Ok, here goes:
My megasquirt I Ver 3.0 WAS working, but now I've got problems. My connection to the ECU no longer works. It worked the first time I used it, but after the ECU sat in my car in the cold, I could no longer get a connection between the ECU and my laptop. When I click on "test communication" it says "no response", whereas before it said "success". So I assumed it was the soldering. So I resoldered ALL the connections/ joints/ everything on the board just to make sure.
Still, nothing.
Next, I performed step 26 in the instructions which use Hyperterminal to test loopback. The DB9 was successful, but the DB37 was not.
So next I performed step 23 which tests the +5 volts and grounds.
These are my results:

PIN

pin 2 pin 19 pin 32
(ground) (ground) (ground)
pin 1
(5 volt) 0.00 volts 0.00 volts 0.30 volts

pin 20
(5 volt) 5.4 volts 5.4 volts 3.9 volts

pin 31
(5 volt) 0.36 volts 0.39 volts 0.00 volts


IS this just due to the soldering, even though I went back over EVERY SINGLE solder joint and made sure that each one is good? Or is it possible that one of my connections crossed from my ignitor wires that are soldered underneath the DB37 socket. (they are pretty close to the surrounding solder "pins"). I can only imagine that possibly one of the ignitor wires a had an exposed area that might have touched one of the other connections on the DB37 socket. I'm using pins 3, 4 and 5 for the igntors, so I soldered the wires underneath the board.
Any input would be greatly appreciated because I've done all that I can think of doing at this point. I know I must be missing something, but I have no idea what it is. Is it possible that I might have burned something out? If so, how can I tell?
As soon as I can get this figured out, the sooner I can get my car running on this ECU. Thanks guys.

Brian

 

Here, this is more readable:

PIN

.......................pin 2.............. pin 19 ................pin 32
...................(ground) ..........(ground) ............(ground)
pin 1
(5 volt) ........0.00 volts ........0.00 volts .........0.30 volts

pin 20
(5 volt) ........5.4 volts ............5.4 volts ...........3.9 volts

pin 31
(5 volt) ........0.36 volts .........0.39 volts .........0.00 volts

 

it sounds like you've definitely burnt something out...

Try testing the voltage regulator itself using a multimeter:

touch the negative probe to ground, and the positive probe to the right-most pin on the voltage regulator, and see if it's outputting +5volts...

 

This sucks, here's what happened:

I was checking things with my multimeter and here's what happened:

I was using a +12V source to power the board. When I first applied power to it, the middle LED stayed on the whole time, whereas all the other times it would stay on for like 3 seconds then turn off.
What I first thought was the voltage regulator was the large black flat disc. On 1 side it read +12Volts, on the other side, zero. The side that read zero sits DIRECTLY BELOW "IAC1A" written on the board underneath. As I rechecked that side that read zero, the tip of my tester probe accidentally touched "D10" and I saw a spark. Hopefully nothing happened from it. Whats the best way to check for burnt out parts, just check for continuity?

 

I should have checked U5 instead of checking the 12V "surge protector"

 

My voltage source was messed up. The middle LED still comes on, but only for a few seconds then turns off like it used to. Checking the voltage regulator reads 5.7 volts from the far right pin. Any other "tests" I can do?

 

if the voltage regulator is reading 5.7 volts, it's messed up. IT's going to be tough to repair your board as any number of components can be bad... I'd start with looking at the megasquirt assembly instructions for the power supply, and testing all the components there... as right now it sounds like those parts are messed up. I'd start by changing the voltage regulator. Once you have it hooked up, and it's reading 5 volts, then I'd move on to each of the other components in the power supply section.

If the CPU got 5.7 volts to it, it might be burnt out too.

For a problem like this, you may want to sign up on the msefi forum and see if anyone there has any suggestions as well. I've never actually had a board break like this, so I'm probably not the best to troubleshoot it.

Also, rs-autosport fixes broken megasquirts if you can't figure it out. I don't know what they charge for that though.

Also, you may want to check for short circuits between places that there shouldn't be shorts. Sometimes if you don't clean the solder flux off the board, it can start conducting, and create shorts... although I've never heard of flux causing a problem like this.

 

Well, I sent an email to R-S Autosport, so hopefully they'll reply soon. Hey Muythaibxr, any other "tests" that you can think of that I can do, or is it pointless at this point and just send it in?

 

2,
If you have power supply problems, you might want to trouble-shoot and repair that on your own. Pull the cpu so it's not at any further risk. Re-check the output voltage per the power supply section of the build instructions. Make sure you have a decent voltmeter as well, as you don't want to start chasing your tail due to faulty voltage readings from a flakey meter. Replace the VR, if the voltage is out of spec, and re-test. Post in the msefi forum, and post your test results there for further guidance.