Page 14 – Infinitybox

Picture of the Vintage Air Control Screen on Infinitybox inTOUCH NET

DNN992 Settings

August 11, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

Infinitybox has been introducing break-through automotive wiring products since 2007. Our inTOUCH NET is one of our customers’ favorites. Adding inTOUCH NET to your system gives you smart phone and touch screen control of any electrical function on your car wired with our Infinitybox wiring system. This includes iPhones, iPads, Galaxy phones and tablets, Android tablets, Windows Surfaces and many more. We also worked with the team at Kenwood to connect their Excelon series of head units to our inTOUCH NET. Their flagship, the DNN992 is the most popular head unit used. Some customers have questions about the DNN992 settings to properly display the inTOUCH NET screens. This post is going to cover that.

You need to set up the display settings on the DNN992 to properly display the inTOUCH NET screens. Follow the instructions that came with your inTOUCH NET to connect it to the DNN992. Then follow these simple steps for the display settings.

Enter the browser on the DNN992.
Press the Menu button and select Settings.
Select the Advanced tab and scroll down to the bottom.
Set the Default Zoom Setting to Far.
Use the Back button to get to the settings main page.
Select Labs.
Select the option for Fullscreen.
Exit back to the main screen for the DNN992.

Please click here to contact our technical support team if you have questions on the DNN992 settings or anything else related to our Infinitybox wiring system.

In-process shot of Factory Five GTM being wired with the Infinitybox system

GTM410

July 15, 2016/1 Comment/in Cars /by admin

We received a great set of progress pictures from Infinitybox customer John. He is building a Factory Five Racing GTM and is wiring it with our Infinitybox system.

John is using our 20-Circuit Kit to power the main functions in the car. He also added inTOUCH NET so that he can control the car from a tablet mounted in the dash and from his smart phone.

John’s website has a lot of great pictures documenting the build of the car. This includes lots of good information on how he wired it with our Infinitybox system. Here’s a great picture of the MASTERCELL and the front POWERCELL located in the car.

MASTERCELL and front POWERCELL mounted in a Factory Five Racing GTM

This picture shows more detail on the location of the front POWERCELL.

Front POWERCELL in Factory Five GTM wired with Infinitybox System.

The front POWERCELL is controlling the headlights, high-beams, front turn-signals, front running lights, horn, dash power and cooling fans. You can see how close these loads are located to the front POWERCELL. This will keep the total amount of wire needed to a minimum.

His rear POWERCELL is mounted just forward of the engine, at the back of the arm-rest. You can see it here.

Rear POWERCELL in Factory Five GTM wired with the Infinitybox System

This rear POWERCELL is controlling the power to the LS7 ECU, the starter solenoid, the fuel pump and all of the lights in the back of the car. Again, our multiplexing technology lets John eliminate a lot of the wire required in this car.

Thanks for John for sharing these pictures.

Click this link to contact our team to learn more about what the Infinitybox system can do for your car.

Image of Infinitybox diagram showing how to wire the General Motors LS3 ECU with the 20-Circuit Kit

LS3

July 15, 2016/1 Comment/in Wiring /by admin

GM created something amazing when they introduced their E-Rod crate engine package. You get the same LS3 powerplant found in the new Camaro and Corvette. You can drop that into anything that you’re building and get an emissions compliant engine package.

When you buy the E-Rod, you get the option to buy the engine harness for the LS3 direct from GM. Alternately, you can go with ECUs and engine harnesses from many other manufacturers. This post is going to talk about how you connect your GM LS3 engine harness to your Infinitybox 10 or 20-Circuit wiring harnesses.

Before you go anywhere, you must thoroughly read and understand the literature that came from General Motors about your LS3 engine and the wiring harness. This link will take you to the engine control harness literature from GM.

Another important note, this post is only going to talk about connecting the engine harness to the Infinitybox system. This is going to include the main battery power, the ignition power, the fuel pump trigger and the cooling fan trigger. Read the GM literature for all of the other electrical connections to the engine.

