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Problem with Motogadget indicators

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2.6K views 31 replies 10 participants last post by  Spudknuckles  
#1 ·
Hi all,
I have a strange problem with some Motogadget indictors I fitted to the Scrambler 400x. These to be precise:

Motogadget mo.blaze.pin

They appeared to be working perfectly when I fitted them but I discovered a problem when I rode into the city. Half way there the indicators just stopped working. I turned the bike off with the key at the traffic lights, turned it back on and the indicators worked normally again (re-setting the ECU I guess). The same thing happened again later on the journey.

When I got home, I found I could replicate the fault pretty easily. I assumed (wrongly) that I had cocked up the wiring of the connectors. I removed everything and attached new connectors where there was any shadow of a doubt, checking with a magnifier that the crimp was 'good' in each case. The problem remains. They work perfectly for a while then all indicators stop working.

It's like the ECU throws a tantrum after a few indicator uses or perhaps it happens if the indicator is cancelled at a specific moment during the flash cycle(?). Weirdly, the hazard lights work perfectly, even after the indicators stop working.

The Motogadget support guy suggested that they might not be drawing as much current as the standard indicators (also LED of course) so I hooked up some resistors (270 ohm, 1W) across the indicator terminals to boost the current draw. This made the problem worse and now the indicators flash just once and then they all stop working. Same fault, it just happens immediately rather than taking several uses before it shows up.

Firstly, I wonder if anyone has experienced anything similar. Secondly, does anyone know what controls the flashers on this bike? Is it all handled by the ECU or is there a relay somewhere that I could perhaps replace with a more suitable one? I haven't been able to find a reference to this.
 
#2 ·
Strange indeed. Usually when replacing bulbs for LED lights, it might throw a warning light. It appears as if the Motogadget lights are drawing more current than the standard ones.

AFAIK the flashers are now controlled by the ECU. On some BMW bikes you can go into the ECU and change from bulbs to LEDs.

I am surprised that Motogadget have not come across this before, are you able to check the resistance of the LEDs?
 
#3 ·
..... are you able to check the resistance of the LEDs?
I'm not an electrical or electronics expert (I'm a ME), but here are my thoughts.

When comparing different LEDs, the resistance is pretty much meaningless. A better measure is voltage drop across the LED. A way to do this is to power each LED with a battery, and measure the voltage at the two LED terminals. A big difference between the OEM and aftermarket LED voltage may be what is causing the issue.

If the Motogadget LED has a lower voltage drop than the OEM unit, it may be possible to use resistors of the correct value to attain the proper voltage drop. If the Motogadget LEDs have a higher voltage drop, it may not be possible to use them on the 400. I imagine that Motogadget provided the resistors they normally use for incandescent to LED conversions. If so, these will not work.
 
#4 ·
Just to be clear, I should add that the standard indicators are also LEDs so I'm changing LED for 'different' LED, not replacing bulbs.

I just measured the power draw of each and it seems the standard Triumph ones draw ~140 - 150 mA each. The mo.blaze.pins (Motogadget) draw 250 mA each. One that is proving to be particularly troublesome draws slightly more (260 mA). I suspect that this additional current draw is causing the ECU to go into self-preservation mode and shut down the indicator circuit entirely.

I'll try putting some quite low resistance (~10 - 27 ohm maybe) resistors in series. Hopefully I can get the current draw down to an acceptable level without dimming the Motogadget indicators too much. They're insanely bright anyway so a slight decrease in their ability to burn retinas at 100m shouldn't matter much.
 
#7 ·
Just a quick update. I made up a test harness incorporating a 27 ohm resistor (10W - only because the local retailer didn't have any 5W 27 ohm in stock) in series with each of the rear indicators. I can't get it fault now. This seems to work quite well. The brightness of the rear indicators is reduced only very slightly. I think this is enough to reduce the current draw to a point where the pissy ECU doesn't throw a tantrum.

I'm waiting on another batch of JWPF connectors so I can make it all plug'n'play and reversible incase I ever want to go back to the stock indicators. I'll stealth the chunky resistors inside the tail-tidy and route the cables neatly when I get the connectors. I'm confident that this is going to resolve my issue.
 
