Hyper-Flashing

Hyper-flashing is a deliberate function of your vehicle’s turn signal circuit that flags a burned-out bulb. Read more to learn about what causes hyper-flashing and what you can do if you experience it.

What is hyper-flashing?

Hyper-flashing is nothing more than a turn signal that blinks faster than normal. It’s a deliberate function of the vehicle’s turn signal circuit that alerts the driver that there is a bulb failure.

How does hyper-flashing work?

Standard bulbs (not LEDs) use electrical resistance to create light . When you turn a bulb on, the filament will generate that resistance, in turn creating heat and light. If a bulb is burned-out, your vehicle can tell that the resistance is low and will begin to hyper-flash.

Any time you replace standard-issue tail lights, marker lights or turn signals with LED upgrades, there is a risk for hyper-flashing. The key to success is to make sure the LED lights properly simulate the resistance of the standard bulbs they’re replacing.

How do LEDs work?

LEDs don’t use resistance to create light; therefore creating little or no resistance. The lower resistance level is detected by the vehicle as a burned-out bulb, which would cause the LED light to hyper-flash. In order to avoid hyper-flashing, LED upgrades are designed with a resistor that simulates a standard bulb and provides your vehicle with the resistance it needs to work properly.

Troubleshooting

If you experience hyper-flashing, there may be several things going on:

1) You’ve installed aftermarket parts that affect the turn signal circuit.

This will happen when you have additional LED upgrades relying on the resistance of the bulb to function properly. This is commonly found with LED Front turn signals that don’t have a large enough resistor. While your J.W. Speaker LED tail lights are supplied with an external resistor it needs to work properly, it is only designed to work for the tail lights. You will need a resistor large enough to cover any front LED turn signal upgrades.

This is true for other modifications to your vehicle relying on resistance. Although they don’t seem related to the tail lights, they can cause hyper-flashing if the overall resistance is too low.

2) You have an overly “sensitive” Jeep.

While this condition is rare, it can still happen to some Jeeps. We first recommend going back to stock to see if there is hyper-flashing. If your stock lights work, but you continue to have an issue with your LED lights exhibiting hyper-flashing, we recommend working with your authorized dealer to troubleshoot the problem. As such, it may be necessary to reinstall your stock tail light if this condition cannot be resolved.

Hyper-flashing and your J.W. Speaker tail lights

J.W. Speaker tail lights are designed with a external resistor that provides adequate resistance simulating a bulb-based system. However, there is variation in vehicle systems depending on the year and model that affects resistor requirements.

Some Jeep JKs (primarily 2007 and early 2008 models) are known to be overly sensitive to the resistance required. To this end, J.W. Speaker has sought to accommodate this sensitivity, providing adjustments needed to resolve hyper-flashing issues for Jeep JKs.

Hyper-flashing and your J.W. Speaker Warranty

Hyper-flashing is a potential issue with all LED tail lights and can be the result of many factors beyond our control. However, in spite of implementing preventive measures to address this condition proactively, it is not possible to account for every cause of hyper-flashing. Therefore, hyper-flashing is not a warrant-able condition. If you are unable to resolve this problem satisfactorily, we advise you to return the lights to your dealer.