The first connection that must be made is the primary battery power to the fuse box in the engine harness. GM recommends an 8-AWG cable running directly from the battery to the main battery connection on the fuse box. This is a bolted connection on the side of the box. See the GM literature for proper fusing of this power feed.

There are three ground connections that must be made on the engine harness. See the GM literature for more specifics on properly connecting these grounds.

Next, you need to connect ignition power from your POWERCELL to the engine harness. See the configuration sheet that came with your Infinitybox system for the correct wire color for your ignition output. This will connect to the pink wire in the engine harness. When your MASTERCELL input for the ignition is triggered, you will have battery power on the POWERCELL output, which will power the ECU.

Next, you need to connect the fuel pump output from the engine harness to your MASTERCELL input. The GM engine harness puts out a 12-volt signal for the fuel pump trigger. This must inverted to a ground signal to properly connect to the MASTERCELL. You can use one of our inVERT Minis to invert this signal. This link will take you to more information on the inVERT Mini. You can also use a relay to invert this signal. Different versions of the LS3 engine harness have different colors for the fuel pump wire. See the GM literature that came with your engine for more details.

Lastly, you need to connect the cooling fan output from the engine harness to your MASTERCELL input. Just like the fuel pump, the GM engine harness puts out a 12-volt signal for the cooling fan. Follow the instructions for the fuel pump to properly invert this signal to the MASTERCELL. Just like the fuel pump, different versions of the LS3 engine harness have different colors for the cooling fan wire. See the GM literature that came with your engine for more details.

This diagram shows the details of the connections between your Infinitybox system and the LS3 engine harness.

Image of Infinitybox diagram showing how to wire the General Motors LS3 ECU with the 20-Circuit Kit

You can download a PDF version of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Here’s how the whole thing works. When you turn on your ignition, the MASTERCELL tells the POWERCELL to turn on the ignition output. This powers up the engine harness and the ECU. The ECU will send a signal to the MASTERCELL when it wants the fuel pump to run. The MASTERCELL will send a signal to the POWERCELL in the rear of the car to provide power to the fuel pump. When the engine is running, the ECU will send a signal to the MASTERCELL when it is at temperature and the cooling fan should turn on. The MASTERCELL sends a command to the front POWERCELL to power the fan. When the engine temperature drops below the set point in the ECU, it will turn off the input to the MASTERCELL. The MASTERCELL will send a command to the POWERCELL to turn off the cooling fans.

Let us know if you have questions about connecting your E-Rod LS3 engine harness to your Infinitybox system. Click on this link to get connected to a member of our technical support team.

Speartech LS-58X

July 12, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

Our Infinitybox wiring system can interface with practically every engine management system in the aftermarket. This post is going to show you how to connect your 10 or 20-Circuit Kit to the Speartech LS-58X engine harness. LS swaps are one of the most popular transplants in resto-mods, street rods and Pro-Touring builds. Connecting your Infinitybox system to the Speartech LS-58X harness is pretty straight forward.

We get a lot of questions about how our Infinitybox wiring system connects to the ECU. We don’t control the engine. That is what the ECU does. We power the ECU. We can also take commands from the ECU to control external functions like the cooling fan and fuel pump.

In the case of the Speartech LS-58X engine harness, your Infinitybox system is going to provide the switched key-on ignition power. It will also take the triggers for the cooling fan and the fuel pump from the ECU. That way you can use the Infinitybox system to eliminate the need for external relays for your fuel pump and cooling fans.

Before you get any further, please read and understand the manual that came with your Speartech LS-58X harness. This link will take you to the wiring details from Speartech. Also, make sure you are familiar with your Infinitybox system.

In this post, we are only going to discuss connecting battery power, ignition power and the triggers for the cooling fan and fuel pump. Follow the Speartech instructions for the rest of the connections to your ECU and engine.

To begin, you have to connect the Orange wire in the Speartech harness directly to your battery. Follow their instructions for proper connections and proper fuse sizes to protect this wire.

