To Edis or not to Edis? : that is the question

kev_the_mole · Post by **kev_the_mole** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 12:55 pm

A V8 Forum question in the style of Shakespeare to be delivered by Alan Rickman playing Richard II

To EDIS, or not to EDIS: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
Potential Megasquirt unreliability on foreign shores,
Or to take measures against this future sea of troubles,
And by EDISing end them? To EDIS and be reassured;
No more; and by an EDIS to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That electronics is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To be reliable, to work;
To drive: perchance to race: Aye, there's the rub

Or roughly translated the Megasquirt forums have moved on to recommending direct coil pack firing but my car is going on some longish trips next year and I like the idea of a limp home mode if the 'Squirt gives up the ghost on some foreign shore.

Views gratefully welcomed.

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:47 pm

I went edis8 because its so solid and well proven - a real no brainer. I couldn't be bothered with thinking or worrying about dwell times, burnt vb921's etc.

I carry a spare edis8 module just in-case, as they are not an off the shelf item in the UK - also this is because my module is mounted to the engine, so gets lots of heat and vibration.

Having said that I have always carried spare ignition parts (HEI 4 pin module and before that a sackful of condensors for that crappy mallory dual point)

My install details:
http://www.mez.co.uk/ms14.html

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:50 pm

My thoughts on the same subject are an edis 8 is good in that, as you say, it is well proven and gives limp home mode, against it is one more item to check when fault finding by the road side (and one more item to have a fault). If you carry two them you may as well not carry any and carry a second megasquirt, if you build it from a kit 1 MSQ is not alot more than 2 secondhand EDIS8s.
The EDIS 8 I believe is limited to about 6300 revs, dont know if that is a problem for you (it was the thing that means I won't be going that route).
The other alternative for limp home, as I assume you probably not be going dry sump, is to carry a back up distributer.
best regards
Mike

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:49 am

I didn't mention that I also carry a spare megasquirt also! - I got my edis8 module for £45 delivered.

Either way - edis or vb921 are both reliable systems.

ihatesissycars · Post by **ihatesissycars** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:30 pm

You can't have a rev limiter with Edis and therefore launch control or related systems however after the trouble I was having with the direct drivel coils I would say Edis everytime as you just plug it in and go! It works perfectly and after seeing inside one and also seeing a video demo of what it can withstand well, as Eliot says its a no brainer!

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:08 pm

ihatesissycars wrote:You can't have a rev limiter with Edis and therefore launch control or related systems however after the trouble I was having with the direct drivel coils I would say Edis everytime as you just plug it in and go! It works perfectly and after seeing inside one and also seeing a video demo of what it can withstand well, as Eliot says its a no brainer!

That's not quite right. What you cant have is a spark cut rev limiter. You can not command edis to not spark, you can only set the angle. Mine retards to 10' at 5500 and has hard fuel cut at 5700. The 10' retard is always enough to hold it on mine.