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DIY Gizmo - Honda ATV Programmable Fan Control Unit

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I would just connect the trimpot that I sent you in parallel with a stock oil temp sensor, since the homebuilt precision thermie has a completely different resistance curve vs the stock sensor. Its unknown whether the homebuilt sensor would work with the stock FCU, or not?

 

Your perf boards should work fine. You can cut them to the size ya need and probably get two power supplies outta one perf board. I use a saw to cut them, then file the edges to clean them up. Small dykes work OK for notching them.

 

I'll make another power supply/relays box so I can demonstrate how I make them, since this particular relay box is wired differently than I normally wire them. They go together pretty fast.

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retro: I notice you fab a Heat Sink in the power supply from what appears to be sheet brass. What gauge brass is that. I have a small roll of 4" brass shim stock that may be about .030, would this be to heavy?  I could cut a couple foot long chunk and ship it to you if you could use it. 

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Hi shrade! Thanks for the offer! Think I'll pass though... .030" brass is probably a bit too thick to cut with small scissors. I think I am using .005" shim stock for heatsinks. I have a lot of brass sheets in several thickness' from .001" thru .010" at least. Thanks anyway though!

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Wanted to share a pic of the goodie box Retro sent me. Got some chipsets, an adjustable resistor (trimpot) a variable voltage converter (buck) two different kinds of solder a piece of sheet brass and some tantalum capacitors. Very 😎Retro thanks very much.
i am looking for more genuine chipsets and plan to test replace the R2 using the odd V6.0 chipset. That IC1 looks flipped around like you said !!
i parked the parts you sent (for now) next to some tools I’ve collected—solder sucker, wire strippers, heat shunts, etc. 

got my board in my tying vise alongside a few more supplies for the project. The boxes, regulators etc. I have an older 12V battery that won’t start a quad to use as a power supply.

i need to stop by our electronics store—get flux remover, a magnifier and contact cleaner. Some wire.

The ancient flux and solder going in the bin! 
I worked on the report a bit then came out and set up the bench.

 

 

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395AF763-EA7B-4640-A838-70A37A9298A8.jpeg

Edited by Goober
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" Goober's Gizmos " has a nice ring to it !!! , lol 

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Hey Retro

What do you use as a battery bank for testing? Is it a dry/wet cell bank? rechargeable? AC/DC regulated?

 

the temp controller is listed as a 12V system and the power supply we’re building is for precisely regulated 10V. I understand the ATV battery voltage varies and we don’t want to overload the 5V ST chip, so the power supply will filter the power obtained  from the ATV accessory circuit?
 

As a lead in to the power supply, could you please go over why the controller is listed as 12V and we’re stepping down to 10V? Seems users are adapting this controller for use in electronics cooling, but I haven’t seen how it’s powered for these uses. 
 

no hurry Thanks!

 

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12 hours ago, Goober said:

i need to stop by our electronics store—get flux remover, a magnifier and contact cleaner. Some wire.

The ancient flux and solder going in the bin!

 

I just use 91% alcohol and a toothbrush to clean up most of the time. A magnifier headset or what ever ya can find is certainly necessary nowadays. 🙂

 

1 hour ago, Goober said:

What do you use as a battery bank for testing? Is it a dry/wet cell bank? rechargeable? AC/DC regulated?

 

My shack is solar powered with a 12 volt (deep cycle) battery bank, I just plug a cord into the wall to get DC power. 🙂

 

1 hour ago, Goober said:

the temp controller is listed as a 12V system and the power supply we’re building is for precisely regulated 10V. I understand the ATV battery voltage varies and we don’t want to overload the 5V ST chip, so the power supply will filter the power obtained  from the ATV accessory circuit?

 

As a lead in to the power supply, could you please go over why the controller is listed as 12V and we’re stepping down to 10V? Seems users are adapting this controller for use in electronics cooling, but I haven’t seen how it’s powered for these uses. 

 

Ya first of all the onboard 5 volt DC regulator on the W1209 (& W1219) PCBs are rated for a maximum supply voltage of 12.0 volts DC, which means any supply voltage above that may fry the 5 volt regulator chip. A 12 volt wall wart won't  work to power the W1209 boards, because those cheap power supplies generally output higher no-load voltages than they are rated for, plus very few of them are actually filtered and regulated. Quality Switch-mode power supply designs are an exception though.

 

In this case I chose a 10 volt supply because 10 volts is as high as I dare to push that cheap onboard 5 volt regulator while minimizing overall costs by using a common, cheap 9-10 volts PCB mount relay. Note that the supply voltage, as a general rule, should be as high as is safely possible (closest to the max ATV charging system voltage) to minimize heat losses in the regulator chip. Ohms law says so.... so our 10 volt regulator chip choice operates at a cooler temperature than a 9 volt regulator would, even though both choices would work equally well to power our W1209 boards and our cheap relays.

