New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

[danlee58]

I have been trolling around the internet for quite a while. I used to post a lot on FTE, but nowadays I do more on facebook. My '53 F100 has a Tim Meyer 434 motor with CHI heads & EFI. The trans is an E4OD. The '83 F100 is just my beater. It has a 302 with an Edelbrock carb & HEI ignition. It also has an E4OD trans. While the trans in the '53 is controlled by a Baumann Opti-Shift, the trans in the '83 is controlled by a DIY controller. The '53 has an EDIS-8 ignition with 8 GM coils.

I tried to post a picture, but my photo has too many pixels. I'll have to reduce the pixels.

[Gary Lewis]

Dan - Welcome!  You fit right in having both a Bullnose as well as a hot-rodding mindset.

But, tell us about the DIY controller.  I'm curious what that is and how well it works.

Oh, and on the pictures, I think if you respond via email to my post you'll be able to post larger pictures.  But, that means you have to subscribe to this thread to get email notifications.

[danlee58]

My '83 F100 has an E4OD trans controlled by a DIY controller. It uses a micro-computer from Coridium. It has an Arduino footprint. I reverse engineered the Baumann that my '53 uses to write the embedded code in 'C' language. The computer calculates the motor RPM from the Electronic Speedometer Sensor, referenced to the gear selected. It reads the TPS attached to the Edelbrock carb and with the RPM determines if a upshift or downshift is required. It's similar to the old Elevator Program that every software engineering students studies. You get a call to go up or down, and respond. It works by setting the Solenoids in the E4OD to the right condition for each gear. The most difficult part is control of the pressure. That requires a special current control circuit.

I am using the first version of this in the '83, but I have a new version with a fancy display. It has a problem that I haven't had time to resolve.

[Gary Lewis]

That is cool!  I've been considering an Arduino for Dad's truck to do away with the aftermarket gauges by installing displays where the clock would have been.  But I hadn't even thought of using one, or something like it, to control the tranny.

You have relays the Coridium controls, which then control the tranny?

[danlee58]

No relays, just drivers. I drive the Solenoids directly.

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From: Gary Lewis [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>
To: danlee58 <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 9:14 PM
Subject: Re: New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

That is cool!  I've been considering an Arduino for Dad's truck to do away with the aftermarket gauges by installing displays where the clock would have been.  But I hadn't even thought of using one, or something like it, to control the tranny.

You have relays the Coridium controls, which then control the tranny?

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[Gary Lewis]

Interesting.  That Coridium must have a lot of current sink capability.  And back EMF protection?  Sounds like something I need to learn about.

[85lebaront2]

Gary, the pre-1995 E4OD solenoids use snubber diodes in the circuit board they are attached to, post 1994 moved them (starting 1995 MY) to the EEC. You can use early solenoid bodies with late computers but not the reverse.

Dan, the EPC on the E4OD is described as a duty cycle solenoid, where the duty cycle of the driver effectively controls the voltage by pulse width.

[Gary Lewis]

That's got to have caused a whole bunch of problems for people.  One of those little trivia things that makes a huge difference.  Who cares that the upper door hinge spring/catch changed in 11/84.  Swap the hinge out and it'll still work but just looks different.  But put an early EEC with a late solenoid and the computer dies very quickly.  

[danlee58]

That may be true on 4R100s & later E4ODs, but in early E4ODs the EPC is controlled by the current. It's a magnetic coil, and the field is proportional to the current in the coil. Pulse width control & current control might produce the same results, as inductive devices resist current changes due to voltage.

Baumann uses current control. They publish the transfer curve, current vs pressure, not pulse width vs pressure.

Pulse width control is easier to generate than current control.

  

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From: 85lebaront2 [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>
To: danlee58 <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 9:56 PM
Subject: Re: New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

Gary, the pre-1995 E4OD solenoids use snubber diodes in the circuit board they are attached to, post 1994 moved them (starting 1995 MY) to the EEC. You can use early solenoid bodies with late computers but not the reverse.

Dan, the EPC on the E4OD is described as a duty cycle solenoid, where the duty cycle of the driver effectively controls the voltage by pulse width.

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[danlee58]

The drivers that I use have high current sink as well as diode protection. The drivers are on a daughter board, that plugs into the Coridium mother board.

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From: Gary Lewis [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>
To: danlee58 <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 9:21 PM
Subject: Re: New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

Interesting.  That Coridium must have a lot of current sink capability.  And back EMF protection?  Sounds like something I need to learn about.

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[Gary Lewis]

Don't know about the solenoids, but current control is hard with solid state devices.  Which is why most are set up for binary use.  So, pulse width is much easier - both to implement as well as on the output device itself.

I think I'm happy to buy the stuff in and use it.  

[Gary Lewis]

High current sink, as in over an amp?

Mother boards and daughter boards.  Boy, that takes me back a long, long way to Honeywell computers.  DEC's didn't use that arrangement, but the Honeybuckets sure did.  And in something like this usage it is a very neat and useful layout.

[danlee58]

These are the drivers. They are rated at 500ma current sink, and they have built-in snubber diodes. I am using one of these in my '83 with no difficulties.

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/uln2003a.pdf.

The Coridium controller can do pulse width modulation easily. I think that there was a change in the EPC, when Ford went to PWM from current control. I'll research that.

[Gary Lewis]

Those are very capable. Easily driven, wide voltage range, and can be paralleled for greater current. Thanks. 👌

[danlee58]

Mark at FTE says that the E4OD EPC was always Current Control, never PWM. It was the TCC that changed from On/Off to PWM in 1999. 

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From: Gary Lewis [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>
To: danlee58 <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2017 7:55 AM
Subject: Re: New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

Those are very capable. Easily driven, wide voltage range, and can be paralleled for greater current. Thanks. 👌

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[85lebaront2]

Ok, then the information I had on my tuning software was wrong. I know it does allow for raising the line pressure during shifts to prevent slipping and it is a reverse operation, 0 volts or current = max pressure.

[danlee58]

Right, Zero current = max pressure. In case of power failure to the transmission, you will get hard shifts.

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From: 85lebaront2 [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>
To: danlee58 <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2017 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: New Member with '53 F100 & '83 F100

Ok, then the information I had on my tuning software was wrong. I know it does allow for raising the line pressure during shifts to prevent slipping and it is a reverse operation, 0 volts or current = max pressure.

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