ISIS Power on Motorhead Garage TV...

Check out our interview with Sam Memmolo from the 2011 PRI Show in Orlando.  Sam, of Shadetree Mechanic and Two Guys Garage fame, stopped by our booth at the show to check out what we have to offer for the racing crowd. 

We showed off our ISIS Power 2 & 3-Cell Kits, some of our basic functions and how the system works in the RCR SL-C Track Car. 

You can catch the interview on Motorhead Garage TV.  Sam along with Dave Bowman have a new show that brings you all of the tips & tricks that you need to keep your garage running smoothly. 

The show will air on Fox Sports Network (FSN) on December 25th at 11:30 AM and again at 4:30 PM on December 26th.  Check with your cable provider for more details. 

ISIS inVIRONMENT Manual up on the ISIS Power Website...

We just posted a revised set of instructions for our new inVIRONMENT Heat & A/C Controller for the Vintage Air Gen-IV.  This document walks you through the process of connecting the module to the Gen-IV, splicing into your existing CAN cable and powering up the system. 

You can download the manual by clicking on this link.

If you have any questions about our new ISIS inVIRONMENT or any of the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System product, you can call our tech line at (847) 232-1991 or visit our website at www.isispower.com. 

How to install and use the ISIS inCODE Software...

We just created a new video showing you how to install our ISIS inCODE software and how to use it to update your ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 

inCODE is a very simple tool that allows you to load an updated configuration file to your system.  If you want to make changes to your system, give our technical support guys a call at (847) 232-1991.  They are going to ask you a few questions about what changes you want made to your inputs, outputs and the personalities associated with them.  Once we make the changes, we're going to send you an email with the updated HEX files for your system.  Also in this email, you will get a link to our website that will take you to the inCODE installer software.  You can also download that software from this link by clicking here. 

There are a few simple steps that you need to follow when you load the inCODE software to your computer. 

First and most importantly, do not plug the inCODE programmer into your computer until you have successfully loaded the inCODE software. 

Second, you must have administrative rights to your computer, especially if you are using Windows Vista or 7.  Microsoft has changed the way that they handle USB drivers and you must have full control over your PC or laptop to install this. 

Next, save the HEX files that we sent to you to your desktop.  That is the easiest place to access them.  Once you're finished updating your system you can delete them or save them elsewhere. 

From there, download the inCODE software by clicking on the link in the email that you received from the ISIS Power technical support group.  Do not run the file.  Save it to your desktop. 

To run and install the software, right-click on the inCODE file on your desktop and click on "Run as Administrator".  Follow the installation steps from there.  The video below gives you more detail on this installation process. 

Once you get the installer software loaded you can now load the new code to your system.  Double click on the ISIS inCODE icon and follow the instructions from there.  The software has a step-by-step series of pictures that show you what to do.  When you get to the last screen, it will ask you to browse for the file that you saved on your desktop.  The file name should match the serial number on your cell. 

Check out the video below for more details. 

You can reach out to our technical support group at (847) 232-1991 or at www.isispower.com if you have additional questions. 

Joe M Goes Go-Karting...

We blogged earlier in the year about the GTM that Joe M is building.  He posted a great video no YouTube showing off his Factory Five GTM chassis and the ISIS install that he has in it.  You can catch that video here. 

He has wired his car with our 3-Cell Kit, pre-configured for the Factory Five GTM plus inMOTION.  

He took his chassis for a drive for the first time.  You can check out the video here. 



Great progress Joe!

Chop Cut Rebuild Featuring ISIS Power on SPEED

Okay Folks,

We've been talking for a while about the 1972 Duster that has been featured on Chop Cut Rebuild this season.  The CCR and Classic Industries team completely wired the car with our 3-Cell Kit, inMOTION and inLINK.  The episode featuring the ISIS install will debut on January 7th. 

In this episode, I walk Dan Woods and the entire team through how you wire a car with ISIS and the benefits that you get over a traditional wiring harness.  We start from the wiring from the battery, connect all of the switches, plug in the outputs and finally test everything.  The whole show will give you a great overview of the simplicity and features of the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 

One of the coolest things that came out of taping this show was the reaction of the crew.  These are a seasoned group of guys who build cars all day long.  Once we got through the basics of ISIS and how our wiring system works, everything clicked with them.  I got out of their way and let them get the job done. 

The episode will debut at 8:00 AM Eastern on Saturday January 7th on SPEED.  It will air again on Sunday January 8th at 10:30 AM Eastern.  Check with your local cable provider for details.  All taped segments on SPEED may be preempted by live racing coverage so check with the SPEED website for final details. 

If you're looking to get your Chop Cut Rebuild fix before then, SPEED is running two marathon days featuring episodes from seasons 6, 7 & 8.  On Saturday December 10th, they are running a full day of season 7 episodes from 1:30 PM to 8:00 PM Eastern.  On Friday December 16th, they are running a mix of seasons 6, 7 & 8 from Noon to 8:00 PM Eastern.  Check it out. 

Wiring the Mustang Headlight Switch

There is a new install guide up on the www.isispower.com website.  This one shows you how to wire the MASTERCELL inputs to the headlight switch commonly used in the 1964 to 1970 Ford Mustangs.  The part number for this switch from Autolite is C5ZB-11652-A1. 

Wiring this switch is really easy.  Connect the wires to from the MASTERCELL harness to the terminals on the switch using this diagram.  You can download this as a PDF from our reference library by clicking this link. 

You can check out the rest of our application notes, installation guides and wiring tips on our website by clicking this link. 

CCR '72 Duster wired with ISIS Wins Best of Show...

Dan Woods, the Host & Executive Producer for Chop Cut Rebuild, announced that this season's 1972 Duster received Best of Show at the annual John Force Holiday Car Show in Yorba Linda, CA. 

