Posts

Ignition

In our last post, we talked about wiring the starter solenoid to the POWERCELL in your 20-Circuit Kit.  Now it is time to wire the ignition.  There is a dedicated output on your POWERCELL that supplies battery voltage for your ignition.  This is your “key-on” power.  In this post, we are going to talk about wiring the POWERCELL output.  We’ll discuss wiring the MASTERCELL input to the ignition switch in later posts.

Our Infinitybox system can power any type of ignition system.  It can be a basic set of points or a highly sophisticated EFI system.  In either case, we are going to power the ignition system when the key is on.  In the case of this 1967 Mustang, the customer is using the Ford Coyote Crate Motor with the Ford ECU.

Check the configuration sheet that came with your kit.  It will define which output is for the ignition.  In most cases, it is the light-green wire on the front POWERCELL.  This is output 3 on the B connector.

You need to carefully read the instructions for your ignition system.  In most cases, there will be a wire that needs to connect directly to the battery to give it constant 12-volt power.  There will also be a key-on or ignition power feed.  That will come from the light-green wire on your POWERCELL.  Over the years, we have accumulated many different wiring diagrams for different ignition systems.  They can be found in posts on our blog or in our reference library.  We’ll highlight some of the most popular in this post.

The most common ignition system that we see customers using is a ignition box from MSD.  The MSD 6A or 6AL are some of the most popular.  There is a heavy red and heavy black wire in their harness.  These wires need to connect directly to the battery and to chassis ground, respectively.  Then there is a lighter gauge red wire that is for the key-on power.  This will connect to the ignition output on your POWERCELL.  See the picture below for more details.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

This link will take you to a blog post talking in more detail about wiring an MSD ignition box to our POWERCELL.

We also have many different posts that talk about how to wire the ignition outputs to EFI systems.  This picture shows wiring our ignition outputs to the FAST EZ-EFI system.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

Our ignition output from the POWERCELL connects to the pink wire in the EZ-EFI harness.  You can read the entire blog post on the FAST wiring at this link.

Another popular option for our customers is the Holley Dominator EFI system.  This link shows you a picture of how to wire that into our system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

In the case of our customer’s 1967 Mustang, they are using the Ford Coyote crate engine for this car.  We have a complete schematic that shows you how to connect the ignition output from the POWERCELL to the ECU.  You can see that schematic at this link.

Once you have your ignition system or EFI system wired to the ignition output, you also have to think about the other things that you want to come on with your ignition switch.  Remember that each POWERCELL output has the capacity of 25-amps.  You can use this single output to power many different functions.  You are going to use this same ignition output to power your gauges, your transmission controller, your radio power or any other function that you need to power with ignition.

In earlier posts in this series, we talked about how to splice off of POWERCELL outputs for multiple taps.  These examples included your headlights, high-beams and parking lights.  For your ignition, we recommend creating a ignition bus that you can use to power the many different switched functions in your car.  You can use a terminal strip to create a common point for your ignition functions.

You can purchase terminal strips like this from companies like Del City and Waytek Wire.  Make sure that you pick a terminal strip that has an insulating cover on it.  You want to make sure that you protect these wires from getting shorted to ground.

Another option is to use our Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit.  This is a simple accessory that makes connecting a POWERCELL output to multiple wires robust and reliable.  This picture shows you how you can use the Splice Saver Kit to create a sealed junction point for everything that needs to get powered off of your ignition.

Wiring ignition key-on power with the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit

Wiring ignition key-on power with the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit

Please contact us with questions about wiring the ignition output on your Infinitybox system.  Click this link to reach out to a member of our team.

 

 

Wiring the FAST EZ-EFI

Our Infinitybox wiring harness can be used to provide switch electrical power to just about anything in your car.  This post shows you what you need for wiring the FAST EZ-EFI system.

First, installing any fuel injection system is a process.  Familiarize yourself with the instructions for the EZ-EFI system.  You can download them at this link.

