Need help plz: Issues after installing Digi-Tails

[72Z/28]

I have been I having issues after installing Digi-Tails parking light kit on my 68 camaro.

I have replaced both of my flashers with LED Electronic no load flashers for both turn signals and hazards because also have LED tail lights.

Had to use polarity reverse adapter for my turn signal flasher only. Did not need to reverse polarity for my Hazards flashers
Now to the problem:

My hazards or 4 way flashers freeze when I apply the brakes. When I get my foot of the brake pedal, it continues flashing.

I do not any issue with turning signals and applying the brakes.

So could somebody chime in please to identify the reason why the 4 way hazards/ flasher stops working when applying brakes.

[camcojb]

I know on some cars that's totally normal to do that (stop flashing when the brakes are applied. Have you contact Digitails to see if that's true for their system?

[72Z/28]

I know on some cars that's totally normal to do that (stop flashing when the brakes are applied. Have you contact Digitails to see if that's true for their system?
I have not contacted them about this issue yet.

Actually There are two issues I am having after installing their parking light kit.

One is the 4 way flasher stopping after applying the brakes.

Another issue is when I turn on the parking lights, the green LED for my indicators on the classic instruments gauge cluster also come on. They react exactly the same as parking lights with two intensities. This is something which is totally unexpected to have the dash indicators continuously on as cluster light.

[130fe]

I have digitails front and back on my 68 and they both stop flashing when the brakes are applied. I think it is how the cars are wired. Probably something to do with the brake switch signal overrides the flasher.

As for your turn signal led, I had a similiar issue with mine and ended up grounding those LEDs (green turn ones in dash) on their own ground (not tied into any of the other dash wiring).

[72Z/28]

I have digitails front and back on my 68 and they both stop flashing when the brakes are applied. I think it is how the cars are wired. Probably something to do with the brake switch signal overrides the flasher.

As for your turn signal led, I had a similiar issue with mine and ended up grounding those LEDs (green turn ones in dash) on their own ground (not tied into any of the other dash wiring).

Chris thanks a lot for great input. I was frustrated about it as I thought it is another that I have to deal with.

As for the green indicators, I am going to try to follow what you have done

[blitzer454]

When you say that your 4-way flashers freeze, do you mean that the bulbs stay on or stay off while the brake pedal is active? Or can you make them stay on or off depending on when you press the brake pedal? It probably is normal for the rear bulbs to stay lit but I would not expect the front bulbs to also stay lit, they should keep on blinking.

As far as the dash turn signal indicators coming on with the parking lights, that sounds like a problem with the digitails rear tail lights back feeding a voltage onto the turn signal wires which it should not do. So another potential way to prevent this would be to add diodes to the green and yellow digitails wires such that voltage can not back feed into the blinker circuit.

[dhutton]

Pretty sure my Digitails do the same thing to my LED indicators. Luckily I never drive in the dark... LOL....

Don

[72Z/28]

Ok guys I ran into another issue😡

When the engine is running, the front turn signals flash normally with either turn signals on or hazards on. However, they stop flashing once I turn the parking lights on. This is happening once I start the engine.

However, everything works fine when the engine is not running.

[72Z/28]

When you say that your 4-way flashers freeze, do you mean that the bulbs stay on or stay off while the brake pedal is active? Or can you make them stay on or off depending on when you press the brake pedal? It probably is normal for the rear bulbs to stay lit but I would not expect the front bulbs to also stay lit, they should keep on blinking.

As far as the dash turn signal indicators coming on with the parking lights, that sounds like a problem with the digitails rear tail lights back feeding a voltage onto the turn signal wires which it should not do. So another potential way to prevent this would be to add diodes to the green and yellow digitails wires such that voltage can not back feed into the blinker circuit.

When I hit the brakes, both front and rear LED lights stay lit. They continue flashing when I take my foot off the pedal.

Actually the rear LED lights are from United Pacific not the Digital ones

I have not tried pressing the brakes while the 4 way flashers are on before installing the Digitails front parking light kit.

Another issue I have run into is when I turn the engine on, and while the parking lights are on, the front Turn Signals nor do the front hazards work.

It is really frustrating and I wished I had not installed these Digitails parking light kit

[blitzer454]

Can you provide a link to the parking lamps that you're using? Is it possible that you connected them incorrectly? They should only go in one way into the socket, but if you forced them in then I could possibly see this type of problem occurring.

[dhutton]

Are your parking light housings well grounded? I have had to add dedicated ground wires to them in the past. Measure the resistance from the light housing to the battery ground.

