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So I replaced all old excisting ( original?) bulbs in my '88 Firebird for European bulbs, as the car is in Europe since 1993, so far so good, but now, the indicators are blinking very slow, no matter what rpm's...
Battery and generator are new.
Maybe the original relay can't handle the European bulbs, so would this adjustable relay fit and be a sollution?
So I replaced all old existing ( original?) bulbs in my '88 Firebird for European bulbs, as the car is in Europe since 1993, so far so good, but now, the indicators are blinking very slow, no matter what rpm's...
Battery and alternator are new.
Maybe the original relay can't handle the European bulbs, so would this adjustable relay fit and be a solution?
The short answer is , yes , that will work just fine .
But , you will have to provide the third pin on it with a ground connection or else it won't work (our stock flasher unit has two terminals with no third ground connection)
The bottom line reason why you need that our US bulb is 20 watts whereas your European bulb is somewhat less , something like 16 or 17 watts sounds familiar . The stock flasher's speed is extremely power flow dependent and since you have less of a load being put on it , it will flash slower due to the reduced power flowing through the flasher unit . The one you intend to buy uses an electronic circuit to activate a relay and is not power flow dependent on it's blinking speed like the stock (factory supplied) unit is .
Yes , that one with it's two pins instead of three will be a direct plug in with no third (ground) wire required .
BUT ! ,
Darn it there's always a but , the only caveat here is , the first one you showed is rated for far more current draw and should in theory last far longer . The second one claims 21 watts X 2 + 3.4 , adding to 45.4 watts total current handling ability . Now if you had the US 20 watt bulbs in it , plus the dashboard indicator's draw of 3.4 watts , you'd be at 43.4 watts , only two watts below it's maximum stated rating . Even with your 17 watt European bulbs you'd be at 37.4 watts , a mere 8 watts below it's advertised rating . By comparison the first one , for the bother of having to provide it a separate ground , claims to have a 150 watt capacity ! Having a switch able to switch 150 watts VS a switch able to switch 45.5 watts , which switch do you think will tolerate switching your 37.4 watts longer before it's contacts are all pitted & burnt ? If the choice is of a unit operating right at the ragged edge of it's ratings that's plug & play , or a unit being operated far below it's maximum rating that needs the very easy addition of a separate ground wire , at the same price , were the choice mine I'd be hooking up the extra ground wire to have the far more robust unit
Last edited by OrangeBird; 09-19-2018 at 01:06 PM.
Reason: clarify my point
Terminal E , which also has a negative (-) symbol under the E , is the one that would need to be grounded . That terminal needs to be connected to ground and then the stock flasher's plug gets plugged onto the other two pins , B which is the supply side (+12 volts) and L which is the load side (the lights)
09-19-2018, 03:09 AM
