4 flashing lights

Thread Starter

ruquick77

Joined May 29, 2008
8
Hello everyone! I have been searching on the net for a few days now trying to find something to help me put 4 flashing lights on my ATV.

I have 4 lights that are 12v and I want them to flash at different times, how would I go about doing this?

I have found a lot a stuff on 555 timers but nothing that goes in to detail on how to do it. Any help would be great.

Thanks
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
What kind of lights are they?, how much current do they draw?
how do you want to flash them (sequential,wig-wag, etc)
It may be that all you want is a commercial flasher(turn signal)
Let us know what you have/want/need.
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
Looks like you have led lights, this is good for what you want. They are low current and will flash faster than a incandescant. Here is something I just made for one of our rescue vehicles (rhino) It involves programming a pic .
On the drawing just substitute your lights,one front and one rear , for each output.The strobe unit in your second url is for xenon strobe lights , it puts out about 400 volts and if connected to your leds would let the smoke out of them immediately if not sooner. There is a bunch of different ways to do this, this is just one of them..


edit: well the attachment came out crappy...anyone know how to post from tinycad without losing too much resolution?
 

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Thread Starter

ruquick77

Joined May 29, 2008
8
Gerty, Thanks for helping.

In TinyCad go to:

File
Export as an Image file

See if that comes out better.

If so please post it so I can read it.

Thanks
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
No,the pic is a programmable chip. If you don't have a programmer you can use a slightly different circuit different . The problem right now is I'm at home and the circuit is in my work computer, so it'll be tomorrow before I can get it to you. That circuit uses a 4093 chip as a clock and a 4017 decade counter to give you alternating outputs. .I have used both circuits , and the one with the pic is easier to build.
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
Hi Gerty,
Your schematic would be easier to see if its parts were not so far apart.
The schematic is the size of my entire neighbourhood. Please crop it.
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
Audio, sorry to hear your neighborhood is soo small. :) I cropped this one best I could. This circuit will flash each side twice before going to the other side.The circuit has been tested with a one amp load, it will not flash headlights or other high amp loads with this transistor configuration.
 

Thread Starter

ruquick77

Joined May 29, 2008
8
Forgot to post new drawing



edit: looks like I cropped off the lower right part of the drawing that labeled the 4 led light assemblies

So with this schematic I will not have to program anything? I should be able to get everything from Radio Shack?

Thanks Gerty for taking the time to help me out.
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
These are common chips,and no programming is required. As you can see this circuit is more involved than the one using a pic. The variable resistor will set the speed of the flashes by changing the clock rate to the 4017. You can google the chip numbers for the data sheets to learn more about how they work.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Radio Shack used to carry IC's like the 4017 and the 4093, but they've cut way back on such stock.

I'm afraid that this latest design is quite weak in the drive for the TIP29's. 4000 Series CMOS can only source a few milliamps. You'll need around 125mA through the base of the TIP29 to get close to saturation.

As it stands, you'll be lucky to get 100mA current out of the TIP29A's with it in it's current configuration.
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
Sarge, I dug up one of the circuit boards and connected it to a lamp .The load measured 512ma at 12v. The pic below (although fuzzy) shows the lamp flashing. One thing I did notice is the lack of base resistor on this board, this must be one we made up before the documentation .
 

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