Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post any technical questions or queries here.
Post Reply
Charlynsane
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1177
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50 am
Location: France

Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Charlynsane »

Hello guys,

I'm looking for an alternative to lucas flasher unit sold by every spares dealers,

It never works properly,

I bought two lucas unit from MS and I tried to fit it, it doesn't work properly,

I finally stole the flasher unit of my Dad's cooper mk2 to fit on my mk1,

Do you where can we buy good flasher units?
User avatar
pad4
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1090
Joined: Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:57 am
Location: Darwen, Lancashireee

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by pad4 »

was wong wit velly good frasher unit flom china - it no frash or frash permarently..

Any way enough of my chinese accent there- id just trawl ebay for one, they do come up from time to time
User avatar
monkeyjim
850 Super
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: East Sussex

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by monkeyjim »

Try holden.co.uk and put this part number in search box 35020 .
I am sure it was a video on there website I watched a few months ago that was explaining the quality and cost of there genuine old stock Lucas flasher can against the modern looky looky loocus one .

David
User avatar
Frogeye61
998 Cooper
Posts: 372
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:56 pm
Location: Storkøbenhavn

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Frogeye61 »

The Lucas unit, as with most older units used the current through the lamps to heat a bi-metal strip within the flasher unit, which would deform under the heat and breaking contact. Repeating this cycle caused the flash.

I have been using German units, from VW or Opel, because they have real timers within the electronics. Connections are the same, but using the timer means the flash period is not dependent on how many bulbs and what wattage they are for the flashing rate. Therefore it works with additional bulbs like with a trailer, or less wattage like diode lamps.
Charlynsane
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1177
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50 am
Location: France

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Charlynsane »

opened the old one, fitted for 45 years, and no electronics, but a contact set,

I also opened a brand new one, and this shity!!! just a circuit board..

I have never seen a NOS one on ebay,

But I have a lead on an alternative. Cartier flasher units fitted on Simca and old french cars! it works perfectly!!

As for me all repro parts are not efficient.. I think everybody here has already tried fitting a Modern grille surround to a Genuine Mk1.. You can't make it fit it as well as an original one! I hate chinese parts
User avatar
dklawson
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1166
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:44 am
Location: Durham, NC USA
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by dklawson »

The part number below will not be of much help since it is a U.S. part, but I use the 3-pin Triden EL13 and the 2-pin Triden EL12 flashers in place of Lucas units. They do not look original as they have a plastic case and as mentioned above, they have circuit boards, not bimetallic contacts. The advantage of the modern flashers is reliability. Their disadvantage is they do not change flash rate when bulbs burn out.

I started using the modern flashers when the NOS Lucas flasher I installed on my Mk1 failed after 3 weeks. The Triden unit was cheaper and has not failed in the 10+ years it has been installed. I don't know if the Opel and VW units mentioned above use the same color codes or terminal designations as Lucas. The Triden units have the common U.S. terminal letters.

I have a picture of the EL13 flasher online but it is in a Google account that won't let me post direct links. Visit the page linked below and look under the "Mini Pictures" heading for "afermarketflasher.jpg".
https://sites.google.com/site/purlawson/home/pictures
Doug L.
Charlynsane
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1177
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50 am
Location: France

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Charlynsane »

Thank you guys!

I will try to find this Triden flasher unit!
User avatar
Andrew1967
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 7911
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:35 pm
Location: Usually in my garage on the east coast of Norfolk, UK
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Andrew1967 »

As I understand it...

Orange Lucas box = original Lucas - Made in Britain = will last for years
Green Lucas box = modern 'Lucas' - Made God knows where but more than likely China = will last five minutes if you are lucky.

Hence why NOS genuine Lucas stuff makes big money nowadays.
User avatar
monkeyjim
850 Super
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: East Sussex

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by monkeyjim »

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproduct. ... Code=35020

This second link explains quality between old orange Lucas and the green and white. Worth a watch . They sell both .

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayProducts ... andCode=X8
Tim
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1284
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:55 pm
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by Tim »

I agree with Doug. I've replaced dozens of cheap flasher units over the years, but have now switched to Tridon ones on the recommendation of an experienced mini auto-electrician. So far so good.

For the Traveller restoration, where the flasher unit is visible, I just bought a NOS Lucas one "Made in England" from eBay. It didn't cost a lot more than the Tridon.

Tim
1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian
User avatar
dklawson
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1166
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:44 am
Location: Durham, NC USA
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Good flasher unit/alternative to lucas "made in china"

Post by dklawson »

Ooops ! Sorry about the spelling mistake. "Tridon" as Tim said, not "Triden" as I typed. Thanks for catching that.
Doug L.
Post Reply