I'm reasonably okay with the oily bits and nuts and bolts. I even think I'm reasonably okay with wiring generally. Its the electronics bits that seem to baffle me.

Several months ago I bought a BEC Locost that had been off the road since 2015, garage stored. I've been working through all the recommissioning things you'd expect and some upgrades but it seems most of the electronics are dead or dying and this has taken me by surprise.

Fuel was running on Megasquirt. It seemed to work(ish) for a while but has now died.
Ignition was running off the original Yamaha bike module but not running well.
It had a Tech Edge wideband controller that seemed to be working for a while but soon after pushed out an error code and now won't work at all.
The Smiths electronic speedo and electronic rev counter are both doing odd things.

Hence the question in the title. Do electronics suffer during storage, or indeed just old age? The car was built/SVA'd circa 2002 and it seems the Megasquirt and WB controller are from that era based on the models. The instruments will be that age too. I guess we think ourselves lucky if our home gadgets still work after nearly 20 years but I kind of thought electronic items should last kind of for ever.

One of the biggest issues can be corroded connections, especially earths, particularly if the car's been sitting around in a garage for a while.

A good start would be to take apart every earth connection you can find (one at a time!) and clean all traces of corrosion off with a wire brush, emery cloth, or similar, then clean the earth post/screw hole itself. Then reassemble/reconnect. You would be amazed at how many problems this can fix. Pay particular attention to the battery terminals, where the battery's negative lead connects to the chassis, and where it's positive connects to the car's system. Oh - don't forget the earth strap between the engine block and the chassis.

Also pull each fuse in turn and replace it a few times. Separate & reconnect all connectors a few times to clear corrosion.

See where you're at after all this!

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Jenkins
One of the biggest issues can be corroded connections, especially earths, particularly if the car's been sitting around in a garage for a while.

A good start would be to take apart every earth connection you can find (one at a time!) and clean all traces of corrosion off with a wire brush, emery cloth, or similar, then clean the earth post/screw hole itself. Then reassemble/reconnect. You would be amazed at how many problems this can fix. Pay particular attention to the battery terminals, where the battery's negative lead connects to the chassis, and where it's positive connects to the car's system. Oh - don't forget the earth strap between the engine block and the chassis.

Also pull each fuse in turn and replace it a few times. Separate & reconnect all connectors a few times to clear corrosion.

See where you're at after all this!

---

Is there a battery of any kind in the components?
Damp atmosphere would not help and could corrode inside the electronics.

Damp is not good, hence the little silica bags that come in the boxes

Alternator not overcharging? i.e. regulator not working and charging at a higher the normal voltage?

[Edited on 8/8/21 by Bluemoon]

If its moisture one option with dials with "normal" (ie non led) bulbs is wire them up with the bulbs on. The heat can radiate into the dial and dry them out.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bluemoon
Alternator not overcharging? i.e. regulator not working and charging at a higher the normal voltage?

[Edited on 8/8/21 by Bluemoon]

---

More age than damp, but 2 tantalum capacitors on my ms1 failed a couple years ago.
It was easy to diagnose as the failure mode was short circuit with no power/comms to processor, and it melted a track on the pcb due to this. A bridge wire and replacing all the original tantalum caps at this point sorted out the problem.
If you have a megasquirt stim, you can diagnose most problems by working through the assembly manual and checking for the appropriate voltages as you go.

When i first built the ms1 i did also have the injector fet driver fail, the original spec chip was very sensitive to voltage spikes. In my case it failed locking the injectors open at ignition on, the later spec chip has not given any problems though.


Dave

quote:

---

Originally posted by obfripper
More age than damp, but 2 tantalum capacitors on my ms1 failed a couple years ago.
It was easy to diagnose as the failure mode was short circuit with no power/comms to processor, and it melted a track on the pcb due to this. A bridge wire and replacing all the original tantalum caps at this point sorted out the problem.
If you have a megasquirt stim, you can diagnose most problems by working through the assembly manual and checking for the appropriate voltages as you go.

When i first built the ms1 i did also have the injector fet driver fail, the original spec chip was very sensitive to voltage spikes. In my case it failed locking the injectors open at ignition on, the later spec chip has not given any problems though.


Dave

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Schrodinger
Is there a battery of any kind in the components?
Damp atmosphere would not help and could corrode inside the electronics.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by obfripper
More age than damp, but 2 tantalum capacitors on my ms1 failed a couple years ago.
It was easy to diagnose as the failure mode was short circuit with no power/comms to processor, and it melted a track on the pcb due to this. A bridge wire and replacing all the original tantalum caps at this point sorted out the problem.
If you have a megasquirt stim, you can diagnose most problems by working through the assembly manual and checking for the appropriate voltages as you go.

When i first built the ms1 i did also have the injector fet driver fail, the original spec chip was very sensitive to voltage spikes. In my case it failed locking the injectors open at ignition on, the later spec chip has not given any problems though.


Dave

---