LED flasher as wig wag

RuralFireMedic

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May 21, 2010
157
Calhoun, TN
Hi everyone! I have a 2015 Dodge Journey
as my POV. It has a positive switched headlight system. I am replacing the bright light bulbs with LED bulbs. I am wondering if I use an LED flasher ( such as the Sho-Me 7 pattern strobe effect flasher) to tap into the positive wire going to the bright bulb, if it would "strobe" flash the bright lights.
232.jpg232.jpg
 
Flyride on YouTube but I would not be flashing driving headlights even with relays. Don't actually know if it can be done as all the LED wig wags I see about would be factory option or a dedicated isolated headlight fasher from Sound off or even a Speed Turtle but that needs a more recent vehicle.
 
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Bottom line up front, it might be better to use a solid-state headlight flasher designed for your specific vehicle instead of a stand-alone LED flasher.

Our shop found out the hard way how Dodge vehicles of that era were manufactured with an electronic "fuse box" called a TIPM (Totally Integrated Power Module). It was notorious for permanently shutting off circuits which shorted or back-fed the TIPM as a safety feature. If I recall, even the dealer's scan tool usually could not reset a hard shut down after so many (like 3-5) faults on a circuit. Obviously, things like a headlight or taillight flasher could kill a circuit on the TIPM in just a few seconds. The only solution they found was to have the dealer replace and reprogram a new TIPM on the vehicles and then omit the offending flasher.

To avoid killing circuits on the TIPM or other similar OEM controls, I would be very careful to electrically isolate any flashers from the OEM circuits.

You may want to consider adding diodes of sufficient ampacity wired inline to prevent the flow of current from the flasher back into the TIPM. You may also need another diode to prevent current flow into the flasher from doing odd things when the headlights are on, unless the flasher has internal isolation in its design.

A good quality headlight flasher usually has circuit isolation built into the device, but I don't know of any purpose-made headlight flashers that deliver a strobe-style flash pattern like you want.

The other thing to consider is if the LED retrofits you buy would even tolerate a rapid strobe flash altogether. Some may have been designed to limit visual flickering or the effects of PWM (pulse width modulation) used by OEMs for dimming or illuminating daytime running lights by electronically or logically smoothing voltage ripples. Thus, a strobe flash may not appear as intended when fed into the aftermarket LED headlight modules.

Here is a link to some guys discussing the diode issue that I found via a google search:
 
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Here is a Wikipedia page explaining more about these diodes. They are commonly available from electronics supply houses. Just make sure you select ones that can handle the amp rating and heat environment of the project.

If you look at the image you posted, ShoMe appears to have already included these components (the black cylinders with the silver stripes) in the output legs of their LED flasher. But even then, you would still need to add another set of diodes yourself between the OEM circuit and the point where you tap the wire to trigger each headlight bulb to protect the vehicle.
 
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On a 2015 Journey the headlight circuit is BCM-controlled, so it’s not really a simple “power wire” you can safely interrupt with a plug-in LED flasher.

A Sho-Me style strobe module is meant for dedicated lighting circuits, and using it inline with the high beam feed can cause BCM faults, flickering, or the module not working as intended.

If you want wig-wag/high beam strobe, the proper way is to use a dedicated wig-wag controller with relays and use the high beam wire only as a trigger signal rather than switching the actual headlight power through the flasher.
 
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