Here's another great ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System customer story.
We have been working with Ewan Bason ever since he ordered his ISIS system in 2009. When he is not operating underwater rovers for a marine exploration company, he is restoring his 1961 VW Split Screen Panel Van. He wired the van with our standard 3-Cell Kit.
He and a friend just completed a 2,000 mile road trip from England to Stockholm. They had a few hiccups including a failed alternator, a broken windshield and a carburetor fire but they made it home. Plus they raised some money for a good charity.
A lot of my job is brand building. For all intents and purposes, we are starting from the bottom. We're bringing new electrical technology into a market that hasn't seen innovation in wiring since the Model T. We spend a lot of time with magazines working on editorial coverage, tons of time updating the website and the blogs, going to shows, setting up sponsorship and handling TV coverage. Most importantly, we spend a lot of time talking to customers. Our goal is to make everyone aware of ISIS, and get the same recognition as other brands like MSD, K&N and Holley. When guys think about wiring their cars, we want ISIS Power to come to their minds.
A lot of you know Chris Loubier from I Squared Engineering. They originally brought multiplex technology to the enthusiast market about 5 years ago with their Million Mile Systems and their 1+1 System. They have been our partners for a long time now. For those who know Chris or have spoken to him over the phone, he is a scary smart guy and very passionate about his technology.
Chris had an extra welder in his shop that he wasn't using so he put out an add to sell it. A few nights ago, two guys came by to look at and buy it. While one guy was checking out the welder, the second casually asked Chris what he does in his shop.
In true Chris Loubier fashion, he started to explain that he develops electrical systems for vehicles, with micro-controllers that can scale easily using multiplex technology. While he was going through the technical details of what he did, the guy interrupted him and said "Oh, you mean something like ISIS?". He knew what Chris was talking about just by his technical description.
It turns out that this guy had been reading all about us in the magazines, saw us on Two Guys Garage, even talked to me at SEMA last year. He is just started working on a Camaro project and is going to use our ISIS 3-Cell Kit to wire the car.
As I said above, I really like stories like these. It shows me that our PR and branding efforts are working. Most importantly, we have found that our customers are our best sales people and advocate for us all of the time. We're proud of the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System and the service that we offer to our customers.
One of the biggest things that you will notice here is how small the wires are going to the switch. ISIS works differently from a traditional wiring harness. Instead of bringing power to the switch, the inputs need to be grounded. It takes less than 1 milliamp to turn on an input. This means that there is practically no current flowing through the switch, so the contacts will never wear. Additionally, you can use a very light gauge of wire to connect the switch to the MASTERCELL. All of our input wires are 22 AWG as compared to the 12 or 10 AWG wires that came on the OEM harness. This dramatically reduces the bulk of wire under the dash.
Keep watching for more tips and tricks to help you wire your car with the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.
Another popular question that we get is how do you integrate the inputs to the MASTECELL into a GM-style steering column. The connectors for this have not changed in decades and they are used in the OEM columns and the ones made by popular companies like IDIDIT and Flaming River.
Check out this guide and many others on our Installation page on www.isispower.com. Let us know if you have any additional suggestions for similar guides to help you wire your car with our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.
I wanted to post an updated video from John Parsons. He has been tinkering with the headlight covers on the Camaro that he is wiring for a customer. This car was wired with the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System and he is using our new ISIS inMOTION Motor Control Module to control the windows, door locks and the Detroit Speed and Engineering headlight covers.
The first video that we posted was running the motors for the covers off of a 14 volt battery from a cordless drill. The action was a little fast. John has now dialed in the motion using a resistor to limit the voltage to the motors.
One of the more common questions that we get about the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System is what to do with high-current loads. When you wire a car, most of the loads or accessories draw 10 to 20 amps. This includes headlights, turn signals, ignition systems, starter solenoids, etc. Each of the outputs on a POWERCELL can carry up to 25-amps and the total capacity of a POWERCELL is 125-amps.
Occasionally, you do have have switched loads that exceed 25-amps. The most common example would be cooling fans but other examples could include electric power steering pumps, and very high-flow fuel pumps.
You can get the same ISIS benefits for these high-current loads as you do with ones under 25-ammps. Instead of driving the loads directly, you can use the output from the POWERCELL to power the coils of a relay. This allows the contacts of the relay to carry the full current of the load. You can size the relay to meet the demand.
Click here to download a simple schematic from the www.isispower.com website that shows you how you can use a relay with a POWERCELL output to increase the current carrying capability of the system.
You can check our reference library for additional tips and tricks to make wiring your car easier with the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.
We have been working with John Parsons of II Much Fabrication on a customer's Camaro RS. John is installing our ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System into Mark Deutsch's car.
As far as builds go, this one is more involved than most. Mark started with a 3-Cell Kit, added another POWERCELL and our new ISIS inMOTION Motor Controller Cell. He has a lot of functions going on in the car including power windows, locks, and headlamp covers. The original OEM covers were vacuum actuated and used a large, complicated mechanism to open and close the doors.
They replaced the OEM doors with a new electric system from Detroit Speed and Engineering. This is a very well engineered and built system that converts the door mechanism to electric actuation, taking out the old vacuum system. This link will take you to the DSE kit.
inMOTION looks and feels like an ISIS POWERCELL. It plugs directly into an existing ISIS system but it brings a ton of new functions to the table. The POWERCELL has 10 outputs that can be turned on and off. It is designed to control things like lights, fans, starter solenoids and other accessories that need to be switched on and off.
There are lots of accessories in the car that need to be turned on and off, but also need to have their polarity reversed. Examples include motors for functions like windows, sun roofs and convertible tops and linear actuators. It can also drive things like solenoids for door locks. The ISIS inMOTION Motor Controller Cell gives you full reversing control over 5 accessories, up to 25-amps each. One powerful feature is that since it seamlessly integrates into an existing ISIS System, you can use any switches that you want to the MASTERCELL to control your windows, locks, actuators or any other thing that needs to forward & reverse.
Another powerful feature of inMOTION is that is has current sensing built into it. When you connect an accessory to it, you train the cell to learn its current profile. This allows it to actively shut down an output if the current flowing exceeds the value that it learned. This allows you to do things like express down on windows. When the window hits the bottom of its travel, the motor stalls, the current flow goes up dramatically and inMOTION shuts off the output when it senses this increase in current flow.
In addition to his windows, John Parson used inMOTION to control the doors for the headlamps. He trained the cell to learn the current profile and was able to eliminate any limit switches for the mechanism. The wires for the door mechanism connect directly to the inMOTION Cell and the inputs connect to the headlight switch. He was able to eliminate the need for the DSE controller.
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