LC-1 owners: How have you wired it up?

[Kieran]

As the question says - where have you guys spliced in the LC-1?

I followed the guide here:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29161

I am getting calibration problems (unit won't hold calibration) and Innovate's support forums suggest that whilst the grounds should be in close proximity to each other (to minimise potential difference), they should not be 'Commoned' to each other as is the case here.

Going to fiddle with it a bit more, but can anyone post how they've got it wired in?

[Mark 4]

Kieran, I'll be checking my wiring tomorow so if one of our more learned members does not post I will let you know how I did mine.

[Kenneth]

I cant say I would endorse that guide... but hey, what works for people...

IIRC there are something like 3 grounds on the LC-1... Cannot remember what they are all for, but 1 is for the analog outputs and one is deemed to be a chassis ground only.

I connected the chassis ground to the chassis. I bolted it (with one of those washers that cut into the steel) onto the steel where you attach the stereo etc.

The other 2 grounds were made common and connected to the ECU ground. All power was take from the ECU power.

It was a while ago that I did the install though, so I don't recall fully what wires exactly had to be connected. I do recall the earth setup though.

[mpau009]

Going to fiddle with it a bit more, but can anyone post how they've got it wired in?

My Lc-1 is the 7 wire type versus the older 6 wire types, my colours were:

RED - 12 Supply (used the ecu power source)
BLUE - Heater Ground
WHITE - System ground
YELLOW - Analog out 1 (simulated narrowband to ecu in place of O2 signal)
BROWN - Analog out 2 (to my MAP2 configured 0-5v)
GREEN - Analog Ground
BLACK - Calibration wire (to LED setup and momentary push button interuptor (normally open type) in the sunglass holder)

I wired the WHITE, GREEN and return from the LED/BLACK calibration setup into one, and sent that to one of the ECU grounds, the BLUE wire i kept seperate by routing it differently, and attaching it to the other ECU ground.

It seemed to work fine for the month or so before i took the car off the road, but we wired Gly's one in exactly the same way, and his malfunctioned, and had to be replaced under warranty - apparently they can quite often just stop working altogether.

Dont know if the pics do much help since theres MAP stuff all over the show and gauges, bluetooth and other stereo crap everywhere down there...:thinking:

[Kenneth]

Directly from the LC-1 manual:

Since it is not always practical to ground every device to the exact same location, here are some
tips on grounding:

The BEST grounding scheme is all grounds (i.e., ECU, Gauges, LC1 heater, LC1
system, etc.) SOLDERED into a single lug and bolted to the engine block.

The next best is all grounds attached to the same source, as close as possible, but on
separate lugs. This is because even the corrosion between lugs can create ground
offset and noise. Incidentally, this is why many ECUs have separate ground wires for
injectors vs. ECU system ground- separating high voltages and low voltages reduces
noise.
Grounding to the engine block is usually better than grounding to the frame.
Grounding a gauge to the radio is usually bad- ground offset can vary with volume.
Grounding to an ECU housing is generally not optimal- housings are strapped to the
frame for shielding, but not necessarily grounded.
One of the WORST things to do is to ground most of your electronics to one place (i.e.
the engine block), but ground one device somewhere else (i.e., the frame). Not only can
this result in ground offsets, it can also create a “path of least resistance” for high
currents THROUGH a low-current device. This can result in melted wires and vaporized
diodes, when, for example, starter currents flow through gauges.


Mine must have been the 7 wire one also, and I recall the instructions being somewhat different when I installed mine.

I would still do power and ground at the ECU though.

[GalantOnly]

As the question says - where have you guys spliced in the LC-1?

I followed the guide here:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29161

I am getting calibration problems (unit won't hold calibration) and Innovate's support forums suggest that whilst the grounds should be in close proximity to each other (to minimise potential difference), they should not be 'Commoned' to each other as is the case here.

Going to fiddle with it a bit more, but can anyone post how they've got it wired in?

Don't think that ground-noise issues can cause problems with calibration, which you describe:inquisiti
it's sounds more like connection problem between LC-1 and the sensor...

From LC-1 manual: "The heater calibration data in the LC-1 will be reset when the device is operated from 12V without a sensor connected for at least 5 seconds"

I think that ground offsets could result in incorrect lambda readings

But before I made this particular wiring (through lambda connector only), I've tried different ground points for LC-1 wires, but all of them gave absolutely the same readings. So I've decided that plug-in-original-connector would be the easiest way to do it...

Mine worked without any problems since. Calibrated it only once.. Got right through MOT with lambda readings at 1,002...

[Dan_G]

Kieren,

Have you checked the black calibration wire is not permanently connected to ground? this wire is only to be earthed when you want to perform free air calibration of the sensor.

is it possible the unit is calibrating everytime you turn it on?

I might be stating the obvious but its worth checking just in case...

[GalantOnly]

Kieren,

Have you checked the black calibration wire is not permanently connected to ground? this wire is only to be earthed when you want to perform free air calibration of the sensor.

is it possible the unit is calibrating everytime you turn it on?

I might be stating the obvious but its worth checking just in case...

True true... If the black wire is grounding itself, the LC-1 will be trying to recalibrate every time you turn it on...

[Kieran]

I've wired the calibration wire in with the push switch and the LED. This was going to be my first port of call.... I am wondering if the LED (which has a permanent path to ground for the calibration wire) is letting enough current flow to trigger the self-calibration circuit....:inquisiti

[GalantOnly]

You should just disconnect calibration wire and see if problem is still there...:thinking:

[Nutter_John]

I've wired the calibration wire in with the push switch and the LED. This was going to be my first port of call.... I am wondering if the LED (which has a permanent path to ground for the calibration wire) is letting enough current flow to trigger the self-calibration circuit....:inquisiti

could also be the switch having a weak contact spring and constantly earthing , try cutting the switch out and see what happens