Is your engine, body and core support properly grounded?

Don

[72Z/28]

Can you provide a link to the parking lamps that you're using? Is it possible that you connected them incorrectly? They should only go in one way into the socket, but if you forced them in then I could possibly see this type of problem occurring.

The Digitails parking light kit is sold by Mattsclassicbowties in Amazon. Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Chevrolet-Camaro-Standard-Parking-Light/dp/B005HFXZ8W

I made sure wiring is done properly. If not wired correctly, the turn signals and parking light won’t work.

Everything works fine with the engine is not running. However, when I start the engine, the front turn signals or hazards don’t flash.

When engine is switched off, all work fine.

I honestly do not know what else to check. It was really a wrong decision made to the kit.

[72Z/28]

Are your parking light housings well grounded? I have had to add dedicated ground wires to them in the past. Measure the resistance from the light housing to the battery ground.

Is your engine, body and core support properly grounded?

Don

Yes they are all properly grounded.

[blitzer454]

There are 3 problems that you're reporting.

1. When the 4-way flashers are active and the brakes are on then all 4 bulbs remain lit instead of flashing as one would expect. I think this may be normal and is a function of the blinker/hazard switch in the steering column.

2. The dash blinker LED indicator bulbs will come on when the parking lamps are on. This obviously shouldn't happen and I think the problem is caused because the parking lamps are back feeding voltage onto the blinker circuit when the parking lamps are turned on.

3. When the engine is running and the parking lamps are on then the front blinkers will not function. So again I think this is the same as problem number 2 but it is more pronounced when the engine is running because the operating voltage is greater than when the engine is off. It could be that the blinkers actually are blinking but you can't tell because the back fed voltage from the parking lamp circuit is enough to not only light the dash indicator bulbs but it is also now lighting the blinker bulbs.

So this seems to be a defective digitails parking lamp or lamps. You could try probing either the left or right blinker wire going to the digitail light and see if a voltage is present when you only turn on the parking lights.

I suspect that you will find a voltage on both the left and right sides since you stated that both indicator bulbs are coming on. You could work around this problem by adding a diode on each blinker wire going to the digitail parking lights.

[72Z/28]

There are 3 problems that you're reporting.

1. When the 4-way flashers are active and the brakes are on then all 4 bulbs remain lit instead of flashing as one would expect. I think this may be normal and is a function of the blinker/hazard switch in the steering column.

2. The dash blinker LED indicator bulbs will come on when the parking lamps are on. This obviously shouldn't happen and I think the problem is caused because the parking lamps are back feeding voltage onto the blinker circuit when the parking lamps are turned on.

3. When the engine is running and the parking lamps are on then the front blinkers will not function. So again I think this is the same as problem number 2 but it is more pronounced when the engine is running because the operating voltage is greater than when the engine is off. It could be that the blinkers actually are blinking but you can't tell because the back fed voltage from the parking lamp circuit is enough to not only light the dash indicator bulbs but it is also now lighting the blinker bulbs.

So this seems to be a defective digitails parking lamp or lamps. You could try probing either the left or right blinker wire going to the digitail light and see if a voltage is present when you only turn on the parking lights.

I suspect that you will find a voltage on both the left and right sides since you stated that both indicator bulbs are coming on. You could work around this problem by adding a diode on each blinker wire going to the digitail parking lights.

Thanks for the informative write up. My knowledge in electronics is very basic. Just wondering why I may still need to get a diode when I already have LED flashers for both Hazards & Turn Signals?

Is a diode different than LED resistor, that are used to eliminate hyper blinking?

Do I need to add a diode on each blinker wire front only or the rear blinker wires as well?


Do the diodes come in different voltages? Will appreciate if you could share a link or a photo and the voltage required for each diode?





Will appreciate your input

[dhutton]

Diodes are different from resistors in that they only allow current to flow in one direction. They will prevent circuits from backfeeding.

Not sure what he would recommend but a 50 volt 10 amp Schottky diode should be ok.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stock-10pcs-10SQ050-10A-50V-R-6-Schottky-Rectifiers-Diode/391757092996?hash=item5b368ad884:g:mF0AAOSwhilbaAu-

Don

[72Z/28]

Diodes are different from resistors in that they only allow current to flow in one direction. They will prevent circuits from backfeeding.

