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L.E.D. wiring help!

Uglygreenxj

Uglygreenxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Circle City, AZ
A while back I posted asking how to go about converting the wiring for my separate stop, tail, & turn lights to run a single oval stop,tail,& turn led light. Several people said to use trailer wiring converter boxes. I bought the converter boxes and proceded to wire them up. Unfortunately they did not work (on either side). The running lights worked fine but the turn signals didn't, nor did the brakes. BUT.... if a turn signal was turned on and the brake pedal was depressed, then that brake light would flash. I wired everything according to the labeling on the boxes using only the left turn wires on the left side and right turn on the right side. Should I be using different converter boxes? Any ideas or other options?

----tail light in-------box-------tail light out-----
----stop light in------box
----left turn in-------box-------left turn/stop out-----
----right turn in------box-------right turn/stop out-----

Thanks, Dave :banghead:
 
Without actually seeing how you wired it or being able to trace what you've done it's hard to say what went wrong. All I can say is back track your steps. Check the circuts & make sure you have the right wires in the right spots. Most people just have problems with getting the turn flasher to work.

Matt
 
FarmerMatt said:
Without actually seeing how you wired it or being able to trace what you've done it's hard to say what went wrong. All I can say is back track your steps. Check the circuts & make sure you have the right wires in the right spots. Most people just have problems with getting the turn flasher to work.

Matt
Click to expand...
I switched the turn signal flasher with the hazard flasher and that fixed that problem. I checked each wire with a test light to identify them and then connected them to the appropriate wires coming from the box. Perhaps the boxes are faulty (although it would seem unlikely they would both be bad) I really have checked the wiring many, many times! Perhaps I am just plain missing something?
 
You may need a load balancer....or at least that's what it's called on bikes. Basically the system is load sensative and the LEDs do not pull enough to trip it.

Sarge
 
There are several ways to do what you want to do with relays instead of the combiner module. You can use two normally closed relays wired in parallel, one for the brake signal and one for the turn sinal. The output of both relays is hooked to the single combined light. The brake signal goes to the coil of the turn signal relay and the turn signal goes to the coil of the brake relay. When either the turn or brake by itself is on the power goes to the light from the appropriate signal. If both are on the brake signal opens up the turn and the turn intermittantly opens the brake signal. You will also have to add diodes to the brake and turn signals so that they won't be back driven. If I knew how to include a schematic I would show how to wire the circuit up but hopefully the description is enough to help.
Dave
 
As for the load balance, I connected the converter to regular bulbs and it still no workie. I hooked up the converters and tested them with a test light and with power to the "tail" input, I did get power from the "output". But neither converter would supply power to the "turn/stop" output when power was introduced to either the "stop" , or "brake" inputs. I now cannot return the boxes as they won't take returns on electrical parts and am very leary of buying new ones. I just don't get it, it seems to have worked fine for everyone else! A diagram of how to make my own would be VERY helpfull. I am by no means an electrician and would also need some direction on which diodes and relays to buy. I don't however have any problem wiring and or soldering stuff up if needed.

Thank you for all the help so far! Keep it coming. I have my backup lights wired as the turn signals temporarily and it's making me nuts!

Dave
 
I just did this again(hooking up a STT light) but this time on a pre '91 Renix XJ. It took me a while to figure out too because I couldn't trace the wires off my '93 and most of the wires were a different color. Also, there's an extra brake light in the earlier Jeeps, be sure you tied into the wires that were connected to the dual element bulb or your turn signals wont work.
 
