Trafficators

[AndrewT]

Looking to fit a flashing warning light which I have spare on my Trafficators but it's bridging the power causing the both to work at once any help oon how I could achieve this goal i am chasing??

[mike.perry]

You cannot fit a flashing warning light to trafficators as there is no flasher unit to power it.
What car have you got and what switch?

[AndrewT]

Series 2 4 door and a left and right switch same as they have on some of the austins

[mike.perry]

The 2 door has a brown switch with a red warning light, the 4 door normally has a white cylinder with a centre off lever at the bottom and works on at timer. If you want a warning light then fit a 2 door switch
If you want a flashing light you need a flasher unit which in any case would require 42W bulbs and if it did flash then the trafficators would flap up and down. You might be able to wire in some sort of relay from Maplins

[autolycus]

I'm a bigger fan of originality than most, but I wouldn't dream of using a car with only semaphore indicators. Road layouts have changed so much in the last 50 years - you just didn't have situations where you might want to move several lanes to your left, for instance - and most drivers don't look for semaphore indicators (or handsignals). And sorry, real purists: I wouldn't risk flashing red brake lights as indicators, either. On both my 50s cars, I use Lucas reversing lights as rear indicators, and SLR576 foglamps as front indicators, both with orange bulbs, of course. They look reasonably period, without looking like pimples as so many add-on winkers do.

Kevin

[kingzdjc]

I'm a bigger fan of originality than most, but I wouldn't dream of using a car with only semaphore indicators. Road layouts have changed so much in the last 50 years - you just didn't have situations where you might want to move several lanes to your left, for instance - and most drivers don't look for semaphore indicators (or handsignals). And sorry, real purists: I wouldn't risk flashing red brake lights as indicators, either. On both my 50s cars, I use Lucas reversing lights as rear indicators, and SLR576 foglamps as front indicators, both with orange bulbs, of course. They look reasonably period, without looking like pimples as so many add-on winkers do.

Kevin

Thats rubbish sorry. I only have the semaphore indicatiors on my Minor and have no problems using them. TBH is someone hit into me, and didnt look at for my indicators OR hand signals, I would see it that they couldnt afford to drive again, as I would see the pleasure in sueing them for every last penny they had, and quite rightly so.
As a motorist, they SHOULD know what trafficators are, and not knowing hand signals IS NOT and excuse. They are a requirement of the driving test, and requirement to know, along with road signs.
It isnt so much that cars and roads have changed, but peoples driving standards have dropped considerably.

[DaisyMayFozz]

One of the problems is though, many of the people passing their test have no idea what a trafficator is or signifies. I know that its not rocket science to work out what it means, but some people on the roads aint exactly Stephen Hawking...........

[ASL642]

..... and young drivers are not taught hand signals either so wouldn't knowing what you were doing!

[AndrewT]

Hope I haven't started world war 3 just wanted to know if I could fit a little warning light light inside to tell me that the Trafficators was out

[ASL642]

Of course you have'nt started a war! We don't argue on here - we "discuss"!!

Honestly I don't think the wiring would cope with a warning signal as is wasn't designed that way of it is original.

We rebuilt a Ser II for our Daughter but used the 948 wiring loom and fitted the behive flashers. We then fitted and other loop which meant she could use the trafficators at shows.

Do you have wing mirrors - angle them so you can see the trafficators working?

[RobThomas]

How about a small 12v piezo electric buzzer in series on the input side of the switch or better would be 2 in parallel with the output side? Low enough current not to bu66er the wiring loom and not in series to drop voltage to the arm mechanism.

Something like...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leaded-27mm-P ... 43acb23890

Similar system used on my aeroplane ignition systems so that you know whe the ignition is live at the coils. Those buzzers run 1 second on, 1 second off. They are quite loud when they are fixed to the fuselage skin which acts like a sounding board.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Took me a while to understand the q., whether you wanted the trafficators to flash or a warning lamp on the dash to tell you they're out.

Mike has the right answer: fit a 2-door switch which has built-in warning lamp.

[mbo145]

On my trafficator switch, it has a light,[frame][/frame]

[mbo145]

Also on the late series 2 speedo it has a spare light hole, "IND" for export only, you could wire that in too![frame][/frame]

[autolycus]

Thats rubbish sorry.

Hmmm. Everything I wrote? Or just some bits? Let's have a look

I only have the semaphore indicatiors on my Minor and have no problems using them. TBH is someone hit into me, and didnt look at for my indicators OR hand signals, I would see it that they couldnt afford to drive again, as I would see the pleasure in sueing them for every last penny they had, and quite rightly so.