Not sure what he would recommend but a 50 volt 10 amp Schottky diode should be ok.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stock-10pcs-10SQ050-10A-50V-R-6-Schottky-Rectifiers-Diode/391757092996?hash=item5b368ad884:g:mF0AAOSwhilbaAu-

Don

Thanks Don for sharing the specs

[blitzer454]

The diodes Don picked will work fine. You can confirm this fix will work by cutting the blinker wire at the digitail parking lamp. You should see that one of the dash indicator bulbs is no longer lit when you turn on the parking lamps and if that is the case then place the diode between the wire you just cut with the cathode (end of the diode with the stripe) connected to the side of the wire attached to the parking lamp. If both are still lit then the problem is somewhere else so try that first and let us know how it goes.

[72Z/28]

Just a quick update on the issues.
As advised by Chris I checked the voltage at blinker wire when the parking light is on while the engine is running. When the blinker or the flasher at front is on, there was voltage going to the blinker.

When I turn off the parking light and blinker is on, I noticed the voltage at blinker side.

I have also replaced side marker bulbs with LED ones. I decided to remove the Side marker LEDs.

Guess what, everything started to work as it is supposed to and the dash green indicators did not stay on when the parking light is on.

Now since the problem is with the LED side markers,

Does this mean if I put diodes on each blinker wire, everything will work fine by keeping the LED side marker bulbs?

I put the normal bulbs for testing purposes,however, it did not help at all

[72Z/28]

The diodes Don picked will work fine. You can confirm this fix will work by cutting the blinker wire at the digitail parking lamp. You should see that one of the dash indicator bulbs is no longer lit when you turn on the parking lamps and if that is the case then place the diode between the wire you just cut with the cathode (end of the diode with the stripe) connected to the side of the wire attached to the parking lamp. If both are still lit then the problem is somewhere else so try that first and let us know how it goes.

Well I have just disconnected the blinker wire (blue ) on both parking lights and turned on the parking lights. Unfortunately, the indicators on the dash are still lit.

I guess the culprit is the LED bulb (194) I put for the side markers. When In pulled the LED from the markers a few hours ago, the green indicators were no longer lit, and the turn signals/ hazards worked fine with and without the engine running.

Now I need to figure out the issue with the side markers LEDs.

[blitzer454]

What was the voltage at the blinker wire when just the parking lights and engine are on with the marker lights still installed?

I'm confused as to why removing the marker lights would fix the LED dash indicator bulbs from lighting, unless they're not really LED bulbs. If they were incandescent bulbs then I would say that you have a bad ground in the dash that needs to be fixed but if they really are LED bulbs then that doesn't make sense as a LED bulb would block current from flowing in the reverse direction through the ground. So are you sure they are LED bulbs?

[dhutton]

Those LED side marker LEDs are tricky because they can be installed two ways. The wrong way has the diode backwards and back feeding I think.

Dash bulb LEDs would have same potential issue I think....

Don

[72Z/28]

Those LED side marker LEDs are tricky because they can be installed two ways. The wrong way has the diode backwards and back feeding I think.

Dash bulb LEDs would have same potential issue I think....

Don

Don you are right, side marker LEDs can be installed two ways. However, it will work one way only by rotating it 180 degrees/ reversing polarities. Dash indicator LEDs are the small LED diodes , which are there from the manufacturer.

Unfortunately, all the issues started to come after installing Digitail parking lights.

The problem is when the side marker LEDs are in, the intensity of the parking light increases/become brighter. The blinker brightness when it flashes is low. This scenario is when the engine is not running. I have checked the voltages but
I am going to record all the voltages this time and list down all the observations withand without the engine is running.

Below is the link to the side marker LEDs I have

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GRVN7R6?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[130fe]

Just curious why you used the polarity reverse adapter? My setup (same as yours) is plug and play with no extra gadgets. Which electronic relays are you using. I initially tried using one without the ground wire and had issues. Switched to one with a built in ground wire and everything was good.

[72Z/28]

What was the voltage at the blinker wire when just the parking lights and engine are on with the marker lights still installed?

I'm confused as to why removing the marker lights would fix the LED dash indicator bulbs from lighting, unless they're not really LED bulbs. If they were incandescent bulbs then I would say that you have a bad ground in the dash that needs to be fixed but if they really are LED bulbs then that doesn't make sense as a LED bulb would block current from flowing in the reverse direction through the ground. So are you sure they are LED bulbs?

I have checked the voltage at parking light wire (brown) and blinker wire (blue):

-engine not running, parking light on, blinker off, LED side markers installed:
*Parking light voltage (passenger and driver side) is 25.4V
*Blinker wire voltage is 12.1V


-engine not running, parking light on, blinker off, LED side markers removed:
*Parking light voltage is 25.8V
*blinker wire voltage is 0V

-engine running,parking light on, blinker off, LED side markers installed:
*Parking light voltage is 29.5V
*Blinker wire voltage is around 15V
* blinker wire voltage when LED side markers remove is 0V


So it seems like the LED side markers when installed are feeding voltage to the blinkers (even being off). This is causing the blinker part is partially lit.



