cant get over resets and highload issues

[sammy]

Hi

Hope someone can help me with this …

I’ve been experiencing resets with my MSII.
I’ve read about Alternator noise and poor earth connections, but I can’t find anything wrong with the connections and validating an Alternator issue will involve taking it somewhere to be looked at.

Meanwhile I can’t help thinking that I may have a different problem altogether.

The Megatune log shows ….
• Random ‘highload’ markers written to the log just before a reset.
• Sometimes I get a ‘high load’ mark and I don’t get a reset
• Either way there shouldn’t be a ‘Highload’ condition. The values seem to spike and don’t make sense.
• When people talk about poor earth or nosy Alternators causing the resets, are they seeing the problems manifested in this way, or is my problem different?

Please see attached the log file.

BTW, I only have ignition running at the moment so I removed some of the less relevant columns from the log file to make it more manageable to view .
I would really appreciate if someone could make the time to have a look at rows 34 and 117 and see what you think.

Thanks in advance
Sam

[Matt Cramer]

It looks as if that data log had been edited - would you mind posting the original? Also, where is the MS grounded?

[sammy]

Hi Matt

Yes I edited the file because I'm not running fuel yet, just controlling ignition through EDIS4.
I want to iron out any bugs before going to next step of introducing fuel.

So I edited the fuel to remove Map and other columns because I thought the values may confuse people.
I've added the unedited file in this respose.

I have a 4point7 DIYwideband controller and the Megasquirt earthed to the front of the engine.
It also has a carburettor earth attached to the same point (i.e. this earth is in case of static across the carbies)
I'm using the MS Relay board.
The 12v+ & 12v- cables I used are as thick as I could get to fit into the holes on the Relay Board.
The WB heater earth is on the car's body, near the battery and is shared by some of the cars other earths, and is greater than 30mm from the Meagasquirt earth as indicated in the 4point7 manual.
The 12+ power comes directly from the battery.
The 12+ switch power comes from the ignition

in the log file, you can see some crazy spikes like this one ....

"MARK 001 highLoad 2011-11-12T18:32:27+11:00"
132.647 34083 23040 -818.9 2662.4 0.0 1075 2380.80 2816.00 153.0 -46.2 123

There is no way I revved the car to 23, 000 revs ...

thanks
Sam

[trakkies]

I'd try disconnecting SAW and PIP so EDIS goes into limp home mode. If you've set up the trigger properly, this should be 10 BTDC, so the engine should run well, but down on power. Then reconnect PIP and look for any spikes in the log. If that's ok then SAW. To try and isolate where the problem is occurring.

[Matt Cramer]

A true reset will have the SecL counter drop to zero. This doesn't happen on the "resets" in your log. It looks like what you really have is noise in the serial communication that the laptop (incorrectly) interprets as a reset.

[sammy]

HI Dave and Matt

thanks for your help,

Matt...

Sorry to bother you with this again, but if this is noise on the serial comms, is there any way to address this?
I assume it doesnt matter too much as long as the MS isn;t resetting, but I guess it would be nice to sort out if if I can.
At least the logs would better reflect whats happening.

BTW I'm using a usb to serial adapter.

Sam

[Matt Cramer]

You may need a better (or shielded) USB adapter.

[trakkies]

You may need a better (or shielded) USB adapter.

Would a problem with the serial link cause and problems to MS itself while the engine was running? Other than just showing a corrupted log?

[Matt Cramer]

You may need a better (or shielded) USB adapter.

Would a problem with the serial link cause and problems to MS itself while the engine was running? Other than just showing a corrupted log?

It can, but it's rare.

[sammy]

geee that’s strange ...

the USB adapter I'm using has a clear 'see through' cable and you can see it has a braided shield, however I did find a link somewhere on the forum where someone changed their serial to USB adapter and their pseudo resets went away ....

I may need to try another ....

[trakkies]

It's a bit of a minefield. I started off with an ancient laptop which had a serial port - so when upgrading to a new one which didn't, if would have been obvious if the USB to serial adaptor was at fault. I just bought one off Ebay which works fine with Win7. The obvious way would be to buy a converter from an MS dealer who will (should) have made sure it is compatible.

But I do the initial code loading etc in my workshop using a desktop which has a serial port. To keep the variables to a minimum.