Programmable TCI - plug & play group purchase feeler

[dingy]

Here is the guys name that I have swapped quite a few emails with.

IGNITECH - Jan Matous [mailto:[email protected]]

Couple of things I have learned from trying to get info from them.

Don't send one email with a lot of questions in it, they only answer a few.

Take what they say with a grain of salt, I have been told twice that the servo portion of this software will drive the gerard vboost motor. I'm am not saying this is incorrect, I haven't been able to do it yet though. The servo output appears to be limited to a 5vdc max, and the vboost needs 12vdc. I have specifically told them it was a 12vdc based motor.

This is one of the things I am hoping the VMax guys can help me implement. The vboost ability is programmable in 10 steps at different RPM's/voltages. Picture of Servo tab attached below. (AGAIN NOTE, I HAVE NOT GOT SERVO TO WORK)

Gary

 

[satariel666]

Here is the guys name that I have swapped quite a few emails with.

IGNITECH - Jan Matous [mailto:[email protected]]

Couple of things I have learned from trying to get info from them.

Don't send one email with a lot of questions in it, they only answer a few.

Take what they say with a grain of salt, I have been told twice that the servo portion of this software will drive the gerard vboost motor. I'm am not saying this is incorrect, I haven't been able to do it yet though. The servo output appears to be limited to a 5vdc max, and the vboost needs 12vdc. I have specifically told them it was a 12vdc based motor.

This is one of the things I am hoping the VMax guys can help me implement. The vboost ability is programmable in 10 steps at different RPM's/voltages. Picture of Servo tab attached below. (AGAIN NOTE, I HAVE NOT GOT SERVO TO WORK)

Gary

I bealive we can control ordinary voltage regulator like LM317 using only 5V from ignitech. Or I can desing simple transistor setup. The question is how much current v-boost servo takes? I would gladly messure mine but I dont have any.

If only 3A then its simple for example:

http://www.eleccircuit.com/lm2577-5v-to-12v-dc-converter-step-up-voltage-regulator/

 

[dingy]

I bealive we can control ordinary voltage regulator like LM317 using only 5V from ignitech. Or I can desing simple transistor setup. The question is how much current v-boost servo takes? I would gladly messure mine but I dont have any.

If only 3A then its simple for example:

http://www.eleccircuit.com/lm2577-5v-to-12v-dc-converter-step-up-voltage-regulator/

I can get you current pull in just a little while. As we speak, I am wiring up a DPDT switch using a spare pushbutton on my left handle bar (push to talk sw on intercom I don't have) as a momentary pulse source. So Vboost harness is setting right in front of me.

Gary

 

[dingy]

Max pull was 1.6 amps on gerard motor.

Saw 1.4 amps closing & 1.6 amps opening.

Gary

 

[satariel666]

So lm2577 would be good here. Just add a good radiator.

More info:
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/lm2577-switching-regulator.php

Easy to bulid.

 

[dingy]

So lm2577 would be good here. Just add a good radiator.

More info:
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/lm2577-switching-regulator.php

Easy to bulid.

You figure out how to do it and I'll be the guinea pig !! (That's American for I'll try it first)

Remember the gerard motor has a variable potentiometer built into, possibly could control the feedback loop on the LM2577 circuit. Looks to be 7.5K ohm +/- 30% @ 20C from service manual

Gary

 

[blvdblaster1200]

i would think it will work fine with 2 bar as its fully adjustable but we will see.thanks for the info. mike

 

[satariel666]

You figure out how to do it and I'll be the guinea pig !! (That's American for I'll try it first)

- we use similar experssion here.

Remember the gerard motor has a variable potentiometer built into, possibly could control the feedback loop on the LM2577 circuit. Looks to be 7.5K ohm +/- 30% @ 20C from service manual

Gary

You can get the LM as a sample for free to give a try - Im afraid I will not find any time nor possibility to work on this.