This is the 14th year of of the John Force Holiday Car Show, benefiting the California Highway Patrol's "CHiP's for Kids" Toy Drive.  You can learn more about the show at this link.  
We congratulate Dan, the CCR team plus the team at Classic Industries.  They all built a tremendous car that is truly unique.  We're proud to be a sponsor of it this season. 

Keep watching Chop Cut Rebuild on SPEED this season to catch all of the build action on the car.  Right after the new year, our episode will air.  We install our 3-Cell Kit with inLINK and inMOTION in the car and you get the step-by-step process on the show.  As soon as we get them from the network, we'll post the exact details of when it will debut. 

ISIS Power Cell Dimensions...

We just posted the outline drawings for our ISIS Power MASTERCELL and POWERCELL to our website.  These drawings give you the dimensions for the overall cell and the mounts to help you plan your wiring runs and install in advance. 

All of our cells have the same basic layouts.  This is true for the ISIS MASTERCELL, POWERCELL and inMOTION Cell.  The only difference between these is the location and pin-count of the connectors. 

You can download the MASTERCELL outline drawing at this link.

You can download the POWERCELL outline drawing at this link. 

Please contact our technical support team at (847) 232-1991 or from out website at www.isispower.com. 

ISIS Power at 2011 PRI Tradeshow...

The ISIS Power team is exhibiting at the 2011 Performance Racing Industry Tradeshow this week in Orlando, Florida.  We've teamed up with the guys at Jongbloed Racing Wheels and Race Car Replicas for one big booth.  Ryan and his team from Jongbloed have a great line-up of racing wheels for practically any car.  Fran and his team from RCR are there with their SL-C 01 as the centerpiece of the booth.  You can't miss the lime-green supercar. 

We're there showing off how simple wiring your race car can be with ISIS.  Stop by booth 3547 to check out the action.  Here are a few sneak peeks of the booth and the SL-C 01. 

Back to work on the ISIS F100 Truck...

Okay Folks,

Now that the dust has settled after SEMA, we're back to work on the ISIS 1955 Ford F100 panel truck.  Before the show, we wired it with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex system, replacing the wiring harness that was in it originally.  We had great intentions of getting the chassis completed before the show, but that didn't happen. 

Now, we're back to work.  We spent the afternoon installing the Heidts 4-Link rear end, specifically designed for this truck.  We fitted all of the suspension components and hung the Ford 8.8 inch rear end.  We replaced the original 4-lug axles with 5-lug and put the wheels on to test fit everything.  Here's what it looks like. 

We still have to install the rear brakes plus re-do the seals and bearings on the rear-end.  The original plan was to use a set of old Mustang 8.8 rear brakes, but I decided to go with the Wilwood Dynapro Lot-Profile Rear Parking Brake Kit.  We'll have those parts when we get back from PRI. 

From there, we need to finish the front-end and start running brake lines.  Keep watching the blog for more updates. 

Catch the ISIS Power Team At the 2011 Performance Racing Industry Tradeshow...

We will be exhibiting at the 2011 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida this December 1st through the 3rd.  Stop by booth 3547 to see how our ISIS Power products can help you shed weight, simplify the harnessing and improve the performance of your race car's electrical system. 

You can learn more about the show by clicking this link. 

ISIS inLIGHTEN LED Controller Module...

Here are more details on our new inLIGHTEN LED Controller Module.  This is one of the three new products that we launched at the 2011 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November.  This is a product that we originally created for the limousine market but our customers have found applications in many other types of vehicles. 

inLIGHTEN is designed to control LED lighting.  It has 6 sets of outputs that can control individual LED lights.  This module can act just like a POWERCELL.  It connects into our ISIS CAN network and switch inputs to the MASTERCELL can turn these outputs on and off.  That's the most basic part. 

Here's where it gets a little more interesting.  We group those 6 outputs into two sets of threes.  You can use these two sets to control RGB LED tapes.  These are long strings that have LED's with the three basic colors on them: red, green and blue.  inLIGHTEN can control these three channels together, in patterns, or blend them together to get you a broad range of lighting effects in your vehicle.  Whether you are building a limousine, a party bus, an executive shuttle or a restoration, inLIGHTEN can get you complete control of the interior and accent lighting. 

Just like all of our other ISIS Power products, our overall goal is to make wiring your car, truck or specialty vehicle easier.  It is completely plug and play.  The module is compact and wiring it is simple. 

We have about 30 different, pre-programmed patterns.  These patterns can be selected from inputs to the MASTERCELL, buttons on inLINK, or the screens on inTOUCH MAX or inTOUCH Mobile.  For example, we have one limousine customer that mounts an iPAD in the back of their stretches.  The passengers can control the interior lighting through inLIGHTEN right from the ISIS inTOUCH Mobile App on the iPAD. 

You can purchase tri-color RGB tape from many different sources. 

We have dealt with www.superbrightleds.com for a long time.  They sell adhesive-backed RGB tape in 16 foot reels.  These are ideal for trimming the interior of your vehicle to get the lighting effects that you want. 

This video talks more about the features of the inLIGHTEN LED Controller Module plus it shows it in action. 

You can download the sell sheet for inLIGHTEN from the ISIS Power website by clicking this link. 

You can purchase it directly from our Products Page by clicking this link. 

ISIS Power Case Study- 10-75 Emergency Lighting

Here is another case study highlighting one of our commercial vehicle customers. 

Customer Profile
10-75 Emergency Lighting is an emergency vehicle up-fitter that has a specialty in building SUV based Command and Response Vehicles for Fire, Law Enforcement and Emergency Medical Service professionals. 10-75 Emergency Lighting has been working with the ISIS Team since winter 2008.

