Help - Spiffie MPGuino Problem

[moorecomp]

All,

I installed my Spiffie.org MPGuino tonight and all was well until I went for a drive. When stopped, the GH showed .31 at idle, about right. No speed indication. When driving, and the VSS started to send a signal, the guino would reset, work for a while, speed would read high, reset, finally locked up. Had to remove power to reset. It is connected to the vss+ at the ecu, vss counts set to 8000 for now. Where to go from here?

[dcb]

Couple suggestions:
1. Triple check your power and ground connections.
2. make sure all the components are in the right place and have the right orientation.
3. make sure there are no "solder bridges", or other loose conductors on or near the board.
4. re-melt your solder joints. Just touch a hot iron to each one.

[moorecomp]

Success,

I disassembled my dash tonight and rewired the duino to use the signal VSS at the speedometer. Works like a champ! I did retouch all the solder joints and I have my duino hardwired instead of using the phone cord. (I used CAT5 stranded patch cord). I mounted the switches to a small perf board and put them in the dash in front of the steering wheel and they look great. Can hardly see them and they look like they have always been there. I also modified my lcd by removing the polarizing film and rotating it to give the light numbers and dark background. Very easy on the eyes at night. I use the brightness setting 1 and I may end up changing the settings for the 3 preset levels since it is so bright. I don't have it in an enclosure yet, but I will post pics when I am done. On the first try out, I did have the vss set to 8000, but the speed was double what I was actually travelling, so I am using 16000 now. Seems to be very close. Great work and many thanks to all who contribute to this project.

[SVOboy]

for a guino success story.

[dcb]

Sweet!

I'm trying the inversion trick right now (for the hud thread).

[moorecomp]

If you are doing the polarization inversion, I found the best way to remove the adhesive from the glass and film is to rub it off by using a pencil eraser. Don't use acetone! Alcohol is ok to use to clean it up after you remove the bulk of the glue with the eraser. Simply push the goo in one direction with the eraser and it will ball up as you go. My film did not work by simply flipping it over. I actually had to cut it into several pieces to rotate it and still cover the whole glass. Someday, I will get a bigger piece of film and replace the pieces, but for now it looks ok.

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by moorecomp

Success,

I disassembled my dash tonight and rewired the duino to use the signal VSS at the speedometer. Works like a champ! I did retouch all the solder joints and I have my duino hardwired instead of using the phone cord. (I used CAT5 stranded patch cord). I mounted the switches to a small perf board and put them in the dash in front of the steering wheel and they look great. Can hardly see them and they look like they have always been there. I also modified my lcd by removing the polarizing film and rotating it to give the light numbers and dark background. Very easy on the eyes at night. I use the brightness setting 1 and I may end up changing the settings for the 3 preset levels since it is so bright. I don't have it in an enclosure yet, but I will post pics when I am done. On the first try out, I did have the vss set to 8000, but the speed was double what I was actually travelling, so I am using 16000 now. Seems to be very close. Great work and many thanks to all who contribute to this project.

Cool, glad to see that you got it working. I pick up my VSS pulses at the wiring going to the speedometer as well. My cars use a VSS buffer (sometimes its part of the ECM, sometimes its not) to clean up the wildly swinging VSS signal and turn it into discrete pulses. And I would think that if vehicles of this vintage did this, most anything newer would as well. My speed reading is very solid.

Id like to see your work sometime when it is all done. Maybe we could meet up again sometime.

[dcb]

Originally Posted by moorecomp

Cool, it looks like that is exactly how the blue LCDs are made. That polarizing film is fun stuff I think I understand why some folks are complaining of glare, I wonder if you can even read the blue LCDs with polarized sunglasses on?

[moorecomp]

Oh man, you just got me thinking! I wear polarized sunglasses all the time when I am driving. (Sound of me running outside to car) - All is well. I just checked and I can see it fine with the sunglasses on. What looks like glare on mine is actually a glare reducing screen protector applied over the pieces of polarizing film. There are gaps between the two where the pieces of film are put together.

wagonman -
Sure, we can get together again anytime. I will be in Petoskey tomorrow and will be coming back your way in the afternoon. Let me know what a good time would be and where.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by dcb

I wonder if you can even read the blue LCDs with polarized sunglasses on?

Nope, you can't. I have the blue LCD and two sets of sunglasses, one that polarizes, the other doesn't... If I wear the polarizing ones the screen is basically black. The non-polarizing ones are just fine.