Next, you need to connect the ignition output from your POWERCELL to the Pink wire in the Speartech LS-58X harness. This is ignition power from the POWERCELL. When you turn the key to the ignition position, you will get battery voltage to the ECU.

Next, connect the Grey Fuel Pump + wire from the Speartech harness to the MASTERCELL. This is a positive trigger for the fuel pump so it must be inverted to a ground signal to connect to the MASTERCELL input. You can use one of our inVERT Minis to do this. Alternately, you can use a relay to invert this signal. Click on this link to learn how to use a relay to do this. You must not connect the MASTERCELL input directly to the Fuel Pump Trigger from the Speartech harness. This will damage your MASTERCELL input and void the warranty. Check your configuration sheet for the exact wire colors for your fuel pump trigger.

Last, you need to connect your cooling fan trigger from the MASTERCELL to the Speartech harness. Check your configuration sheet for the wire colors for your cooling fan input. The Speartech ECU ground triggers the cooling fan outputs. That means that you can connect the MASTERCELL input wire directly to the Speartech harness. The primary cooling trigger from Speartech is the Dark Green wire in their harness.

We strongly recommend soldering a 1N4001 diode in between the MASTERCELL input wire and the EFI system trigger wire for the cooling fan. This isolates the MASTERCELL from the EFI system. Diodes are directional parts so you must wire them with the cathode side facing towards the ECU. That is the side of the diode that has the stripe on it.

The Speartech LS-58X harness has provisions to control two cooling fans. You can use any OPEN POWERCELL output on your system to control your second cooling fan with the Speartech harness. Wire the Dark Green wire from the Speartech harness, through the diode as described above, to the MASTERCELL input wire for your second cooling fan. This way, the Speartech harness will control your primary and secondary cooling fans through your Infinitybox system without having to add relays.

This picture shows the details of wiring the Infinitybox System to the Speartech LS-58X Engine Harness. Please note that Infinitybox wire colors may vary based on different configurations. See the configuration sheet that came with your kit for the specific wire colors.

Picture of the Infinitybox wiring diagram showing how to wire the Spear LS-58X Engine Harness

You can download a PDF version of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Click this link to contact our team with any questions about wiring your car or truck with our Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Ford Coyote ECU with the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit

Fuel Pump Trigger

July 11, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

Let’s talk about fuel pump triggers. In a previous post, we talked about wiring the fuel pump to the POWERCELL output. In this post, we’re going to talk about how to connect the MASTERCELL input to the fuel pump trigger. We’re getting towards the end of our customer’s install of our 20-Circuit Kit into their 1967 Mustang. In previous posts, we’ve shown how to mount the MASTERCELL, POWERCELL and primary fuses. We’ve shown how to run the primary power cables and the CAN cable that connects the cells together. We’ve gone step-by-step through the process of connecting the POWERCELL outputs to the lights, fans, ECU, starter solenoid, fuel pump and other switched loads. We’ve shown how to connect your MASTERCELL inputs to the different switches in the car.

It’s time to wire the fuel pump trigger. Remember how the Infinitybox system works, your loads (lights, fans, pumps, ECU, starter solenoid and other switched functions) get their switched power from the POWERCELLs. You place the POWERCELLs locally in the car where you need them. You connect your switches to the MASTERCELL, which is usually under the dash. The MASTERCELL connects to the POWERCELLs through a thin data cable. When you turn on a switch, the MASTERCELL sends a command to one of the POWERCELLs to turn on an output.

In the case of the fuel pump, there is a dedicated output on the rear POWERCELL. In the case of this 1967 Mustang Kit, this is the tan wire on the POWERCELL A output harness. That is output 10. The input wire to the MASTERCELL is number 19. This is the tan wire with the yellow tracer wire on the MASTERCELL B input harness. Check your configuration sheet for the specifics on the POWERCELL output wire and the MASTERCELL input wire.