What’s Important to the Customer?
10-75 is a small business in a huge industry that has constant changes in technology, and with that competition is all over. 10-75's main goal has been to set themselves apart from their competitors, whether it is the products and design ideas they create or the level of customer service and satisfaction they provide.

The Basics
Most of the Command and Response Vehicles that leave the 10-75 facility are equipped with one MASTERCELL and two POWERCELLs. They mount the MASTERCELL in their custom made center consoles to tie in to the switching modules, mount one POWERCELL under the hood of the vehicle and one POWERCELL at the rear of the vehicle. This allows for reducing the amount of wiring that they need to run throughout the vehicle. This is extremely important for two reasons, first is lower material costs and secondly, in today’s modern vehicles there are already a large amount of wires in the vehicle and it has grown increasingly difficult to hide the amount of wires and keep with the vehicles stock appearance.

The ISIS system allows 10-75 to keep the equipment at the front of the vehicle tied into the front POWERCELL and only run the CAN cable to the MASTERCELL and rear POWERCELL. Then they tie the rear equipment into the rear POWERCELL, dramatically reducing the amount of wiring. This also allows 10-75 to reduce the amount of relays required from at least ten relays and two flashers to one relay and no flashers.

Not only does the ISIS system reduce materials but it increases the reliability, flexibility and capability of the vehicle which is a win-win for everyone. Keeping costs down and increasing productivity is an absolute must in today’s tough economy.

Expandability
10-75 is using the ISIS system to control the warning lights, scene lights, power inverters, air horn systems, radios, and other customer requested items to be installed in the vehicle. The ISIS system allows these accessories to have multiple functions without the need for multiple relays and flashers.

For example, a customer can request an air horn system installed on their command vehicle. 10-75 wires the air solenoid to the front POWERCELL which not only controls the air horn traditionally with a momentary switch, but it also allows 10-75 to add an additional switch in the rear of the vehicle. It will control the air solenoid the same way as in the front of the vehicle but they can program the rear switch to pulse the air horn a given amount of times to signal firefighters to evacuate a dangerous environment. This is done with minimal added labor and material costs. 10-75 has also used the ISIS system for a customer that requested dual purpose running board lighting. The customer wanted to use the lights as both a warning light and as ground lighting when the doors are opened. With a traditional wiring harness this would require a dramatic increase in labor and material cost, but with the ISIS system there is minimal labor and material costs. This helps 10-75 keep the cost of their conversions down while increasing customer satisfaction because the vehicle works the way they want it too. The ISIS system not only has helped them serve their customers better but has also helped them in reducing troubleshooting and repair time

What they save in each truck:
• Labor and materials costs by creating extensive wiring harnesses

• Individually wired switch panels

• Large banks of relays and flashers

• Reduction in wiring time

What they gain with ISIS in their trucks:
• More compact electrical system that has unlimited flexibility without increased size

• Reduction in labor and material costs

• Increased reliability

• Diagnostic capabilities for troubleshooting

• The flexibility to add other functions easily and quickly

• Integrated load management

You can download the entire case study from the ISIS Power website by clicking this link. 

You can lean more about 10-75 Emergency Lighting by visiting www.1075lighting.com or clicking here. 

Pratt & Miller Gets Great Coverage in Hot Rod Magazine for their 1962 Valiant...

We've blogged about the 1962 Valiant that the Pratt & Miller restoration team did for their customer.  This is a very unique car.  Here is the first blog post that we did on the car.  Here is the second post with some of their video covering the car. 

Mike Atkins and his team got some great coverage in the November 2011 issue of Hot Rod.  Bill McGuire wrote a great article going through the details of this one-of-a-kind build. 

The Pratt & Miller team wired this car with our standard 3-Cell Kit and inLINK.  We did some custom programming for their interior lights so that they theatre dim when they close the doors.  Otherwise, they followed our standard front-engine configuration. 

You can check out the article by clicking on this link. 

You can see more of Pratt & Miller's work at their website: http://www.prattmillerrestorations.com/

RCR Posts Great Results with SL-C 01 at VIR Enduro Race...

Fran Hall and his team SL-C served up a great finish at the 2011 SCCA 13-hour "Charge of the Headlight Brigade" at VIR last weekend.  This is a grueling event, testing everything from the car to the drivers in a non-stop race. 

Keeping consistent with the team's performance this season, they captured a podium finish and finished 3rd overall. 

Great job to Fran and his team. 

You can catch the complete press-release from Race Car Replicas by clicking this link. 

ISIS Power Booth Setup at SEMA 2011

Okay Folks,

Bring on the 2011 SEMA Show!  Our booth is set up and ready to go.  We're really pleased with how it turned out.  We have changed the way that we're showing off the benefits of wiring your car with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 

The show piece is our 1955 Ford F100 panel truck.  In previous SEMA shows, we have highlighted some of our customers' best cars.  From Porsches to Ferraris and high-end resto-mods, we have shown some of the extremes of what ISIS can do. 

This year, we wanted to take it back to basics.  That is what our truck is, basic.  It is a driver, it needs work and it is simple.  Once you see how little wire is in the truck, you get to appreciate the simplicity of wiring your vehicle with ISIS. 

Once you get the simplicity of the system, you can see where you can take your car with ISIS.  We're showing off our new alarm and security functions with inLINK on the kiosk, some of the new features on our inTOUCH MAX screen and changes to our inTOUCH Mobile App. 

We also have QR codes sprinkled across the booth.  You can use your smart phone to scan these to get instant access to material on our website, our blog or our YouTube account.  You can get more information, watch a video or send yourself a link so that you can learn more later. 

