form (closing the circuit) and the process repeats.
Very interesting!
Thank you❤️
Really great explanation / demonstration. Any idea what can cause one of these to go bad? I had two go bad in the last month. My signals would just stay on all the time instead of flash
Thank you for teaching this old (well.....56 year old) man something he didn't know.
Thanks that was cool.
Great video.
The current flows through the heater element and completes the electrical circuit through the filament in the bulbs, however the heater element consumes just enough current to cause the heater element to heat up but not light up the bulbs. When the strip of metal flexes due to being heated it closes the contact points and gives the current a direct path to the bulbs causing the filaments to light up, at the same time the heater element cools down and the strip of metal relaxes and the contacts open and the cycle repeats itself.
The reason that the flasher cycles faster when a bulb burns out is because there is LESS electrical resistance in in the circuit and the heater element heats up faster.
Why would be less resistance? The bulbs are conneced in parallel, if one of them falls out from the circuit, the resistance will be more and not less. The current will be less and not more.
MR. PETE, IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT LIONEL TRAINS USED THAT SAME METHOD TO BLINK LIGHTS ON SOME OF THE ACCESSORIES. IT WAS ALSO USED TO RING THE BELL IN SOME OF THE TENDERS. GREAT VIDEO, THANKS.,
+ROBERT HORNER Interesting--Thanks for watching!
Great video! I was looking for an instructional video such as this one explaining how to wire everything. I have two questions for you. Can a 12v Heavy Duty Flasher 537 be used with two 12v LED lights? How would I wire them?
Nice video
Thanks
Excellent video. I have a three prong flasher and was curious what the third prong is for.
thank you for sharing.
+ELSDP-45 Thanks for watching
Very nice. If you do another video, maybe test one of the next generation of flasher units patented in 1963. It is not load dependent like the older design thermal flashers and uses a capacitor and two coils. Tridon was originally Canadian and built these in Canada. They were marketed as 'electronic'. You can still buy them under the new brand name of Novita. The part number for a generic old car flasher is HD13 or EL13. The US patent# is 3247402 by Rodney Hayden of Stoney Creek Ontario and assigned to Tridon. This one is a really clever design and even simpler than some of the early Tung Sol thermal flashers.
Thank you for watching and for giving me that information
I’ve been watching your video for a long time....and now I realize how old you are :-) :-) :-)
75
didn't know how it worked but I do now thanks
Interesting! THanks
Very nice!
I have found out that the original General Motors flashers are irreplaceable. The aftermarket ones don't work the same and don't sound the same. Therefore, whenever I am at the junkyard, I collect original GM ones for my project cars.
+davida1hiwaaynet Thanks for watching--resourceful
Mr Pete, I too can't hear the damn thing so I wired in a small 12v buzzer. Works a treat!
+Peter Fletcher I need to do that. But cannot even find the flasher on my new car-it is behind the speedometer in a tight spot
+mrpete222 I actually wired in two, wired directly off the rear flashers. It was made easier with it being an estate. I also seldom have rear passengers to annoy ;-)
+Peter Fletcher Can I tap into the tailight wires, instead of the actual flasher? Also, what kind of buzzer.
+mrpete222 That's all I did, cheap 12v buzzers from eBay, wired in series with the bulb. I left them behind the trim and they were still too loud so I wrapped a bit of foam round them. Been working for 5 years now.
Have you considered fitting a small buzzer tapped into the indicator output? many available on e-bay.
Could use the simple buzzer and chewing gum approach to adjust volume - or a more sophisticated volume control using a variable resistor so you can set a comfortable level.
The spring that changes shape is called a Bi-Metal spring. It is a sandwich of two layers of different metals. Different metals expand and contract at different rates and at different temperatures. When the element heats the spring, one side expands faster the other, causing it to warp.