Here is the link to the LED side markers


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GRVN7R6?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div

As I said, this issue had become after installing Digitails parking light kit

I will try to run a wire from my battery negative terminal to the LED ground wire and see what will happen.

[dhutton]

25.4 volts? That is some magical LEDs you have there... it’s like you’ve somehow implemented a voltage doubler. Hopefully Blitzer knows what’s going on.

Don

[blitzer454]

I'm pretty sure this car is possessed, you should immediately seek a priest and have him perform an exorcism on your car before it kills you. :hairpullout:

In post #23 you stated that the parking lamps get brighter when the marker LED lights are installed and the parking brake is on. This did make me think that there might be a voltage multiplier involved as the parking lamps should have gotten dimmer or stayed the same brightness. But I find it very hard to believe that you are measuring around 25V on the parking lamp wire. If that is truly the case then you should also be measuring something very close to that voltage at the cars battery. Actually it might help if you could include how you are taking these measurements. Specifically where are you placing the positive and negative leads of the meter?

Assuming that you really are measuring ~25V then try disconnecting the parking wire from the digitails and re-measuring the voltage again when the parking lights are on. If you are measuring the expected battery voltage then we can at least confirm that the digitails are indeed using a voltage multiplier in which case you could use a diode to block that excessive voltage from making its way back into the cars other electrical circuits.

But I got to say that there are other things that don't make sense to me but then again when you introduce a voltage that big where it doesn't belong it gets pretty difficult to determine why things are acting the way they are.

[72Z/28]

I would say my car is possessed because it never gets done��

My bad guys, it was dark when I took the voltage measurements and did not realize I was measuring AC voltage. That is why you saw such magical numbers.

Anyways, I did measure again and this time it is correct DC voltage:

-Engine not running, parking lights ON, LED side markers installed:
*voltage at parking light wire is around 11.9V
*voltage at blinker wire is around 5.9V

-Engine running, parking light ON, LED side markers installed:
*voltage at parking light wire is around 13.00V
*voltage at blinker wire is around 6.8V

Engine running, parking lights On, LED side markers removed:
*voltage at parking light wire is around 13.6V
*voltage at blinker wire is 0V


Earlier I was confused about why the 4 way flashers (front & rear) freeze when I apply the brakes. However, it seems to be normal as per the feedback from forum members.

I did run a ground wire from battery negative terminal to Digitails ground wire but no luck.

I hope this time it is clear now for you guys to guide me more on this issue

Sorry for the voltage confusion.

[blitzer454]

Ahh, much better. The first two sets of measurements confirms that there is a voltage being introduced onto the blinker circuit when the marker LED's are installed. The weird thing about this is that this should not be possible as the marker lights should only have one wire going to each light which is part of the parking light circuit.

When you were measuring the voltage on the blinker wire are you sure that the voltage was a positive 5.9V and 6.8V? If it were a negative voltage then you have a bad ground somewhere between one or more marker lights and the cars battery. Most likely the bad ground will be right at the marker light socket.

If it really was a positive voltage, then try unplugging the tail light bulbs and measuring again as the tail lights are another place where both the parking light and blinker circuit come together. The front parking lights are also another place, but in a previous post you stated that disconnecting the digitails blinker wire did not prevent the dash indicator bulbs from lighting so that means the digitails probably are not at fault.

[72Z/28]

Ahh, much better. The first two sets of measurements confirms that there is a voltage being introduced onto the blinker circuit when the marker LED's are installed. The weird thing about this is that this should not be possible as the marker lights should only have one wire going to each light which is part of the parking light circuit.

When you were measuring the voltage on the blinker wire are you sure that the voltage was a positive 5.9V and 6.8V? If it were a negative voltage then you have a bad ground somewhere between one or more marker lights and the cars battery. Most likely the bad ground will be right at the marker light socket.

If it really was a positive voltage, then try unplugging the tail light bulbs and measuring again as the tail lights are another place where both the parking light and blinker circuit come together. The front parking lights are also another place, but in a previous post you stated that disconnecting the digitails blinker wire did not prevent the dash indicator bulbs from lighting so that means the digitails probably are not at fault.

Do you mean if it is negative voltage, it should show (-) sign next to the value on the voltmeter screen?

