makithapn
Member
I agree with slick, looks like I will be adding more fuses to my fuse box. uneducated poor boy, just wants to ride
EHC replacement
- Thread starter Axel
- Start date
KaptinAmerika
Guru
So it cost Axel $290 each to make and you folks think he should just make what it cost him to make them?
KaptinAmerika
Guru
Its not for everybody.
And if your poor then you do what you have to.
And if your poor then you do what you have to.
bigd1960
Active Member
seems like a valid replacement to the EHC however it quickly went from below $300 to $550.
Axel
Active Member
Hi,
...Hm, I think everything is told now about earning money or just changing money what will not work over a long period.
Back to work: In the meanwhile I got one response about a waterproof problem after 2 days driving in heavy rain. However I have sold some EHC from the first serie to forum members. Just feel fee to use the EHC in lousy weather as well (...if you have no problem to clean your bike after it ;-) ) I would like to get responses from you from every weather situation. Don´t worry about a "drunk" EHC. I´ll change it without charge in case of problems, even after 2 years, promise !!!
About development: The water in the "drunk" EHC was rin between plastic walls and potting material. The pcb board was not covered complete with potting material (It was the first serie with the older potting material) what resulted that the water rin on the pcb and made "funny" things. After the customer response I have tested the new potting material in the way, that I have potted one old EHC board and have put red ink on the box. After that I have put the EHC on a shaker for a few hours. Then I have removed the plastic walls, cleaned it for 15 minutes and 40 degree Celsius in the ultrasonic cleaner and tested it. There were no problems and the box was working fine.
You can see that the potting compound suround the board and the sides of the pcb were covered as well. However, now to the changes: I´ll reduce the dimensions of the board a bit in order that there is more potting material between the pcb and the walls of the box. I´ll mount a 2 mm metal sheet between the 2 sockets what will give more stability against bending:
By the way, it was the first "shot" with not perfect dimensions. So, I have overworked the sheet a bit by hand. i´m not good in metalwork...
By the way, I was able to remove the walls with a tool from the potting material. I already contacted the potting compound company. They will send me an other material for testing. I hope to get a better material, what will stick better on the ABS walls, just in case if one of the other options will not work...
I had a few discusstions with Curtis and a friend here from Germany who already ride 80000 km (Yes!) with his old bike. Both suggested me to use rubber damper for the EHC what will increase the lifetime of the electronic. My friend showed me his rear fender what was fixed with rubber damper and his foot pegs what were just screwed with the chassis. His foot pegs were already broken and welded 3 times. The rear fender had made no problems within this time.
In the meanwhile I got a 2005 EHC with rubber potting compound. I have opened it and checked it. It had cost me a few minutes to open it.
Ok, the highside switches have a poor performance compare to devices from today. However, they just produce a bit more heat but will work and there were no better highside switches available at this time. I believe that a ribbon wire between the boards is a problem due to the connections. An other (small) issue might be the tantal capacitors (the 2 orange blocks at the first pic) at the left side what have a small footprint but a poor lifetime and performance. They belong in consumer products but not in harsh environments. I also believe that the 0,2 mm signal copper tracks are a bit too small for harsh envionments. The rest on the pcb´s were good and made very nice and clean for my opinion.
So, now back to work...
All the best!
Axel
...Hm, I think everything is told now about earning money or just changing money what will not work over a long period.
Back to work: In the meanwhile I got one response about a waterproof problem after 2 days driving in heavy rain. However I have sold some EHC from the first serie to forum members. Just feel fee to use the EHC in lousy weather as well (...if you have no problem to clean your bike after it ;-) ) I would like to get responses from you from every weather situation. Don´t worry about a "drunk" EHC. I´ll change it without charge in case of problems, even after 2 years, promise !!!
About development: The water in the "drunk" EHC was rin between plastic walls and potting material. The pcb board was not covered complete with potting material (It was the first serie with the older potting material) what resulted that the water rin on the pcb and made "funny" things. After the customer response I have tested the new potting material in the way, that I have potted one old EHC board and have put red ink on the box. After that I have put the EHC on a shaker for a few hours. Then I have removed the plastic walls, cleaned it for 15 minutes and 40 degree Celsius in the ultrasonic cleaner and tested it. There were no problems and the box was working fine.
You can see that the potting compound suround the board and the sides of the pcb were covered as well. However, now to the changes: I´ll reduce the dimensions of the board a bit in order that there is more potting material between the pcb and the walls of the box. I´ll mount a 2 mm metal sheet between the 2 sockets what will give more stability against bending:
By the way, it was the first "shot" with not perfect dimensions. So, I have overworked the sheet a bit by hand. i´m not good in metalwork...
By the way, I was able to remove the walls with a tool from the potting material. I already contacted the potting compound company. They will send me an other material for testing. I hope to get a better material, what will stick better on the ABS walls, just in case if one of the other options will not work...
