Just another Wideband - $100 wideband o2 kit

[Limeyboy]

This is a howto and journal of my experiences of the JAW wide band controller from 14point7.com (http://14point7.com). I dont have time to write it all up today, so its going to be a multi part write up!! Im going to assume if you are attempting this you have some kind of electronics experience.

The unit is $45 unassembled, $80 assembled. Theres a screen module for $25 unassembled if you want a readout. I took this option, even though the unit can log directly via your stock ECU. The bosch o2 sensor you need to source elsewhere. they are around $50.

Items were shipped on 3/12/08. Items arrived on 3/18/08. Items were shipped in good strong packaging, however there were literally just components and circuit boards inside an anti static bag. The instructions and operating software can be found on 14point7.com, inside the JAW deploy package.

Components received:

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/jawstuff.jpg

Construction:
You will need - 'No clean' thin Solder*, Soldering iron (i used a 30w iron), small wet sponge, good lighting, at least some kind of soldering experience. Its a good idea to get a small tip for the soldering iron, and use some small gauge solder.

*The solder should be of the no clean variety as it will allow for better joints between component and board. I estimate about 1.5 hours, and 2 burns on the hand, for an amateur solderer to get this unit completed.

First things: Check components are all there. Nothing worse than getting nearly done to find something critical is missing.

Next : Solder the smallest, flushest components first. Sounds really simple when you think about it, but if you solder the bigger components first, when the board is upside down, its difficult to get it level or stay still as its pivoting on those components. I recommend the following order:

- Resistors
- Inducer
- Diode
- IC chips
- Caps
- The rest

It should be relatively easy to figure out which components go where, most are marked on the board itself. Coupled with the manual, component and circuit diagrams, this is by far one of the easiest electronic component kits I have assembled. I did find there are a couple which are not marked - R4 is one of the 5k/4.7k resistors, R11 is the 62 ohm. L1 is the inductor (looks like a fat green resistor)

The resistors can get soldered in any direction on the board, as can the inducer. The IC chips, capacitors and others need to be soldered in a certain direction. Each IC chip has a notch on top (semi circle). This should line up with the one on the board. You may need to bend the IC pins a bit to make it fit int he pre-drilled holes. The one diode has a stripe on it, that stripe should match up with the one on the board (stripe to bottom).

more later...

[Limeyboy]

OK, unit was completed this evening. Took about an 90 minutes in total over yesterday and today. The burn prediction was out though - just the one received so far :)

The flush components were first, resistors, diode, inducer. I then did the IC's. I always try to use a heat sink on IC chips when i solder them, as they tend not to react too well to heat. During soldering, I panicked a bit and thought I had linked pin 14 and 15 of the lm342, however upon closer inspection this looks normal (theres a small track there).

Next up comes the blue connector for the wide band, power and analog outputs. I soldered this all as one, though it can split apart into different pieces if you wish to solder them that way. With this connector, its an idea to use a bit of cardboard to hold it in place as it takes quite a bit of heat to solder down. This could conduct through the connector terminal screws into fingers.

I did the capacitors next. Check the micro farads "uF" on the side of each capacitor and find its indicated place on the board. Each cap has one 'leg' longer than the other. That longer leg goes in the side marked "+" on each capacitor space on the PCB. They also have a stripe on the side of the capacitors which indicates the negative (-) side. Once all soldered, they should all be in the same direction

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/sideview.jpg

Solder in the com port (rs232 serial port). The teeth connectors should hold this in place nicely. Next, the rectangular IDC connector. JP1 is marked on the PCB, this indicates where the triangle symbol on the outside of the black ribbon connector (IDC) should go.

lm7805 insert with metal backplate facing the outside of the circuit board.

lm317: screw into heat sink:

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/heatsink.jpg

It may take a bit of pressure to move the screw in. use heat sink compound between the 317 and the heat sink (if you have it). This should be fitted to the PCB in the same direction as the lm7805 - black side towards the other components, metal away from the other components.

Congratulations on your completed JAW wide band controller. Pop it into the anti static bag for safe keeping and go grab a cold beer.

