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MASTERCELL Error Log

Our Infinitybox system is full of tools that help you wire your car or truck faster.  There are troubleshooting and diagnostic features built in that tell you simply what is going on in your car.  This link will take you to our Troubleshooting and Diagnostic manual.  This blog post covers the most sophisticated of the troubleshooting and diagnostic tools in the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit.  The MASTERCELL is always watching the critical parameters for the POWERCELLs and inMOTION cells that are attached on the Infinitybox CAN network.  The MASTERCELL Error Log holds any records of problems with these critical parameters and lets you easily access them for advanced troubleshooting.  This may sound really complicated for a wiring system used in hot-rods and resto-mods, but this powerful tool lets our technicians help you when things aren’t working correctly.

Each of the cells in the Infinitybox system monitors their own health.  Every second, they tell the MASTERCELL how they are doing and report if they’re having any problems.  If there are problems, they are kept in the MASTERCELL Error Log.  You can easily access the MASTERCELL Error Log by simply pressing the “HOME” and “SCROLL DOWN” buttons under the inSIGHT screen on the MASTERCELL.  You press these two buttons at the same time, hold them down for one second then release them at the same time.  After you do this, the MASTERCELL will display any errors that it recorded on the inSIGHT screen.  The MASTERCELL can hold 8 errors in memory and displays them in order.  This video will show you all of the details about the MASTERCELL Error Log.

There are three key values that are important to the Infinitybox system.

The first is battery voltage.   The system needs a minimum voltage to operate safely.  This is set at 7 volts.  There is also a safe maximum operating voltage.  That is 20 volts.  If your MASTERCELL or POWERCELLs measure their input voltages outside of this acceptable range, they will record it in the error log.

The second critical parameter is temperature.  Each Infinitybox cell has a temperature sensor built onto its printed circuit board.  If the temperature of that board exceeds a safety limit, the cells report it to the MASTERCELL and it is stored in the error log.

The last critical value is for the POWERCELL.  It is what we call the Charge Pump Voltage.  Every POWERCELL board has a part of its circuit called a Charge Pump.  It does what the name implies.  It pumps up charge to safely turn on and turn off the MOSFETs that control the POWERCELL outputs.  If the charge pump voltage falls below a set level, the POWERCELL sends a message to the MASTERCELL and this is recorded in the error log.

As we mentioned earlier, the MASTERCELL Error Log is an advanced diagnostic and troubleshooting feature built into the Infinitybox system.  It is rare that errors occur.  You are probably never going to need this feature.  It will help our team get your system going if you do have problems with the Infinitybox system in your hot rod, street rod, kit car, resto-mod, race car or Pro-Touring build.

Click on this link to get in touch with our team if you have additional questions.

MASTERCELL Input Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

Our Infinitybox system has powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting features built into it.  The MASTERCELL in your 20-Circuit Kit includes our inSIGHT LCD Screen.  This screen is your window into the Infinitybox system and it gives you access to the MASTERCELL Input Troubleshooting and Diagnostics.  By pressing a few buttons on the MASTERCELL, you can put it into its Messaging Mode.  This blog post and the attached video will show you how the Messaging Mode can help you wire your car faster and identify problems easily.

All of your switches connect to the MASTERCELL.  These include your ignition and starter switches, your turn signal switches, your brake pedal switch, the switches for your lighting, your fuel pump and cooling fan triggers and any other switches that you have for your accessories.  The MASTERCELL continuously watches the state of your switches.  If it sees one of these inputs turn on or off, it sends commands to the POWERCELLs or inMOTION cells in your system and commands them to turn an output on or off.

The MASTERCELL can be put into its Messaging Mode.  This mode opens up the MASTERCELL Input Troubleshooting and Diagnostics feature in your Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit.  To put the MASTERCELL into Messaging Mode, you simply press and hold the “SCROLL UP” and “SELECT” buttons under the clear cover.  These are the two buttons on the right, under the inSIGHT LCD screen.  Press these buttons together, hold them for one second then let them go.  You will get a message on the screen that says “inSIGHT WILL DISPLAY ALL INPUT CHANGES FROM ANY SOURCE”.  You will also note that the back light of the inSIGHT LCD will turn on and stay on.

When you turn any MASTERCELL on or off, the inSIGHT screen will confirm that.  It will tell you which input the MASTERCELL say turn on or off.  It will also tell you which cell it is supposed to be controlling and which output.

The following video goes through this in detail.  You can see which buttons to press to put the MASTERCELL into Messaging Mode.  You will also see what the messages on the MASTERCELL screen look like when you turn inputs on and off.  Check out the video here.

