LED Load Equalizer

[Mike6158]

I was thinking about changing the brake and tail lamps on my bike to LED's. Someone told me that I will have to add a load equalizer or the flasher module will think that a bulb has burned out and there will be problems. So I did some research and I came across a site that says that their load equalizer isn't like the equalizers that use resistors. It's a "smart" load equalizer. It's not particularly expensive but I just gotta know... What do you suppose is in that thing?<p>Here's what they say:<p> <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Most load equalizers place a load back on your electrical system, this wastes power and reduces the brightness of your LEDs.
Smart Equalizers solid state units that trick the load dependent flasher into thinking there is a load when LEDs are present
Consumes less power than typical load equalizers
Smart Equalizers produce little or no heat
Delivers more power to your LEDs resulting in brighter light. Plug and Play<hr></blockquote>

[gerty]

Looking at Superbrightleds load resistor kit they reccomend a 6 ohm 50 watt resistor. Since it's wired in parallel it shouldn't cause you turn signals to be dimmer.The wiring for the turn signals is sized for an incandescant bulb,and since this resistor simulates one there is no reason for the leds to be dimmer. As for heat, how long is your turn signal on for, it's about 50% duty cycle for a minute or so. And if it doesn't draw the current it won't work properly.
Just my 2 cents worth....

[cato]

Well, it could be a power supply that draws current while the lights are on (thereby increasing the load) and charges a cap, super cap or battery and then returns the energy to the bus when the lights are off......<p>shrug.....

[Mike6158]

Hmmm... I never thought about using a power supply to feed a dummy load (super cap). This thing is tiny. About the size of one of those USB memory sticks...<p>I was just curious...

[JKMADSCI]

I think your situation depends on the flasher circuit. As we all know, in the old days a simple flasher can was used on most cars witched basically shut off every 1/2 second due to heat generated by current. Depending on your flasher controller your bike might not need a load to flash!

[Mike6158]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by JKMADSCI:
I think your situation depends on the flasher circuit. As we all know, in the old days a simple flasher can was used on most cars witched basically shut off every 1/2 second due to heat generated by current. Depending on your flasher controller your bike might not need a load to flash!<hr></blockquote><p>Actually... It needs a load to flash correctly. I'm pretty sure tha ECU controls the flashing functions as well as engine functions. If a bulb goes out or the controller senses a loss of load then it flashes the circuit faster.<p>I was just curious about the load controller that I found that's advertisement said it wasn't using a resistor so it didn't waste power like a resistor would. There are no free rides in physics. I was just wondering how it could work...