Turn signals blink too fast

[wannaroam]

The boss wanted me to ask if anyone knew why our turn signal lights blink rapidly when connected to our airstream; much faster that when the AS is not connected.

?

thanks

[TomW]

You appear to have an older tow vehicle.

In the olden days, blinkers blinked at a rate proportional to how many light bulbs were in the circuit. More bulbs meant faster blinking. On the flip-side, without a towed load, the blinker might not even blink if one of the tow vehicle's blinker lights was burned out.

I solved the problem on my '84 Suburban by installing heavy-duty blinkers from the corner autoparts store. My lights now blink at the same rate all the time regardless of whether my American Classic is joining us on the trip.

Unfortunately, now I have to constantly make sure all the bulbs are working since there is no audio cue from the blinker relay.

Tom

[jdalrymple]

Tom is probably correct. What is the year model of the tow vehicle? If in the eighties or older, you may simply replace the flasher with a heavier duty model.


Best Regards,

[wayner61]

I agree with Tom. When I first looked at your post, the first thing that came to mind was a weak or bad flasher. Head to the local aftermarket parts store and try a new one. They are easy to plug in and will probably fix the problem. If that doesn't work, you will probably need to start looking at the trailer wiring.

Wayne

[wannaroam]

Our tv is a 2009 Ford 1 ton van.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Our tv is a 2009 Ford 1 ton van.

Still, the first thing I would try is a heavy-duty flasher. Easy and not expensive.

[Ahzmyrah]

If the blink is rapid are the blinks weak as well on the trailer and near normal on the van? It could be a bad ground on the trailer if that is the case. I think there is a ground wire attached to the hitch "A" frame close to where the wire loom goes into the body. A sign of a bad ground would also be weak or non existant running lights. Did the van come equipped with a trailer towing package? If it did the flasher would have been set up for towing. If it didn't and there was no brake controller installed your problem could also be related to the wiring done to install the brake controller.

[3 Dog Nite]

Just remember that the heavy duty flasher unit will always flash. This means the turn signal light on your dash board will always flash too. I'm talking about when you have a blown turn signal bulb. Not like with the original flasher where the dashboard light would stay on constant as a warning.

Ricky

[TomW]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Our tv is a 2009 Ford 1 ton van.

I did a quick search on your issue, and was surprised that the rest of the towing world does not appear to share your problem.

To conjecture, there is a possibility that your Airstream has a problem, and Ford's electronics are blinking the lights rapidly as opposed to blowing a fuse (which would leave your Airstream without lights).

I recommend you connect your Airstream to a known, good tow vehicle, and see if the lights work as intended.

I'm a GM man myself, and don't keep up with what Ford does.

Good luck, and the forum will benefit from any followup posts you care to make.

Tom

[wannaroam]

Well I must surmise then that the problem may be in the TV wiring. We just got vehicle, and did not have the turn signal problem with our other TV.

Frank did the wiring himself on the new TV (as he had on the old one as well) - it did not have a factory wiring package.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Well I must surmise then that the problem may be in the TV wiring. We just got vehicle, and did not have the turn signal problem with our other TV.

Frank did the wiring himself on the new TV (as he had on the old one as well) - it did not have a factory wiring package.

The newer Fords have a turn signal relay rather than a flasher. It should not blink faster when the trailer is connected, only when one of the tow vehicle turn signal bulbs is not working. Fords also have separate wiring for the trailer, tapping directly into the wiring can cause problems.

[Birdwell57]

Originally Posted by overlander63

The newer Fords have a turn signal relay rather than a flasher. It should not blink faster when the trailer is connected, only when one of the tow vehicle turn signal bulbs is not working. Fords also have separate wiring for the trailer, tapping directly into the wiring can cause problems.

The theory behind this is that a burned out lamp has infinite resistance. This infinite resistance increases the total resistance which changes the blink rate (typically through a RC circuit). Theoretically a bad (high resistance) connection somewhere (trailer connector, bulb socket, etc.) or Ahzmyrah's bad ground could increase the resistance enough to make the lights blink faster. Normal connection of the camper lights should slightly decrease the total resistance in parallel making the lights blink slower.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Our tv is a 2009 Ford 1 ton van.

towing package?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Normally, decreasing the resistance (lower value), which is a greater load, will make a flasher worker harder, and faster.

The lighter the load, (higher resistance), the less the load, and the slower the blinking rate.

Older vehicles require changing out the flasher, to a heavy duty type, when your adding the extra current load from the trailer.

Andy

[vinstream]

Did you replace your bulbs with LED ones? This could be your problem...

Todd

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

towing package?

Hi, this is the correct answer; If you don't have the factory tow package, which has seperate relays carrying the load of the trailer lights, you are over loading your flasher. You can install a truck or electronic flasher, but you might still overload your multifunction switch. [turn signal switch]

[wannaroam]

Why didn't we have this problem with our other TV, which was a 2000 1 ton van? It didn't have a wiring package either, and Frank wired it just as he did this one.

[wannaroam]

The boss just told me that the little utility trailer does the same thing; so clearly it is not a problem with the AS, it has to be something with the TV........

(He could have told me that in the beginning!)

[TomW]

Based on what both what little I know about Fords, and what little detail you have shared about your new TV, I'd say Frank did not wire it the way Ford intended a towed load's electricals to be wired.

Personally, I'm surprised there are no comments from Ford weanies monitoring this thread who own late model tow vehicles they wired themselves.

Ultimately, I think the presence of LEDs is ultimately going to figure into this at one point. RLuhr had a problem with his TV in the vein of this thought.

Finally, WTH is Frank?

Tom

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Why didn't we have this problem with our other TV, which was a 2000 1 ton van? It didn't have a wiring package either, and Frank wired it just as he did this one.

Modern technology, plus, we gotta have something to talk about.

Andy