Hi everyone,
I see so many posts from people complaining about the same basic issues every single day here, that I would like to echo what Klatinn has said, as there is some potentially confusing info when you read thru the different versions of the Innovate documentation, especially regarding grounding. To some they will read it and understand immediately, while others see the same words and don't get it - been there, done that myself.
Therefore, I would like to try to make this easier for everyone (well, hopefully!), as we have gone thru this several times, but not in awhile - and just went thru this again on the current Innovate hardware.
For those having issues with things like your LED A/F gauge (LC-1/XD16)bouncing around, going from lean to rich, not centering in at stoich A/F within not more than 30-60 seconds on EFI vehicles, also the problem of having the software setup change on you, etc.
Usually, this is due to grounding. Grounding, grounding, grounding.
While as a company whose customers drive anything from 1920's hot rods to the latest iron roaming the streets and everything in between, they have to say that the engine block is the best ground. However, the reality is that you can ground just about anywhere - just make sure it's good bare metal that does not get corrosion (or check & clean annually), and then the best bet is to run a separate ground lug (or "contact point" for each ground lead), but run each ground **to the same piece of metal**.
What we do is to double-crimp a ring connector to each bare lead from the Innovate hardware that needs to be grounded, and then pick a piece of metal and make a separate attachment point for each ground wire - you would be amazed at how much difference this makes, as it means you do not have anywhere near the ground offset issues, etc. And make sure you are actually grounding to metal - in today's vehicles, so much plastic exists that has threaded holes in it and LOOKS just like metal - but isn't. I know this sounds simple, but trust me, a lot of people ground to plastic by mistake.
I cannot overstress the importance of this enough!!
I know it can be frustrating, but the most important issue is grounding - run separate ground contact points from each lead, but connect them all to the same piece of metal, is your best bet, IMHO - make them relatively close together, you do not want them two feet apart. Also, you can extend the leads of this gear if need be, just make sure you use either the same gauge wiring or a slightly larger gauge - never smaller, and not TOO much larger.
The other issue is your power connection - I think that this is not stressed enough, menaing the fact that the power connection must be STABLE DURING ENGINE CRANKING as well as at all other times, too! Otherwise you can have all kinds of problems, like loosing the calibration, erratic operation, software settings changed when you go to set it up again, etc. So test the voltage of the circuit you intend to get power from, and make sure you have p;enty of power *during* engine cranking, as many power circuits are interrupted altogether, or significantly reduced, during engien cranking.
Now we install a lot of gauges, and one that is an excellent example of the issues you run into for your power connections when using this LC1/XD16 setup is when installing a *quality* combo boost/vacuum gauge that has a MAP sensor incorporated - the kind that you calibrate just prior to each time you start the engine (takes only 2 seconds), so that it will display accurate boost and vacuum regardless of baro pressure, altitude, air density, etc. With such a boost/vacuum gauge, for it to be accurate it cannot be the cheapo $70 units, you need a good $200 piece with a MAP sensor & the circuitry inside for calibration. I prefer Autometer for that, and this type of gauge must be connected to a power source that does not get interrupted during engine crank, but also must not lose significant power during engine crank, either - **otherwise they will lose their calibration**, and your boost reading will be off.
I know you think I'm nus by now, but I mention this aas an example that this is good to keep in mind with the Innovate hardware, meaning this basic concept that your wiring must be spot on for both your power source and especially your ground connections when installing these Innovate pieces. They work well *when* your grounds are separate connection points, but all connected to the same piece of metal (be it the engine block or whatever) - and when you have a solid power source that does not lose power during cranking, preferably.
You can connect to ANY ground as long as it does not interface with, or be affected by in any way, the vehicle's ignition system. As long as you do *that* and make sure each ground connection is separate but to the same piece of metal, as well as have a STABLE power source, then the vast majority of your problems will go away.
I know this sounds simplistic, but being a manufacturer of our own products and a distributor of many others (including Innovate), and having been in the business of modifying vehicles for performance for decades, I can tell you that we have a significant percentage of even so-called "professional" mechanics (at dealerships, etc) who do not do a good job of proper wiring(and I don't mean to insult great techs who do good work). That is the single most irritating thing to us and our customers when they call us for tech support, claiming that our product does not work, etc - it's virtually always an installation issue, we have found. Not 100% of course - but about 98.5%, on average.
This is not said to insult anyone, but merely to try to get across why you do not see instant responses to the exact same questions asked here time after time, again & again every single day - this is precisely why Klatinn has kindly put up this sticky post, so that people will read it and think about it and follow his advice.
I would also like to complement their Tech Support, I spoke with a gentleman, not Cort, but the other gentleman whose name I cannot spell but sounds like a Hispanic name - he is one of the nicest and most helpful people in the world - he really bends over backwards to help, and I want to compliment him on his caliber of service & willingness to take the time to go over everything in proper detail and make sure HE feels the customer understands all of the potential issues, and the best way to install these products.
These products do indeed work - yes, Innovate has had to make some changes, we all know that, but it's good that they do. The key thing here is to make darned sure your installation is spot-on, call them if you need help and they will be happy to help. That way, if you have a real problem that actually is a hardware issue, it's far easier to diagnose and everyone feel comfortable that you actually need to start replacing new parts, simply because so many times it's the installation - and again, the docs can be confusing with regard to this issue of how to actually connect all of the ground connections - don't stack of combine ANY of them is my advice, make separate ground connections for everything but ground everything to the same piece of metal, and you'd be surprised how much that helps.
I hope this is of some help to both Innovate as well as to their customers, and thanks for reading this lengthy post, gang.
Our bests to all,