Led marker/Turn signals

[StillRunning_60]

Purchased some new side led marker/turn signals (see attached) to replace the old ones. The old lights have only two wires whereas the new led lights has three wires. The problem I am having is I can only get the turn signals to work and then only one of the two led bulbs work. In checkIng the package the lights are for brake/turn/stop lights. Anyone have suggestions or will these lights just not work. 2002 windsor

[DavidL]

Figure out which is ground (likely the black) and then tie the the other two together and connect that to your 2 wire harness.  Note that LEDs are polarity sensitive.  So if it doesn't work one way, switch the wires to the other.  That way both bulbs will light together.

[bill4029]

Normally the manufacturer of the lights will include some form of printout with the connection information..  Often the black lead is ground and the other 2 would then be stop or turn. You could try a quick check with a battery.. place appropriate wire on plus and minus to verify the connections. once you have it figured out you can connect the light to your rig and hopefully get the output you expect.

[Larry H]

Might test straight from a 12 v battery first. Also might want to just use the red or yellow but not both.

[Dr4Film]

I suspect that the turn is the Yellow and the Red is for the Marker light. Only my guess.

[StillRunning_60]

Thanks everyone. Going out this morning to test everyone’s suggestions. Read somewhere that Monaco coaches have a floating ground with the marker/turn signal lights and these Led lights may not work without changing some components. Sounding more and more like something that is more trouble than it’s worth.

[Dr4Film]

I have been slowly changing out the orange (front) and red (rear) marker lights with LED's as the old lenses are getting brittle and cracked. The LED's that I chose (from Amazon) had only two leads on them so it was pretty straight forward. The two side lamps down low are a different animal, however I am sure that you could find the correct fixture at any truck stop store.

[StillRunning_60]

Here is what I found out this morning. Took light to a battery and discovered that the black wire was the light ground, the yellow wire was one side of light and red wire the other. After testing the two wires on coach I found the ground and put the light’s black Wire to the coach ground the put red and yellow wires to the coach other wire. Now the turn signal will work Only if headlights are off But no marker lights any time.

[Dr4Film]

The old light fixture should have had three wires, one for the ground, one for the marker (tail lights) and one for the turn. The bulb in the old fixture had two filaments, one brighter than the other. The new LED light fixture also has three wires, one for the ground, one for the marker and one for the turn. You will need to figure out which color is each.

[StillRunning_60]

Thanks Richard. Went back and trace the coach wire and found 2 wires had the connected before coming into light. Switch the wires and bingo both turn signals and marker lights work however only if I have headlights on. Sill more bald head scratching but coming close.

[Dr4Film]

Larry, that may possibly due to mixing incandescent lights with LED lights. Voltage loads do play a roll I believe. LED's take less voltage than incandescent bulbs. Since I am unfamiliar with the LED fixtures that you purchased I can't help you there.

Maybe someone that is more familiar with LED's will chime in.

[waterskier_1]

First, are you positive that you have dual filament bulbs in that position originally?  I very much doubt that Monaco used a dual filament bulb for marker/turn signal.  I ran into this problem on my 97 Dynasty.  It only affected the front and rear marker lights that also blinked when the turn signal was engaged.  There were 2 amber on the front - each side, and two red on the rear - each side.  The problem is that the way Monaco wired those lights is that they were not connected directly to ground.  In the maker only mode, the power flowed one way through the bulb to eventually to ground.  But then, when the turn signal was engaged, since the marker was already on, it had to cut the power to the light intermittently.  It did this by removing the ground path (actually it applied +12 VDC to the path that eventually went to ground).  I identified two ways to solve the problem - there are likely many.  First was to use diodes, but that would reduce the intensity of the LED, if it even would have enough voltage (without modifying the internal resistance).  The second way was to add relays, that would mimic the old filament bulbs and then have the relays control each marker/turn LED.  Before you continue, you need to review the wiring drawings for those marker/turn signals (if indeed they are single filament as I suspect) and then determine the direction you wish to take.  

   

[StillRunning_60]

You right rick. The bulbs are one filament. But I will just leave my headlights on from now on. Newer coaches do that automatically anyway. Thanks everyone.

[StillRunning_60]

Side markers/turn signals are on and working. Thanks again everyone. I now have 2 old Bergman 59 lights if anyone needs them.

 

[Dave Pumphrey]

Rick is correct on the "floating" ground.

Some cars used the same system years ago, the 2 wire ungrounded marker light was connected to both the run & turn circuits. 

When the turn signal was off, the marker was grounded thru the turn filament, so the running light was on. When the turn signal is on, the marker bulb it "hot" on both sides during each blink, causing the marker bulb to blink off, then between blinks, the marker bulb sees ground, so it blinks on. You can confirm it is wired this way by watching the marker & turn signal alternate blinks. I just had this issue when I changed my tail lights to led. With the running lights on, power backfeeds to the turn filament, so it only flickers when signal is on, due to constant feed thru the marker bulb. I will just disconnect the wire to the turn signal & ground it. This makes the marker only a marker, but that is ok, you can see the curved taillights from the side as well...

Edit to show confirmation of success...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/17qKkwLnMv5r7tyv9

Edited August 12, 2021 by Dave Pumphrey
Added Pic

[Dave Pumphrey]

On 10/6/2020 at 9:11 PM, stillrunning_60@hotmail.com said:

Purchased some new side led marker/turn signals (see attached) to replace the old ones. The old lights have only two wires whereas the new led lights has three wires. The problem I am having is I can only get the turn signals to work and then only one of the two led bulbs work. In checkIng the package the lights are for brake/turn/stop lights. Anyone have suggestions or will these lights just not work. 2002 windsor

Do you remember where you got these?

I could use 2 pairs...

[StillRunning_60]

Dave I purchased these from etrailer.

[Dave Pumphrey]

Is the front all red, or 1/2 red, 1/2 yellow?

[StillRunning_60]

You can order them in all red or all yellow.

[Just Jim]

On my coach, it requires one of the screws to be connected to the chassis ground.  For the clearance lights, there is also a switch on the dash to flash the lights as a "thank you" indication when someone lets you pass, etc.  It was a very odd configuration that I originally thought would be an easy change out...  ended up taking me the better part of a day!!!

[Dave Pumphrey]

8 minutes ago, Jim Bob said:

On my coach, it requires one of the screws to be connected to the chassis ground.  For the clearance lights, there is also a switch on the dash to flash the lights as a "thank you" indication when someone lets you pass, etc.  It was a very odd configuration that I originally thought would be an easy change out...  ended up taking me the better part of a day!!!

We have both headlight & marker blink buttons on our smartwheel.