When you ground the MASTERCELL input wire for the fuel pump, the MASTERCELL sends a command to the rear POWERCELL to turn on 12-volts on output 10. This provides the switched battery power to the fuel pump. When you disconnect the MASTERCELL input wire from ground, the POWERCELL turns off the output for the fuel pump.

Our customers have many different ways that they want to control their fuel pump. The easiest is to trigger it with the ignition switch. To do this, simply connect the fuel pump input wire to the ignition terminal on the key switch. This wire is would be wired to the same terminal as the MASTERCELL input for ignition. When the key is in the run position, the inputs for both the ignition and fuel pump would be connected to ground. The MASTERCELL would tell the front POWERCELL to turn on the ignition output and tell the rear POWERCELL to turn on the fuel pump output.

Another way to do this is to have a separate switch for the fuel pump. Most race cars have this. A lot of guys will wire their cars this way because it is easier to work on the car plus it gets you an extra level of security. Unless you know to flip the fuel pump switch, the car won’t start. You’d wire a separate fuel pump switch no differently than any other switch to the MASTERCELL. The MASTERCELL input wire would connect to a normally open terminal on the switch. The other side of the switch would connect to ground. Turning on the switch connects the MASTERCELL input to ground, which turns on the fuel pump output on the rear POWERCELL.

Another option for controlling your fuel pump is to connect the MASTERCELL input to your ECU. Most engine management and EFI systems have an output that triggers the fuel pump. You can connect this wire from the EFI system to the MASTERCELL to have the ECU tell the Infinitybox system when the pump should be on or off.

There is an important warning that you must watch here. Remember that the MASTERCELL inputs are designed to be connected to ground. Applying battery voltage to the inputs may damage them and void the warranty. Carefully read the manual that came with your EFI system to understand how their fuel pump trigger is set up. They will usually be identified as either a positive or negative trigger.

If the fuel pump trigger is negative, you can connect that to the MASTERCELL input wire. We strongly recommend soldering a 1N4001 diode in between the MASTERCELL input wire and the EFI system trigger wire for the fuel pump. This isolates the MASTERCELL from the EFI system. Diodes are directional parts so you must wire them with the cathode side facing towards the ECU. That is the side of the diode that has the stripe on it. This picture shows an example of the FAST EZ-EFI system and how to wire the diode into the fuel pump trigger.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

If your EFI system has a positive trigger for the fuel pump, you must convert this positive signal to a negative signal. The easiest way to do this is to use one of our inVERT Mini’s. This is a small converter that is loomed in the harness. It so small, you hardly notice that it is there. This link will take you to more information on the inVERT Mini. Another option to flip the fuel pump trigger to a ground trigger is to use a relay. This link will take you to a diagram showing how to use a typical automotive relay to flip a positive trigger to a negative trigger.

In the case of our customer’s 1967 Mustang, they are using the Ford Coyote crate engine. That has a positive fuel pump trigger. They chose to use an inVERT Mini to flip the positive signal from the ECU to a ground trigger to the MASTERCELL. This picture shows the wiring diagram for the Coyote ECU and how the inVERT Mini is wired into the harness.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Ford Coyote ECU with the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit

You can download a PDF of this Coyote wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Click on this link to contact our team with any questions about wiring your car with our Infinitybox system.

Example of a typical radiator temperature switch

Cooling Fan Switch

July 6, 2016/1 Comment/in Wiring /by admin

The next step in our 1967 Mustang wiring process is to wire the cooling fan switch. There are a few different ways to do this depending on how you have your car set up. In a previous post, we talked about wiring the cooling fans to the POWERCELL output. This link will take you to that post. In this post, we are going to talk about wiring the MASTERCELL input wire to trigger the fans.

Remember how our system works. The switches connect to the MASTERCELL. The loads connect to the POWERCELL. There is never a direct connection between the switch and the thing that you are switching. All of that is controlled inside the Infinitybox system.

The most common way to wire the cooling fan switch is to use a temperature switch. This is usually threaded into the radiator. When the coolant temperature exceeds a set point, the switch triggers the cooling fans.

