Indicator speed

Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
Evening all , took the 72 for an evening run, still finding my way around the car even though it has been on the road since january it seems every time I use it I come home with a question or query for you folk. Tonights one is, has anyone else noticed the indicators flash very slowly at tickover or low revs . I had the headlights on too btw. Is this a C3 thing or a lack of current , anyone else have similar on theirs ? Thank you
 

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Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
The last C3 I drove at night was a 1977, didn’t notice indicators blinking slowly while stationary waiting to turn.
 
Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
Roscobbc said:
And if you turn the headlights off?
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When at a faster road speed and about 2200 revs they seem a more normal speed . I didnt check with lights off but will tomorrow. My lights are still usa spec where if the rear light is on , it flashes off / on to indicate and if the lights are off, then it flashes on/ off.👍
 
Chuffer

Chuffer

CCCUK Member
I have US spec rear lights . My indicators flash at a steady rate no matter what speed or stationary at tick over .
 
Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
No, it was only about 6 years ago. The car was a 1977’ it wasn’t in 1977. I do have a very good memory of my car experiences and my car buying/selling experiences.
 
kentvette

kentvette

CCCUK Member
I'm not aware that having lights on makes the indicators slower. But, the flasher unit is not "electric", it's a bi-metal unit, so flashes faster the more load goes through it, and presumably slower, with less. (hence, you'd need a resistor to run LED indicator bulbs) US flashers are technically too slow for UK regs and when I re-arranged our indicators/reverse lamps etc I aded in the front side markers to the indicator circuit (they were "included" but not in a way that I liked!) and that speeded up the flash rate to more normal European speeds. Maybe look at your bulbs?

For anyone with slightly more electrical nouse than me it is possible to change the flasher unit for an "electric" one, with the addition of an earth I think.
 
Roscobbc

Roscobbc

Moderator
kentvette said:
I'm not aware that having lights on makes the indicators slower. But, the flasher unit is not "electric", it's a bi-metal unit, so flashes faster the more load goes through it, and presumably slower, with less. (hence, you'd need a resistor to run LED indicator bulbs) US flashers are technically too slow for UK regs and when I re-arranged our indicators/reverse lamps etc I aded in the front side markers to the indicator circuit (they were "included" but not in a way that I liked!) and that speeded up the flash rate to more normal European speeds. Maybe look at your bulbs?

For anyone with slightly more electrical nouse than me it is possible to change the flasher unit for an "electric" one, with the addition of an earth I think.
Click to expand...
If thr battery is low on charge, other accessories llike lights are on and perhaps idle sperd is a bit on the low side then the alternator may not be putting in any juice to supplement the low battery voltage.
 
johng

johng

CCCUK Member
If your wiring is still as per original and assuming a 72 is wired the same as a 78, then the flasher will flash a bit slower with the headlights turned on. As Stephen said the flasher will flash faster when more current is going through it. With the lights off the current is flowing through 4 bulbs in parallel, with the lights on the current only flows through 3 bulbs in parallel, which will be a higher resistance and hence there will be less current. However this should only make it 25% to 30% slower. Also, as Chuffer has said there will be less voltage from the alternator at tickover and hence less current through the flasher. But again this should only be a 10% to 15% difference. I'd guess that as Ross says, you are getting a low voltage at tickover. Do you have a meter you can check the alternator output with? Alternatively, you may have a poor connection somewhere which is adding resistance to the circuit and hence slowing the flasher, but I can't see why this would only be the case at low revs.
 
Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
kentvette said:
I'm not aware that having lights on makes the indicators slower. But, the flasher unit is not "electric", it's a bi-metal unit, so flashes faster the more load goes through it, and presumably slower, with less. (hence, you'd need a resistor to run LED indicator bulbs) US flashers are technically too slow for UK regs and when I re-arranged our indicators/reverse lamps etc I aded in the front side markers to the indicator circuit (they were "included" but not in a way that I liked!) and that speeded up the flash rate to more normal European speeds. Maybe look at your bulbs?

For anyone with slightly more electrical nouse than me it is possible to change the flasher unit for an "electric" one, with the addition of an earth I think.
Click to expand...
Ah thanks for that info, i will look in to it further👍
 
Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
Mad4slalom said:
Ah thanks for that info, i will look in to it further👍
Click to expand...
Hi all, got the the vette out today , fired up and indicators flashing normally, turned on lights and only a tad slower so dont know what was going on last time. I also noted that the ammeter has a 0 at 12 o clock and a -40 and a +40 at10 and 2 o clock positions.
my needle is only slightly to the + side of 0 , reading in the owners manual it says that if battery is fully charged then the charging rate will be low so all seems correct. Battery is excellent and spins motor endlessly at high revs if needs be so pretty sure alternator is pushing out sufficient voltage. 👍
 
Roscobbc

Roscobbc

Moderator
Always thought that American indicator units sound better that UK/Euro alternatives. Perhaps a little difficult to hear over the top of a throbbing big block but as sounds go - for me anyway a nice gentle relatively quiet 'tickity', tickity', tickity' sound is so much more preferrable that the typical dominant Euro 'TICKITY', TICKITY', TICKITY sound that really starts to irritate when in a traffic queue.
 
CaptainK

CaptainK

CCCUK Member
My Jap only FTO (imported) sounds like it is saying "cup-cake, cup-cake, cup-cake" to me when I put the indicators on. I might be obsessed with cake though. :unsure:
 
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