I've been thinking about upgrading my MS1 by adding on the MS2 daughter card. Its not an expensive upgrade ($82 + some shipping) but has much more processing power. I think for me this would mean benefits from faster comms to the laptop, better control of Acceleration enrichment (blended), better handling of staged injection (ramp in doesn't work on the MS1 hi-res code).

BUT, talking to Phil (efidiy.co.uk) he doesn't supply just the daughter card, because to use his words "I get a lot back that are blown up". So he only builds them into completed units.

I know Flak Monkey had some problems with MS2, so I was wondering what other experiences were on this.

Any experiences?

Matt

Phil supplied mine around xmas time, and the original was faulty.

I sent it back and he tested it and determined a bad joint and then replaced it.

Later I had further problems, which no-one could tell me the root cause of which required a lot of components on the main board and a few tracks to be rewired just to be sure. Datalogs from the digidash at the time show no voltage spikes or anything untoward.

So I dont know. If I was doing it all over again I would go with Omex/Emerald from the start - I know its more expensive but the units SEEM more robust and are built from automotive grade components designed to handle the heat and vibration. You can still map them yourself, although the datalogging and analysis is much less advanced on the Omex as its more designed for live tuning on a rolling road or by a passenger. If you want the best from your engine then the overall cost difference between all the different ECU possibilities (MS, Omex and Emerald) is only about £100 by the time you factor in the tuning time.

I understand your problems with MS1 though, and the reasons you want to upgrade are the same reasons I did.

David

I bought a V3 daughter card for my V2.2 MS1 and it worked fine, and it was second hand.

Give it a go, its a relatively low cost lesson either way.

I like the DIY-ness of the MS, and so I am going to stick with it, although I am sure that OMEX and Emerald are excellent. I guess they are especially good on standard engines as you can swap maps with folk (not much use to me!). Even though my car isn't strictly a locost I still have that mentality.

I think I will have a go with the MS2. Maybe I'll be lucky. If I read everything first then hopefully I can avoid breaking it, presumably once I fry it I can always go back to the old chip, so ...

Thanks,

Matt

Just as a follow-up.

I bought the MS2 daughter card and installed it over the weekend.

First impressions are:
0) read the instructions (although some are more comprehensive than others)
1) Not a small amount of effort to get it working (totally new maps, although you can recycle bits of the old one)
2) I didn't blow it up
3) You have to push it quite hard into the socket (I didn't and it suggested that I had 25V of battery voltage!)
4) Idle is better (maybe just luck)
5) Started better, this may just be because I had lucky default
6) Works much better with TunerStudio. Lots of small advantages.


All around its been a very positive experience. I suspect that was pushing the MS1 a bit too far. I have been running ignition with MS1 and found it wasn't fast enough for a 36-1 wheel, so dropped back to 12-1. I think I was just running out of processing cycles.

All good as far as I am concerned,

Matt