looking for engine run wire 1

[brunze]

Im looking for all makes of cars vans and truck engine run wires. To give a true reading of engine run time, Rather than just ignition feed.Does anyone know where this could be found please.

 

[MikeHalloran]

There is no such wire.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[thruthefence]

Plumb in a "Hobbs" switch to a source of engine oil pressure. wire up a "Hobbs meter" in series with the switch. When the engine cranks & develops oil pressure, the meter records it. If the engine happens to run without oil pressure, this time will be negligible, and may be ignored in your equations. I have no financial interest in the Hobbs switch & meter company.

 

[DRWeig]

Agree with Mike, no such terminal out there.

Also agree with thruthefence, oil pressure is a reliable indicator of "engine run." But in many cases, you may be able to just monitor the factory oil pressure switch -- its terminal goes to ground when the engine runs, unless it's a bus (communicating) device or an analog sensor. Keep your input impedance high in any case.

Let us know what you decide to do!

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

 

[brunze]

cheers guys think i will go for a voltage sensor and read an increase in battery volts to give me engine run time.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

And will this sensor ignore battery minders/chargers?

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[brunze]

The voltage increase is only a trigger for me.I also use motion and gps movement.What im trying to get is true idle time on a tracking device when a truck / car /van is parked up and the driver has not just got his ignition on listerning to the radio

thanks for the ideas

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Then a charger would defeat this purpose... it would look like someone has the engine running (higher battery voltage), but they're not moving.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[70LotusElan]

Crankshaft position sensor. Reads only when engine is turning RPM with ignition on.

 

[hirollcenter]

There is some way that they can measure the engine running but wheels not moving. The company that I work for has GPS installed in their fleet vehicles. One of their monitoring points is idle. The GPS units plug into the ECM someway.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

They use the speedometer signal...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[patprimmer]

Engine running
Oil pressure
Alternator charging?
Tacho signal.
Manifold vacuum.
Crank position sensor.
Spar firing.

Car moving.
Speedo
Speed sensor.
ABS signal.
Traction control signal.
Dynamic control signal.
GPS signal.

Do you need any more?



Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers for professional engineers

 

[DanEE]

There are circuit designs that reliably trigger to indicate actual engine run based solely on monitoring the 12V electrical system..

Here is an example of a product using this circuit design..

http://www.chargeguard.com/product_new.php

Per installation instructions and good practices for heavy draw radio equipment, these devices are powered directly off the vehicle battery via an appropriately fused direct connection.

These are used extensively in emergency service vehicles to power mobile radios and other equipment that needs to operate in ignition off conditions, yet automatically shut down the equipment after a user selected amount of ignition off time to save the battery..

I have one of these installed in one of my vehicles. Per documentation, the unit I have monitors not only voltage level (which would be fooled by external chargers) but also monitors the AC noise profile of the running alternator for more accurate determination of actual engine run..

I also use "battery minder" type chargers on this vehicle due to long vehicle idle periods and also due to increased parasitic draw of some additional onboard equipment. On rare occasions the charger will keep the charge guard triggered, but it is very rare..

If you are trying to implement a totally self contained monitor device without additional wires to oil pressure sensors, etc. you might look into the design these devices use. You might get some insight from reading the abstracts of the patents listed...