We're also showing off the wiring savings that one of our customers gained by installing ISIS into one of his race cars.  He's prepping a 2000 Porsche 911 for the track.  Every pound counts, so he gutted the car's electrical system and replaced it with our 3-Cell Kit.  He gets all of the OEM functionality and more.  At the same time, his net weight loss in the car is over 30 pounds.  That is a huge deal. 

Lastly, we're showing off three new products.  We'll leave the details of these for a post tomorrow but here are a few teaser pictures. 

Come meet the ISIS Power team and check out all of the action at the 2011 SEMA Show.  You can find us in booth 25164 in the Central Hall. 

Keep watching for more updates. 

ISIS in Vegas...

Well, after months of planning, organizing and packing, SEMA 2011 is here. 

This is our largest tradeshow for the aftermarket side of our business.  We introduce new products here, meet old and new customers plus spend a lot of time building our brand. 

We have a lot going on this week.  First, as I mentioned before, we have three new products debuting this week.  Watch for posts talking about these tomorrow morning. 

Also, tomorrow morning is the debut of the Classic Industries 1972 Duster that was built for Chop Cut Rebuild.  The team over at Classic and CCR have been pretty hush-hush with the final product but I had a chance to take a peak at the car.  It is awesome.  Watch for coverage tomorrow morning. 

Keep watching out blog, the Facebook page and the Twitter feed for information from ISIS Power at the 2011 SEMA Show. 

New Products...

Hello Folks,

SEMA 2011 is very close and this is our chance to debut all of the new cool things that we've had in the lab since last November.  We've been busy over the past year listening to customers and bring them the new features and functions that they want.  Our overall goal is to simplify the way that you wire your car or truck and to get more features. 

We have three new products that we are debuting this year at SEMA.  One is a cool new lighting product that we're bringing over from the commercial side of our business.  Another will dramatically reduce the wiring behind your dash.  The last will revolutionize the way that you control the environment in your car.  We're very proud of all three of these and we know that they will make a splash at SEMA this year.  We came in a runner up for the best new engineered product out of 2,500 new products submitted at SEMA 2010.  We'll see how we do this year. 

If you are going to be in Las Vegas November 1st through the 4th and happen to find youself in the Convention Center, you can see all of this live at our booth, 25164 in the Central Hall. 

Stay tuned for more details on these new products. 

New Video from Herr Display Vans...

Okay Guys,

We've blogged about these guys before.  Herr Display Vans builds a pretty broad range of first-responder, emergency and tool trucks. 

They just posted a great video showing off what they can do with the Freightliner M2 truck.  They typically use this as the foundation for their tool trucks.  It is a great, cost effective platform that performs. 

They use our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System with our inTOUCH MAX touch screen to wire all of their trucks. 

Check out their new video. 

You can learn more about Herr Display Vans at their website by clicking here. 

Get Ready for Season 8 of Chop Cut Rebuilt on SPEED...

Hello Folks,

As we've blogged about before, we teamed up with the guys at Classic Industries and the crew from Chop Cut Rebuild to breathe some electrical life into their 1972 Duster.  Under the leadership of Dan Woods, the whole team has created a MOPAR masterpiece with this car. 

Dan wanted to take this Duster to a new level so he reached out to us for help on wiring the car.  We used our standard 3-Cell Kit with inLINK and inMOTION in the car.  We wired everything from the headlights to turn-signals to starter solenoid to ECU to brake lights, windows and trunk popper.  inLINKG gives the car security and the ability to pop the trunk off of the key fob. 

The first episode of season 8 airs this weekend on SPEED TV.  Later in the season, you can catch the episode where I help wire the car with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.  We'll send out information when that eposide debuts. 

Here is the teaser video for this new season. 

Chop Cut Rebuild: Season 8 First Look
You can catch the first eposide on SPEED at 8:30 AM Eastern time on Saturday, October 15th.  Check with your local cable provider for more details. 

Starting Joe M's GTM with ISIS...

Another one of our customers just put up a great video showing how he wired his Factory Five GTM with ISIS.  He replaced the stock wire harness with our 3-Cell Kit.  He also added our inMOTION motor controller for his windows and for the tilt & telescope mechanism on the column.  He added inLINK for wireless control and security plus he added inRESERVE to protect his battery. 

Check out the video below.  Joe walks you through the ISIS wiring in his GTM, shows where he mounted the components and lights up his LS1 using the ISIS one-button start. 

The car looks great.  As soon as he gets his Mendiola transaxle, he'll be out there go-karting with the chassis. 

Thanks for the video Joe!

ISIS Power Case Study- Herr Display Vans

We've added a new customer case study to the commercial side of our website.  These are intended to teach what other customers are doing with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System and to highlight the benefits that they are seeing in their vehicles. 

This case study looks at Tim Herr and his team at Herr Display Vans out of Steger, Illinois.  Herr builds a broad range of vehicles including rapid-response trucks and command vehicles but their main business is building tool trucks.  Their customers are distributors of tools for companies like Matco, Cornwell and Mac Tools.  These trucks are rolling stores and offices.  Their customers demand a lot from them. 

The Herr team installs one MASTERCELL, two POWERCELLs, inLINK and the ISIS inTOUCH MAX touch screen in all of their trucks. They purchase their system with harnesses manufactured to specific lengths for their trucks.


The inTOUCH MAX touch screen is the heart of the vehicle. The owner and operator of the truck uses this to control everything from the interior lighting, display lighting, scene lights, overhead fans, the hot water heater, and door locks. The screen also displays the voltage on the batteries so the customer knows when he needs to start the truck’s engine to charge them up again. The screens are also customized with the Herr logo to help promote their brand.

The inTOUCH MAX screen eliminates almost all of the switches in the truck that Herr has to add. This dramatically reduces the time that it takes to wire the truck plus it saves a significant amount of space.