 

[blvdblaster1200]

well,jan got back with me a few times and basically his reply was that the tci hasnt been used in that application yet but its fully adjustable.he said he doesnt have a solution for efi and sequential injection/ignition and boost to 2 bars.i may roll the dice and take a shot with this tci to see if i can get it up and running.i forgot to ask him if it could be used on a late vmax ignition with 1 pick up coil.take care mike

 

[dingy]

After a lot of searching, I finally found a supplier that will sell me a quantity of new MAP 1 bar sensors with the wiring harness. I have been hesitant to do this with having to find that many sensors at a junkyard, not knowing what condition they were in and not having every one alike, so that people can swap info & know that the other person has a very similar setup. I scoured ebay and almost countless web sites. I could find some sensors only that were cheaper, but no wiring harness. Without the harness I would have had to find correct terminals, make the harness, and possibly epoxy fill the cavity.

I have had one of the Venture guys get a decent reading on the stock Venture Boost sensor. He said it had a low reading of 1.66v and a high reading of 2.4v. which is an offset difference of 0.74v. This is a lot less than the sensor I am using. It has a low of about 1.37 and a high of 3.45 which is a differential of 2.08 volts. A much nicer range to work with. The Ignitech software will let user adjust high & low voltage on an attached PC to calibrate the exact output of any given motor. See 1st attached screen shot (note this is taken from version 75 software. these units will be version 80 software.)

2nd picture attached is of the Bar sensor I found. Can someone determine if this is mountable on the VMax and a close approximation of the wiring distance from the TCI to map sensor mount location.

3rd picture is a dimensional drawing with millimeter dimensions. I have placed inch measurements on picture at critical dimensions. wiring harness is probably close to 1" additional height added to the 2.1" dim.

4th & 5th are some specs and views of map sensor.

I can get the TCI and matching cable & software to match up to either a 85-89 VMax with 4 pick up coils or a 90-07 VMax with 1 pick up coil. The TCI is identical with either model, only adapter cable & software will change. I am also going to get enough pins so that any one that wants to can cut the ends of the VMax harness and replace with the somewhat special pins so eliminate the bulk of the adapter harness. I realize the VMax doesn't have as much room as the Ventures to mount items.

This paragraph is not intended to scare anyone away or influence you to get in on this buy. I received my unit last weekend. This is at least the 10th one that they have sold to a Venture owner and it still had a wiring mistake that I know they have been informed about. They had the pick up coil common (4 coil unit) and the ground connector swapped. This is one of the the things I checked for before hooking it into my bike. Swapped connectors prior to plugging in and it started right up.

Ok, in order to get the new map sensors I will need $15 more per unit, which a new cost of $240 per unit plus shipping of probably $8 for US priority mail.

If you want to use your own map sensor or go with the existing one on the bike now, it would be $220 plus shipping.

Between the people here that said they wanted to do this and the Venture people I have enough lined up if most every one commits. I will need a fairly sizable down payment from every one with the balance due upon shipping. I am just a regular worker bee like most of you so I don't have the free capital to bankroll all this. I have about $500 to invest in it. What I am trying to do is make a little profit each one sold and I am going to get the Racer 3 TCI they have to experiment with. It has Nitrous retard functions.

I will need at least $175 down to do this Total payment is better yet. I will PM each one that has expressed an interest. If you can please commit ASAP. I will get the MAP sensors ordered right away as they are about a week shipping from China.

I will not order TCI's until the 14th of August. That would be Monday morning in Czech Republic. The reason is to give people a week plus to get funds together. I would need payment to my paypal account, money order would be great or personal transaction on paypal so I don't have to pay a 2.9% fee. I would hope to receive them by Friday the 19th. Allow the weekend to prep them & test then ship out Monday 22nd.

One final note. I work for a sensor manufacturer in the R&D department. I am the mechanical engineer, means I design the mounts for the new sensors. One of the electrical engineers (very experienced) thinks he can come up with a low cost, low complexity circuit to drive the servo motor. This will entail boosting the TCI 5vdc to 12 VDC to run the servo. This will MAYBE be a future upgrade. For now the standard VBoost controller or what is on the VMax now will drive servo. This is just speculation at this point, but I have a lot of resources available to do this & test it if it can be done.

Any thoughts or suggestions either PM me or post here.

