VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Electrical - 6 volt Indicators

Hi all, the little globe at the end of the indicator lever quit flashing and stayed on constantly even when the indicators weren't being operated . The actual indicator lights stopped working. The indicators have now started working again but the front passenger side is rather dim. I'm thinking it is an earth problem even though i have each light earthed with its own earth wire. Tomorrow I'm going to put apart the indicator lever assembly and check all the earth connections.
Has any one had this problem?
Any ideas.

What year is the vehicle????

For indicators, do you mean the directional signals?

Sounds like a possible ground (Earth) problem.

Hi junkyard dog, sorry i forgot to mention it's a 1928 tourer.
Yes I am referring to directional controls, here in aussie land we call them blinkers.
One other question how do I check the output voltage of the generator, apart from the amp meter on the dash. Some weird things happen on these old cars,one minute every thing is going well then one thing plays up and it leads to another issue.
Well work on the earth connections today and see what happens.
Thank you regards peter.

To check the generator output you can use a multimeter. Set the multimeter to DC voltage and place the positive probe on the wire terminal that is coming out of the generator. Place the negative probe on the generator housing. When the car is running you should have a voltage output reading. Your generator should be putting out somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5 volts.

Hi Peter. I had a lot of problems with blinkers on my 28. Basically the old 6V cars didn't have blinkers and they never did work well when they were put on at a later stage.You may well have gone over everything and sorted it out but here's my thoughts. The switches with the light built into the arm never seemed to be well made so I use a on-off-on-toggle switch and a separate flashing dash globe . At the same time the 6V thermal flasher cans, little aluminium tubs, never worked for me but they seem to for others. I use electronic canisters on all my Chevs and they work well. All flashers work well though earthing is important.

Worth running individual earths from indicator units to chasis or even back to battery grounding point..(solder to metal on light bracket ) I am making up a set of lights for Queensland requirements and am thinking about running relays close to the units as well as ground cables in the loom back to the battery..12v is sensitive to earthing problems and 6 v is more so.. metal to metal often becomes metal/corosion/metal when current is passing through ..

Ollie

Thanks for the input guys, I spent the day checking the wiring and disconnected the earth point of attachments to the body /chassis and re ground the metal to ensure good earth. Checked each light holder to earth with test lamp all good.
I through out the indicator lever unit and the flasher unit. Have ordered electronic flasher and new heavy duty lever. I Will up date you when the goods arrive and i have installed them.
Do you think battery maintenance spray on the earth point of attachment would help prevent corrosion.
I have been looking into 6v LED neg earth lights the filling station has some, i'm going to try the rear window stop light and rear stop lamp in LED. The electronic flasher unit is suppose to run LEDs. Has any one had good results with LED indicators? cheers peter

Hi All, just an update you may be interested in. i have replaced turn signal switch with filling station heavy duty unit VT10. i purchased stop light LED conversion kit for 6 volt but haven't installed it yet as you have to remove all the bulb holders and i don't want to wreck a perfectly good unit so will get hold of a damaged unit which can be modified. I purchased third brake light window mount 6 volt (filling station LED-27) which works great.
The other problem was with the turn signals (in aus with have amber coloured separate signals) I couldn't find a supplier that had 6 volt negative earth globes for turn signals but after searching the www I came across classic dynamo and regulator conversions in the UK (www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com) from them I purchased 4 x 6v21w amber BA15s 9 LED neg earth globes and 1 x LED compatible flasher unit 3 terminal. It took all of 2 minutes to install and works perfectly.If you look up their web site it has a lot of information re LED lights etc.
In October they will have replacement globes for 6 volt head lights. hope this helps regards peter.

There's a bloke in South Australia that has a selection of 6 & 12 volt globes.