Wiring the EZ-EFI is pretty straight forward.  You are going to use the ignition output on your POWERCELL to supply the switched 12-volts for the EFI system.  The MASTERCELL and POWERCELL in your 20-circuit harness replace the need for the relays to control the fuel pump and the cooling fan.  Connect the wires in their harness per this diagram.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

It is important that you install the diodes that are shown in the diagram.  Our recommendation is to use a 1N4001 diode.  You can purchase these easily on-line.  Please note that the orientation of the diode is important.

You can download a PDF of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Give our technical support team a call at (847) 232-1991 if you have questions about wiring the FAST EZ-EFI system.

Wiring the Holley Dominator EFI System

EFI systems have been gaining in popularity for years.  Guys want the conveniences, flexibility and power that they get from the engines in modern cars.  Companies have been leveraging technology developed by the large OEMs to bring Electronic Fuel Injection systems to restorations, hot-rods, street rods, resto-mods and component cars.  Our Infinitybox system does the same thing.  We take technology used in practically every new car and bring it to the average guy in his garage.  He gets the conveniences of less wire, more diagnostics and better functionality out of his wiring system.

It is very easy for us to bring the two systems together:  Infinitybox powering EFI.  This is a question that we get a lot.  How do I connect my Infinitybox system to my EFI system?  This post shows you how to connect the Holley Dominator EFI System to the Infinitybox 20-Circuit System.

First things first, Holley has some very important notes and warnings about wiring their system.  Be sure to read their manual thoroughly and follow their instructions.  The most important things are related to good grounds and keeping all signal & data wires away from the coil wires.

You are going to wire the Dominator following their instructions.  There are two simple differences when you connect in the Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

First, you are going to give the Dominator its key-on power from the Ignition output on the front POWERCELL.  You going to connect the ignition switch to the ignition input on the MASTERCELL.  When you turn on the ignition switch, the MASTERCELL sends a command to one of the POWERCELLs, usually the front, to provide battery voltage to the ignition output.  This is usually the light-green output on the front POWERCELL but always refer to the configuration sheet that came with your Infinitybox kit.

Next, you are going to use the Infinitybox system to power the fuel pump.  There are several advantages to doing this.  First, the Dominator fuel pump output is only capable of delivering 10-amps.  In most cases, you’d need to add a relay to switch the current to the pump.  The POWERCELL is the relay and it is capable of delivering 25-amps.  You won’t need to add a relay for most commercially available pumps.  Second, the fuel pump is switched from the rear POWERCELL, which is mounted in the rear of the car.  You don’t have to run any extra fuel pump wires to the back of the car.  You just wire the fuel pump from the rear POWERCELL.

There is an important warning that must be followed when you wire MASTERCELL inputs to other controllers, like EFI systems.  MASTERCELL inputs are designed to be connected to ground.  This lets us keep the wire bundles small and simplify how you connect to switches.  Applying 12-volts to a MASTERCELL input will damage the Cell and will void its warranty.

In the case of the Holley Dominator EFI system, it puts out 12-volts for the fuel pump trigger.  You can simply convert this 12-volt trigger to a ground trigger with one of our inVERT Mini modules or a relay.  The application note that we created for the Holley Dominator EFI system shows using an inVERT Mini.  You can download a simple wiring diagram showing you how to do this with a relay by clicking this link.

You can download a PDF of the application note that shows how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI system with the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Harness by clicking this link.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our technical support group at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitybox.com.  You can contact our team directly by clicking this link.  

Wiring a Cooling Fan

We recently blogged about how you connect the Infinitybox MASTERCELL to the Holley Dominator ECU.  The next thing that most guys ask about is how to wire a cooling fan.  With the Infinitybox 10 and 20-circuit Harnesses, this is very easy.

Remember that the POWERCELL acts like the fuse and relay box.  Built in the cell is the switching device, called a MOSFET, that turns the output on and off.  It also includes a fuse to protect the wiring harness against short circuits or other over-current events.  You can use the Infinitybox system to control your cooling fan and in most cases, you can eliminate the need for a relay and separate fuses.

