At 11:07 AM 6/24/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Spitlist:
>
>My turn signals are starting to blink funny. I get a couple of normal
>blinks accompanied by the "boink" sound from the turn signal relay and
>then no sound with real quick blinks. This cycle then starts over
>again. My question: Is this a typical tell-tale sign of the turn
>signal relay going?
Relays go bad over time as the contacts do a bit of arcing every time
they
close and open the points. This arcing does eventually weld the points
which requires more current to open them which gives you the 'boing' as it
breaks free. The coil windings get weak from this sort of abuse and will
only get worse.
Time to buy a new relay. To help prevent, you can wire a ceramic
capacitor of 10 mfd or so to limit arcing. Many relays will have this in
them already, but some of the smaller relays do not. A ceramic capacitor
isn't polarity specific and it will 'absorb' the spikes that would
otherwise cause this harmful pitting and damage to the relay points.
This is is the same reason we have condensors in distributors. A
condensor is just the automotive version of a ceramic capacitor in a nicer
case and can be used elsewhere in your automotive system for the same
reasons. Radio noise cancellation, anywhere these spikes occur. You will
find them on the voltage regulator, alternator, and wiper motor.
-Vegaman Dan
-66/69 Spitui!
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