Inside the temperature switch, there is a bi-metal switch that is set for a specific temperature. Typical temperature set points are 180 F, 185 F and 190 F. When the coolant temperature hits this point, the bi-metal element in the switch flips. There are two main different types of temperature switches. The most common has a single terminal on it. This picture shows a common 1-terminal temperature switch.

Example of a typical radiator temperature switch

If you have this type of switch, you are going to connect your MASTERCELL input wire to the quick-disconnect terminal on the switch. The switch grounds to the chassis through its metal body. When the temperature exceeds its set point, the switch closes internally which connects the quick-disconnect terminal to ground. This triggers the MASTERCELL input, which sends a command to the front POWERCELL to turn on the cooling fan output. When the coolant temperature drops below the set point, the switch opens internally. This disconnects the MASTERCELL input from ground. The MASTERCELL sees this change and sends a command to the front POWERCELL to turn off the cooling fan output.

Other temperature switches have two terminals. This picture shows a good example.

Example of a two-terminal temperature switch

In this case, both of the terminals are isolated from the metal body of the switch. You connect your MASTERCELL input to one of the terminals and connect the other terminal to ground. There is no polarity to this switch so you can use either terminal for the MASTERCELL input connection. Outside of that, this switch works the same way as the single terminal switch. When the coolant temperature exceeds its set point, the switch closes internally which electrically connects the two terminals together. This connects the MASTERCELL input to ground.

This picture shows you generically how to wire a temperature switch to your MASTERCELL input.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire a thermostatic cooling fan switch to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Here is an important note about temperature switches and temperature senders. There is a big difference between them. The temperature switch turns on and off at a set temperature. The temperature sender is what controls your temperature gauge. You cannot connect your cooling fan input from the MASTERCELL to your temperature sender.

You can also use your ECU to trigger your cooling fan input if it has that capability. The important thing to understand is whether the ECU trigger is a ground trigger or a positive trigger. The manual for the ECU will get you more information. You need to wire these differently if they are ground or positive triggers. This picture will show you how to wire these two different types of triggers.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the cooling fan trigger from an ECU to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

If the ECU has a ground trigger for the cooling fan, we recommend installing a diode to buffer the MASTERCELL from the ECU. If it is a positive trigger, you must use a relay or an inVERT Mini to flip the signal to a ground trigger. See the picture above for more details.

Our customer is using the Ford Coyote crate engine in this 1967 Mustang. The Ford ECU has a temperature sender that measures the coolant temperature. Based on this temperature, the ECU has an output that is designed to trigger a cooling fan. We have a dedicated wiring diagram on our website that shows you exactly how to wire the cooling fan trigger to the Coyote ECU. You can download the wiring diagram for the Coyote ECU by clicking this link. The Coyote ECU has a positive cooling fan trigger. You must use an inVERT Mini to flip this signal. The wiring diagram shows you how to do that.

The resources section of our website has wiring diagrams for many different ECUs. These will show you how to wire the cooling fan trigger from the ECU to your MASTERCELL.

Click on this link to contact our team with any questions about wiring your cooling fan switch.

Rear LED tail lights on a 1967 Mustang Restomod wired with the Infinitybox system

Back-Up Lights

July 5, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

The back-up lights are the next thing to wire in our customer’s 1967 Mustang project. We’re getting to the end of the switches that we need to wire to the MASTERCELL.

If you look at your configuration sheet, you will not see a dedicated output for back-up lights. Depending on the vintage of the car and the manufacturer, there may or may not be back-up lights on the car. We don’t dedicate an output to this but you can use any of the OPEN outputs on your rear POWERCELL.

This link will take you to the configuration sheet for the system that we are installing in this 1967 Mustang. This link will take you to our previous post in this series going through the details of the configuration sheet. You will see that there are several outputs that are labeled as OPEN on the configuration sheet. Depending on the version, you may have 4 to 6 OPEN outputs. OPEN means that there is no specific function assigned to the output. These can be used as generic outputs. You will note that the personality for these outputs is TRACK. That means that the output will track the switch. When the switch is on, the output is on. When the switch is off, the output is off. You can use OPEN outputs for things like amp triggers, extra lights, transmission cooler fans, secondary fuel pumps and back-up lights.

