Intercooler Monitor
 

Well, here goes my first post!

Just a copy & paste from PGMFI.org:

I thought I'd post a link here because I figure you guys would appreciate it.

At the request of a friend, I've created an intercooler monitor that displays inlet/outlet temps of the intercooler on a VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display). I also added peak temp display as an afterthought.

I created a video of it in operation:

http://home.comcast.net/~tekphobia/vfdfinal1.avi (2.6MB)

There's a smaller video I did that shows the opening screen, plus the initial layout:

http://home.comcast.net/~tekphobia/vfdfinal.avi (363KB)

Pictures can be found here:

http://forums.club4ag.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=56501

Hope ya guys like it!

I'm not advertising it, just wanted to share my creation. Though, I've been thinking about selling them. I don't have a PCB made up yet, so if someone DID want one, it would be built on RadioShack perfboard =) Oh, and only 3-wires for the VFD!

-Tim

(Note: I just C&P'd my post from another forum I frequent...a Toyota (*gasp*) forum.)

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

Looks very cool. 8) In that first video, is that on a car? What is it measuring? It didn't look like it was actually on a car. ???
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Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

No, it hasn't been in a car yet. I made it for a friend's Supra (MKIII).

We had a power surge and it took out the 12V power supply I was using which killed the 5V supply which in turn...killed the entire project (VFD included). Oh, and my XM radio was running off that 12V supply as well >:(

Here's a more recent video:

http://tekphobia.home.comcast.net/vfdfinal2.avi

As an afterthought, I added a dimming button and a peak clear button. Sure beats SP Engineering's $250 gauge:

http://www.sp-power.com/newproducts.htm

(Near the bottom)

-Tim

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

Looks awesome, I want one!

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

i want one as well.

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

I want one too also as well! How much, IF you did make them for us? If you already posted a cost, I didn't see it.

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

yes, how much would one cost?

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

Thats pretty sweet. I would pick one up...

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

I'd take one too:D

Re:Intercooler Monitor
 

To be honest, I haven't given much thought to pricing it. I just wanted to brag ;)

Something not seen in the pictures are two buttons I added. One is to dim the display (8 levels of brightness) and the other resets the peak display.

If I had to make a PCB for it, that would take a while. On the other hand, it would look more professional. However, perfboard is fairly easy to do. Here's a parts list:

1 - PIC16F628 - $3.63 - DigiKey - PIC16F628-04/P-ND
1 - VFD (Display) - $32.50 - BG Micro - ACS1375
1 - ADC0834* - $3.75 - DigiKey - ADC0834BCN-ND

*This could change. That part# is for a 4-channel A/D converter, could use 2 channel (ADC0832)

1 - 5V Switching Regulator - $2.51 - DigiKey - LM2575T-15-ND

1 - Perf Board - $1.69 - RadioShack - 276-148

The passive components (resistors, caps, etc.) are things I have laying around.

Umm....what else...

I used a 9-pin d-sub connector for the VFD. Would need a female receptacle and male connector. I'm too lazy to check DigiKey at the moment.

I'd say $50-60 for parts. For assembly, programming, etc., I think $100-120 would be fair. Still, MUCH better than SP Engineering's gauge.

Keep in mind that the display is HUGE. At 7.75" x 2.58" x 1" it'll be hard to hide. I'm half tempted to do an LCD design that's quite a bit smaller. The VFD has a serial interface and some handy commands which makes interfacing it a breeze. Switching to and LCD would get rid of that regulator above since it wouldn't require so much current.

I guess it's still a design in progress. I could duplicate it the way it is now, but it's still kind of in the rough. I think a nice backlit LCD would look more high-tech than a big honker VFD.

We had a power surge the other day which killed the power supply as well as the entire project. So, I've had to order new chips and I'm still waiting on the status of another VFD.

-Tim