Drive Brights flickering AGAIN

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Christian

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Like many others here, I upgraded to the LED DriveBright DRL/Signal lights. Like everyone else, they flickered after install, requiring a replacement to an upgraded control box. Well, I did that and now they flicker again. I only replaced the box about 2 months ago. Funny thing is, they don't flicker with every turn signal flash, but it's sporadic...sometimes two flickers in a row, then two normal, then one flicker then 3 normal, etc.

Anyone else have this recurring issue?
 

Lostneye

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I had them for a while but didn't get a chance to install. Is this only with turn signals? If I hook up only the DRL part is there issues?
 

Christian

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I had them for a while but didn't get a chance to install. Is this only with turn signals? If I hook up only the DRL part is there issues?

You're good. It only happens with the amber turn signal part of the bulbs. That said, it's not a deal breaker, as the turn signals are still working, but the flickering is annoying. It almost looks like a police LED flasher. I'm sure the company will replace the module again, as they have been very good about warrantying their product.
 

Lostneye

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Thanks, was actually planning on installing this weekend along with other LEDs up front. I will probably just leave the turn signals off as I don't feel like dealing with it down the road regardless of how good the company i about replacing the modules.
 

Christian

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Thanks, was actually planning on installing this weekend along with other LEDs up front. I will probably just leave the turn signals off as I don't feel like dealing with it down the road regardless of how good the company i about replacing the modules.

Roger that. FWIW though, the amber turn signals look really cool! The transition from clear to amber back to clear makes the car look more modern and up to date.
 

Jason912

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Roger that. FWIW though, the amber turn signals look really cool! The transition from clear to amber back to clear makes the car look more modern and up to date.
Be really neat if they did sequential turn signals tho 345819a4c1672c930d9e606d68efb83a

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SM105K

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Be really neat if they actually worked like they are advertised too.
 

Jason912

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Be really neat if they actually worked like they are advertised too.
True story, that's why I made an alternative. I believe the flickering is due to how their IC self adjusts the flash rate to match the cars turn signal output.

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SM105K

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I honestly don't have a horse in the race. I am not a "light" modification guy, however I have seen numerous post about certain products failing.
 

Jason912

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And that is why I chose not to buy their product. I've seen the posts about it here and on several fb groups.

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Johnbigdog

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The cluster and the turn signals dont correlate. If memory serves me, if one of the turn signals is out the exterior turn signals will flash at the same rate, but the cluster will hyper flash to tell the operator something is wrong.

Ford uses and outage circuit for its LED lamps. The bcm sends power for the turn signal and the tail lamp sends a correlating voltage back. If there is no reply from the tail lamp, it assumes the lamp is non functional.

If it's an incandescent lamp, the bcm looks at amperage.
 

Totaled TL

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Like many others here, I upgraded to the LED DriveBright DRL/Signal lights. Like everyone else, they flickered after install, requiring a replacement to an upgraded control box. Well, I did that and now they flicker again. I only replaced the box about 2 months ago. Funny thing is, they don't flicker with every turn signal flash, but it's sporadic...sometimes two flickers in a row, then two normal, then one flicker then 3 normal, etc.

Anyone else have this recurring issue?
I'm on 3rd or 4th controller (lost track) & working ok. Does the signals flicker only when the engine is running? That's how mine behaved.
 

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My second controller died after 2 years, this time the left turn signal flashed at the correct rate but was very dim. So out of warranty, I ponied up another $170 for a new kit and the dreaded hyper flash again (third new module) just like the first one years ago that was replaced under warranty. Same as usual, DRL mode has always been fine, turn signal/hazard hyper flashes so time to send Dan another email. The bad part is I have an appointment for a state inspection Tuesday and I'm sure they'll have an issue with the add on unit hyper flashing so I'll snip the two trigger wires tomorrow. I can't believe after all this time the design hasn't been fixed.
This is what I've noticed and conveyed to Dan in the past- Key on/ engine off lights work properly and supply voltage lines are at 12.3v. Key on/engine running turn/hazards hyper flash and supply voltage is 14.1v. I need to do the math and see what size resistor I'd need to drop the running voltage down to the 12v range. The supply lines are equipped with a 5amp and 10amp fuse but I haven't checked to see if they're ramping up with the engine running. Definately frustrating.
 

Totaled TL

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I'm not so sure it's an over voltage issue. If you figure it out please post the fix. I have at least 2 controllers that behave the same way with the engine running.
 

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I'm not sure if it's a design flaw or what, the voltage is the only thing that's different between KOEO and KOER, I'd assume that the amperage is a function of the battery capacity and I'm not sure if the ohms law bit comes into effect with the different voltages. Hopefully I can get some phone time with Dan. I'm good with basic electronics, resistors, capacitors, etc...don't have a clue about their ic counter parts in the module. Going to try to make time to get some amperage readings on the two B+ feed circuits tomorrow and see if I can come up with a way to regulate the input voltage/amperage to mimic what I see with the car not running until a replacement module arrives.
One other thing that changed from a few years ago is that the left light harness is longer and the left light feed wires from the module are shorter. I had hoped that was the same and I was going to keep the new lights in the second kit I just purchased on back up (I can always just cut the longer wires and solder into the old lights if needed, just an observation and a clear difference between modules a few years ago vs now). Right side looks the same.

Anybody good with electronics that knows a way to drop the voltage from 14.1v to around 12.5v without creating too much heat give me a shout. I was thinking resistor(s) on one or both of the module B+ feed circuits possibly?
 

'Ol Smoky SHO

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KOEO key on engine off, KOER key on engine running

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COMpulse

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I'm not sure if it's a design flaw or what, the voltage is the only thing that's different between KOEO and KOER, I'd assume that the amperage is a function of the battery capacity and I'm not sure if the ohms law bit comes into effect with the different voltages. Hopefully I can get some phone time with Dan. I'm good with basic electronics, resistors, capacitors, etc...don't have a clue about their ic counter parts in the module. Going to try to make time to get some amperage readings on the two B+ feed circuits tomorrow and see if I can come up with a way to regulate the input voltage/amperage to mimic what I see with the car not running until a replacement module arrives.
One other thing that changed from a few years ago is that the left light harness is longer and the left light feed wires from the module are shorter. I had hoped that was the same and I was going to keep the new lights in the second kit I just purchased on back up (I can always just cut the longer wires and solder into the old lights if needed, just an observation and a clear difference between modules a few years ago vs now). Right side looks the same.

Anybody good with electronics that knows a way to drop the voltage from 14.1v to around 12.5v without creating too much heat give me a shout. I was thinking resistor(s) on one or both of the module B+ feed circuits possibly?

Why not use a voltage regulator?
 

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