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How to build an EFIE
Building your own EFIE will probably not be a big money saving proposition. In fact, if you give a value to your time spent on the project, and figure you should get minimumwage for that time, you will probably lose money. I'm not telling you this to discourageyou from doing it. If you're a hobbyist and want to know the ins and outs of the deviceintimately, and take pleasure in building a project such as this, then by all means go for it.However, if you're just trying to save money, you'll be disappointed by the few dollarsyou save and the amount of hours of work it takes to do so. Okay, fair warning. If Ihaven't taken the wind out of your sails, then read on:The EFIEs we produce are based on the design originated by Eagle Research. They haveproduced the most advanced design of it's kind that I am aware of, and if a better designexisted somewhere, I'm pretty sure I would have at least heard of it. Their design is notpatented and is open source, meaning anyone can build devices based on that planwithout patent or copyright infringement.
Where to Find Your Parts
You can get many of your parts from Radio Shack. Resistors, diodes, and your LED (if used), wire and circuit board material can be used from Radio Shack. But the followingparts, should not be purchased from Radio Shack, as you will get parts not made for anautomotive environment. The voltage regulator, the 555 timer chip and the electrolyticcapacitors will not be adequate. Radio Shack's versions of these parts are designed for usein temperatures from 0 to 85 degrees centigrade. Automotive parts are supposed to berated for temperatures of -40 to 125 degrees centigrade. You may think that you won't beunder freezing much and 85 degrees C is a pretty high temp. However, you don't want toeven be close to the rated extremes of your parts. You want to well within their operatingminimums and maximums.So get these parts from a larger outfit that has them in the automotive specificationsranges, such as Digikey, Allied Electronics, Newark or Mouser. They cost, at most, a fewcents more. Allied is probably the cheapest, but Digikey is nearly as low, and has a widerselection of the parts you will need. Check the ratings on them and get minimally -40 to105 C, but preferably get -40 to 125 C. I'll list some Digikey part numbers at the bottomof this paper that you can use.
The Voltage Regulator
I recommend using a 9 volt voltage regulator instead of 12 volts. The problem with a 12volt unit is it drops 2 volts minimum from it's input voltage. If your input voltage is 14volts or more, then the output will be 12 volts. However, if the input voltage is 12 volts(for instance), the output voltage to your EFIE is going to be 10 volts due to the minimum
 
2 volt drop in voltage by the regulator. When your engine is running the alternator ischarging the battery, and is producing about 13-1/2 volts, but it's fluctuating slightly allof the time. Therefore the output of the regulator will be 11-1/2 volts, and mirroring thecar's voltage fluctuations. This must be eliminated for good steady EFIE voltage output. Iuse 9 volt voltage regulators and they are more than adequate for our purposes.Note that there are 12 volt regulators that have lower voltage drops. These are rarer andgenerally more expensive. They are often labeled "LDO" for Low DropOut. These couldalso be used, but beware that some of these still have as much as 1.5 volts of voltagedrop, which will still be quite close to having the same problem. If you find one with a .5voltage drop, this would be adequate as well.
Specific Part Numbers
The only part you'll have trouble finding is the transformer. You'll probably just want touse the one I use in the EFIEs I manufacture. I get them from DigiKey and the partnumber is listed below. It's specs are almost an exact match to the one specified in themanual. Note that when you use this transformer, you'll need to know the values of 3parts that vary depending on which transformer you use. This will not make sense to youuntil you have the plans in hand. But to go with the transformer I've specified: C1 shouldbe 6.8 nF. R5 should be 3.3K. R4 should be 6.8K, but I've found that substituting a 20Kboard mounted variable resistor here allows me to set the upper limit of the EFIE towhatever value I choose. See How to Adjust the Range of the EFIE below for details. Iwill give the part number of the variable resistor below, if you desire to do the same.Otherwise just use a 6.8K resistor.C3 in the manual is a large electrolytic capacitor. Follow the specs in the manual, butmake sure it's rated for -40 to 105 C. I don't think you'll find one rated to 125 C, so you'llhave to settle for 105 C, which will be fine. I'm not giving you a Digikey part number(below) for this because I get mine from Allied Electronics. Allied's part number is 613-0190, but DigiKey will have several suitable versions of the same capacitor and youshould add it to the rest of your parts order:1.
 
Timer: DigiKey: 296-9684-5-ND2.
 
9V Voltage Regulator: DigiKey: 497-4616-5-ND3.
 
Transformer: DigiKey: MT4207-ND4.
 
PCB Mounted Pot (R4): DigiKey: T73YP-20K-ND
Final Note for Very Cold Climates
When using the EFIE in temperate climates, it operates normally and can be expected tomaintain a steady and reproducible voltage offset. However, in very cold climates, suchas in locations where it is below freezing a significant number of days per winter season,temperature becomes a consideration. If the EFIE cannot warm up to a normal room
 
temperature, it will read lower than it will when warm. As the EFIE draws almost nopower, it also doesn't generate much heat, and cannot warm itself when in extreme coldweather. In this case it will generate a fraction of it's normal offset voltage. This can bealmost completely handled by merely mounting the EFIE to the rear of the enginecompartment, where engine heat tends to be trapped by the firewall, even when drivingdown the highway. Of course you can mount the EFIE inside the passenger compartment,where it will be heated.
EFIE Range Adjustment Instructions
First of all, if you are planning to increase the voltage range of your EFIE, you had betterknow what your are doing. Over-leaning your fuel/air mix can cause the valves tooverheat, and in a worst case scenario, lead to a complete valve job. That being said, withcare it is not likely that you will have this problem. Just realize that when you go over the.550 volts that is the maximum voltage offset of factory set EFIEs, you are in unchartedwaters and you should take care.Note that increasing the voltage range of the EFIE is not the only reason for changing theEFIE's range. If you find that you are getting your best mileage increases at .200 volts,for instance, you may want to decrease the EFIE's range to go to a maximum of .250volts. The advantage is that the EFIE's front panel adjustment screw is more sensitive thecloser you get to the EFIE's maximum voltage. By this I mean that you can turn theadjustment screw a full turn to increase the output by 20 millivolts when close to themaximum voltage, whereas it might take only a quarter of a turn at the bottom end of theEFIE's voltage range. This allows you to set your voltage offset very precisely, moreeasily. However, I run my EFIE at about .225 or so, and I have never changed it's range.This usage is not needed, and I don't particularly recommend it. But for you habitualtinkerers, this can be done.Ok, so if you've gotten through the warning section and are still ready to go, here's howit's done:1) Adjust your EFIE to it's maximum setting. The quickest way to do this is to back off the adjustment screw until your meter reads below 50 millivolts or so. Then turn itclockwise 20 turns. When getting close to the EFIE's lowest setting the voltage dropsquickly, without the time delay you experience at higher voltages. At the top end youhave to wait for many minutes to see if it is at it's maximum voltage, or, if you rush it,you may turn the screw too many times and damage the potentiometer.2) Open the EFIE's case, taking care not to damage the wires and their connections. Thensee the photos below for your model of EFIE, Single or Dual. Note that the bottomphotos show the newest version of the circuit board. Find the range adjustmentpotentiometer on your EFIE's circuit board:
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