Depending on the truck body that the customer specifies, they mount the front and rear POWERCELL in locations that reduce the length of wire running to the functions.

By adding the inLINK wireless module to their system, Herr gets all of the security, immobilizer and alarm functions that they were getting from their old supplier. The big difference is that all of this is integrated into ISIS and this requires no additional wiring. When the customer locks the truck from the ISIS inLINK keyfob, the front POWERCELL engages a solenoid that disables the start circuit on the truck. At the same time, the MASTERCELL monitors inputs tied to switches on the doors and hood plus a motion sensor. If any of these inputs are tripped while security is activated on the ISIS system, an output on the front POWERCELL energizes the siren to alert the owner that someone may be trying to break into the truck. Considering the value of the tools in the back of these trucks, these features help to protect their customers’ investments in inventory.

The ISIS inLINK upgrade also gives Herr’s customers the ability to lock and unlock the doors plus control the lighting remotely from the key fob. This is a feature that they couldn’t implement before with their existing alarm system.

What they save in each truck:


• Individually wired switch panels
• Remote fuse and relay panels
• Aftermarket security & immobilizer systems
• External voltage displays
• Reduction in wiring time

What they gain with ISIS in their trucks:

• A universal wiring system that works on any of the truck bodies that a customer may order
• A unique touch screen interface that sets their trucks apart from their competition
• More robust security, immobilizer and alarm functions
• Wireless control of truck functions
• Diagnostic capabilities for troubleshooting
• The flexibility to add other functions easily and quickly

You can learn more about Herr Display Vans at their website by visiting www.herrdisplayvans.com.  Or you can contact them at:

800-758-4377
708-755-7926
708-755-7948 fax
3328 Louis Sherman Dr.
Steger, IL 60475

You can download the complete application note at the ISIS Power website by clicking here. 

Plastikote in Action...

Okay Guys,

The rear-end of our 1955 F100 Ford F100 panel truck is ready to get assembled to the chassis.  The last thing that we needed to do was paint it.  As I've mentioned before, we're using Plastikote's Chassis & Grille Guard Epoxy Paint for all of our chassis components.  We picked the matte black finish. 

We want a durable, maintenance free finish under the ISIS Power truck.  This is a working truck for us and we it as reliable as possible.  The Plastikote line of products work great for our application.  They go on easily with no specialized equipment.  Our paint booth and spray capabilities are pretty limited so the fact that these finishes come in a spray can makes this brainless for us. 

We took one last swing at the rear-end with the wire wheel and some Scotch Brite to clean up any surface rust that popped up.  We hit it with a tack cloth and went to town with the paint.  Check out the action. 

Stay tuned for more.  We have a little more paint work to do on the chassis then we start assembling the Heidts Superide II IFS and their Classic Truck 4-Link Rear.  We also need to get the engine and transmission mounted plus set up the drive shaft. 

You can catch our entire video series of us wiring our truck with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System at this blog or at our website by clicking here.  You can also catch the videos for the Heidts hardware and more about Plastikote. 

Keith Bentzel's GTM in Vette Magazine & Kit Car Magazine...

Yes, you have seen this car before.  It was the centerpiece of the episode of Two Guys Garage that featured our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System in early 2009.  This is a beautiful Factory Five GTM that was built by Keith Bentzel.  He was one of our earliest ISIS customers and he did a great install in this car. 

I was flipping through the latest issue of Kit Car Magazine and caught this car out of the corner of my eye.  It really stands out so it is hard to miss.  After a little digging, I figured out that this was a reprint of an article that originally appeared in the July 2010 issue of Vette Magazine.  There are a ton of great pictures of the car and Christopher Phillip wrote a great article documenting Keith's baby. 

Keith wired the GTM with our standard 3-Cell Kit with inLINK.  He is using the stock GTM configuration with the one-button start function. 

You can check out the full article on the Vette Magazine website by clicking this link. 

ISIS Power F100 Paint Time...

We're done with the suspension & chassis work on our 1955 F100 panel truck.  The Heidts Superide II IFS and their 4-link are installed.  All of the metal surfaces have been wire-wheeled and cleaned.  Now it is time to paint the chassis and the transmission.  We want this to be as durable as possible and we don't want to have to worry about the finish once the truck is assembled. 

Not knowing a lot about paint, I reached out to my pal Tony D' at Valspar for some help.  We told him that we wanted paint for the chassis and for the transmission.  We don't have a really advanced paint booth so we need to be able to apply it with simple tools.  We also want something that will handle daily driving for our truck.

For the transmission, he recommended the Plastikote Engine Enamel.   It is designed for high temperature applications up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and will not be damaged by gasoline, oil or any other chemical exposure.  It applies easily from a can.  We picked the aluminum finish to match the look of our engine.  Check out this video talking about painting the transmission. 

For the chassis and all of the other parts on the chassis, Tony D' recommended Plastikote's Chassis & Grille Guard Epoxy Paint.  This is a super-durable epoxy paint that resists cracking, chips and peeling.  It is sprayed from a can and it creates a professional look.  We went with the matte black finish.  Check out this video for more. 

You can learn more about the Plastikote line of professional automotive finishes at their website by clicking here.  Stray tuned for more posts on paint and videos showing off applying the paint and showing off the finished product. 

ISIS & PWM...

Okay Folks,

Our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System is far different from a traditional fuse & relay based wire harness.  There are things that ISIS can do that you couldn't even begin to imagine with a good-old bundle of wire.  One of our biggest goals when we educate people about our ISIS Power products is to de-mystify some of the potentially scary terms that we use.  One that we use a lot is Pulse Width Modulation or PWM.  This is a fancy term for turning something on and off very fast to control power. 