Output 5 on the rear POWERCELL is OPEN. This is the white wire coming from the B harness. The MASTERCELL input is the white wire with the red wire. This is input 2 on the MASTERCELL A input harness.

We previously connected the white wire from the rear POWERCELL to the back-up lights in the rear of the car. The customer is using the tail light assembly from Mustang Projects. You can read about that in this blog post. The white wire connects to the tail light assembly. Then the assembly needs to get connected to ground. Follow the instructions that came with your back-up lights for the exact wire colors.

Next, the MASTERCELL input wire needs to connect to a switch that closes when the transmission is in the reverse position. Our customer is using a Ford AOD transmission in this car. There is a dedicated connector on the driver’s side of the transmission. We connected to this connector in a previous post for the neutral-safety signal. We are going to connect to the same connector for the reverse signal.

Sketch of the Reverse/Neutral Safety Switch Connector on a Ford AOD Transmission

This diagram will show you which terminals on the Ford AOD transmission you need to connect to ground and to the MASTERCELL input harness.

Wiring diagram for Reverse/Neutral Safety switch on Ford AOD transmission

Terminal 1 on the transmission connector needs to get connected to ground. Terminal 2 needs to connect to the MASTERCELL input for the back-up lights. In our case, this is the white wire with the red tracer on the MASTERCELL A input harness. This link will take you to a PDF of this document.

When the transmission is in the reverse position, the switch makes a connection between terminals 1 and 2. This connects the MASTERCELL input to ground. When the MASTERCELL sees the input connect to ground, it sends a signal to the POWERCELL in the rear of the car to turn on the output that we have chosen for the back-up lights. When the transmission is taken out of reverse, the switch opens which disconnects the MASTERCELL input from ground. The MASTERCELL sees this change and sends a command to the POWERCELL to turn off the output that we have chosen for the back-up lights.

Most transmissions will have a set of contacts for a reverse switch. In other cases, there will be a switch in the shifter that will be made when the transmission is in the reverse position. Check the literature that came with your transmission or your shifter.

That’s it. Having a POWERCELL in the rear of the car makes wiring the back-up lights very easy. There is no extra wire to run to the back of the car. You are already using the existing POWERCELL to manage this.

Please contact our team with any questions about wiring with our Infinitybox system. You can contact a member of our technical support team by clicking this link.

Neutral Safety

July 1, 2016/2 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

A lot of people have seen a video from one of our customers starting his car remotely with an iPad. His iPad is connected to the inTOUCH NET module in his car. This lets him control everything including lights, windows, heat & A/C and locks. It also lets him start the car. Starting a car remotely can be very dangerous. If the car is started with the transmission in gear, it can launch the car forward potentially injuring, maiming or killing someone. In our Infinitybox system, there is a neutral safety switch input that must be wired before the engine will start. This is true for starting it with a keyed switch, our one-button start or remotely from inTOUCH NET.

Some people call these park-safety switches, clutch interlock switches or neutral safety switches. Regardless of what you call them, they are used to detect if it is safe to turn the starter. They either detect that the transmission is in park, the transmission is in neutral, the clutch pedal is depressed or your foot is on the brake. This is a standard input on all of our systems that must be wired correctly for the starter output to turn on.

The neutral safety input works like any other MASTERCELL input. It must be connected to ground to work. When you try to start the car, the MASTERCELL checks the state of the neutral safety input. If it is not grounded, the MASTERCELL will not let the POWERCELL turn on the starter output. The MASTERCELL must also see the neutral safety input change periodically. If the input is tied directly to ground or if the switch fails, it will not let the starter crank.

