Mini Megasquirt Options

[cgnj]

Hi,

I have been comtemplating yanking the Dells and going to a megasquirt. I've been following the ongoing development saga of V3 and and the lack of V2.2 boards. Did find this site.Mini Megasquirt

Advantages= 2.2 today. Ampseal, weather proof case installed in engine compartment. (no cutting)

Upper end of MS operating temp is 85 C (185 F). Engine compartment get this hot?
Anything else I have overlooked? Feel free to shoot me down.

Carlos

Not buying another jet or vent

[michel richard]

I believe V2.2 boards are available, it's the MSII add-on board that may not be. In addition, temperature wise, the big limiting factor is the main chip itself. It usually said that it can't go in the engine compartment.

All engine compartments are not created equal, however, and I would think that there are areas of our little engine compartments, high and near the front bulkhead, that see moderate temps only. You may want to do some testing before you try it.

I had'nt seen the mini-MS thing, thanks for pointing us in that direction.

Michel Richard
914/6 2.2 E MFI
Lotus Europa S1a, being Megasquirted

[Mueller]

I asked about it a year ago, Waterproof/Mini-Megasquirt?? ...didn't get too much info about it...I'd check with the main Megasquirt site and see if there is any feedback , good or bad.....

I tried to buy one last year, but the guy had a few month backorder and never contacted me when he had new boards in stock...so I went another direction...

It seems like it would be easier than all the other units when it comes down to wiring it all up...I spent time on my FI install last night trying to figure out the best place to locate everything (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif) ...the ECU will go in the driver/pass. compartment, and I'm pretty sure I'll be mounting the Mallory HyFire and the MS-based relay board in the stock relay board location......

[lapuwali]

Lack of v2.2 boards? I haven't heard this. Is there a backlog in ordering these?

The main problem with the mini MS is a lack of support. The MSEFI guys won't discuss it, and there aren't anywhere near as many users of the MiniMS as the v2.2 boards. It seems nice enough, and you certainly can't beat the price. For a bike or something where space is at a premium, it may be a good design. Space really isn't at a premium in a 914, however. The stock ECU board was 2-3x the size of the MS v2.2 board.

The best bet for mounting the MS in the engine bay is to put it where the OEM ECU goes (in front of and below the battery). You can even use the OEM ECU case if you have one. Mark Henry put a complete SDS in there. Another plan (the one I'm working on) is to use a waterproof case and mount the MS in that, and have waterproof connectors through this case, which have wiring and connectors inside to connect to a stock MS board.

There are three levels of temperature ratings for the Motorola/Freescale parts: 70dC, 85dC, and 125dC. I'm not sure the parts you get from MS are the 85dC parts, which are not easy to buy except in large quantities. I've been operating under the assumption they were 70dC parts. I don't think the HC08GP32 is available in the 125dC version, at least not in a DIP package. One of the reasons to go to the HC12 for MS-II was that it was commonly available as a 125dC part (both only as an SMD part). Parts of the engine bay get close to 70dC, and the rear trunk almost certainly gets this hot. The front of the engine bay, however, runs much cooler than the rear. 50dC seems to be a typical temp in the middle of the engine bay on a 30dC day, so I'd say where the ECU mounts runs no more than 45dC.

I have a v2.2 board I've not yet mounted, but I may not get my project really started until v3 is out, and I'm tempted to just wait. Several of the long-term trouble spots in the MS design are being corrected (esp. in triggering from the tach circuit, and running low-impedance injectors), and running ignition will be much better supported in the hardware.