The cooling fan must turn on when the engine temperature reaches a set point.  When the engine temperature cools down, the fan should turn off.   There are two main ways to do this.  Traditionally, you have a thermostatic switch in the radiator or modern ECUs have their own temperature sensors to trigger the fan.

In the first case, you are installing a thermostatic switch into the radiator or the engine block.  Most of these switches have a single terminal on them.  They have a mechanism built inside that electrically connects that single terminal to its case when it reaches a set temperature.  This case is connected to ground by being screwed into the radiator or the engine block.  When the temperature drops, the electrical connection between the single terminal and ground is broken.

The MASTERCELL inputs work by being connected to ground.  To wire the MASTERCELL input to the thermostatic switch, simply connect the input wire for the cooling fan to the terminal on the switch.  See the configuration sheet that came with your kit for the right wire color and connector.

Once you have the input connected to the MASTERCELL, connect the cooling fan output on the POWERCELL to one wire on the cooling fan motor.  The other wire needs to connect to the chassis for ground.  We recommend using a 25-amp fuse in the POWERCELL output to protect this wire.

This picture shows in detail how you connect the MASTERCELL input to the temperature switch and how to connect the POWERCELL output to the cooling fan motor.  You can also download a PDF of the wiring diagram here.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire a thermostatic cooling fan switch to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire a thermostatic cooling fan switch to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Most ECU’s have a trigger that is used to control the cooling fan.  They have a sensor that measures engine temperature and they use an external trigger to turn the fan on and off.  These cooling fan triggers can either ground switch the cooling fan or they can positive switch the trigger.  The manual for the ECU will describe whether the trigger is ground switched or positive switched.

As described above, the MASTERCELL inputs work by being pulled to ground.  When the ECU ground switches the cooling fan trigger, it internally grounds the wire when it wants the fan on.  In some cases, the voltage on this trigger may float or get pulled to battery voltage when the cooling fan is supposed to be off.  This voltage needs to be blocked from flowing back  into the MASTERCELL input.  To do this, solder a diode in series between the MASTERCELL input and the trigger wire on the ECU.  The recommended diode is a 1N4001 and can be easily purchased on-line.  When installing the diode, the stripe on the diode should face towards the trigger wire on the ECU.  This will not work correctly if the diode is wired in backwards.

If the cooling fan trigger on the ECU positive switches the cooling fan signal, you need to invert this to a ground trigger for the MASTERCELL.  You can do this with a relay.  This link will take you to a diagram showing how to do this.

The easier way to convert the positive switch signal from the ECU to a ground switched signal is to use one of our inVERT Mini modules.  These are small and fit easily into the harness.  This link will take you to more information on the inVERT Mini.

Once you have the MASTERCELL input wired to the trigger on the ECU, you need to wire the POWERCELL output to the fan.  This is done exactly the same way as described above for the thermostatic switch example.  Connect the cooling fan output on the POWERCELL to one wire on the cooling fan motor.  The other wire needs to connect to the chassis for ground.  We recommend using a 25-amp fuse in the POWERCELL output to protect this wire.

This picture shows in detail how you connect the MASTERCELL input to the ECU and how to connect the POWERCELL output to the cooling fan motor.  You can also download a PDF of this wiring diagram at this link.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the cooling fan trigger from an ECU to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the cooling fan trigger from an ECU to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Sometimes, a customer may want to have a bypass switch that they can use to turn on their cooling fans.  This is usually a toggle switch on the dash that will turn on the fan at any time, even when the engine is not up to temperature.

In the case where you have a temperature switch, you simply wire the bypass switch in parallel.  This means you splice into the MASTERCELL input wire that is going to the temperature switch.  You connect the splice to one side of the bypass switch and you ground the other side of the switch.  You can see this shown in the wiring diagram for the traditional temperature switch case.

If you’re controlling the fan through the ECU, you do the same thing.  You splice into the MASTERCELL input wire for the cooling fan that is going to the ECU.  You connect the splice to one side of the bypass switch and you ground the other side of the switch.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how you wire your cooling fans with our Infinitybox 10 and 20-circuit harness kits.  You can reach out technical support team at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitbox.com.  You can also contact our team by clicking this link.