Heres the completed unit with the display components waiting to be assembled.

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/finished.jpg

Tomorrow will be display soldering, cable construction, calibration and testing. I will try to get something up by the evening.

[Limeyboy]

Sorry the original piece here is gone. I was copy pasting the writeup to another forum and the original post got erased. Teh suck.

I purchased a 'settings saver' from autozone for $4.99., Its basically a cig lighter plug for the car with a clip on the end for a 9v battery. The plug im going to use to power the unit in vehicle, but the 9v battery and clip gave me the opportunity to 'dry run' the unit without the sensor attached.

Success!!

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/benchtest.jpg

As you can see, the unit works, however a slight quirk is that the 9v battery is only just enough to power the unit + display. AS the battery drains, your display will go from 14.7 to 14.77 to 14.9 and so on. I confirmed this by removing the display, and the unit stayed at a constant 14.7 per the datalogging channel (serial). Im going to guess that running with a nice car battery with enough amps is going to deal with this one.

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/screenshot.jpg

[Limeyboy]

Ive been trying to box the unit, make connectors and cables etc. I also did a duh and broke the camera, so im stuck with camera phone pics for now. Sorry!

Heres my box, fitted with power connector. Power connector has an inline 3Amp fuse (in the cig lighter socket adapter) and each wire is rated for 5Amps and is covered with the plastic flex wire conduit. The conduit runs directly into the unit (non detachable) via a gromit and some cable ties. Nice n secure. The red and white clip connectors on top are for ground and Vout(1) for NB simulation.

http://www.b3tards.com/u/890f2f528bd6cef8bca0/cable-1.jpg

I also made up the wire to connect the sensor to my box, alos covered with the black flex conduit. This connecting cable used the JAW "economy" method, which involves using spade connectors to interface with the sensor. I have put a radio shack 6 pin connector (white) on the end, so that I can detach it from the controller box as I require. Each wire in the cable is rated for 3 amps. All the wires in this cable are the same color, so I had to use a continuity tester to ensure the correct pin goes to the correct pin. Secure the spade connectors into the Wb sensor with some tape and cable ties.

http://www.b3tards.com/u/890f2f528bd6cef8bca0/cable2.jpg

Im going to add a fan to the box for cooling that heatsink, and then I have to get the display all hooked up and mounted. I suppose I could technically have had this running already and fed some results back to you guys, but I would like to ensure the unit is secure and not going to be affected by short circuits etc.

[Limeyboy]

BTW - I busted my soldering iron so the boxing of the unit into its case is on hold till I can solder the rs232 wires. Ill try to stop in at frys on teh way home today.

[Limeyboy]

I got the construction of casing and wiring all completed. Heres the unit upside down with the fan installed and the wiring loom installed. Sorry for the crap pictures, as I mentioned earlier, the camera is out of action. I will probably get some laughs for using all red wire, but if you are careful and know which wire goes where, then it doesn't really matter which color you choose to use. I mark them all with white tape at the end normally, 12v, gnd, etc etc.

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/loom.jpg

I mounted the 12v fan to the side of the unit (which is at the top in the picture), with some aluminum screen repair square mounted over to ensure no crap gets into the unit. It needs it to cool of that heatsink. I used a 12 computer fan. Cools it great. I also made an exhaust port over where the heatsink is, again covered with the aluminum screen to keep crap out.

You can also see the white connector sticking out of the left side next to the power loom, this is where the sensor wire connects from the previous post. Theres also an rs232 connector which is hidden from view on the right hand side

Heres what it looks like the right way up

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/rady_to_assemble.jpg

Notice the four dots on the top? This is where the display LCD was going to sit. In my haste to construct the unit and test it, I didn't mount the display connector in the correct orientation, so there was no clearance to mount it to the case. I attempted to desolder the connector, but fat fingered it and broke a track or two. i tried bridging with some patch wire, but whatever I did, the display refused to come back. Well at least we know the unit was good and working before I busted it, so another $25 will be going off to buy the display again.