#26 ·
Hello! Thanks for the great info. I've been incredibly frustrated by this!! I installed the M.Blaze Pins to the front on my Speed 400 and everything worked perfectly. Once the Tail Tidy came in I went to install the Pins to the Rear and now NOTHING works.

Do you happen to have a product you could point me to that's a little more plug n play for the Rear rather than having to open the Cables and Solder something in? That's getting a bit above my pay grade so wondering if there's an easier solution for us weekend warriors? Many thanks!
 
#8 ·
To finalise this in case anyone runs into something similar. Fitting the 27 ohm resistors in series to just the rear indicators worked perfectly. The slightly reduced current draw from the indicators seems to be just enough to stop the ECU from chucking a wobbly and the indicators are still very bright. No further issues since doing this.
 
#9 ·
I have the scrambler 400x and have now got problems with the indicators. I first noticed it when I turned on ignition to see the hazard warning light flashing on dash. I checked the hazards and they all worked fine. But when I turned on the indicators they didn’t work - none of them. A few days later they worked again and did so for next two bike rides but last weekend whilst riding the warning light came on the dash again and the indicators stopped working. This occurred on a straight whilst not even using them. Now the light is off but the indicators do not work. Taken it to triumph as in warranty and they said they can’t fix it until they have sought advice from a triumph colleague on what part to replace - that being the switch gear or the dash itself. And so I have a bike that has no indicators until they decide. Not great and I am losing confidence in the bike. Particularly given the other issues such as the immobiliser light staying on the dash unless I turn off and start the engine twice. And the cutting out of the engine randomly and for no reason!
 
#10 ·
Nightmare. Sorry to hear you're having this issue MrG. Your bike still has the standard Triumph indicators though right, not the Motogadget aftermarket ones that are being discussed above?

I believe the indicators are controlled by the ECU, rather than an old-school flasher unit on these bikes. Further more, the indicators seem to be controlled separately from the hazard lights. When I was having problems with the Motogadget indicators causing the ECU to occasionally go into 'self-preservation' mode and kill the indicators entirely, the hazard lights would still work perfectly which initially struck me as odd.

I'm speculating but I guess it could even be a problem with your ECU. Please do let us know what Triumph comes back with and how they rectify it. Best of luck.
 
#12 ·
Hey Spud, thanks for writing this all up. I just got done installing the exact same indicators at all 4 points and ran into the same issue. Went for a long ride, indicators stopped working a quarter of the way into my ride, pulled over to sus it out only to find they worked again if I turned the key off/on. However, once I turned my bike off I couldn't get the bike to start up again, seemed like the ECU was shutting down the starter circuit? Disconnected the front indicators and was able to start up the bike again and ride home without the indicators failing again..

Has your fix stood the test of time? I am looking to grab some resistors and replicate your fix, but I've never done anything with electronics, ever, so I am hoping these suckers are easy to instal and mount to the tail tidy.

Also, have you had any issues with heat from the resistors?
 
#13 ·
I haven't had any issues since installing the resistors. I used big rectangular 10 watt ones, only because the store didn't have smaller 5 watt ones in stock. I actually installed them only on the rear indicators which seems to have dropped the current being drawn by the circuit enough to stop the ECU freaking out.

It was all pretty straight forward to put together with one resistor wired up in series with the LED for each of the rear indicators. There will be some soldering involved and be careful to insulate everything with plenty of heat shrink.

Hiding them in the tail tidy was a little bit tricky because of the additional size of the 10 watt resistors, and because I took the extra trouble to built them into a wiring loom with the correct plugs so I could easily revert to the standard indicators if I ever want to.

I haven't noticed any issues with heat, but I don't go sticking my fingers in there very often either :cool:. I checked when I first put it together and it was fine. Best of luck with it.
 
#21 ·
So I have the motogadget tens indicators installed on my bike both front and rear. I’ve not run into the same issue as @Spudknuckles did, but they do blink noticeably faster than the stock indicators when signaling left or right. When I turn on the hazards they blink at the normal rate. I’m wondering if installing a low ohm resistor in series would fix the fast blinking.