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Re: (ion)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you replace this with the Kyle BOW?</TD></TR></TABLE><br>Nope, my ghetto prototype is still working. I was thinking about building another one but (1) I'm too lazy and (2) if it fails (not expected) I'd rather not have to cut through silicone to figure out why. <p><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"><br>I was considering buying the 55w kit you linked to, but I'm wondering if DDM tuning's "error code eliminator" works. Did you also buy/try their "error code eliminator" or did you just work on making your own from the beginning.<br></TD></TR></TABLE><br>Both of the kits I bought didn't work without the caps.<p>I didn't buy the error code eliminator as it was $40 at the time and I'd heard all sorts of bad things about them (like most of the DDM failures were the BOWE not the ballast) and I could build it cheaper. Looks like they are $20 now, but mine was $16 or something and Kyles was $14 in parts. Kinda nice to know the quality rather than guessing. If you are ok with 16v caps rather than 25v you can build it for $8.<p>But they do work. A hand full of folks are running the DDM BOWE harness without issues, and a few others have had units replaced. <p>My biggest problem with the DDM version is that it lives in the engine bay, which is not the best place for electrolytic capacitors. Also not sure if they have a diode, waiting on the one from Kyle to show up so I can rip it up. It should be here later this week, so if you want to wait until then I'll update this thread. <p>The other thing DDM is lacking is a proper ground, which effectively introduces more resistance and drops the voltage available to the ballasts. So basically <br><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ForceFed Motorsports</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">bow harness is a band aide.</TD></TR></TABLE><br>Is correct<p><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, where'd you get your capacitors from? Digikey is always expensive and I'm hoping you know a better/cheaper site considering you probably buy stuff like this all the time.</TD></TR></TABLE><br>I used 10k uF (pardon the SI annihilation, nobody measures in mF) caps in the original because I wasn't sure how much capacitance would be required. One worked intermittently so I decided to use all 10 of them... Not very scientific. After mine were installed I ran some SPICE simulations and it looks like 22,000uF is the sweet spot for 55w. <p>Mouser is the best bet for high-value caps. The capacitors I used in Kyle's were $5 each (598-80LQ223M025K022) and I bought the last 3 <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/rolleyes.gif" BORDER="0">... After I ordered I was looking over the spec sheet and the 16v are transient rated to 30v so they could be used instead (598-SLPX223M016E3P3) and are only $2.36 each. The diodes were $1.30 from Digikey (497-2738-5-ND) but I've been eying the Mouser equivalent which is $1.20 (511-STPS8L30B-TR). <p>The original capacitors I used were $1.65 from Digikey (493-1546-ND), and you'd only need two or three to get up to the required capacitance on each side. It would be about twice as expensive and take up more room. <br>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you replace this with the Kyle BOW?</TD></TR></TABLE><br>Nope, my ghetto prototype is still working. I was thinking about building another one but (1) I'm too lazy and (2) if it fails (not expected) I'd rather not have to cut through silicone to figure out why. <p><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"><br>I was considering buying the 55w kit you linked to, but I'm wondering if DDM tuning's "error code eliminator" works. Did you also buy/try their "error code eliminator" or did you just work on making your own from the beginning.<br></TD></TR></TABLE><br>Both of the kits I bought didn't work without the caps.<p>I didn't buy the error code eliminator as it was $40 at the time and I'd heard all sorts of bad things about them (like most of the DDM failures were the BOWE not the ballast) and I could build it cheaper. Looks like they are $20 now, but mine was $16 or something and Kyles was $14 in parts. Kinda nice to know the quality rather than guessing. If you are ok with 16v caps rather than 25v you can build it for $8.<p>But they do work. A hand full of folks are running the DDM BOWE harness without issues, and a few others have had units replaced. <p>My biggest problem with the DDM version is that it lives in the engine bay, which is not the best place for electrolytic capacitors. Also not sure if they have a diode, waiting on the one from Kyle to show up so I can rip it up. It should be here later this week, so if you want to wait until then I'll update this thread. <p>The other thing DDM is lacking is a proper ground, which effectively introduces more resistance and drops the voltage available to the ballasts. So basically <br><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ForceFed Motorsports</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">bow harness is a band aide.</TD></TR></TABLE><br>Is correct<p><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>ion</b> »</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, where'd you get your capacitors from? Digikey is always expensive and I'm hoping you know a better/cheaper site considering you probably buy stuff like this all the time.</TD></TR></TABLE><br>I used 10k uF (pardon the SI annihilation, nobody measures in mF) caps in the original because I wasn't sure how much capacitance would be required. One worked intermittently so I decided to use all 10 of them... Not very scientific. After mine were installed I ran some SPICE simulations and it looks like 22,000uF is the sweet spot for 55w. <p>Mouser is the best bet for high-value caps. The capacitors I used in Kyle's were $5 each (598-80LQ223M025K022) and I bought the last 3 <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/rolleyes.gif" BORDER="0">... After I ordered I was looking over the spec sheet and the 16v are transient rated to 30v so they could be used instead (598-SLPX223M016E3P3) and are only $2.36 each. The diodes were $1.30 from Digikey (497-2738-5-ND) but I've been eying the Mouser equivalent which is $1.20 (511-STPS8L30B-TR). <p>The original capacitors I used were $1.65 from Digikey (493-1546-ND), and you'd only need two or three to get up to the required capacitance on each side. It would be about twice as expensive and take up more room. <br>