diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
I went through a similar issue with my house wiring. I replaced a fluorescent light fixture in my shop with an LED fixture, and suddenly my motion sensor switch no longer worked properly. I did some reading and learned that some types of relays/thermal switches rely on a certain minimum electrical load to work as designed. The LED I installed did not draw enough current to allow the switch to work properly.
I wonder if the same issue would occur in a 12v DC system? Thermal switches such as those used in the flasher circuit must be calibrated for a certain draw/resistance, no? Wondering if replacing the incandescent bulbs with LEDs reduces the draw to the point where the thermal switch can no longer develop enough heat to open the circuit, meaning that the lights stay on, or at least oscillate on/off so rapidly (hence the buzz) that it looks like they're fully on. With reduced resistance in the overall circuit (caused by the removal of the incandescent bulb), perhaps the resistor in the flasher switch can no longer build enough heat to open the switch?
I wonder if the same issue would occur in a 12v DC system? Thermal switches such as those used in the flasher circuit must be calibrated for a certain draw/resistance, no? Wondering if replacing the incandescent bulbs with LEDs reduces the draw to the point where the thermal switch can no longer develop enough heat to open the circuit, meaning that the lights stay on, or at least oscillate on/off so rapidly (hence the buzz) that it looks like they're fully on. With reduced resistance in the overall circuit (caused by the removal of the incandescent bulb), perhaps the resistor in the flasher switch can no longer build enough heat to open the switch?