The voltage I got did not have any (-) negative sign on the screen.

I have just read in one of the painless wiring manuals that if there is a bad ground, it will find it is way to another source like the indicators on the dash cluster.

I will check the wiring again at the side marker and the parking light housing again

[blitzer454]

Do you mean if it is negative voltage, it should show (-) sign next to the value on the voltmeter screen?

The voltage I got did not have any (-) negative sign on the screen.

I have just read in one of the painless wiring manuals that if there is a bad ground, it will find it is way to another source like the indicators on the dash cluster.

I will check the wiring again at the side marker and the parking light housing again


Yes, it also depends on how you take the measurement. I'm assuming you were always placing the negative lead of the meter on the car body which is ground.

You could also try installing the marker lights one at a time while measuring the voltage on the blinker wire to see when it starts to rise.

[72Z/28]

I gave up.

I have checked the damn wiring on those side markers, and they are correctly wired.

I do not know why when I put those stupid LED side markers, voltage gets introduced into the blinker wire.

When both side markers removed, the voltage at each blinker wire is zero, and both dash indicators disappear.

When I put driver side LED side marker, voltage of 5.9V gets introduced into blinker wire, zero voltage at passenger side blinker wire, and driver side dash indicator gets lit.

The same when I put Passenger side LED marker. Voltage of 5.9 at passenger blinker wire, and passenger side dash indicator gets lit.


I just can’t figure out what else to check for.

[72Z/28]

Just curious why you used the polarity reverse adapter? My setup (same as yours) is plug and play with no extra gadgets. Which electronic relays are you using. I initially tried using one without the ground wire and had issues. Switched to one with a built in ground wire and everything was good.


I have painless wiring fuse box.
I had use polarity reverse adapter on turn signal LED flasher only.
Now I am using CEC no load LED flasher with ground wires

[blitzer454]

I gave up.

I have checked the damn wiring on those side markers, and they are correctly wired.

I do not know why when I put those stupid LED side markers, voltage gets introduced into the blinker wire.

When both side markers removed, the voltage at each blinker wire is zero, and both dash indicators disappear.

When I put driver side LED side marker, voltage of 5.9V gets introduced into blinker wire, zero voltage at passenger side blinker wire, and driver side dash indicator gets lit.

The same when I put Passenger side LED marker. Voltage of 5.9 at passenger blinker wire, and passenger side dash indicator gets lit.


I just can’t figure out what else to check for.

Did you try removing the tail light bulbs yet? Also can you confirm that the side marker lights only has one wire going to the socket. Maybe someone modified the marker lights so they would blink with the turn signal in which case you would need a different bulb.

[72Z/28]

Did you try removing the tail light bulbs yet? Also can you confirm that the side marker lights only has one wire going to the socket. Maybe someone modified the marker lights so they would blink with the turn signal in which case you would need a different bulb.

Actually the tail lights are also LED ones (LED boards) from United Pacific, which plugs into the 1157 bulb holder. I do not think the issue with the tail lights.

As far as the side markers, yes they were modified to blink with the turn signals. The ground wire has been connected to the parking light blinker wire, and they blink in sequence only when the parking lights are on. In other words, if the parking light is off, and the turn signal or 4 way flasher is on, the side markers do not blink. I think this is strange and must have happend recently when I put LED parking and side markers.

[blitzer454]

Actually the tail lights are also LED ones (LED boards) from United Pacific, which plugs into the 1157 bulb holder. I do not think the issue with the tail lights.

As far as the side markers, yes they were modified to blink with the turn signals. The ground wire has been connected to the parking light blinker wire, and they blink only when the parking lights are on. In other words, if the parking light is and the turn signal or 4 way flasher is on, the side markers do not blink

That won't work with LED bulbs as the current required to light an LED is much lower than what it takes to light and incandescent bulb. Reconnect the ground wire back to ground and all should be good.

[72Z/28]

Actually the tail lights are also LED ones (LED boards) from United Pacific, which plugs into the 1157 bulb holder. I do not think the issue with the tail lights.



That won't work with LED bulbs as the current required to light an LED is much lower than what it takes to light and incandescent bulb. Reconnect the ground wire back to ground and all should be good.

You are 💯 right. The culprit was the LED side markers when connected to blinker wire.

The problem is solved once I reconnected the side marker ground wire back to ground.

Dash indicators are no longer lit and parking light/blinker is working fine.

[72Z/28]

I want to thank you guys ( Blitzer454, Don, Chris, and Jody) for your time for helping me to troubleshoot and resolve the parking light issue.