At 02:41 PM 7/13/2015, Neil N wrote:
>Are there not benefits to using the Shoe Box gizmo to test various
>parts while the vehicle is being driven? (engine under load, or not,
>etc.)

It's a wonderful thing to have, it tells you in seconds what would
take several minutes to check individually.  Saying it's no better
than a Digitool is the same as saying it's no better than Great!  My
only caveat is that running all that wire up front means there's some
possibility of RF pickup.  Darrell's had the cable wound through a
ferrite choke at the ECU end.  I don't know whether the new ones do
that but it's a good idea, as is making them detachable in case of a problem.

>Neil. Who may never develop the skills to solder a DB25 connector to
>ECU but would like to try!

It's not micro-soldering by any means.  Easy for some, hard for
others, depends on how comfortable you are with small work.  My shaky
hands are a big nuisance for this stuff, but I manage.
Cleancleanclean!  Clean the soldering tip the moment before use, but
don't clean after so that the solder on the tip can oxidize instead
of the tip.  Apply a tiny bit of solder to the tip for contact, but
only ever feed solder into the heated joint, not the iron.  Get a
flux pen.  Use 63/37 rosin core solder if possible, 60/40
otherwise.  50/50 is out, and modern lead-free solders are a can of
highly specialized worms.  Silver-bearing solder meant for
surface-mount work is probably ok here (it's needed for long-term
reliability of surface-mount componentry). Desoldering braid and
small aluminum solder-suckers are your friends, as are 15-25 watt
fine-tip irons.  The crucial thing to remember about PC boards is
that the copper foil is glued onto the board, and at soldering temps
the glue is very fragile.  If you scrub your iron or braid on a pad
it will detach from the board, leading to rapidly learning how to
repair PC boards.  Show your ECU to yhour local TV repair guy, ask
for something comparable to practice on.

Yrs,
d

>On 7/13/15, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > .....  As Darrel said, it
> > doesn't do anything you can't do with a voltmeter
> > and a couple of needles to pierce insulation.
>
>--
>Neil n
>
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