We don't use relays in our ISIS POWERCELLs.  Instead, we use MOSFETs.  Yes, I know that is another scary term that we'll talk about later.  For now, all you need to know is that MOSFETs are solid state stitches.  Unlike relays, there are no mechanical parts in them.  You can turn a MOSFET on and off literally millions of times per second.  You can do that with a relay 2 to 3 times per second before you have to worry about burning up the contacts. 

The ability to turn a MOSFET on and off very quickly allows us to control the amount of power coming out of a POWERCELL output.  We do this by using something called Pulse Width Modulation.  PWM is the process of turning an output on and off quickly.  The effective power coming out of the output is proportional to the amount of on time as compared to the off time.  The ratio of the on time versus the off time is called the duty cycle.  So for example, if we turn the output on for half of the cycle time and off for the other half, your duty cycle is 50%.  The effective voltage of your output is approximately 50%.  This picture shows you what we mean. 

The three different graphs are 10%, 50% and 90% duty cycle. 

Check out this video showing you more about PWM.  If you haven't seen Colin's Lab on You Tube before, it is a worthwhile watch.  He is a geek's geek but who isn't.  As part of Make Magazine, his stuff is filled with tons of useful electronics projects, tips and tricks. 

So you're asking yourself, "what does this mean to me"?  "I'm wiring a car, not building circuits."  Pulse Width Modulation is a very effective and efficient way to control the brightness of lights and the speed of motors.  There is very little heat lost with PWM as compared to using resistors or rheostats. 

ISIS has PWM capability built into the POWERCELL outputs.  We can effortlessly dim lights, create daytime running lights, theatre dim interior lights and control motor speeds.  For those who need that advanced control, it is built right into your system.  No external modules or hardware are required. 

Stay tuned for more on the benefits of wiring your car or truck with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 

ISIS Power in Hot Rod Magazine

Marlan Davis wrote up an awesome article in the January 2010 issue of Hot Rod Magazine.  To help get an idea of how installing ISIS compares to a traditional fuse and relay harness, he turned to Kevin McMillan at McMillan Speed & Fab.  Kevin and his crew wired a no-holds bared 1957 Chevy 210 hardtop.  

The last paragraph in that article is really good.  Marlan makes the point that at first blush, ISIS looks to be twice the price of a typical harness in the aftermarket.  But when you start to consider that ISIS gives you, that it replaces and what you need to add to a traditional harness, ISIS is actually cheaper than the traditional harness. 

You can check out the article on the Hot Rod Magazine website by clicking this link.   There are also some great pictures of the wiring job that Kevin did as part of the article. 

You can also check out Kevin McMillan's website and look at some of his other projects by clicking this link.  

ISIS Diagnostics...

One of the most powerful features of our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System is its diagnostic capabilities.  Unlike a traditional fuse and relay harness, ISIS is smart.  When you wire your car, truck or vehicle with ISIS, you get a system that gives you feedback. 

We build very simple tools into our MASTERCELLs, POWERCELLs, inMOTION cells and every other accessory to help you identify and fix electrical problems quickly.  This helps you install the system quicker and solve issues that pop up quickly to get you back on the road. 

All of our diagnostics start with our inSIGHT LCD module that is built into the MASTERCELL.  If you are using our inTOUCH MAX, these diagnostics are done through the touch screen.  inSIGHT gets you all of the critical information on the system: battery voltages, cell temperatures, status of outputs, etc.  It also gets you indication of when switches turn on and off.  This powerful feature lets you check your switches and make sure that they are wired correctly. 

All of our cells have a "heartbeat" indicator on them.  This simple light confirms that the cells are healthy and communicating properly.  By simply checking for the hearbeat, you know that all of the cells are talking to each other. 

Lastly, each output on the POWERCELLs and inMOTION cells have diagnostic indicators on them.  These show you when the output is on, when it is off and when there is a bad connection to your load. 

Watch this video to see how all of these diagnostic tools can be used together to identify problems in your car's wiring. 

You can learn more about our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System at this blog or at our website: http://www.isispower.com/. 

Wiring Power Switch for inTOUCH MAX Screen...

We've just posted an updated version of the manual and installation guide for our ISIS Power inTOUCH MAX Touch Screen.  We are always trying to make our literature clearer and more user friendly.  Based on your feedback, we've cleaned up some of the text in the document and clarified a few things. 

You can download the new manual from our Reference Library at this link. 

The most significant change is that we added a diagram showing you how to wire in a switch to shut off power to the screen when you are not using the car.  The screen draws power when it is running so you need to shut it down to minimize the drain on the battery. 

Adding this switch is really easy.  You just need to get a Double-Pole, Single-Throw switch.  This kind of a switch is also called a DPST switch.  Here are a few links of places where you can get these types of switches. 

Here's one from Radio Shack.

Digikey has a big selection.   

You can even source these from Ebay. 

You can pick the switch that fits the layout for your car.  The only technical requirements are that it has to be rated for at least 12-volts and must be able to carry 5-amps. 

Once you have your switch, pick a convenient place in the data cable between the MASTERCELL and the inTOUCH MAX screen.  Open the looming and cut the Red and Yellow wires.  Strip them and connect them to the different poles of the switch.  It is important that you never allow the Red and Yellow wires to cross with each other.  This will severely damage your screen. 

The Yellow wire in the harness brings regulated power from the MASTERCELL to power the electronics on the screen and the back light.  The Red wire is the TX line for the data flowing to the screen.  To properly shut down the screen, both of these wires need to be disconnected. 

You can download a PDF of this application note from our Reference Library by clicking this link. 

Please give our technical support team at call at (847) 232-1991 if you have any questions with your ISIS Power install.