I have no trouble using semaphores - flick the switch and there they are. Cancel them and they don't always return very well, particularly at higher speeds, and it's a bit more of a bind, as the OP observed, knowing that they've operated correctly - even buzzers or warning lights usually only tell you that power has been applied to them. But I didn't say that using them was a problem to the driver, so that's not the "rubbish". I think kingzdjc may have misunderstood what insurance is about, by the way: if he sues another driver "for every last penny", that driver would hand the claim straight to his insurer. At the most, it would cost him a few hundred quid in lost ncd. But I didn't mention insurance, and I'd prefer to avoid the inscription on my grave "it was the other driver's fault", so I'd sooner try to avoid accidents in the first place.

As a motorist, they SHOULD know what trafficators are, and not knowing hand signals IS NOT and excuse.

They should indeed. I simply suggested that, whatever they should do, most drivers don't. Sad, but, ime, true. Does that deserve the epithet "rubbish".

They are a requirement of the driving test, and requirement to know, along with road signs.

Requirement of the driving test? Still? Requirement to know? Yes, in that they are still in the Highway Code. But I didn't mention whether people know them - I suggested they don't look out for them. Would you even be able to see an "I intend to move in to the left or turn left" arm signal, as I see they are now called, on an unlit motorway, at night, when you are a couple of lanes away? Rubbish?

It isnt so much that cars and roads have changed, but peoples driving standards have dropped considerably.

Surely you're not disagreeing with my comment that road layouts have changed in the last 50 years? Perhaps I should have said "54 years", then we would have been back to a time with no motorways in the UK, no priority rules at roundabouts, and indeed, virtually no large roundabouts or slip roads.

Driving standards may have dropped - difficult to say when conditions are so different. Drivers now may have less technical competence in outmoded skills like double-declutching, but on the other hand drivers have to deal with more, and faster traffic. But again, they're the circumstances in which we drive, and with which we have to co-exist if we insist on driving old cars. I assume kingzdjc is a far better than average driver, (though the number who claim to be may not make much mathematical sense). I don't claim to be, despite getting by without an accident or conviction for forty-six years, in vehicles ranging from mopeds to furniture lorries, minis to Rolls-Royces. But I don't expect other people to be very good, either, so I try to make it easy for them to miss me. It's even more satisfying than collecting someone's "every last penny", especially if it only goes to pay for the funeral.

Perhaps you didn't like my suggestions for period lights to use as indicators. Fair cop.

To the OP: a pair of simple warning lights, each connected between one of the switch outputs and earth, would give a steady warning light, but then again, you can see the switch position to know that you've operated the switch. How about looking at the Morris heritage, and fitting "budgie mirrors" (little mirrors, an inch or two diameter, mounted on the A pillar inside the car), as on the Morris 8?

Kevin

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

As Phil has pointed out the later series 11 has the space on the dash, I ran a wire from the trafficator switch and fitted a bulb into this empty holder on mine as an extra warning light on my traveller.

[mike.perry]

Trafficators must have one of the following.
Be visible to the driver (I can see mine in the wing mirrors)
A warning light visible to the driver. As in 2 door Minors
A timer or self cancelling switch. As in 4 door Minors

[AndrewT]

also what is the best form of sealing the trafficators inside the car?

[IslipMinor]

If you don't have a warning light, you could wire in a single light, with a diode in the supply from EACH side of the switch. That way you have one warning light only, but illuminated when either of the trafficators is used. Diodes are 29p from Maplins (Pt No 1N4001G).

[kennatt]

trafficators have their place ........on show grounds,not the road.Its my opinion that all cars on the road should have flashing indicators,its what evryone looks for not tiny bits of plastic that sometimes stick out,mostly,at any speed, only get half way out,and then dont fall back when switched off. How can anyone see a left hand trafficator from the overtaking lane of a motorway,because thats where the danger lies in that,if you see a car in the nearside lane start to indicate left,then you are warned that the car behind it may now overtake it and cross into your lane.Its bad enough without the prior warning.Just as bad on two lane roads when you decide to overtake a couple of cars,would you see a tiny trafficator suddenly stick out as the driver decided to overtake the one in front of him,They are next to useless at night,and in a well lit area you can't even see it light up,the amber street lights blank it out. Its so simple to fit a flashing light system of some sort,even one that could be removed to go to shows,that it just amazes me that people think they are adequet on todays roads.And any driver I was unfortunate to have an accident with could try to sue me for every penny,.they would get absolutly not one from me,thats why I pay insurance,they would get exactly what the company offered,take them to court for more and you will have grey hair and drawing the pension,before you got any more. Then your insurance will go up so they get their money back anyway.