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MG TD TF 1500 - Electronic flasher doesn't work

I wanted to install an electronic flasher unit so as a test I bought the cheapest one I could find from a famous online auction site... It is three prong. When I hooked it up the unit itself makes nice flashing noises, the indicator light on the dash flashes but nothing else happens - no indicators flashing. Before I run out and buy another one, anybody have any ideas why this is happening. - I did try to hook up various combinations but with no luck. Thanks in advance. ..... Chris
Chris Malcolm (TD29228)

Chris,
Give a bit of history,, did the flasher system ever work? Is it a new addition to the car ??? Pos ground? Does the flasher work with either ground?
Steve Wincze

Steve, The old flasher is working fine. I have plans to install LED's which wont flash with the old flasher. Car is neg. ground. Everything is/was working fine, simply the new electronic flasher isn't working properly.
Chris Malcolm (TD29228)

I built my '34 with LEDs all around. The basic electronic (non-load) flasher should work with any mix of lights on it. Just watch the polarity on the LEDs. Some will care, some will not but because the flasher isn't meeting the resistance of filament bulbs, they should work.

Maybe you got a bad one? Have you bench tested?

A thought, the eight legged controller.... Maybe it doesn't play nice with electronics.....?

...
MAndrus

Maybe I should have asked if anybody else has had a problem with an electronic flasher that doesn't work. I wonder if there are different types? or maybe it needs a specific ground? The picture of the one for sale at Moss shows the three pins and what appears to be a ground wire out the top. Why the one at Moss appears to need an additional ground wire when the original old style flasher unit didn't is a mystery to me. - because again this flasher is flashing but only my dash light. And as they were so cheap I actually bought two of them with the idea that one might be bad - but they both act in the same way.
Chris Malcolm (TD29228)

update - on another site I see a comment that the three pins are marked L, B, and E - meaning that B connects to battery (power), E to Earth, and L to load. To get the unit to flash at all (and it then only flashes the dash indicator light) I have the L hooked up to the light green wire (goes to the dash indicator light); B hooked up to the green wire (direction indicator switch) and the green with brown is attached to the E which goes to the direction indicator relay unit. Now it seems to me that I am close, but not quite there. Thoughts?
Chris Malcolm (TD29228)

Just a WAG as I have no experience with electronic flasher units but if the indicator light is flashing I'd guess that the flasher unit is working and would trouble shoot the relay box, the selector switch and the wiring to everything. For instance, can you make the signal lights flash by just bypassing the flasher unit and touching the wires together? Seems like that would easily confirm whether or not the problem is in the flasher unit and not in a jiggled loose wire somewhere. Just musing. Jud
J K Chapin

Try a different electronic flasher. I found the first one I bought didn't work either.
Geoffrey M Baker

This thread was discussed between 09/03/2015 and 10/03/2015

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