Installing resistors have the purpose of drawing the electrical current of the incandescent bulbs you are replacing with LEDs. However, they should not draw more than what your specific vehicle requires for not going into hyper flash.
I found that 6 ohms is not enough resistance, and therefore, draws a higher amperage than you would need (> 2 Amp). A standard incandescent bulb may draw between 1.75 and 2.25 Amps, but the minimum requirement for the vehicle more likely would be around 1.2 Amps.
The problem with drawing more current than what you'd need is that the current is converted to HEAT by the resistors. Yes, unnecessarily producing HEAT that now has to be dissipated through METAL parts on your vehicle. If you sit in traffic with your turn signals on, they may get really, really hot, and potentially melting wire insulation and plastics around them. Many vehicles have brake and turn signals combined in a double pole single bulb, which makes things worse when sitting in traffic (mainly automatic transmissions) because you may need to keep your brakes on, in addition to your signal lights.
In theory, the higher the resistance the lower the current draw, but if you install a very high value resistor it won't draw enough current to cancel the hyper flash mode. Remember that you are installing these resistors in parallel, so the final resistance is function of both, the LED and the resistor(s), and that affects the current drawn.
I did a bit of experimenting and found that I needed between 16 and 18 ohms to cancel hyper flashing in my vehicle. It's hard to find those specific resistors, so I installed two 8 ohm (25W 8 Ohm) resistors in series (one chained to the other, and both in parallel with the bulb circuit). It is now drawing a bit above 1.1 Amp, turn signals work fine with or without lights on, and resistors run cooler than the 50W 6 Ohm resistors I originally bought. Wattage at this point is about 13 watts, so not critical at all if you use 25-watt resistors. I suggest the use of tie wraps to positively isolate all wires away from ANY kind of resistors used for this purpose.
| Brand | Aaron |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 4.2 ounces |
| Package Dimensions | 8 x 5 x 0.3 inches |
| Item model number | A4-50W-6ohm |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer Part Number | A4-50W-6ohm |
| Wattage | 50 watts |