I had a few discusstions with Curtis and a friend here from Germany who already ride 80000 km (Yes!) with his old bike. Both suggested me to use rubber damper for the EHC what will increase the lifetime of the electronic. My friend showed me his rear fender what was fixed with rubber damper and his foot pegs what were just screwed with the chassis. His foot pegs were already broken and welded 3 times. The rear fender had made no problems within this time.
In the meanwhile I got a 2005 EHC with rubber potting compound. I have opened it and checked it. It had cost me a few minutes to open it.
Ok, the highside switches have a poor performance compare to devices from today. However, they just produce a bit more heat but will work and there were no better highside switches available at this time. I believe that a ribbon wire between the boards is a problem due to the connections. An other (small) issue might be the tantal capacitors (the 2 orange blocks at the first pic) at the left side what have a small footprint but a poor lifetime and performance. They belong in consumer products but not in harsh environments. I also believe that the 0,2 mm signal copper tracks are a bit too small for harsh envionments. The rest on the pcb´s were good and made very nice and clean for my opinion.
So, now back to work...
All the best!
Axel
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Nice Axle! Fantastic Job!
Also I can't use one but nice of you to offer the replacement >2 years if due to water. Appreciate you keeping us updated on the progress. It's fun to read your posts!
That's the info I was looking for before! So clearly you have updated the EHC with components you believe are more suitable for the application.
Those tantal capacitors does it look like this? This is a Big Dog tach ring and appears to be the same little capacitor. Which decided to get toasty on me which you can see in the 2ND pic
Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk
Also I can't use one but nice of you to offer the replacement >2 years if due to water. Appreciate you keeping us updated on the progress. It's fun to read your posts!
That's the info I was looking for before! So clearly you have updated the EHC with components you believe are more suitable for the application.
Those tantal capacitors does it look like this? This is a Big Dog tach ring and appears to be the same little capacitor. Which decided to get toasty on me which you can see in the 2ND pic
Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk
Last edited:
KaptinAmerika
Guru
3rd tach ring, something else is killing them.
Jwooky
Well-Known Member
Tend to agree. I rewired with a TH-MHC over the winter from a wire plus mess so hopefully that was the end of it.
Rottweiler
Well-Known Member
New EHC is on the bike. Works GREAT
I believe the DOG has never ran better. I did add some silicone around the potting and case to help keep out water. Took the clips from my old ehc and put them on the new one to hold the harness to the connector. 
Only have about 50 miles so far.
Rottweiler
Well-Known Member
Yes Ker since you see every thing there is a nut missing on my breaker for the VR. Also checked that out and it was wired wrong. Bat to battery and Aux to VR. Now it's the correct way. VR to gold BAT. and battery to silver AUX. with both nuts.
Rottweiler
Well-Known Member
Ok I will.
KaptinAmerika
Guru
The fuse was a pre Scottsman Breaker recall.
The Scottsman is the correct Breaker
The Scottsman is the correct Breaker
KaptinAmerika
Guru
In fact you have two of the original assemblies that were both phased out and you should have only the Scottsman breaker in place.
Rottweiler
Well-Known Member
Kaptin Is the Scottsman breaker the one in the picture top right by thunder heart? I was going to put a 40 amp fuse between it and the battery. Fuses are cheap. Good idea?
KaptinAmerika
Guru
Yes
I should really just call them a ShortStop, as most do, but its just like saying "BandAid".
The Shortstop breaker, when connected properly, will protect the Battery and electrical system.
With the VR connected to the brass lug side if the VR goes bat shit on you then it will trip the breaker instantly thus protecting the system.
I did some real world testing and found that while the breaker will trip in both directions it only trips instantly in one direction and that is when the overload is applied to the brass lug side first. If it is applied to the silver lug side first it would take up to 2 seconds to trip and that was only with the 25 amp breaker. The 40 amp breaker would trip instantly if the overload was applied to the brass side but I felt insecure leaving the overload on the silver side for more than 3 seconds, I was afraid it would ruin the battery I was using for testing, and it still had not tripped.
So having said all of the above the reality may be that the fuse is probably the best route since in the end BD was starting to use this:
Cleaner, more compact, water proof and vibration resistant but might not fit every model and year.
KaptinAmerika
Guru
I did not mean to indicate that there is anything wrong with your setup.
Just that it would be cleaner with the ShortStop as you would have your positives running to the shortstop and that would keep only two connectors on the battery positive. Anytime you can reduce the number of conenctors at the battery it can be a good thing.
BWG56
Guru
I got this one at Pep-Boys, and used one of the holes from the breaker to mount it and you can just use the ring tongue ends that are already on the wires, no splicing or terminating
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BWG56
Guru
I understand that your in the process of a few upgrades there, but there's no excuse for the dust on the frame under the EHC
Kevin it looks like you need to make a road trip for show n tell on detailing, Rotty is slacking off
Should I put this setup on my 2007 K9 Curtis? Will it even fit? I like Kevin's setup..