BD EHC undressed!

Energy One
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
Before installing the wire plus on my 07 Bulldog, I ordered both harnesses as spares in case someone came up with a plug and play working replacement. Still waiting. No problems with the wire plus, just looks like a long wait for a replacement if it fails. Someone grab the ball and run with it. I'm in for one:D
 
M

MogwoprJr

Member
Plug-n-Play solution - Gotcha!

My first project was to see if I could find a common failure with the EHC and repair it if I can. I'm not sure how much people will want to rely on a repaired EHC though. There are a couple of parts in there that are not supposed to be potted(according to their datasheets), if these turn out to be a failure point then I have a solution in mind for the repair.

I have some other ambitions with this project too. If any of them start working I'll let you know. Looks like maybe a week away on one of them. (Which could mean 2-3 months in my world sometimes - stupid life getting in the way of fun!)

As for creating a new EHC replacement I don't see it being too difficult. After talking to the local shop here it seems that they're having problems with the WP replacements though. So there must be some reason these things just don't last. I did notice some similarities in components between the WP and BDM EHC though. I'll be looking into those.
 
BigDogBro1

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
MogwoprJr said:
Good morning, I am an electronic hobbyist and a friend of mine asked me to see what I could do with the broken EHC's. Its taken me a couple of months to get to the point of testing but I'm headed to the BD shop in a few to give it a test.
Click to expand...
BigDogBro1 said:
If I had the time and ambition I would design a NEW drop-in replacement unit that replicates only the needed control functions and drops the bells and whistle crap for logging and sensing.
Click to expand...
MogwoprJr said:
BigDogBro1 - that has been the goal of this project from the start :)
Click to expand...
Hey that's great....didn't realize it is was a project from reading your original post. Please...continue.
 
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Mr. Wright

Mr. Wright

Knows some things
Supporting Member
Great work, keep us informed. I recieved my 03 chopper in boxes as a project that two other owner couldn't finish. there wasn't enough wiring left to reuse it, so I decided to wire it my self. I got everything working with 7 relays and 2 flashers. and was able to get 90% of it under the seat.
 
Th3InfamousI

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
MogwoprJr said:
As for creating a new EHC replacement I don't see it being too difficult. After talking to the local shop here it seems that they're having problems with the WP replacements though. So there must be some reason these things just don't last. I did notice some similarities in components between the WP and BDM EHC though. I'll be looking into those.
Click to expand...
Im not sure if they have changed the WP build or went with cheaper components however the newer ones seem to have higher failure rates than the ones built prior to 2012.

It also could have to do with the internal QC not being what it used to be. I do not think its necessarily the components I have a hunch their being built with lower QC and non-experienced personal.
 
stlmikie

stlmikie

I wish I had more money.
"Good morning, I am an electronic hobbyist and a friend of mine asked me to see what I could do with the broken EHC's."

Who is the friend that asked you to get involved with the ehc's?
 
PROFLYER

PROFLYER

SWOLE
It has always surprised me that no one has figured out how to fix an EHC. What further surprised me was when BDM came out with their replacement module. They basically admitted the EHC was a pile of junk.

Anyway, it's nice seeing several reliable options on the market and after 6+ years I'm happy to say my EHC is still working just fine. Knock on wood!

It would be great to have it repaired, if needed, so I could maintain all the factory options.
 
IRONHEAD

IRONHEAD

Active Member
I just read this whole thread and barely understood ANY of it... This stuff is way over my head!:confused:
 
armad

armad

Active Member
The parts that are not to be potted is very interesting to me. I assume maybe they would/could have some heat related problem??? That would kind of fit into some of the problems many have had with their EHC's. That being intermittent problems at first and then failure in the end. These characteristics would fit an electronic breakdown of a component because of heat or expansion as a result of being potted. Very interesting.
MogwoprJr said:
Plug-n-Play solution - Gotcha!

My first project was to see if I could find a common failure with the EHC and repair it if I can. I'm not sure how much people will want to rely on a repaired EHC though. There are a couple of parts in there that are not supposed to be potted(according to their datasheets), if these turn out to be a failure point then I have a solution in mind for the repair.

I have some other ambitions with this project too. If any of them start working I'll let you know. Looks like maybe a week away on one of them. (Which could mean 2-3 months in my world sometimes - stupid life getting in the way of fun!)

As for creating a new EHC replacement I don't see it being too difficult. After talking to the local shop here it seems that they're having problems with the WP replacements though. So there must be some reason these things just don't last. I did notice some similarities in components between the WP and BDM EHC though. I'll be looking into those.
Click to expand...
 
M

MogwoprJr

Member
Th3InfamousI said:
I recall a guy posting about this a while back....


Here is the thread:
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/general/37725-new-after-market-ehc-work-now.html
Click to expand...

Uhm... I wonder if thats me? If there's someone else in SL,UT thats working on an EHC I'd sure like to meet em! I've only talked to the one bike shop and showed the nekkid EHC to a couple of people at that shop. Cool though! DemonK9 do you know who it was that was doing the work or what shop he was working with?

stlmikie - My friend is an owner of a BD, I asked if he's on this forum and he said "no." So he's just a guy I guess. He's been a friend of mine since I was 7 or so.
 
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M

MogwoprJr

Member
armad said:
The parts that are not to be potted is very interesting to me. I assume maybe they would/could have some heat related problem??? That would kind of fit into some of the problems many have had with their EHC's. That being intermittent problems at first and then failure in the end. These characteristics would fit an electronic breakdown of a component because of heat or expansion as a result of being potted. Very interesting.
Click to expand...
You're right on. The spec sheet said that the components needed heat sinking capability, that potting could not do. They also needed room for expansion, and potting does not allow for that either. So I started there. Its taken months to get to this point of even getting the bare EHC tested.

Like I mentioned I'm a hobbyist and was forced to fight family and normal job. I hope I can really do something good for you guys in a reasonable time frame.
 
M

MogwoprJr

Member
Th3InfamousI said:
Im not sure if they have changed the WP build or went with cheaper components however the newer ones seem to have higher failure rates than the ones built prior to 2012.

It also could have to do with the internal QC not being what it used to be. I do not think its necessarily the components I have a hunch their being built with lower QC and non-experienced personal.
Click to expand...
I do know that there are some common components between the WP and the EHC - there was speculation that someone from the EHC design group also worked on the WP - but that is only speculation and 3rd hand at that. I cant say anything about the QC for the WP as I've only seen it once and it was on a bike where I couldn't dissect it. I can say that the EHC itself looks like it was made well. Most of the components (not all) were good quality and overkill in some cases.

FST954 - I examined all the solder joints under magnification and they looked good - I have not "picked" through them yet, but I'll do that. Thanks for the tip!
 
F

FST954

Member
Also on the top right side it looks like there is a BGA if it is a BGA that could also be a problem I have seen many problems with them they are are not intended to be put on on PCB is subject to vibration that is a very fragile component, we use an xray machine at work to inspect the solder balls on the BGA's if you need to you could send it to me and I could xray it for you
 
BigDogBro1

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
PROFLYER said:
It has always surprised me that no one has figured out how to fix an EHC. What further surprised me was when BDM came out with their replacement module. They basically admitted the EHC was a pile of junk.
Click to expand...

Normally epoxy potted electronic units are considered disposable.

99% of the time it would be impossible to reclaim a PCB to the level that MogwoprJr has achieved.

It looks like only the outer PCB was potted to fill up to the EHC case edge instead of filling the entire EHC case with potting epoxy.
 
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