 

Our next power supply requirement is a design that tolerates a much higher input supply voltage than the charging system normally regulates, just in case the charging system on the ATV ever fails and feeds us a 16-25 voltage spike (which would fry the CDI, but would not fry our gizmo). We also need to filter out any AC ripple voltage produced by the alternator because a regulator cannot function while AC voltages are present, so we always add an electrolytic filter capacitor across the battery supply rated at a sufficiently high voltage to our builds. In this case I chose a 25 volt, 4700uF electrolytic to filter out AC ripple voltages.

 

A third design requirement is expected voltage drop through the regulator chip...standard regulators may produce an output voltage that is 2 volts or more below the input voltage... a 12 volt ATV battery at rest might measure below 12.0 volts if its a junker, so an LDO (low dropout voltage) regulator chip that allows a minimum of voltage drop might be worth considering.

 

The fourth requirement is a higher maximum output current capacity than is necessary, in order to guarantee a long stress-free life for our homebuilt power supply.

 

Lowest total cost and least mount of components is a good thing to look for in a homebuilt regulator circuit too.

 

So I chose to supply the onboard 5 volt chip with 10.0 volts DC (which is 2 volts below its max supply rating), using a cheap LDO regulator (drop is about .6 volts max I think) rated for 1 amp of current (we need less than 15% of that capacity max) and that allows supply voltage from the alternator to spike as high as 25 volts (or slightly more) without risking a failure. AND this particular Texas Instruments LDO chip requires a minimum of supporting components be added to our circuit (a single low-ESR Tantulum capacitor on its output leg) which minimizes our total cost to produce them.

 

I even cheap out and solder that 10 volt regulator chip onto a brass sheet (which is probably not needed) before soldering the home made heat sink onto the cheap perf board to provide for low cost heat dissipation. But y'all are free to build your own DC supplies differently... don't follow my lead cause I might accidentally lead ya's off a cliff someday! 🙂

 

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By the way Goober, that solder I sent you is very old and it contains lead. I shopped for it on purpose! The older Kester blends are far superior performers than any of the newer stuff is. Lead-free solder sucks eggs, all of the ROHS crap sucks eggs. I use real lead solder because it works the best for the jobs at hand. Real lead and tin blends flow into and bond to joints the best. Kester's old-school rosin is the best flux that I have ever used too! Toxicity may be higher with the old blends but I ain't no ignorant solder-sniffin' child neither.... if I was forced to use the newer crap I'd be forced into killing the nanny....don't throw away your old solder just because its aged, it might be exactly what you need to do the job!

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thanks for the explanation Retro I understand better now. Dang this is going to be real fun for me. 
i saw several buyers commenting their use for fan control in greenhouse, electronics and solar systems—but no one mentioned what power supply they used! 
ok so I’ll review your directions for using the buck and sniff around Mouser.

i can use plumbers flux brushes and the alcohol to clean the boards.

 

lol ok i dug that solder out of the trash; is that old Kester acid free?

 

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The two types of solder that I sent ya are both acid free... they're both Kester .020" diameter rosin core. The no clean flux spool that I have was bought new in the late 1990s. The standard flux spool is from a lot dated in 2006, that has an identical part number to the depleted spool that it replaced, which was also purchased new in the late 1990s. Since the mid-2000s the Kester blends have been altered for the worse, so I hoarded up a lifetime supply of NOS spools a few years ago. Hollar if you ever need any more!

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Yesterday I was working for a landscaper , I was working on the machine right next to where they were plumbing up the main controller for the sprinkler system , I was checking it , I should have taken a pic of that control board , I would say it was 2 ft long and 18 inches wide , I would guess it was 10 or 12 solenoids wired to the board --- some of the boards /controllers on the equipment I work on cost any where from $800-$5,000 , some of the new machines have 3 controllers , you have to have a lap top with the correct software to do about anything within the electrical system , some are firing the injectors with A/C voltage , warning stickers all over the place about danger or getting shocked , Volvo is into A/C voltage systems and the Mack trucks now days have Volvo engines in them 

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Ok i got the weller energized and wired up the buck. This thing is COOL! I wired it to an atv battery which output showed was putting out 12.84 volts.

i hooked up the buck and tuned it—good thing i had a couple of jeweler screwsticks—for some reason I couldn’t get the buck to roll up or down. figured I slipped the adjustment screw out of the base. I did get it back and adjusted to 10.00V. Got one of the counterfeit boards loaded up and running. Funny i have to convert C to F to see how it’s working.