All safety switches essentially work the same way. If there is continuity through the switch then it is safe to start the engine. Most transmissions have switches built into them that close when it is in neutral or park. That is the case for our customer’s 1967 Mustang. They are using a Ford AOD transmission with the built in switch. In other cases, you may have a switch on your clutch pedal. When you press the clutch, this closes the switch. You wire the MASTERCELL input to one side of the switch and ground the other side. You can also have a switch built into your shifter. This switch is closed when the selector is in the park or neutral position.

If your car has none of the options above, you can wire your neutral safety input from the MASTERCELL to the brake pedal switch in parallel with your brake light input. When you step on the pedal, the MASTERCELL will see both the brake light input and the neutral safety input. The brake lights will turn on and the MASTERCELL will allow the starter to crank. You simply connect both MASTERCELL inputs to the same terminal on the brake pedal switch. This diagram will show you how to do this.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to use your brake pedal as a neutral safety switch

Going back to the Ford AOD transmission, there is a connector on the transmission for both the neutral safety and the reverse lights. We’ll talk about reverse lights in an upcoming post. This picture shows how to wire the MASTERCELL input for the neutral safety to the connector on the transmission.

Wiring diagram for Reverse/Neutral Safety switch on Ford AOD transmission

The neutral safety input from the MASTERCELL will connect to Terminal 2 on the connector. Terminal 1 will connect to ground. See our warnings in previous posts about good ground connections. When the transmission is in park or neutral, the switch closes. This connects the MASTERCELL input to ground. You can download a PDF of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Starting issues related to the neutral safety switch are probably our number 1 technical support call. Most guys just don’t read this in the manual. Your call will not start unless you have this MASTERCELL input wired properly. Please click on this link to contact our technical support team with questions.

Ignition and Starter

June 30, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

Here’s the next step in wiring this 1967 Mustang. In previous posts, we described wiring the ignition and starter outputs from the front POWERCELL. You can get the Ignition output post at this link. This link will take you to the starter output post. In this post, we are going to describe the process of wiring the ignition and starter switch to the MASTERCELL inputs.

Our customer is using a steering column from IDIDIT for this Mustang. They chose the option to have the keyed ignition and starter switch built into the column. When you order this option from IDIDIT, you get a separate harness to connect from the column. This link will take you to the instructions for this switch from IDIDIT. Essentially, there are 4 wires in this harness. These will connect to the MASTERCELL input wires.

Remember how our MASTERCELL inputs work. You connect the input wire to one side of your switch. The other side of the switch connects to ground. When you turn the switch on, the MASTERCELL input gets connected to ground. The MASTERCELL sees the input go to ground and sends a command to one of the POWERCELLs to do something. In most cases when you are wiring OEM switches to a MASTERCELL, you will ground the battery feed and connect the input wires correspondingly. This IDIDIT switch is no exception.

Here’s what you are going to do with the 4 wires in the switch harness.

First, you are going to connect the red wire to ground. You can use any of the black wires in the MASTERCELL input harness or you can connect this directly to the chassis. We’ve said this over and over, make sure that you have a good metal-to-metal connection between the ground wire and the chassis. No paint, powder coating, rust, oil, grease, etc. You want a good clean connection.

Next, you are going to connect the purple wire in the IDIDIT harness to the MASTERCELL input wire for the starter. Check your configuration sheet. Different configurations may have different wire colors for the starter. In our configuration, the starter input wire is the white wire with the yellow tracer on the MASTERCELL A harness. This is input number 4. You can crimp, splice, solder or use connectors to make this connection. See our earlier blog posts about connection techniques.

Next, connect the pink wire in the IDIDIT harness to the MASTERCELL input wire for the Ignition. Same warning as above. Check your configuration sheet for the exact wire color. In our configuration, this is the white wire with the blue tracer on the MASTERCELL A harness. That is input 3.