ISIS Power Install in Built to Cruise Mustang...

We've been working with Mike Raburn of Drive 9 Media and StangNet.com.  They have been working on their Built To Cruise  Mustang and have it wired with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 

The BTC Mustang started our life as a 1989 Fox Body 5.0.  It has been completely reincarnated as a new ride.  At its core is a 2011 Coyote V8.  We've blogged about this engine before and have shown you how to wire its ECU into ISIS.  Check out that post here. 

They completely re-wired the car with our 3-Cell Kit.  You can get more information on their ISIS install, plus the overall project at the http://www.stangnet.com/ forum.  This link will take you to the thread for the build.  There are a lot of good pictures of where they placed their MASTERCELL and POWERCELLs in the car. 

Check it out and keep watching their forum for more updates. 

Tony Candela's New Book

We've blogged about Tony Candela before.  He is a seasoned car guy who knows a thing or two about electrical systems and how to wire a car.  His first book, Automotive Wiring and Electrical Systems has become one of the great references for guys in their garages.  When you have a question about good practice on wiring your car, turn to this book. 

Tony just followed up with a new book titled Automotive Electrical Performance Projects.  This book takes you to the next step covering topics from audio to EFI and everything in between.  This is a great addition to the book shelf in your garage. 
 
You can learn more about the new book, including where you can purchase it, at this link. 

From the set of Chop Cut Rebuild...

Greetings from Southern California.  I've been out here for the past few days with the crew from WAS Productions and Classic Industries taping an episode of Chop Cut Rebuild. 

CCR host, Dan Woods and his team have been rebuilding a 1972 Duster.  It was in a pretty sad state when they started but it is shaping up to be an awesome ride. 

Wiring harnesses specific to that vintage of MOPAR are practically impossible to find.  They turned to us to wire it with our universal 3-Cell Kit for all of the usual vehicle functions: headlights, turn-signals, fans, brake lights, etc.  They also added our inMOTION Motor Controller Cell for the windows, lock actuators and the exhaust cut-outs. 

The install went really well.  We spent yesterday getting cells mounted, power cables run from the battery and harnesses roughed in.  Today, we wired the switches to the MASTERCELL and taped the process.  Everything said and done, we wired the car, tested everything and cleaned up in 2 days with a camera crew hanging around looking over our shoulders. 

You can catch the unveiling of the car at the Classic Industries booth at the 2011 SEMA show in Las Vegas.  Until then, they are keeping a lot of the details of the car hush-hush.  You will have to wait until then to see the finished product. 

The new season of Chop Cut Rebuild will air on SPEED TV in October.  Watch their website at www.ccr.tv for dates and check your local listings.  The episode featuring the ISIS install in the car will air just after the new year.  We'll keep you all posted as we get close. 

Thanks to Dan Woods, Edgar Soler, Edward Peghin and the whole crew for a great time and a job well done. 

Heartland Customs on Cover of Vette Magazine with ISIS Install

Here's another great customer car with ISIS installed in it that is making a spash in the media.  The C2ZR1 built by Heartland Customs of Purcell, OK is featured in a great acticle in Vette Magazine, including an awesome cover shot. 

Jeff Page and his team at Heartland Customs started with a 1964 Corvette and created a piece of art powered by an LS9.  The details in this car are what really make it.  The carbon fiber accents, the customer gauges and the interior set this apart from any thing else out there.

They wired the C2ZR1 with our standard ISIS 3-Cell Kit, inLINK and inMOTION. 

You can learn more about Heartland Customs at their website by clicking here.  You can contact them at:

128 N. CanadianPurcell, OK 73080
405-527-4526
info@Heartlandcustoms.us

You can catch pictures fo the C2ZR1 build and videos, including details on the ISIS install, at their website by clicking here. 

You can catch their article in Vette Magazine by clicking here.

ISIS Power's Mike Weber Wins TTF Class at 2011 NASA National Championships at Mid-Ohio

Just to continue our winner theme for tonight, we're proud to announce that Mike Weber, our engineering manager, won the TTF class at the 2011 NASA Nationals Championship at Mid-Ohio last weekend.  In his 1995 777 Infinity G20, Mike beat his best lap time at Mid-Ohio and reset the track record for TTF, beating his previous record by 0.4 seconds. 

Congratulations to Mike.

Team Superlite Wins Super Unlimited Class at 2011 NASA Nationals at Mid-Ohio

On behalf of our entire team at ISIS Power, we extend a hearty congratulations to Fran Hall and his team at Race Car Replicas.  Over last weekend, they won the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) National Championship for the Super Unlimited Class.  Driven by Ryan Ellis, they didn't only just win, they dominated this class for the entire season. 


We're honored to be a sponsor of their SLC 01 Race Car.  Fran and his team wired this car with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.  Our ability to handle abuse, heat, dirt and water helped them take this victory.  You can see the RCR press release on the ISIS system at this link. 


The SLC is an amazing car and you can find our ISIS system standard on it.  The best part of this car is its versatility.  It can be your daily-driver super car with all of the creature comforts.  It can also be your gentleman's track car for the weekend race warrior.  Also, as shown this season, it can be a powerful track car that puts everything else out there in its place.  The choice is yours.   


You can learn more about Race Car Replicas and their full lineup of vehicles at http://www.superlitecars.com/. 


Thanks to SLC crew member Will Campbell, here are a few extra facts about the SLC track car and its history this season. 

