Portable wideband controllers

[Mikey G]

I had a PLX devices wideband controller years ago I made portable to run from the cigarette lighter socket and made up an exhaust tailpipe clamp to quickly put it on the car. I sold it quite some time ago as I wasnt using it fully, now i'm in the market for one again as i'm getting back into playing with ecu's again.
So far i'm pointing towards the Innovate LM-2 as it seems to be the perfect all in one with data logging etc, but looking around this unit is now a good few years old, are there any others on the market for a similar price? Found Zeitronix but they dont seem to be as refined as the Innovate.

[stevieturbo]

They're all as portable as you want to make them really.

If anything the Innovate is the bigger of the units available, although for car-car that isnt such a bad thing.

If you can live with them eating sensors, then the Innovate stuff is fine.

[Mikey G]

Why would the Innovate eat sensors? heater circuit?

[stevieturbo]

Mikey G said:

Why would the Innovate eat sensors? heater circuit?

They seem to control them differently that anyone else, including Bosch. They claim it's better, faster, whatever. All I know is you will get sensor errors and sensors that no longer work with Innovate stuff, far more than any other setup.

And if you then use that "failed" sensor elsewhere, often it works just fine.

But car-car, with their handy screen mounts etc etc they are good in that respect. I still use an old LM-1 for that sort of stuff, but am starting to get fed up with replacing sensors

[Steve_D]

stevieturbo said:

.....And if you then use that "failed" sensor elsewhere, often it works just fine.....

That's good to know. Perhaps I'll keep the 3 'Dead' ones I have on the back of my bench.

Any links to a suitable replacement for the innovate?

Steve

[stevieturbo]

Steve_D said:

That's good to know. Perhaps I'll keep the 3 'Dead' ones I have on the back of my bench.

Any links to a suitable replacement for the innovate?

Steve

Really there are loads of widebands out there. Take your pic !

No doubt people will say good/bad things about them all, but I'm sure by now most of them are quite decent.

Just depends which you find as having the nicest display and easiest to adapt as a car-car unit.

Many favour the NGK stuff, but since they stopped making the popular AFX unit, prices of its replacement have went through the roof.


And it seems to use a dedicated sensor, although I see Ballenger's now have the AFX re-made under a slightly different name as the AFR500.

http://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/index.php/cPath/1...

FAST make a looking unit with a nice big display in a big box format which might be handy car-car, but online you see good/bad reviews ( it can do dual sensors too )

PLX Devices...hey do one too, never really had any problems with their stuff and have an M300 in my car as an additional display. Strangely it's a lot more expensive than their SM-AFR gauge/controller combo which is pretty cheap.

Daytona sensors make some nice square box design units too although perhaps a little pricey for what they are. Plus for some reason they change the sensor connector which ultimately will bump up replacement sensor prices.

[stevesingo]

http://www.14point7.com/

[Steve_D]

stevesingo said:

http://www.14point7.com/

That looks good. May have to invest in one of those.

Steve

[stevesingo]

Alan To, the owner is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Good info wideband controllers here Alan contributes.

[Mr2Mike]

stevesingo said:

Alan To, the owner is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Good info wideband controllers here Alan contributes.

I hope he's improved on his appalling original design; my daughter could have designed something better.

[anonymous-user]

Mr2Mike said:

stevesingo said:

Alan To, the owner is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Good info wideband controllers here Alan contributes.

I hope he's improved on his appalling original design; my daughter could have designed something better.

I realise that getting down to a low price point is important, but it really is a false economy buying automotive electronics that don't use appropriate automotive environment rated connectors etc........

[Ive]

I am a big fan of the STACK wideband sensor. The electronics are in the gauge case.
if you want to make it portable, buy a 5 quid plastic case and a cigarette lighter connector.
this gauge has the feature that it only heats the sensor once it detects the engine is running. it does this via sensing the battery voltage going above 13V.
This makes the sensor life a LONG time.
It also uses the factory calibration that is done via a resistor in the connector of the lambda sensor as it comes from the Bosch factor.y Accuracy is in the order of 0.01. That shall be plenty for tuning purposes.
it never crashes, never loses it calibration and you never have to do those free air calibration things that are good for nothing except causing trouble.
Ever tried to do a free air calibration in the middle of a road trip with a slacking hot exhaust system? This all just because some INNOVAT(e)Ive product decided to crash and lose its calibration?
And it does all of this eating up sensors for breakfast because it feature the fastest heat up time on the planet. This is what kills the sensors. You start the engine and condensation hits the ceramic braking it.
This does not happen, if you wait for a few seconds before heating the sensor after engine start up and then heat it up a tad slower. STACK takes 20 seconds after engine start.
Bosch recommends a max heat up rate for a reason.