You will notice that this ignition and starter switch has an accessory position. Some customers will use the accessory position on their switch to control an output that is different from their ignition output. They may want to have their stereo on without having their ignition on. In most configurations, there is an OPEN output on the front POWERCELL designed for this accessory function. In our configuration, this is output 8. It is controlled by input 8 on the MASTERCELL A connector. That is the blue wire with the light-blue tracer. We’re going to connect this wire to the brown wire in the IDIDIT harness.

Here’s how the different positions on the switch work. When the key is in the accessory position, your accessory output on your POWERCELL will be on. In the ignition or ON position, the ignition output will turn on. So will the accessory output. When you turn the key to the start position, the accessory will turn off. The ignition will remain on and the starter output will turn on.

That’s all that it takes to connect the IDIDIT ignition and starter switch to the MASTERCELL in this 1967 Mustang. We have a large collection of different ignition and starter switch wiring diagrams in our reference library on our website. Click this link to get there.

Contact us if you have questions about wiring your ignition and starter switch to your 20-Circuit Kit. Click on this link to contact one of our technical support engineers.

Torque Converter

June 30, 2016/in Wiring /by admin

We just got a great question from a customer. He has his 1972 Chevy truck wired with our 20-Circuit Harness Kit. He has a LS3 engine using the GM ECU to control the engine. The ECU is also managing the torque converter lock-up. Additionally, he has an aftermarket cruise control system. Both the torque converter and the cruise control system need a +12 volt signal when you step on the brake pedal. Our customer wanted to know the easiest way to get this.

One of the advantages of our Infinitybox system is how we connect to your switches. Our inputs are very low-current and just require a ground signal to turn on an input. This means that you can run very light-gauge wires to your switches. It also means, that there is no high-current at the switch, which is safer. Since there is no power at the switch, some guys get confused on how to get 12-volt outputs for things like their torque converter and cruise control systems. This is much easier than it looks.

The ECU or a separate transmission controller is going to control the lock-up solenoid in the torque converter. In higher gears or at specific speeds, the torque converter locks up to improve fuel economy. The ECU or the transmission controller needs a signal to know when you have stepped on the brake so that it will disengage this lock up.

The same thing needs to happen for the cruise control. The cruise control system needs to know when you have stepped on the brake pedal so that it can disengage.

Remember that there is no battery power at the brake pedal switch. You could splice off of the brake pedal output on the rear POWERCELL to get this 12-volt signal for the torque converter and cruise control systems. However, you’d have to run a wire from the back of the car all the way to the front. That goes against one of the basic benefits of our system.

The easiest way to get a +12 volt signal to the torque converter and cruise control systems is to use one of the OPEN outputs on the front POWERCELL. In most systems, output 8 is OPEN. This is the dark-green wire on the output A harness. An OPEN output means that there is no specific function assigned to it. These can be used generically as auxiliary outputs. Connect the OPEN output wire to the ECU and the cruise control systems. Follow their respective wiring diagrams to know where to make these connections.

Take the MASTERCELL input and connect it to the brake pedal switch in the same way that you have wired your brake pedal input. You can have multiple MASTERCELL input wires connected together to one switch. Follow your configuration sheet to get the right MASTERCELL input wire color. In the case of output 8 on the front POWERCELL, this is input 8 which is the blue wire with the light-blue stripe on the MASTERCELL A harness.

When you step on your brake pedal, the MASTERCELL will see two inputs ground together: one for the brake lights and one for the OPEN output on the front POWERCELL. The brake lights will turn on in the back of the car. You will also get +12 volts on the OPEN output on the front POWERCELL. This will send a signal to unlock the torque converter and to disengage the cruise control. When you take your foot off of the brake pedal. the MASTERCELL sees the two inputs turn off. It will send the command to the rear POWERCELL to turn off the brake lights and a command to the front POWERCELL to turn off the OPEN output.

The torque converter and cruise control systems will get their brake pedal signal from the local POWERCELL in the front of the car. This keeps the total amount of wire running through the car to a minimum.

Please contact our team with questions on this post or on any other topics related to wiring your car with our Infinitybox system. Click on this link to get connected to a member of our technical support team.