I am a mite puzzled by this. In the 50s most cars here used a flasher
that had a coil around one arm - bimetallic I believe (of a pair that had
contacts) that heated up one arm when current flowed (lights on) - after
a certain time period the heating would cause the heated arm to move thus
opening the contacts (lights off) - when the current ceased to flow the
arm would cool and after a few seconds the contacts would again close
(lights on). This cycle repeated till the voltage was removed - (turn
signal switch turned off). With the advent of more than one tail light
per side the flasher had to be modified in order to operate properly
because of the increased current (two lamps instead of one). Two types of
flashers now. Then for vehicles towing a trailer with turn signal lights
an even different flasher was needed - one that would operate properly
(flashes per sec) both with and with out the trailer - commonly called a
HEAVY DUTY flasher here. My 89 Ford van used this method as did most
vehicles I came in contact with. I haven't looked at my 92 Ford Crown Vic
nor my 92 Chevy PU - which I use to tow a trailer. The PU came with a
towing package which may have included a flasher that takes care of the
trailer. The trailer has two bulbs in each the left and right tail
light.

Instrument voltage regulation
Ford and Chrysler (and I suspect others) vehicles both used a similar
device which was designed so that the contacts would open and close at a
rate that regulated the applied 12V DC to an average of 5.0V DC to some
of the dash instruments - fuel guage, temperature gauge etc. When this
regulator started going bad the fuel gauge would read incorrectly getting
worse as time went by - showing the gas tank had some gas when in fact it
was empty. Very disconcerting to run out of gas when the gauge showed 1/4
tank!!! Especially when one is on a highway miles from any thing. Been
there and done that! I ran out one time 15 miles from anything - except
a farm house. The people there were kind enough to allow me to siphon a
couple gallons of gas from one of their vehicles which got me to a
gas station. I lead a charmed life sometimes!

Jay

GM> JB> the really old ones were bimetalic.  those capacitor ones don't work
GM> JB> to well when they get hot... (I've not compared a bimetalic one's
GM> JB> performance)

GM>I've heard of bimetalic flashers, but I doubt that they ever
GM>existed in real life.

GM>Most bimetal relays I came across were part of overload cutouts,
GM>and they were FAR too slow for auto turning indicators.

GM>I did see one bimetal relay used as a timer. The bimetal unit was
GM>extremely tiny, and was heated by a coil around it. But it was so
GM>tiny it could only operate a tiny microswitch contact, and the
GM>shortest time delay it would work down to was about 20-30
GM>seconds.

GM>I have seen thermal flashers from US, British, Euro and Japanese
GM>cars. They all used a VERY thin wire that stretched when heated.

GM>The thermal inertia was thousands of times lower than the
GM>smallest bimetal strip I ever saw, and even then they couldn't
GM>flash faster than about 2-3 times a second.

GM>   ,-./\
GM>  /     \ From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia
GM>  \_,-*_/    "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E
GM>       v

GM>... Maybe I'm wrong.... But, who is to say what's right?
GM>___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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GM>: Braintap BBS Adelaide Oz, Internet UUCP +61-8-8239-0497 (3:800/449)
                                                      

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