Today I pushed up a new revision to the firmware, called V1.3.0 RC1 This time I am doing things a little different mostly because there are more people out there who are interested and able to do some testing. So rather then directly releasing this version after I have completed my testing, I am doing a pre-release.
The other reason for this pre-release is there has been a few changes in the code, specifically around improving how twin engines cooperate: balancing, and hand-offs when switching running on only one and then the other. To be honest I have limited ability to test such a situation - being a single engine setup...
Those interested in doing some early validation testing please go to the source code at:
https://github.com/AlternatorRegulator/alt-Source
There is no pre-compiled version of this, but if someone is truly interested I can assembly a test package and make it available for the windows BAT file update utility.
If you do find issues or have comments, please open a comment or issue on Github.
Later the Reference Guide will be updated, until then here are two notable changes:
- Revised AST; AltState encoding numbers
- Addition of new advanced high-reliability capability: required Sensors.
and here are clipping from the edits:
AltState: Current state of the Alternator,
per the following table:
|
1.2.x and below
|
1.3.x and above
|
|
|
0,1
|
0,1,4
|
– Alternator Off
|
|
2, 3
|
2,3
|
- Alternator FAULTED (See Fault Code)
|
|
4
|
10
|
- Alternator in delay mode while engine warms up
|
|
5
|
11,15
|
- Ramping towards BULK mode.
|
|
6,7
|
12,20
|
- In BULK mode
|
|
8
|
21
|
- In ACCEPTANCE mode
|
|
9
|
22
|
- In OVER CHARGE mode
|
|
10
|
30
|
- In FLOAT mode
|
|
11
|
31
|
- In FORCED_FLOAT mode (via Feature_in pin and CPE = #8)
|
|
12
|
36
|
- In OFF (Post Float) mode
|
|
13
|
38
|
- In EQUALIZE mode
|
|
14
|
39
|
- In CVCC mode (only available in
system under direction of CAN master)
|
===================================
$SCA:
<reserved>,
< Alt Target Temp >, <Alt Derate (norm) >,<Alt Derate (small)
>,<Alt Derate (half) >, <PBF>, <Alt Amp Cap >, <System
Watt Cap. >, <Amp Shunt Ratio>, <Shunt
Reversed?>,<Idle RPMs>,<Warmup
Delay>,<RequiredSensors>
Required Sensors: <WHOLE
NUMBER ( 0 à 255 ) > Many capabilities depend on the presence of
sensors. Battery compensation requires
the presence of a battery temperature sensor; Alternator Temperature regulation
requires the presence of an alternator temperature sensor. If one or more of these sensors are not
installed, or fail during operation, results could be less then desired. As a precaution against this, Required Sensors allows the
identification of critical sensors, and if any of them are missing or fail the
regulator will take action to reduce demands placed on the system.
Required Sensors allows the
identification of critical sensors. It
is a number created by summing up the value associated with each potential
critical sensor. For example: if you
wished to indicate the Alternator and Battery temperature sensors are critical,
you would enter 3 (1+2). The value of 0 disables critical Required
Sensor checks and the regulator will utilize other existing fall-back modes.
|
Sensor
|
Value
|
Default Action of
missing sensor
|
|
Alternator Temperature Sensor
|
1
|
Enable Half-Power mode
|
|
Battery Temperature Sensor
|
2
|
Force to FLOAT mode
|
|
Current Shunt
|
4
|
FAULT regulator (See note**)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Engine Temperature Sensor
|
8
|
Go into Falf Power Mode, stop Watermaker
|
|
EGT Temperature Sensor
|
16
|
Go into Half Power mode, Stop Watermaker,
Full throttle.
|
|
Sea-water(cooling) Temperature Sensor
|
32
|
Fault if missing
|
|
Watermaker PSI (pre / post) Sensors
|
64
|
Disable Watermaker
|
|
|
|
|
|
Force FAULT override
|
128
|
Overrides ‘Default’
action and forces regulator into FAULT mode.
|
Table 6 - Required Sensor
Encoding
If at any
time one of the Required Sensors are identified as failed or missing the LED
will flash its normal patterns, but in RED. In addition if the Feature_out port
is configured to drive a dash-lamp (compile time default mode) it will turn on
the lamp full time indicating a fault.
The VSR
Alternator Regulator may also be configured to cause a non-recoverable FAULT
condition, overriding the default actions listed in Table 6 by adding 128 to the summed number. In the prior example of Bat and Alt sensors being
critical, sending 131 instead of 3 will cause the regulator to FAULT if either
is noted as missing or fails.
Note** It is difficult to determine if an Amp Shunt
has failed vs. if are truly reading 0A of current. Because of this, the VSR Alternator Regulator
will delay check for the presence of a working Current Shunt until after Bulk
has been completed. If at any time
during BULK a current of greater than 5A was noted it will be flagged as the
shunt is present and working. Once this
determination is made no additional checks will be made – as a valid operation
condition for the regulator is a true 0A of current (example, when actively
regulating current to 0A in FLOAT mode).
(Available with Firmware 1.3.0 and above)
