why is it that no two blinkers are alike?

Question

I have yet to see any two cars that have the same timing on the blinkers

Answer 1

You have to examine how a blinker works.

When you turn on the blinker, you hear a clicking noise from under the dash, right? That's your turn signal flasher.

The turn signal flasher is really nothing inside but two pieces of metal making contact with one another. One piece is normal, but the other is bi-metalic (constructed of two metals).

What happens is that when electricity runs through the bi-metal, it heats up..and when it heats up it bends and moves away from the other piece of metal...breaking contact and turning the circuit off. The bi-metal not having any current going through it cools down...and once it's cooled it makes contact with the other piece of metal...and the cycle repeats itself so that those who are watching to see if it's blinking at the same speed as their own are entertained.

Why does the bi-metal heat up? When electrical current goes through stuff, it heats stuff up. Turn on burner on stove and place hand on it to confirm my theory.

Well, the more stuff you have on a circuit, including corrosion, different lengths of wiring, different bulbs, different construction of turn signal flashers...all add up to how much heat and how quickly it will go through the bi-metal.

Answer 2

canboat explained it quite well. Let me add that bulb filaments are not all the same either, even with identical #'s on them. That means that the current draw in each car will always be different, meaning no two cars' blinkers blink at the same speed.

Answer 3

It depends on electrical additions i.e. towing wires, light bulbs etc... they draw power to illuminate the blinker (or bulb) at a different rate.

Answer 4

there basically all alike it just has to do with the timing of when there turned on,other than that a lot of them will blink at the same time,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 5

mine does =P 1994 integra