Until then, I will have to make do with logging via Evoscan ;-)

[Limeyboy]

Success!

The unit has been free air calibrated and the sensor is showing the correct parameters. The manufacturer states that if the AFR reading goes from 14.7 at power on (with the sensor attached), to 34.28, along with the heat value dropping from 255 to 16 (all while in free air), then the unit is functioning and the sensor appears good. At this point, free air calibration may be performed and written to the unit. Oh, and dont pick up the o2 sensor, its kinda warm.

Here is a pic of the unit operating via the cig lighter, with laptop attached after free air calibration. Its kinda small, but you can see the readout for AFR (top) and heat (16)

http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/incar-operational.jpg

The Evo is off for a new clutch tomorrow, im hoping to try to get some datalogs with the unit running, Ill post them up if I get time to do them.

[Matz]

Nice work, Simon, it looks really good! I didn't notice any holes for air to pass through, only the fan side... you did add holes on the opposite side, right?

[Limeyboy]

Nice work, Simon, it looks really good!

Thanks very much!


I didn't notice any holes for air to pass through, only the fan side

Hehehe. Stealth :-) You can just about make it out in this pic (http://www.b3tards.com/u/6a02105b5e97a0655c9d/loom.jpg). Bottom left, its a black aluminum gauze 90o away from the power cord, but difficult to see. Its right next to where the heatsink lives, so the air comes out pretty warm ;)

[turbotiger]

Why do you need a fan? Does it get that hot?

[Limeyboy]

The LM components do get hot. They have to power the heater element int he sensor, which requires quite a bit of current. A fan is not required if you are not boxing hte unit. But if you put it in a box, then use a fan or you will cook it at best.

[Matz]

The LM components do get hot. They have to power the heater element int he sensor, which requires quite a bit of current. A fan is not required if you are not boxing hte unit. But if you put it in a box, then use a fan or you will cook it at best.


Are they using an LM3xx series regulator? Maybe you can cut down on the heat by going with one of the Simple Switchers from National if it becomes a problem.

[Limeyboy]

yeah its an LM.. and to be frank, the LM in use can only handle 3 amps, but the heater element int he sensor can handle 5.. i dunno.. more on that one later ;)

[Matz]

yeah its an LM.. and to be frank, the LM in use can only handle 3 amps, but the heater element int he sensor can handle 5.. i dunno.. more on that one later ;)


"handle" or "draws"? If the LM can only source 3A, but the heater actually draws 5A, then there's a big issue, unless you put a power resistor inline with the sensor, right?

[Limeyboy]

likely it draws less. The wires into the wb are specified as 3a each rating, so likely the sensor can handle 5a per the guy over on EvoM, its just the unit doesnt send it that much to heat it. Thats why the sensor heat value bounces around a bit at warm up.

[Limeyboy]

Update.

Got a RTP on the car and fitted the wideband. Routed cable up though the NB gromit into cabin. Fired up the laptop and tried it out. Well, calibration was out (though I did perform free air calibraiton). It reckoned i was doing 15.1 AFR during cruise. Thats about bang on for the calibration value to be -1. I flashed that cal value and went out for a drive. I logged at 10hz and the unit is pretty stable while cruising - you can see it trying to stay round 14.7, but oscillating a bit up and down. WOT im dropping to the 10.8's (more room to play with there), though worryingly there are lean spikes to the 12's coming and going duringthe first 5500 k or so.

Well DUH to me. http://www.norcalevo.net/forum/index.php/topic,30345.0.html. Of course there are lean AFRs going on - im getting boost spikes because i lost the BCS control pill this weekend (dont ask). So, yeah, in my excitement to test out the JAW, I clean forgot about the whole "dont WOT the car" rule.

Anyways, ill graph it when I get a BCS pill back in.

[evoredy]

Update.

