Build your own Komfortblinker

KekseKaempfer

A2OC Donor
On Saturday night, Jeff was talking about his Komfortblinker and how he wished it did 5 flashes. I don't know exactly how the plug and play versions you all have work, but I found this wiki showing you how to build your own programmable module.

http://e31wiki.org/wiki/One-touch_turn_signal_module

Edit: It came from a post on a BMW forum and originally used a pair of 555 timers which would be cheaper than having to buy a programmer for the pic. A little bit more difficult to customize though.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1104235-One-touch-turn-signal-modification

Enjoy.
Chris
 
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Hi Chris,

Nice find - looks like I'll be on my way to Maplins or RS Comp this weekend to buy a bag of bits - that'll please Glyn.

Looks like a comprehensive wiki page, so I'll read it carefully later.

Cheers
Jeff
 
I shall have to have a go at this at some point. Unfortunately, I've already got so many projects of various varieties on the back burner that it's likely to take me a while to 'round to this. I've always felt that 4 flashes is the ideal for the Komfortblinker, so this is potentially a better product than the ready made units available online.

Thanks for posting, Chris.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Yes, I too have thought that the Komfortblinker flashes far too briefly ... I had even thought to get somebody else to drive it so that I can observe just how brief it really is ... I think that producing one of these is an ideal Winter project. I will accumulate all the components ready for that moment. I particularly enjoy electronics and intricate work, so this seems to be perfect!

David
 
Has anyone tried this yet?

I've got a little more time free now, so I may have a go at making one soon. I'd be keen to hear how you got on in doing this; it seems like a good little project. :p

Regards,

Matt.
 
I've had to give up on this, unfortunately. :(

I tried building the 555 timer based circuit. The possibility of fitting all of the components on stripboard of what I see as a reasonable size is not impossible, but very difficult to achieve. My attempt ended up getting to the point where it was becoming ever more difficult to make new connections, and simply wasn't practical. I've no doubt that it would be much easier on a printed circuit board, but whilst it is fairly easy to design and get such boards printed by specialist companies, I can't see it being a better option compared to buying a mass manufactured device.

On the plus side, I'll be trying out a different type of pre-made comfort blinker in the next week or so, so I'll keep you informed how it goes! :)

Regards,

Matt.
 
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Hello,

So after my issue with the DIY comfort blinker, I decided to try a different type of device, that as far as I know, has not been used before. I chose this device, listed on Amazon. From a design point of view, it's quite simple; with 5 wires coming out of a cast resin casing, which houses the circuitry.

It arrives looking as follows.





I chose not to wire the device into the car loom, but instead to connect it directly to flasher relay. With the flasher relay housing removed, the flasher relay board looks like this.



I then wrapped the wires from the comfort blinker in Tesa loom tape, and then inserted them through a hole in the flasher relay housing ready to be connected to the relay circuit board at the relevant points.



With the wiring connected inside the flasher relay, the unit can then be reassembled and put back in the car. Note that because my flasher relay is mounted in the car in a somewhat 'custom' way due to my double DIN dash conversion, the location of the wiring exiting the flasher relay may be in the wrong place for most.



I should also mention that although the wires exiting the devices are labelled, they are not labelled correctly. Below, I have noted which wires need to be connected to each pin inside the flasher relay.

Red - Pin 10
Black - Pin 9
White - Pin 3
Yellow - Pin 7
Blue - Pin 5

To conclude, this device has the same function as the VAG comfort blinker; to provide 3 indicator flashes with one press of the indicator stalk. I am very happy with it, and I have no complaints other than it is not supplied with fitting instructions.

I'd certainly recommend this comfort blinker! :p

Regards,

Matt.
 
It's a solid resin, that's been cast around the circuitry, Chris. I would like to know what's under there, but I imagine it'd be much more difficult to see with the resin. :)

Regards,

Matt.
 
Hi Matt,

Now This i like and seems alot better way to doing it, rather than the troubles ive seen posted with the facia on the headlight switch way..
Thanks for all the information, especially the wiring as i would of wired it up as instructed myself beleaving its correct...

Gary
 
Nice write up by the way Matt. Another quality addition to the knowledge base. Perhaps you should also create a new thread so that it doesn't get masked by the DIY theme of his thread.

Chris
 
What interested me about this original thread was the ability to increase the number of flashes that happen to be fixed in the Komfortblinker. I see that this Matt's latest creation is also fixed at three flashes? What would I need to use to enable the number of flashes to be increased (and maybe to be programmable) ?

David
 
Hi Matt,

Now This i like and seems alot better way to doing it, rather than the troubles ive seen posted with the facia on the headlight switch way..
Thanks for all the information, especially the wiring as i would of wired it up as instructed myself beleaving its correct...

Gary
Hi Gary this is to gain the one touch/3 flashes of the indicators--the light switch mod is for auto headlights. So many mods its easy to get confused. cheers mike
 
What interested me about this original thread was the ability to increase the number of flashes that happen to be fixed in the Komfortblinker. I see that this Matt's latest creation is also fixed at three flashes? What would I need to use to enable the number of flashes to be increased (and maybe to be programmable) ?

David

David,

Yes, my purchased unit is fixed at 3 flashes. To be able to change the number of flashes, you'll need to build either one of the two projects listed in the first post of this thread.

Whilst the integrated circuit design should be fairly easy to programme, I haven't used 'C' to programme IC's before, so I can't offer much advice. I've only programmed IC's using PICAXE before, and whilst it's easy enough to do, I find it difficult editing other people's work, and would recommend simply starting from fresh. Some experimenting would need to be done if you were to programme in this way.

The second circuit, which is what I attempted to build, is much easier to change the number of flashes. The two potentiometers in the design, P1 and P2, affect the time the output is kept high. Adjusting the time period will therefore, be very simple. The trade off is that the circuit is harder to build due to there being many more components, as I found out.

If you're looking for adjustability, the second, non integrated circuit design is the way to go, in my opinion. :)

Regards,

Matt.
 
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