Flasher question

[Lt.Mike]

Just a quick question, I’m going to mount red/amber combo lamps on the rear fenders of my Super A for when I plow snow. I want to wire them up to the lamp switch but want to include a flasher relay for the rear lamps. It seems that I can get a flasher relay from an auto parts store for a couple bucks. Is it as simple as running the 12v power thru the flasher to the lamps ?
Is there a flasher thats better for this purpose that another ?

[ajhbike]

Yes, it is as simple as that. I must have a dozen of them on the tractors and I have the cylinder type flashers (1.5"x 2") from napa working them. They are pretty big to hide but I don't worry too much about that. I hook them up to the light switch or power them off of a toggle

[ajhbike]

Sometimes the flashers aren't needed (like when on driveways) and can be annoying...hence the toggles

[T-Mo]

The small flasher relay units should have two terminals, one marked "X" which is wired from the switch, and one marked "L" which goes to the lights themselves. NAPA, Autozone, Advance Auto, Carquest, etc. will have them. I put one on a few of my tractors.

[T-Mo]

Here is a video of a guy wiring his 8N for lights. Around the 12 minute mark he shows how he wires the light switch and relay flasher.

https://youtu.be/YLTGKEIqZFc?si=y2Zj2_xyAmCTiOZU

[Gary Dotson]

It’s as simple, as mentioned, assuming you’re using standard lights. If using LED lights, it might get a little more involved. There are flashers especially for LED lights but even then, it can be tricky. For standard light bulbs, get the # 552 flasher. That one will work regardless of the number of bulbs, others are specific to number of lights.

[ajhbike]

The hardest part of the LED flashers is the very small wiring making the connections delicate. I use the TSC flashers for $9 or so and they work well. I have LED strobes some of which are battery/magnetic and they work well. I have also wired in 12V power sockets set in plastic outdoor boxes that allow me to use any plug in lights, strobes, tools, compressor, etc.

[Lt.Mike]

Thank you guys, that’s good info. Appreciate the part number and video link. It really lays it all out .
Good point John on the flashers being annoying so I know what I’m going to do. It’s has a toggle switch in the dash right now so I’ll replace that with a 3 way toggle I have in the drawer, On #1, Off, On # 2. So on #1 I’ll wire up headlamps and tail lamps together. On #2 I’ll split the power off the switch but power the tail lamps thru the flasher. It’ll be a clean hook up that way.
Only real figuring out I’ve got left is how to fab up a mount for the lights on the fenders.

[Jim Becker]

It can be as simple as adding the flasher in series with the lights. The catch is that various flashers were designed using various assumptions about the lights they were controlling. Assumptions about current draw are the usual problems. The old, standard duty flashers assumed two conventional lamps. Hook them to 1 or 3 and they flash at the wrong speed or not at all. Heavy duty flashers were designed to work with one or more bulbs. They usually don't work with zero bulbs. When LED bulbs came along, they drew so little current that the flasher can behave like no bulb is attached. (I believe the 552 flasher that Gary mentioned acts this way.) You can use this flasher with LEDs as long as you have at least one old-style bulb. You can then add all the LEDs you want. By the way, a lot of flashers can just dangle from the wires. But there are some that must be grounded to work properly.

Just beware that flashers can behave strangely if not used as intended. Fortunately, many of them come with documentation, maybe printed on the side of the flasher or on the back of the card of a blister pack.

[Lt.Mike]

Just watched the video…
Forgot about the SMV sign. That definitely needs to be mounted as well.
I hear what you’re saying Jim. The head lamps are LED but the rear lamps I have are the older standard bulbs. I have a flasher I removed from a car I’ve been restoring. The cars a ‘68 so that should qualify as old school so I’ll give that a try first. If it works great, it’ll save me a trip.

[Lt.Mike]

I pulled out the lamps I bought on clearance at tractor supply years ago and the old flasher I took out of the Vette. I cleaned up its contacts and hooked it up to a battery using test leads.
Worked great !
Now I’ve got to figure out a good way to mount the lamps so that they will be seen from the front and from the rear.
If I mounted them directly to the fenders the one on the right would be blocked by me in the seat. Figuring to get them positioned over the tires somehow.

[AL Farmall Boy]

I pulled out the lamps I bought on clearance at tractor supply years ago and the old flasher I took out of the Vette. I cleaned up its contacts and hooked it up to a battery using test leads.
Worked great !
Now I’ve got to figure out a good way to mount the lamps so that they will be seen from the front and from the rear.
If I mounted them directly to the fenders the one on the right would be blocked by me in the seat. Figuring to get them positioned over the tires somehow.

If you want to "mount" the flasher, try taking a +-3 inch piece of rubber hose that the flasher will fit snugly into. Then you can zip tie the hose under the seat of the tractor on the seat mounting bracket so it is out of the way and protected from banging around. That is (kind of) how IH did it on the later model Cubs and 140s. They had a circular bracket that bolted to the seat frame and the flasher fit into a piece of foam rubber, but that way should work nicely and be low budget!