New Door Lock ECU

[Bitsyncmaster]

The number one problem with the OE door lock ECU (and the LOCKZILA) is the sticking relays that can lock you in the car and damage the solenoids and wiring. It’s not that the relays are under rated, it’s caused by the slow voltage drop on the relay coils that cause arcing and the contact burn closed. Have you ever slowly switched a wall switch in your house and hear the arcing?

The second problem is the 12 ma. constant current draw for non-daily drivers. Without charging the battery you only get a few months before you have lost 50% of battery power.

The third problem is you can’t driver actuators without adding extra relays. The unit has to ground the outputs when not driving the to 12 volts.

When I first got my car I built a new door lock ECU using CMOS logic and that worked fine for me but I never got enough requests from other owners so never did a PCB for it. Well I finally did a new design with a micro and got PCBs made. Now the problem is getting the OEM style 9 pin connectors. DeLoreanGO has some but I suspect even their stock will go away. The two pin connectors are also impossible to find. So we may have to start replacing connectors with something else. Now the door lock ECU has two power wires (both brown always hot) not really needed. It also has the driver outputs separated for each door. Those 4 connections can be made to two connection is they are joined on the harness side rather then the ECU side. Since the ECU is only driving power for a fraction of a second, wire melting is not a problem with smaller gauge wires.

So anyway, my unit has all 9 wires but I’m not adding a connector (yet). My unit has the power running to a 20 amp internal fuse. Standby power is 279 ua. The unit drives power for 333 ms. Which will drive either solenoids or actuators. I’m still designing the filtering routines in software to reduce a problem with the door switch electrical noise. My drivers door switch seems to randomly not work so I I have to pull the covers off the door and adjust the locks and switch (I did have an unlock failure on that door when no ECU was connected). I think the ECU helps prevent the unlock problems because it moves the linkage a little better than just using the mechanical switch. I just drop the ECU in the area beside my relay plate and the car body.

[Domi]

Really nice board!

[Farrar]

Dave, this is excellent! I have connectors that I can reuse for my car, so is there any chance I could order one of these modules from you with no connectors so I can add my own?

[Malevy]

Got a price set on the new DLM?

I had the "noise" problem with my design too, a capacitor cleaned it up.


This place said they will make more connectors as the orders come in..

https://www.automotiveconnectors.com...ale-black.html

[WHO1DMC]

This a link for a company in PA for connectors and other things. I have ordered from them in the past with no problems.
They also have a UK office as well.
I would also be in the market for one. I also have connectors so not a problem.

http://www.britishwiring.com/Multi-W...ctors-s/35.htm

[Bitsyncmaster]

Dave, this is excellent! I have connectors that I can reuse for my car, so is there any chance I could order one of these modules from you with no connectors so I can add my own?

Let me get my door apart so I can see how the door switch is made. I want to see how it makes ground contact to know more about the noise to expect. I hope it's a multi contact wiper arm. I would guess there are two large copper pads separated so it immediately switches from one side grounded to the other without the possibility of both sides switching.

I drive each switch wire with 5 volts through a 20 Kohm resistor. That actually is what draws the most standby current (250 ua.) The switch pulls it down through a diode. I also have a capacitor on that pull up so it filters the rising edge but not the falling edge.

FYI:
The switches are wired parallel at the harness connector side. So you can only work the power on the falling edge of the switch since the other door switch keeps the line grounded till you power it to move. If you had separate switch inputs you could aid the switch moving rather than wait till it moves to the other position.

I was thinking of pricing it at $75 without the connector.

I forgot, I also have two extra input locations on the PCB if someone insists on having a remote. I'm against that since all the remote receivers draw about 15 ma. all the time. Maybe a daily driver could use it but most of us don't drive it enough to cure battery discharge.

[WHO1DMC]

75 dollars. That's definitely a good deal!


Dave B.

[mark w]

interested!

[Bitsyncmaster]

I forgot another thing I put in the software for you guys that switch your battery off. If one door is locked and the other unlocked, on power up (you turn the battery on) I will unlock the doors.

[Malevy]

This a link for a company in PA for connectors and other things. I have ordered from them in the past with no problems.
They also have a UK office as well.
I would also be in the market for one. I also have connectors so not a problem.

http://www.britishwiring.com/Multi-W...ctors-s/35.htm

They only sell it in a "set", male and female.. Don't need both.