My email is gary(at)dinges.com remove (at) and insert @

Gary

 

[dingy]

Attached are a few pictures of what the installed unit looks like in my Venture. I know this won't work in the VMax since you don't have the fairings, I just let mine lay in the radio pocket. I have an after market radio, that is very short, no cd player and it works out fine.

The 1st & 2nd pictures are of just the adapter cable shows a MAP sensor similar to the new ones I will be getting. I am going to use the 3 pin stator style plugs I got to make the MAP sensor unplugable.

3rd picture is of system in bike.

4th is of it hooked up to laptop USB port.

Gary

 

[dingy]

Below is a question I got about benefits of the Ignitech unit from a member & my reply

I'm contemplating this programmable ignition you're working on.
To me the big bonus of your box is the rev limiter. I really don't understand how the timing adjust will help out that much.

Can u give me a quick idea of what benefits one can expect with that flexibility?

Thks,

An example of a popular module that incorporates this ability is the Dyna 3000 ignition module.

http://www.bikerperformance.com/dyna-3000-digital-performance-ignition-yamaha-v-max-90-07-p131.html

There are in my opinion a couple of issues with this popular TCI.

1st it only offers 8 preset timing curves,user is limited to these 8.

2nd it is no longer made for the 4 pick up coil VMax & Ventures.

Cost for a Dyna is over $250.

With the ignitech module, user has ability to control timing advance with a 10 x 10 grid of RPM values in X axis and TPS/MAP (Motor Vacuum) in the Y axis. This opens up a new area of fine tuning a motors performance when any part of the motor is altered that could relate to timing. This could be cams, pistons, stroker crank, carbs, fuel, spark plugs,COP's coil system etc.

The Ignitech has a built in Rev limiter that can be set in 100 RPM increments. The rev limiter doesn't shut engine down, but breaks up spark pattern so you don't get slammed forward when you hit it.

It has built in shift light function in 100 RPM increments.

It has to inputs for Kill switch functions. This can be used in place of the stock motor start inhibit features, such as side stand or bike in gear. Also an alarm system could possible use one of these to disable motor (not sure though)

It can be used with either a throttle position sensor or a motor vacuum sensor, or neither if you want only RPM based advance.

It has ability to vary the length of ignition coil pulse. This enables the COP's coil replacement system to be used with out the need for resistors in the wiring harness.

Fuel pump relay control with 4 second delay, can be used to replace stock fuel pump control.

The ignition can be disabled for a number of revolutions when starting, from 0-40 (1 seems nice number to me to clear cylinders out)

The ignition can be killed by the clutch lever for a user set period of time to assist with clutch only shifting. Time settings for this are in milliseconds range.

All of these functions can be controlled by a PC hooked into the module via the 9 pin com cable lead. Software for user interface is supplied.

Changing the timing is as simple as hooking PC to Ignitech unit powering up bike (MOTOR NOT RUNNING WHEN UPLOADING PROGRAM) You can upload or download the data to module. Meaning you can download the program in a friends bike and upload it to your bike for example.

The timing advance curves can be viewed in 3 formats for setting.

The timing advance can be viewed on the PC in real time. When the motor RPM is increased the display will change to show timing & MAP sensor changes.

It DOES NOT have data collection abilities though, you can't take it out for a drag strip run then read the data from it.

There are a few more functions that I haven't figured out yet as well.

Gary

 

[gentsvmax]

Hey man, Im a new member and your talking about the very reason I registered on. TCI mystery, I need advice about my spark going from strong in all four to just 1 and 3 and now just number 3. Can you tell me about the Ignitech programmable? Like i said, Im new to this forum and am like a kid in a candy store with all kinds of questions. I just did a 100% complete tear down and rebuild all hands-on so I too have gained alot of valuable experiance and knowledge about an 85 vmax engine. Just getting the motor back in the bike could be a good Yu-tube video experience in its self. Well Ill wait for a reply and hopefully Ill b on my way to seeing all this work sound off like only a vmax can.

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Just because you're a nice guy... Welcome...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdx_iH4l90g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoPnLu0uMl0