This is my situation. 89 xj with two trailer lights made by truck light co. and 2 back up lights 1 of each per side. I bought i hoppy tail light converter it has on the input side tail r and l turn brake ground and tail. Output side r and l turn, tail, and ground (I am guessing it is the input side it isnt marked but it has an extra wire on one side for brakes the out put doesnt have brakes for some reason) I have rechecked several times for the correct wire. They all seem to be in order.I have tail lights no brake lights and the blinkers are just messed up.When i turn one blinker they both flash. The original wire colors were light blue for the turns brown for the brakes and dark blue for the tails. I am very frustrated
 
Just want to cover the bases... Are you using just one converter box? If so you are running new wires from the output of the converter box to both sides, left & right tail lights? You cannot just do one side. When I wired mine into one STT combination I used 2 converter boxes so I wouldn't have to run a wire loom from one side to the other.

Matt
 
Sounds like you are experiencing EXACTLY the same problems I was. I never did get'em to work right. I gave up and bought some 2" round red L.E.D.'s and put them below the oval S.T.T. ones where my reverse lights were supposed to be and used them for my turn signals. Not what I wanted but it works for now (although I have no reverse lights).
 
I just used one converter behind the spare tire panel and used the existing wires that go the the other side over the headliner. Why doesnt one converter box work? it has output and input for both sides.
 
One works just fine... I assume you cut the wires that go to the other side out of the existing loom & rewired them to the output of the converter right? Basically what I'm saying is that all wiring (except for the reverse lights) need to pass through the converter before going to the tail lights. The only reason I used 2 is so that all wiring would be exposed in the back by the lights so that's it's easy to work on.

Matt
 
Jes said:
I just did this again(hooking up a STT light) but this time on a pre '91 Renix XJ. It took me a while to figure out too because I couldn't trace the wires off my '93 and most of the wires were a different color. Also, there's an extra brake light in the earlier Jeeps, be sure you tied into the wires that were connected to the dual element bulb or your turn signals wont work.
Click to expand...


Good god. I think I'm going to have to burn my new rig to the ground.....I have the same problem as described in this original post. Turn signals only work when the brakes are applied. Brakes don't work at all, emergency flashers don't work at all, running lights work fine. Same problem with LED's or with incandescents.

I have tested every singal circuit in the harness, unplugged the harness at the fuse box and tested there as well. Bought a new converter.

Still no progress. I'm going to have shoot this truck in order to alleviate the stress headache I am currently experiencing........

CRASH...I hate electrical problems!
 
Lupine said:
Good god. I think I'm going to have to burn my new rig to the ground.....I have the same problem as described in this original post. Turn signals only work when the brakes are applied. Brakes don't work at all, emergency flashers don't work at all, running lights work fine. Same problem with LED's or with incandescents.

I have tested every singal circuit in the harness, unplugged the harness at the fuse box and tested there as well. Bought a new converter.

Still no progress. I'm going to have shoot this truck in order to alleviate the stress headache I am currently experiencing........

CRASH...I hate electrical problems!
Click to expand...

Hmmm, it worked fine untill your exhaust melted the wires.
 
In the early body XJ's there is a ground that causes lots of problems with lights and flashers. It is located on the drivers side rear quarter, behind the fascia that goes behind where the spare mounts. If you were working in the area or pulling and pushing on the wiring harness for the lights, they have a nasty habit of coming loose.
 
Jes said:
Hmmm, it worked fine untill your exhaust melted the wires.
Click to expand...


Wasn't it working when Ken wired it as well?

The radio was turning on and off with the blinker. That was a major buzz kill.

Time to build a new rig, I guess.
 
The most vexing part is how in god's name can the turn signal only work when the brake pedal is depressed? The signal works fine on the 5 wires coming into the converter, but there is no converter output.

Could it be a voltage issue? Maybe the truck needs to be running to send enough voltage to operate the converter?

CRASH
 
I know you said you already bought a new converter box, but I've only had luck with one brand. The other ones that I've tried.....they may look the same.....and have the same number of wires....including a ground....but they won't work.

It ends up just as you described.....turn signals only work when the brakes are on.

We've had the best luck with the Draw-Tite ones. Rewire it and everything is good to go.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.

Brian
www.projectxj.com
www.formattfab.com
 
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