Directional alert - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

milterino · #1 03-27-2006, 10:40 PM

I am one of those people you see driving down the highway with thier turn signal blinking. If there was a signal blinking in or on the windshield I would see it. I am thinking of a tiny LED or such taped or stuck to the inside of my windshield and connected by tiny wires down to the turn signal box wires and just transmitting the signal up to the windshield as well as the dash lights. Anybody have any thoughts on this, is it feasible and could an amatuer do it? Milt.

Tristar1959 · #2 03-28-2006, 02:42 PM

How about a 12V beeper that is wired to the flasher output, which would both alert your spouse to the fact that you're turning, giving her time to grab the chicken grip, and make very certain you wouldn't leave them on?

Doesn't your self-cancellation cam work, when you've made a turn? (They usually fail to hold, not release) Or is this because you're one of the other last few people left on Earth who still uses his turn signal for lane changes?
If, like myself, you're greying and losing the higher frequencies that tell you it's clicking, consider the blinking turn signal a safety device that alerts passing drivers that you don't hear quite as well anymore

milterino · #3 03-29-2006, 11:22 PM

Tristar: The last 2 sentences in your sum it up nicely. The beeper is a thought as I don't hear my present directionals. Milt.

Larry Delor · #4 03-31-2006, 09:21 PM

We used to have a Jeep. It was impossible to hear the turnsignals wether the soft top, or the hard top was on. Five minutes at Radio Shack, and a few dollars lighter, we had a nice, albeit annoying, beeping gadget.

popscat · #5 04-02-2006, 11:57 PM

go to radio shack and pick you up two 12 vol leds and parllel them with your dsah lamp indicator bulbs . tis fairly easy if you remove your cluster and hook them up where the flashing bulbs are. cluster is easy to to push out.from behind. a good stereo installer can do this for you if he know how the cluster comes out. i had to put them in my car. a 84 300d

280SE Guy · #6 04-06-2006, 05:39 AM

You could always have your passenger tap you on the shoulder if your turn signal is on

Tristar1959 · #7 04-08-2006, 12:16 AM

SE Guy - that's a great minivid!

Summa, ergo cogitum

milterino · #8 04-11-2006, 11:11 PM

Well I have a couple of LED's and am thinking about it. The LED's say 2.1 volt, 25 mA and 6.3 mcd. I don't know what mcd stands for. It seems to me like i have to modify the car voltage of 12 or I will burn out my LED's. So using ohms law and plugging in 25 mA and 12 volts I get that I need a resistor of 480 ohms. This is my first attempt at anything like this so if anybody sees something wrong with my reasoning feel free to correct me. So now I get some fine wire and a couple of resistors. Milt.

bikis · #9 04-12-2006, 12:08 AM

Start with the bigger resistance. 2 - 3 kohms.

milterino · #10 04-12-2006, 10:11 PM

Hell, I just reread your note and seems like I missed your instruction to get 12v LEDs. That seems easier than my method so now I will look for 12v LEDs. Thanks, Milt.

250 Coupe · #11 04-14-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milterino

Well I have a couple of LED's and am thinking about it. The LED's say 2.1 volt, 25 mA and 6.3 mcd. I don't know what mcd stands for. It seems to me like i have to modify the car voltage of 12 or I will burn out my LED's. So using ohms law and plugging in 25 mA and 12 volts I get that I need a resistor of 480 ohms. This is my first attempt at anything like this so if anybody sees something wrong with my reasoning feel free to correct me. So now I get some fine wire and a couple of resistors. Milt.

mcd = millicandela, a measure of brightness.

Also, I would use at least 13.4VDC and maybe 14VDC to determine the dropping resistor. The charging system will run a bit higher then battery voltage when charging.

14-2.1=11.9 11.9/.025=476 Next higher standard value=480.

You could use a 12V flashing LED meant for an alarm indicator and not need the dropping resistor but it might blink weirdly. Come to think of it, the flash may not occur at the turn signal switch. Some cars had the flasher before and some after the switch. Looks like this one is before the switch. To bad the loud turn signal flashers JC Whitney used to sell won't (or will they?) work. Can you imagine listening to "love me tender" as played by a cheap flasher? Me neither.

Michael

milterino · #12 04-16-2006, 04:17 PM

Michael, that was interesting about the volts being higher during charging. I didn't think about that.
This may be of value to someone. My windshield washer pump wasn't working and so I decided to hot wire it to check. Well I connected a jump wire from the plus battery terminal to the ground wire side of the pump. Both wires on the pump were dirty so I couldn't tell hot wire from ground. Well, I got a huge amount of energy running from the hot battery terminal thru the pump ground wire thru the body of the car to the ground terminal of the battery. It almost burnt out my jump wire before I knocked it loose. It took me some time to realize what I had done but mention it here for whatever value it may have. Milt.

250 Coupe · #13 04-16-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milterino

Michael, that was interesting about the volts being higher during charging. I didn't think about that.
This may be of value to someone. My windshield washer pump wasn't working and so I decided to hot wire it to check. Well I connected a jump wire from the plus battery terminal to the ground wire side of the pump. Both wires on the pump were dirty so I couldn't tell hot wire from ground. Well, I got a huge amount of energy running from the hot battery terminal thru the pump ground wire thru the body of the car to the ground terminal of the battery. It almost burnt out my jump wire before I knocked it loose. It took me some time to realize what I had done but mention it here for whatever value it may have. Milt.

Once, many moons ago, I had the battery replaced in my 1972 Renault 12 wagon. The battery sits centered on the fire wall just under the hood latch. Guess which terminal the Sears dude chose to disconnect first and then touch his wrench to the latch.

He watched it smoke with a puzzled look on his face 'till I smacked it away. He said, "uh, thanks".

Another time, I learned not to short a charged pack of "F" cell nicads. "F" cells look like 3" tall "D" cells. They hold way more smoke then 'D" cells.

Michael