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Istas · 06-25-2009, 12:12 PM

stevey: I'll wire in that capacitor as soon as I get home (I'm an hour away from the nearest store that would have something like that out here in rural Montana).

I've looked as well as I can at the MPGuino, and as far as I can tell nothing's touching or soldered to what it shouldn't be, but I've never really worked with electronics before, and in addition it's a pre-built that has the plastic sandwiched between the screen and the circuit board, and clear glue elsewhere. It could have been some shoddy wiring connections causing the excessive heat before (I had trouble hooking wires into the provided connector: yesterday when I put the switch in, I also scrounged a floppy drive power connector from an unused computer PSU, so that is no longer an issue; it's not pretty, but it should be solid).

I also have two heatsinks on the on-board voltage regulator, so that should help if it is getting too hot, and should also help on hot days. (and I have the backlight turned off during the day too, I didn't know about that before, was still getting it wired in before looking at the functions)

I'll check today for other warm components.

McTimson: I have the ground for the MPGuino going to the ground for the stereo unit.

Yeah, I didn't know about/realize there was a constant power to the stereo before when I was wiring it. And now, I have the power coming directly from the battery. Shouldn't that be even better as far as unpolluted sources of power go?

eco-gen: Yeah, heh. But it's a small price to pay in order to keep MPG data intact. (just kidding!)

If it's going into the computer, there has to be a way to read and record that data somehow, even if it involves hacking into something and/or writing an entire program in a programming language I don't know. But I'd have to get a laptop first before worrying about it anyway.

I went for a short drive last night, and saw that the indicated speed was jumping around quite a bit, as much as from 60 mph to 69 mph, and it was doing it quite frequently as well. It might go 60-69-62-60-63-60-64-61-60-60-67-62-60 etc, as the values showing up on the display. Irritating. I really must look into the speedometer, never have before because I understood it to be more expense than it was worth. (I'll start with that clip down on the transmission side, as suggested by eco-gen)

I'm going to try some B-A-B testing today, if it's not too windy (as I already have the mods that I've made, on the car).

06-25-2009, 12:12 PM	#101 (permalink)
Istas is not covered in bees. Join Date: May 2009 Location: Seeley Lake, Montana, USA Posts: 207 Honda - '05 Honda Accord EX 90 day: 27.16 mpg (US) Insight - '00 Honda Insight w A/C 90 day: 66.55 mpg (US) Thanks: 53 Thanked 51 Times in 26 Posts	stevey: I'll wire in that capacitor as soon as I get home (I'm an hour away from the nearest store that would have something like that out here in rural Montana). I've looked as well as I can at the MPGuino, and as far as I can tell nothing's touching or soldered to what it shouldn't be, but I've never really worked with electronics before, and in addition it's a pre-built that has the plastic sandwiched between the screen and the circuit board, and clear glue elsewhere. It could have been some shoddy wiring connections causing the excessive heat before (I had trouble hooking wires into the provided connector: yesterday when I put the switch in, I also scrounged a floppy drive power connector from an unused computer PSU, so that is no longer an issue; it's not pretty, but it should be solid). I also have two heatsinks on the on-board voltage regulator, so that should help if it is getting too hot, and should also help on hot days. (and I have the backlight turned off during the day too, I didn't know about that before, was still getting it wired in before looking at the functions) I'll check today for other warm components. McTimson: I have the ground for the MPGuino going to the ground for the stereo unit. Yeah, I didn't know about/realize there was a constant power to the stereo before when I was wiring it. And now, I have the power coming directly from the battery. Shouldn't that be even better as far as unpolluted sources of power go? eco-gen: Yeah, heh. But it's a small price to pay in order to keep MPG data intact. (just kidding!) If it's going into the computer, there has to be a way to read and record that data somehow, even if it involves hacking into something and/or writing an entire program in a programming language I don't know. But I'd have to get a laptop first before worrying about it anyway. I went for a short drive last night, and saw that the indicated speed was jumping around quite a bit, as much as from 60 mph to 69 mph, and it was doing it quite frequently as well. It might go 60-69-62-60-63-60-64-61-60-60-67-62-60 etc, as the values showing up on the display. Irritating. I really must look into the speedometer, never have before because I understood it to be more expense than it was worth. (I'll start with that clip down on the transmission side, as suggested by eco-gen) I'm going to try some B-A-B testing today, if it's not too windy (as I already have the mods that I've made, on the car).