Power FC and Commander Help

[dazpoynter]

Ive been trying loads of stuff over the weekend to overcome this but no matter what i do with the apexi i just get the ticking nosie when the ignition is on, and it will not start.

As said i now think i have the wrong commander hence the freeze but like you say if the ECU had a base map the car should start.

My car is almost standard and as soon as i put the orginal ECU back on all is fine and she starts every time.

Keep me post if you find anythink Tiger-kpt

[Frankie]

Hi Frankie,

The wrong commander situation cannot be my problem as it has been working fine for months. I susepct anyway that if it was the wrong commander... even though the APEXI logo was on screen, the Apexi itself would still work and the car would start. Right???

One question... if I was to unplug the Apexi... would the map that Pip at WGT\'s did for me be lost or erased?

When i said it is the wrong commander that was to Dazpoynter as his has never got past the logo.  

But answering your questions yes the car will still start and run fine with the commander screen frozen and the map stays in the ecu memory so it wont be lost if you unplug it.

[Tiger_kpt]

Or with a commander unplugged and not present, the car should start if the ECU is in good condition and the correct one for the car. Right? The commander shouldn\'t afftect the running of the car I think.

[Tiger_kpt]

Yeah that\'s what I thought. Cool.

OK. Well will unplug the Apexi and put the standard back on to help diagnose. If it works with that ECU, must be a fault on the Apexi. If it doesn\'t then must be something else, but god knows what.

I\'m thinking that my Apexi must have gone faulty somehow. And Dazpoynter must have bought one which had already gone faulty. Could be wrong. Will have a word with Pip too later on to ask his opinion.

What could the clicking be? Ignition coils? Injectors?

[Tiger_kpt]

Hmmm. One thing to check I think could be fuses? Any idea as to which ones though?

[Tiger_kpt]

Right. I\'m in the same boat. Checked all fuses. All seem fine.

Swapped the Apexi back over to the standard ECU leaving everything else as it was. Engine turns over and fires up fine. Ran a little rough down to the modifications to the setup, but ran. Left it on for a min and shut it off.

Reconnected the Apexi, engine turns over, but doesn\'t fire up. Just dead. And the Apexi logo on solid on the Commander screen.
So basically narrowed it down to the Apexi unit itself. Any ideas or advice? Bought the unit not long back for £400 with Commander and spent £300 on mapping it up at WGT. Only way I can think of going about this is getting hold of another Apexi and having that remapped? Or having the map transferred over? Is this possible?

From what has been said does it sound like the Apexi is at fault? Is it common or known for a PFC to go faulty in such a way? What causes it? Can I get it repaired?

[Tiger_kpt]

Rang Pip. Told him the story so far and his exact words were: - "water on the brain".

And he was right. The Apexi PFC had taken in a little water. I had positioned it in the car with the PFC Commander socket at the top of the unit. Water drops had ingressed through this socket and down the circuit board and over a few chips.

He said that this is common and it isn\'t the end of the world in most cases. First time offenders are usually repairable. Simply take the PFC out of the car. Unscrew the panels and using a hairdryer, radiator and other means. Carefully clean up and dry the board. He has done this many times apparently and they have been fine afterwards.

I\'ve done this, looked a bit of a mess in there. Cleaned it up and dried it with a hairdryer and looks much better. Now sat open on the top of a radiator overnight. I will put it back together after work tomorrow and connect it back up. Hopefully that will sort it. Fingers crossed.

I suggest that the same has happened to your PFC mate whilst in the hands of yourself or the previous owner. Give this a whirl. Besides using the drying techniques I also used cotton buds gently to clean the board up from dired water and corrosion on pins. Be gentle and don\'t over do it on the hairdyer also. :Thumbs-up

[dazpoynter]

Nice work, the only problem being just had a look at its insides and it seems really clean no sign of water or anything in there. It does look like some may have done this before as the screw heads looked a little warn.

Anyway will leave it open over night in case the is any moisture in there. Wish you all the best mate and let me know how it turns out.

[dazpoynter]

Tiger_kpt  could you also take a photo of what the insides of the ECU look like as i have a little white clip inside with 8 pins and was just wondering if anything should be in there. Its located next to where the commander and the other external device would go.

Cheers.

[Tiger_kpt]

No mate. I have the same empty clip. Eight pins. Nothing there so that sounds OK on yours. I would highly suspect water damage. Have a good look at the pins on the chips for corrosion and any signs of dried water or muck.
I\'ll let you know how mine goes tomorrow night. Got fingers crossed. Next step will be to see if Pip can repair the unit. If not then buy another from somewhere and have Pip map it or transfer the map if possible.

[Rocho]

Rang Pip. Told him the story so far and his exact words were: - "water on the brain".

And he was right. The Apexi PFC had taken in a little water. I had positioned it in the car with the PFC Commander socket at the top of the unit. Water drops had ingressed through this socket and down the circuit board and over a few chips.

He said that this is common and it isn\'t the end of the world in most cases. First time offenders are usually repairable. Simply take the PFC out of the car. Unscrew the panels and using a hairdryer, radiator and other means. Carefully clean up and dry the board. He has done this many times apparently and they have been fine afterwards.

I\'ve done this, looked a bit of a mess in there. Cleaned it up and dried it with a hairdryer and looks much better. Now sat open on the top of a radiator overnight. I will put it back together after work tomorrow and connect it back up. Hopefully that will sort it. Fingers crossed.

I suggest that the same has happened to your PFC mate whilst in the hands of yourself or the previous owner. Give this a whirl. Besides using the drying techniques I also used cotton buds gently to clean the board up from dired water and corrosion on pins. Be gentle and don\'t over do it on the hairdyer also. :Thumbs-up

I\'m going to be upgrading to an Apexi soon. I\'ve read from other posts that the connector is normally mounted at the top. Does anyone know of a work around I can do so this can\'t happen?

[Tiger_kpt]

Unless you want to extend the wiring loom then I would say that no there is no other way around it and that the Commander socket muct be positioned at the top of the unit. What i\'m going to do with either my current unit (if it functions after drying out) or the next unit... is to wrap it up in cling film and then bag it up with the Commander attached before positioning it back in the footwell to stop water from infiltrating the casing. The casing as a whole isn\'t very water tight, not just the commander socket.

[dazpoynter]

Thats the same sort of thing im now thinking, was just wondering does anyone know how hot the ECU gets if it gets hot at all.

Think im sending my back now and might just buy a brand new one unless i can find one on here pretty soon.

[Tiger_kpt]

Well dried mine out lastnight. Plugged it back in today and Bob\'s Your Uncle... it\'s back to its\' usual self. Think it has retained the map as well which was another worry which I had.
You tried drying yours out?

[Rocho]

Thats the same sort of thing im now thinking, was just wondering does anyone know how hot the ECU gets if it gets hot at all.

Think im sending my back now and might just buy a brand new one unless i can find one on here pretty soon.

How about using silicone sealent on the main join and something the plug the socket? You wont get any heat issues/condensation then.