Got a RTP on the car and fitted the wideband. Routed cable up though the NB gromit into cabin. Fired up the laptop and tried it out. Well, calibration was out (though I did perform free air calibraiton). It reckoned i was doing 15.1 AFR during cruise. Thats about bang on for the calibration value to be -1. I flashed that cal value and went out for a drive. I logged at 10hz and the unit is pretty stable while cruising - you can see it trying to stay round 14.7, but oscillating a bit up and down. WOT im dropping to the 10.8's (more room to play with there), though worryingly there are lean spikes to the 12's coming and going duringthe first 5500 k or so.

Well DUH to me. http://www.norcalevo.net/forum/index.php/topic,30345.0.html. Of course there are lean AFRs going on - im getting boost spikes because i lost the BCS control pill this weekend (dont ask). So, yeah, in my excitement to test out the JAW, I clean forgot about the whole "dont WOT the car" rule.

Anyways, ill graph it when I get a BCS pill back in.


good to hear. as i may have said before (don't remember), i am very confident relying on the JAW. i made a limp-mode tune to drive around with when i installed my turbo kit and it was very responsive. i played around with the logging and i could point out my various pulls and such quite easily. i don't have the RPM input connected, so the logs are kind of useless for tuning.

compared to the AFR's reported on my dyno runs at EIP, the JAW LCD output was reading consistantly -.1 to -.3 with their unit. i have a feeling this had to do with the dyno's WBO2 sniffing at my exhaust outlet whilst the JAW's WBO2 is before the cat. i should've told the tuner to plug into my already installed WBO2. doh-my car dips down to the high 10's on WOT pulls on the street. :/

at idle and at cruise, i notice fluctuations hovering over and under 14.7 but when boost/throttle are applied, the readings stabilize very quickly.

good unit and worth the build. i heatshrink-wrapped the LCD board and mounted it on the left side of the dash using only the included ribbon in flushmount config w/velcro. it does not look tacky at all and is hard to notice too (...and i still have my clock :lol:)!

[Limeyboy]

Awesome!!

[earlyapex aka jack ass]

I see both you guys saying "hovering or trying to hit 14.7", you might know this already, so if you do, then just ignore me, but that is perfectly normal. The car is always working on hitting stoic at idle and cruise, and uses the fuel trims to do it. This is why it bounces around 14.7 and is never perfectly on it.

[evoredy]

I see both you guys saying "hovering or trying to hit 14.7", you might know this already, so if you do, then just ignore me, but that is perfectly normal. The car is always working on hitting stoic at idle and cruise, and uses the fuel trims to do it. This is why it bounces around 14.7 and is never perfectly on it.


yeah...14.7 is actually the midpoint on my car...which looks good at a glance. heh i remember my friend installed an autometer NBO2 guage on his bone stock integra a long time ago (:lol:) and i asked why it bounced back and forth during cruise....he said "oh yeah, its the ECU compensating blah blah blah its normal." ever since then, i figured it out and why.

ignored and negged....hahah j/k

[Matz]

good unit and worth the build. i heatshrink-wrapped the LCD board and mounted it on the left side of the dash using only the included ribbon in flushmount config w/velcro. it does not look tacky at all and is hard to notice too (...and i still have my clock :lol:)!


post pics! and hey, losing the clock isn't so bad. :) Just get a stereo that has one as well...hehe

[evoredy]

i will once my car makes it over here. i'm in fort hood right now. :( car is on its way, though. :)

the clock mount is still badass and cleaner.

[Limeyboy]

I see both you guys saying "hovering or trying to hit 14.7", you might know this already, so if you do, then just ignore me, but that is perfectly normal. The car is always working on hitting stoic at idle and cruise, and uses the fuel trims to do it. This is why it bounces around 14.7 and is never perfectly on it.


Hiya Bryan, was aware of the closed loop, though id personally prefer it to be 15.2/15.3 for the same of my gas. One day Ill either edit the closed loop target map or just force it into open loop for cruise.

[turbotiger]

from what I've been reading on the evo ecu, forcing it into open loops for cruise also closes the EGR valve, which negates most of the effects of running leaner.

[Limeyboy]

hmm, ill look that up, thanks for the info. Maybe ill just stick to the close loop table then. Cheers