 

thanks very much Retro BTW I really suck at tinning wires without that acid-based solder. I need to drill a slot in one of my heat shunts so it fits over the wire. Now to try removing that R2 and other bits

 

 

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93AF1510-D164-43F4-86A9-DA1B48BCACBC.jpeg

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The larger the wire, the more heat ya need to get solder to flow into it. I do most of my work with the station set at 485 degrees, thats a good all around temp for getting in and getting out fast on small joints. When it comes to wire though, crank it up until you get solder to flow sooner (with your iron/heat source held under the wire if possible), then back off the station temp immediately once your wire is done. Overheated solder is junk, so clean and re-tin the tip as it cools back off.

 

New wire solders a lot easier than old because it has not been exposed to oxygen long enough to become oxidized. Pre-tinned stranded copper wire is the easiest to solder since there is no oxidation on the copper strands. Another general rule.... solder will always flow toward the heat source. Start tinning at the very end of the bare wire and move the iron back toward the insulation slowly as the solder begins to flow, it'll follow the tip/heat source. Tinning large wires requires a fast and heavy heat transfer so a big bulky iron tip works the best. I have an iron dedicated to large wire that I call my "club". Its big and bulky... like soldering with a baseball bat, so its only useful for wire.

 

A tiny bit of rosin flux applied to the wire or joint before initially heating them speeds up the job usually. Reflowing old joints almost always requires pre-wetting the joint with rosin before the joint will accept heat, due to a layer of oxidation present on old solder joints. These are just a few general tips.... you'll learn a lot more about soldering as ya go and it will become easy for you in a short time.

 

To remove the R2 pullup resistor, wet both ends of the R2 solder pads with rosin or melt a tiny amount of fresh solder into each of them to optimize heat transfer. Then hold your freshly tinned iron tip on one of the pads at about 485 degrees for a couple seconds and the heat will flow through and melt both ends of the resistor free from the PCB, and that resistor will slide right off of those pads. You can suck excess solder off those pads once the resistor is out of your way. Once the PCB has cooled a bit quickly re-tin each pad with a small amount of fresh solder for your two wires to bond to. Then strip back about 1/16" of insulation and tin the stranded tips of your two bared wires. 24 gauge or smaller wire will be the easiest to work with. Then all ya gotta do is clean & freshly tin your iron tip with a tiny bit of solder, hold each wire in place with tweezers and touch each joint with your tip to flow them. Pick your tip straight up when you remove the heat.... don't drag the tip off the pad. Once those two pads have cooled off verify that excessive solder (or a dragged iron tip) has not bridged/shorted those two pads.

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Its probably gonna take me a few more days to get back on this gizmo project fellahs. I have been struggling with breakdowns this spring, both on my tractor & blade and my old Sears lawn mower broke down right away too. I fixed my tractor twice so far and its broke down again... I still have about an hour remaining of road work once I get the tractor fixed again. I'm thinking seriously about giving up on that old gal.... its probably gonna get parked out back permanently once I get my road back in good shape.

 

I finally chased all of the parts down that I needed for my mower and put that back together today though, so hopefully I'll be able to get all of my mowing done tomorrow. Both yards look like hay fields already, so its probably gonna be a long tractor-back ride for me tomorrow. I'm looking forward to finally getting my mowing done for the first time this spring, beer-thirty can't happen soon enough tomorrow!

 

If it doesn't rain on Monday there's a chance that I might be able to weld up a new link for my tractor blade and finish my road work. Then I plan on finishing this gizmo up.

 

Sorry about the delays guys.

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3 hours ago, retro said:

 I have been struggling with breakdowns this spring, my old Sears lawn mower broke down right away too.

 

 

Retro , what happen to that Sears ? That is the Sears Suburban you talk of ? 

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If you want send me info on the tractor and what you need—fella has mower graveyard down the road. I’ll sniff around for ya besides he has the remains of an 87 Foreman and an early TRX300.


you just gave me some great soldering  tips Retro:

 

ill get some flux tomorrow 


my Weller automatically goes to 750F in less than two minutes—too hot—I’ll dial it down. It was ruining the solder and was a little hard on the PCB eyelets because i stayed too long.
 

I have two copper tipped pens I’ll use as “clubs.”


my wire is too big (16 guage); i need selections of smaller wire.

 

thank you very much for explaining how to stick those wires to the board. I got the resistor and relay off pretty easy using the solder sucker. 
 

PS do they make a wire butt with a cup on one end and a single solder-in  tab on the other? Like Captain Hook’s hook ya know? Might be easier for me to get the wire soldered into the cup and then plant the tab on the board. Lol or I practice right?

 

 

8217A085-EDB2-4102-8BDB-2E58427DF997.jpeg

Edited by Goober

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15 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Retro , what happen to that Sears ? That is the Sears Suburban you talk of ? 

