EATC mod that needs to be perfected...

[DJ SHO]

Ok with all this talk lately about the EATC stuff, we really need to put our heads together to figure out the last, and in my opinion, a must-do mod for our EATC's. It's already been briefly talked about, but I'd really like to see things changed on the unit.

First of all, the word "OFF" just stands out like a sore thumb when the unit isn't on. I personally hate it. It looks dumb. Here's all this nice luxurious-looking equipment stretched all across the dash, and there it is, "OFF" in big frickin letters.

My second beef is the one that we all want, and can't figure out. We definatly need to get the outside temp displayed when the unit is off, and have it do it automatically. So when you turn the ignition on, it self tests the display like normal, then there it is, "OUTSIDE TEMP", or if the unit was on last time, the temp setting (as it normally would work).

Come on electrical guru's, LET'S GET MOTIVATED. Plain and simple, "OFF" sux. wink

 

[Shoman594]

how about instead of "OFF" .... "SHO"

 

[ohioshodude]

now that would be sweet! hehe thumb thumb

 

[Blue-By-U]

I was thinking the same thing about the display reading "SHO." I can definitely be done using the display configuration. The only role I can play in this effort is to help supply EATC units from local junkyards for cores. When I get a spare unit, I'll take it apart and start playing around with it. drdave and a few others seem to know these units very well and I hope they see this thread.

I like this idea and hope people start chiming in. thumb

<small>[ June 29, 2003, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: Blue-By-U ]</small>

 

[SHOZ123]

Mine always reads the outside display unless I want to change the EATC settings.

 

[92sho16]

im not quite an electrical guru but i just finished up a course (in highschool- prolly not the greatest) but changing the whole off thing is as simple as giving power to certian leads of the lcd display. I am 99.9% sure of this becuase we had some old displays in my class and whenever i got a chance i would play around with them. I could take a shot at this mod but i would need an extra module to play around with.

 

[Markus]

92sho16:
im not quite an electrical guru but i just finished up a course (in highschool- prolly not the greatest) but changing the whole off thing is as simple as giving power to certian leads of the lcd display. I am 99.9% sure of this becuase we had some old displays in my class and whenever i got a chance i would play around with them. I could take a shot at this mod but i would need an extra module to play around with.

Nope! Sorry!

The display (VFD not LCD, by the way) is controlled by an internal microcontroller. It is not as simple as changing wiring. Think about it. The display shows temperatures as well as the word "OFF". To get the system to display SHO will mean updating the micro's code.

 

[Markus]

DJ SHO:
Ok with all this talk lately about the EATC stuff, we really need to put our heads together to figure out the last, and in my opinion, a must-do mod for our EATC's. It's already been briefly talked about, but I'd really like to see things changed on the unit.

First of all, the word "OFF" just stands out like a sore thumb when the unit isn't on. I personally hate it. It looks dumb. Here's all this nice luxurious-looking equipment stretched all across the dash, and there it is, "OFF" in big frickin letters.

My second beef is the one that we all want, and can't figure out. We definatly need to get the outside temp displayed when the unit is off, and have it do it automatically. So when you turn the ignition on, it self tests the display like normal, then there it is, "OUTSIDE TEMP", or if the unit was on last time, the temp setting (as it normally would work).

Come on electrical guru's, LET'S GET MOTIVATED. Plain and simple, "OFF" sux. wink

I'd like the ability to switch and hold:
a) outside temp
b) requested temp setting
c) actual in-car temp

 

[ncsu brandon]

i've done some micro coding before...if someone whats to figure out a way to plug into the system from a computer i could figure out the coding....but last i checked this is gonna be quite the challege itself as it's all soldered.....so i don't think "SHO" is gonna be practical

 

[Zap]

Okay,

Electrical Engineering student with smart friends here wink I bet if I had a spare EATC to play around with I could figure out how to do some neat stuff.. ie possibly SHO when off, sticky temp, etc. I've never seen an EATC apart, nor a circuit diagram of one.

As far as doing the "Sticky temp" all that would need to be done is installing some "sticky" logic or a switch (harder prolly) under the OUTSIDE TEMP button.

The EATC SHOULD test normally upon power on, then default to the temp since the button would be engaged. It's basically toggle switching as opposed to impact. It would stay toggled on or off. If there is KAM (keep alive memory) power to the EATC it would be very easy and this little circuit shouldn't eat much power. I don't know if they make tiny toggle (mechanical) buttons or not.

Inside temp, that's probably not going to happen due to constraints more than anything. The thing would almost need a redesign for that probably. But switching and HOLDING both settings OR temp shouldn't be that hard.

 

[farmtech]

It would not be all that hard to make the EATC show the outside / inside temp all the time. Ideally it would stay locked on outside when the button is pushed and default to outside when the EATC is turned off. This would also take care of the annoying OFF on the screen. I could design a small circuit that would wire in behind the EATC and perform this function if enough requests were available. It would probably cost around the $20 - $30 range for anyone interested.

As far as making the EATC show the word SHO instead of OFF is a totally different matter that would be very hard to do. The microcontroller inside the EATC is pre-programmed and cannot be changed.

Nick

 

[ncsu brandon]

<strong>
The microcontroller inside the EATC is pre-programmed and cannot be changed.
</strong>

bah...you can re-flash most everything with the right tools....just getting ahold of those tools that may or may not exist..

EDIT:
sticky button to make the outside temp display is the much cheaper and more functional way to go though...

<small>[ August 08, 2003, 11:17 PM: Message edited by: ncsu brandon ]</small>

 

[SHOZ123]

All it takes to have the outside temp displayed all the time, even when off but except when you want to change the EATC settings is a cheap maintained switch and two pieces of wire soldered to the back of the EATC board.

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