This was such a pleasure to reverse engineer because of the unexpected hybrid circuitry that uses a very retro component to control a modern one. And bizarrely, the "retro" component is in a modern surface mount package. A search on Aliexpress found an SMD transistor called P27 which may be a modern variant of the 2N6027.
The module is mainly intended to replace traditional indicator flasher relays on cars and trucks with low current LED lights. That said, a parallel resistor may be required across some LED lights to ensure proper operation. 1K (1000 ohms) should be ideal.
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14 thoughts on “Two wire flasher module teardown with unexpected find”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars bascomnextion says:

    In the 1980s I built an electronic unit to replace the bimetal type one so my dads car could pull a boat trailer and not go nuts flashing its indicators the 555 timer worked great and used about the same amount of components but the rules state it had to make the click sound and the receiver from a telephone did the job.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John. d Vollins says:

    Thank you so very much just love your content👍

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 𐐒Bezzzles says:

    Hiya Clive! Used to watch your vids everyday till i got caught up in uni but now im back! Its so relaxing to see that classic wooden workbench with burn marks in it 🤣

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rikard Lalić says:

    Very broad-minded concept.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Graeme Davidson says:

    Last time I replaced a PUT was in an industrial spot welder decades ago! It was used to set the weld duration. It must have made an impression for me to have remembered it:)

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Silicon Junkie says:

    UJT’s were often used in strobe lights, when the UJT conducted it would discharge the capacitor into a transformer which generated the kilovolts necessary to trigger the xenon flash lamp.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David Sharp says:

    The flash rate for cars is about 70 a min

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Binary Agenda says:

    Is this similar to the special globes you used to be able to swap with a globe in a string of Christmas lights to make them all flash?

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Carlos Augusto says:

    You can find the old 2n6027 as the MMBT6027 smd

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars JenniferDigital says:

    When I was a kid, my dad brought me home one of those orange hazard lights they put on skips and the like. Me being me, took it apart. So it was that I discovered the unijunction transistor whilst still in junior school.

    I have never used one in anger.

    EDIT:-

    Maybe he’ll encounter a Gunn diode or dual gate MOSFET tomorrow.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mike Hough says:

    That is delightfully clever. I mean, it doesn't do the thing it needs to do, but clever nonetheless.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Echo_Hotel says:

    In my own car I suspect the turn signals are on an RC flasher circuit with the bulbs providing the resistance since the moment I replaced the rear lights with LED bulbs the thing started going double tempo.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars nick hanson says:

    Maybe the person who designed it was of an age where using an older component was something they had used in the past, and seemed appropriate 🤔

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Matty England says:

    I've been stuck in an industrial fridge before, luckily not a freezer though. A colleague rescued me after about an hour.

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