 

Yup, my '68 Sears Super 12... the 48" mower deck is falling apart it needs to be gone through and rebuilt. I fixed several things on the deck, an idler pulley spring had popped off, a few bolts had rattled out and disappeared, the center blade nut was found loose, all three deck belts needed to be replaced (try to find a 5/8" x 100" belt locally, I dare ya) and I noticed that one of the outboard mandrels is gonna need a new set of bearings in it as soon as I can get back to it. Then today the mechanical fuel pump went out as I was beginning to mow my neighbors camp.... its only 52 years old, I don't know why it has become so darn needy this spring!

 

Anyway, I was able to finish my mowing today by yanking the fuel line off of the fuel pump inlet and connected the hose directly to the carb inlet, its gravity feed now and runs great until it uses the first 1/4 tank of fuel, then gotta stop & refill the tank. 🙂

 

I'll tear it back down when I get some time and replace every bearing and idler on the machine, along with the 4th belt that I couldn't find in stock anywhere yet. I'm not gonna make another diaphragm for the mechanical fuel pump... just gonna put a cheap 12 volt electric on it. I guess its probably time to replace the original mower blades too.... but maybe not... I sharpened them while the deck was apart and they look to me like they might have a couple more decades of life in 'em.

 

13 hours ago, Goober said:

PS do they make a wire butt with a cup on one end and a single solder-in  tab on the other? Like Captain Hook’s hook ya know? Might be easier for me to get the wire soldered into the cup and then plant the tab on the board. Lol or I practice right?

 

It's faster and easier to solder those two wires directly onto the pads. Find some 24/26 gauge or smaller wire, don't need to be very big. Once you stick a couple of them down you won't want to try anything else. 🙂

 

Thanks for offering to find mower parts.... I'm good to go though really.... just need to freshen up my old gal and she'll be trustworthy again.

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I will never use the deck of my mower , not in the best shape , it has never been on the mower , you are welcome to it or some parts off of it 

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Ok I’m going to Tractor Supply and Running’s see if they have 5/8 x 100”.

 

@retro very good 25/26 AWG — you used 24 AWG for your demo project—you have an updated preference? Going to get all colors you used—24 or 25/26 AWG for the controller, power supply and oil temp sensor, and 14 or 16 AWG from the relay to the fan. Fish has two large fans. i have small fans on all my quads—simply disconnecting the fan lead from my OEM FCU, right? I think my fan uses 16 AWG. 
 

please lmk what other wire colors/sizes i ought to consider:

 

Dark Blue 24 (25/26?) AWG (Gizmo FCU, Power Supply and oil temp sensor)

Forest Green 24 AWG (GFCU, PS, OTS)

Red 24 AWG (GFCU, PS) and 16 AWG (relay)

Black in 24 and 16 AWG (GFCU, PS, relay, fan)

White 24 AWG

Orange?

Yellow?

 

Light Blue in 16 AWG (my fan)

 

 

Edited by Goober

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3 hours ago, Goober said:

Ok I’m going to Tractor Supply and Running’s see if they have 5/8 x 100”.

 

I don't need that belt anymore @Goober, I put a 5/8" x 99" belt on it instead, then backed out the adjuster all the way so it mostly releases.... it disengages just enough that I can start the motor using the starter without it rotating the deck blades. I'm happy with that... Thanks for offering anyway!

 

I will link to the wire spools that I bought for this gizmo project later on when I get some time.

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good for me @retrono hurry I won’t get back to it til next week.

the electronics store carries a wide selection of NTE wire from 26 to larger and 25 yards and longer. I initially grabbed a roll of red black and blue 26 AWG but instead got my flux, a tip cleaner and some NTE butt splices.

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Here’s a pic. It’s a little pot of brass shaving used to occasionally sweep globs of oxidized or excess solder from the soldering pen. When i first learned to solder we used brass brushes but i can use this pot sweep with a single motion and then use the wetted sponge to clean the tip.

 

oh btw how do you like the tinned stranded? Thicker heavier more brittle more expensive?

 

 

C8501A13-5D23-48D3-9F91-8F554B80DAC6.jpeg

Edited by Goober
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11 hours ago, Goober said:

oh btw how do you like the tinned stranded? Thicker heavier more brittle more expensive?

 

Tinned stranded flows solder readily so its my first choice when running hook up wire, soldering up connectors or making harnesses. Cost is about the same, maybe a slight bit more than bare stranded copper. I honestly like using both types... but tinned stranded lasts a lot longer in storage (doesn't oxidize as quickly as bare copper) and its the fastest & easiest to solder, which allows me to run the iron at a lower temp while at the same time speeds up wiring tasks considerably. I feel that insulation type is more important so I buy PVC jacketed wire for everything that will be put to work in a low temp environment due to its resistance to UV light, fuels, oils and chemicals. Silicone insulation works in high temp environments. Silicone on hook up wire and harnesses sucks eggs though, but its generally cheaper than PVC so its used a lot nowadays by manufacturers, even in low temp environments. I avoid using it wherever possible because its so darn chintzy.

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