• In all the races the SLC has entered this year, it sat on the pole 11 times – every time the car got to qualify, it sat on pole.
• Ryan Ellis drove the car to a first place finish in every race it finished. 
• The car only ran two short test sessions and 4 race weekends - including the National Championships weekend- yet still managed to completely dominate the field in every race it entered, including most importantly, the National Championship race.  They had their share of new-car teething issues, but it is very unusual for a new car to be so fast right out of the box.  It’s almost unheard of for a new car to have both the pace and the reliability to win the National Championship.
• The Superlite Coupe went to two tracks this year in NASA, and shattered the lap records at both tracks.  How often does a new car unload from the trailer and go immediately to breaking lap records at every track it sees?  We still hold these records, incidentally.
• The SLC was fast in all conditions, usually taking the weekend's fastest lap time in the dry, but was equally fast in the rain.  On Thursday, Ryan drove the SLC in the rain to a pole position for that days qualifying race that was 6 seconds faster than the rest of the field, and took the fastest lap time of the day, across all classes, including a TTR Radical and even the open wheel Formula Mazdas.  In a series where qualifying can be won or lost by tenths-- or less-- this was massive, and a portent of what might be to come. The car was so good in the rain that Ryan asked everyone to do a little rain dance for the Championship race.  For those who understand the dynamics of fast, high-powered mid-engined cars, this is surprising, and more than a little unusual, and speaks volumes about the confidence Ryan has in the handling ability of the SLC in wet and dry conditions.  The takeaway is that the SLC is benign at the limit in all conditions, which is essential to fully exploit the potential of the car.
• The Superlite Coupe didn’t achieve the records it has by just throwing a big HP number on the wall.  In fact, we gave up several hundred horsepower to some of our competitors, and won instead on superb driving, and a car with unmatched handling.  Ryan was able to put the car anywhere on the track he needed to, which is especially important when working traffic.  This year we competed against Porsches with 700+ HP, a 1200 HP Mustang, several stockcars with ex-NASCAR SB2 engines with around 800 HP, and a Lister-Corvette with a reputed 850 HP.  We ran the SLC with 525 HP to the wheels, which was around 600 HP at the crank.   Next year Fran promises to find more power, which should bring us to parity with more of the rest of the field.
• The Superlite Coupe didn’t arise from a modern factory in Zuffenhausen surrounded by hundreds of man-years of race car design and development resources, or in some hallowed ground in Maranello that has spawned decades of successful race cars, or even from a company devoted to making pure racing cars, but from a small shop just outside of Detroit led by a person with a vision to produce insanely great cars that are actually attainable, and a few craftsman that helped to achieve it.  The significance of this is hard to overstate:  the SLC, in its first months of racing, conquered very mature race cars from Porsche, Ferrari and others that had massively more time and resources devoted to their development.  It’s a classic David and Goliath story, with a local Detroit twist.
• The factory-built SLC that won the National Championship race so convincingly (it had lapped almost the entire Super Unlimited field, some of them a couple of times) shares almost everything with the standard SLC kit that anyone can buy.  And the race-specific parts are readily available, and on the shelf, for those customers who want to buy a clone of the 01 car.   This is in distinct contrast to some other manufacturers that don’t actually race what they sell, despite appearances.

ISIS Configuration Sheet

A lot of guys wonder where the best place to start is when the wire their car with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.  We always suggest starting with the manual that comes with the kit.  You get a bound copy in the box that comes with your kit but you can always download a copy from our reference library at this link. 

Once you familiarize yourself with the manual, turn your attention towards the configuration sheet that was included in your kit.  This is your road map to wiring your car.  It steps you through the process, line-by-line, function-by-function. 

We do everything by wire color.  There are a bunch of wires on the MASTERCELL input harnesses that are identified by a primary color and a stripe.  All of the POWERCELL output wires are identified by a primary color. 

Check out this video for more information on the configuration sheets, what they tell you and how to use them. 

We have a bunch of different standard configurations.  These are options when you order your ISIS 3-Cell Kit.  Our most common is our front-engine.  You can download the configuration here. 

We also have a rear-engine configuration that puts the ignition and starter functions on the rear POWERCELL.  You'd use this if you have a rear or mid-engined car.  You can download this configuration sheet at this link. 

We also have specific configurations for the Factory Five GTM and the Factory Five Hot Rod.  You can download those configurations from our Reference Library. 

We will continue to add specific configurations as customer demand requires. 

Wiring the Brake Switch...

Okay Guys,

Here's the next installation in our ISIS Power install video series for our 1955 Ford F100 panel truck. 

We just wired in the brake pedal switch into our ISIS MASTERCELL.  Just like the rest of the switches in the truck, this is really easy. 

Remember that the MASTERCELL works when you ground the input wire.  To make the brake lights in the back of the car turn on, you simply connect the MASTERCELL input wire to ground when you press the pedal.  One terminal on the switch connects to the MASTERCELL input wire, the other connects to ground.  This can be a connection to the chassis or can be through one of the included ground wires in the MASTERCELL input harness. 

We're using a switch that works on the brake fluid pressure. 

When we press on the brake pedal, the fluid pressure increases.  There is a diaphragm internally in this switch with a set of contacts that connects the two terminals together electrically.  One of these terminals connects to the MASTERCELL input wire for the brake lights.  The other connects to one of the ground wires in the MASTERCELL harness.  We used these terminals from Waytek to connect the MASTERCELL 22-AWG wires to the switch. 

There are many other types of brake switches.  They all will wire the same way to the MASTERCELL inputs.  Here are a few good examples.

The last one is my favorite.  We had been making these at Littelfuse since the 1964 1/2 Mustang.  Some of my early projects as a manufacturing engineer were working on the automation machines for these switches.  Remarkably, the switch has remained practically unchanged since the beginning. 

Check out the latest video talking about how to wire this switch into our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. 


You can check out our entire video series showing off how we're wiring our 1955 Ford F100 panel truck with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System at http://www.isispower.com/ISIS-F100.