is that the inside of the alkycontrol box?

 

Yup. I would have just troubleshot the circuit, but they pot the entire thing, likely to A) prevent water from messing it up and B) prevent someone from copying it. Trying to get ahold of Julio to send him the pump and PAC controller since they're so close to us.

 

Julio just replied....PAC is shot and requires replacing. Guy on here selling it didn't say anything about it not working. Waiting to hear back from the member and Julio. May contact Paypal....

 

pretty basic function, would be easy to replicate it if one so desired. probably easier than copying whats there. i have almost done it a few times but the real work is in customer support and thats the last thing im interested in dealing with.

 

A progressive is more involved than just a relay set to turn on full at a given boost. I could design a circuit myself, but if the member is willing to work with me I'll just have Julio fix the PAC and rebuild the pump so everything is fresh and doesn't cost me any time.

 

yeah i know what it does, not saying its an hour job, but i build stuff like that for work and as a hobby. simple few analog inputs and a pwm output, spin up a board in eagle send it off for fab little bit of C and away we go.
the defining factor of those kits isnt the hardware, its the knowledge and customer service that comes with it.
ive never owned a alky kit but my understanding over the years is Julio has excellent customer service, which is worth a lot.

 

Julio does seem good to deal with. I messaged him the other day for instruction as I bought a used kit and had instructions within 24 hours. $189 for a new controller is steep given whats inside it, but he didn't connectorize the harness so you're not just buying a new PCBA. Since you deal with electronics, you might like this. We have 1 at work:

 

does it really work? ive been casually watching the pcb printers mature the last few years but havent had a chance to do any hands on testing. my last shop bought a pcb router as i was on my way out the door so i saw it but i never got to use it. i didnt like it anywy because i always try to squish everything into the smallest space possible so i use a lot of 006 traces and 0603 components and the router cant work with those sizes plus youre effectively limited to single sided boards. vias are possible but not exactly easy to do and they end up kinda large.
i sent the link to my old shop, hopefully they trip over 5 grand and buy one so i can go in and play with it next time im in the area. looks like the single sided limitation is still there.
Right now, OSHPark is so cheap and good quality, its hard to justify trying to do that step in-house. i do all my own placement and reflow though. ive come pretty close to trying to build my own pick-n-place but i work from home and my office is bursting at the seams as it is.

 

Here’s my latest little project. I’m wanting to put a line lock on my corvette, but it’s a stupid vette so you can’t just run wires right?
i made these little guys, one is transmitter one is receiver. It’s basically a wireless switch. The tx side is going to tap into the steering wheel switch going to the radio and the rx should have the grapes to power the line lock directly. I need to get around to finishing the bom and ordering from digi to do the next step. i hammered out the design and ordered the pcbs in less than a day so i didnt spend any time labeling them as well as i typically do.

 

It's not bad. Lot of little stuff to get setup right. They sell smaller nozzles that make all the difference in the world for getting clean/fine tracing. Biggest issue we've had is getting it to put the solder paste down on the pads correctly. The paste is just too thick for the nozzle opening. Doing a 4x6" PCB does limit what you can put on it but we've been using it for proof of concept and sizing etc. The cool thing is you can put a real copper PCB on it, put down the paste, hand place the parts and then let this thing reflow for you. You're not stuck with only their PCB and conductive ink. We were between the Voltera and another company that makes a similar one that prints an insulating layer between each conductive layer so you can do up to a 4 layer PCB. The Voltera is just a more polished product even though no pick&place. My team is currently working on a pretty nasty design with 0201's caps in between the microvias BGA ***** so we can't use this for that design LOL.

Reminds me of something similar I did about 10 years ago using ZigBee radio's. Just a wireless remote switch that would close a mag-valve and was powered by a couple of AA's. Nice work!

 

ive never had any kind of luck using those stupid little syringe needles with solder paste.
0201s between the ***** on a bga? thats nuts.

 

There is nothing fancy or technical whatsoever inside those little boxes. Certainly nothing of any interest to copy.

So the box isnt actually working at all ?

I ditched the external boxes a few years ago, and just operate my WI directly from the ecu and a small SSR. Gives more control options, and some proper safety features ( via pressure sensor )
That said...the little Snow controller I did use before, was still working fine after must be near 12-13 years.

 

My point was that it's not an On/Off switch, a la SSR+ hobbs switch. Its PWM controlled. I could have bought a Snow kit for less money if I was just going to go full blast at a given PSI. I liked the idea of ramping it it and have some adjustment capability (stock ECU as always). The output FET's appear to be smoked due given the amount of heat the heat sink/case saw. I would just have replaced it but they potted the entire assembly. Otherwise it seems ok. If the member gives me a partial refund, then I'll just get a new controller and get the pump refreshed and have basically a new kit given that I added some relays to the kit for switched 12V.

 

Pretty much all the kits are PWM'd, that's normal, no big deal. It would be a rarity for people to use a basic switch off/on, although that is an option too.

Although in reality, using MAP as load, there really isnt much PWM'ing going on so to speak, as boost is a fairly stable input that doesnt change a lot. But it's an easy reference to use and a sensible one.

 

I agree PWM isn't anything "new", but a lot of the cheap kits are simple boost switches (Snow kit for example). You have to pay more for a PWM kit.

 

All the "progressive" controllers are PWM. Even my ancient Snow one before I stopped using it.

 

I am aware......and they are more money like I've said multiple times LOL. The base Snow kit that is $240 is boost switch only. When you add "progressive" it goes to ~$450.

 

Yes, but some of your posts seem to make out as if the Alky Control is something special. It is not. And seemingly it is susceptible to damage and difficult to repair.
And you'd have to wonder about the logic of potting a heatsink...which will insulate it lol

Neither particularly good.

I'm not saying one brand is better than the other...I'm saying for the most part they're all the same, they do the same thing. Just in different packaging. Some are definitely better quality in that regard, some with cheap looking/feeling controllers and adjustment, and some with much better.
For reference, a quick google says Snow's cheapy progressive controller is only $150. And it looks like a massive improvement over the ancient unit I had with silly little ***** that needed a tiny screwdriver to adjust.

But there must easily be a dozen other brands out there that all do the same thing ( and some more, and some less ). Much the same as the pumps, they pretty much all use a bout 2-3 variations of the Aquatec DDP5800 pump. Just seems a lot get different stickers printed up for them.

I'd love to see some independent testing of flow vs pressure with various nozzles of a few of the pumps, just to see how far off any claims they actually are in real life !

And some make better nozzle holders and setups than others ( I like the Devilsown holders/nozzles ). I would say though, go for teflon hose and proper fittings. Basic plastic stuff and push on fittings always leaks sooner or later.

 

I don't think the Alky kit is special.....all I said was that it wasn't an on/off switch like some base kits, i.e. its more complicated than dumping meth at xx psi. No more, no less. The Alky Control kits are pricey for sure and include braided line etc which is nice. The in-cabin adjustment is also nice, but progressive is progressive is progressive.

 

did you use this 88028 dynomax ory?