Messaging Mode is a very powerful tool.  You can use it as you go through the process of wiring your car or truck with our Infinitybox system.  You can wire each switch, step by step, then use Messaging Mode to confirm that you have the correct input wired to the switch by following the details of your Configuration Sheet.  You can also use this to confirm that you switch is working correctly and that you have good grounds for each of your switches.

If you have problems on the road, you can easily put the MASTERCELL into its Messaging Mode and check for any issues with your switches or the wiring from the MASTERCELL.  No tools are needed.

If you have any additional questions about the MASTERCELL Input Troubleshooting and Diagnostics features of the Infinitybox system, click here to contact our team.

MASTERCELL Polling Video

We pack a ton of powerful diagnostic tools into our Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit.  With no tools, you can use the inSIGHT screen on the MASTERCELL to learn about everything that is going on in your car’s electrical system.  There is no other wiring harness on the market that can get you that power.

We just published another video going through the specifics of the built-in troubleshooting and diagnostic tools in your Infinitybox system.  This new video covers Polling the system from the MASTERCELL.  When the MASTERCELL power up, it takes an inventory of all of the cells on the CAN network.  This includes your POWERCELLs, inMOTION Cells, inVIRONMENT cells and inTOUCH NET.  From the MASTERCELL screen, you can easily check to make sure that all of the cells are properly communicating on the CAN network.

You can also dig deeper into each cell by polling it from the MASTERCELL screen.  By polling the POWERCELLs, you can get a measurement of the battery voltage measured locally at the POWERCELL.  You can also get a reading of the temperature of the POWERCELL.  You also get a measurement of the Charge Pump voltage on the POWERCELL.  This is a safety system that we monitor to make sure that the POWERCELL is operating correctly.  Lastly, you can get a picture of which outputs are on and off on the POWERCELL.

If you poll the MASTERCELL, you can get a real-time status of all of the switches that are connected.  This is really helpful for troubleshooting and checking your switches as you wire them to the Infinitybox system.

You can watch the new video that goes through polling the system from the MASTERCELL in detail.

You can download our full Diagnostic and Troubleshooting Guide for the 20-Circuit Kit by clicking this link.

You can click on this link if you have any additional technical questions about wiring your car or truck with our Infinitybox system.  

Download the New Diagnostic & Troubleshooting Document

One of the most powerful features of our Infinitybox system is the diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities that it has.  You can point to exactly where problems are in your electrical system with a few presses of buttons on your MASTERCELL and a glance at the LED indicators on the POWERCELL.  No scanners, tools or laptops are necessary.  We just published a new diagnostic and troubleshooting document in the Resources section of our website.

This new diagnostic and troubleshooting document covers all these built-in tools.  Each is shown with pictures and examples to show you what to look for on your MASTERCELL inSIGHT screen and the POWERCELL output indicator lights.

This new diagnostic and troubleshooting document shows covers these topics:

  1. The basics of Infinitybox diagnostics
  2. How to check the CAN cables
  3. How to check your switches
  4. How to check your outputs
  5. How to read the built-in Error Log
  6. How to use the POWERCELL over ride headers

You can get to this new Diagnostics and Troubleshooting guider under “Installation Instruction & Documentation” in the Reference section of our website.  You can also download the document by clicking this link.

Our technical support team is always available via email or the phone to walk you through getting your car wired with our Infinitybox system.  Click on this link to contact us for support or with questions.

Error Log

There are lots of things that set our Infinitybox wiring system apart from traditional harnesses.  Our troubleshooting and diagnostics is probably one of the most significant features that we offer.  The system will tell you where there are problems in the wiring harness, with no tools required.

One of the more significant features that is built into every one of our systems is our Error Log.  This is an advanced troubleshooting tool that can help to identify problems with a system installed in any vehicle.  The system actively monitors key parameters in the wiring harness.  If these go out of their expected range, the MASTERCELL stores these errors and has the capability to display them back for problem solving.

Let’s start with a deeper dive into how the system works.  When you turn on a switch, the MASTERCELL sees the input get grounded.  It sends a signal to the POWERCELL to turn on an output.  Before the POWERCELL can turn on that output, it needs to check to make sure that everything is safe to do so.  There are three critical parameters that the POWERCELLs check before they can turn on an output: the primary battery voltage, the charge pump voltage and the POWERCELL temperature.  The POWERCELL is continuously monitoring these values and making decision on what to do with them.

The primary battery voltage is an easy one.  The voltage that the POWERCELL is fed from the battery has to be in a specific range.  A charged battery should be at about 12.8 volts.  When the engine is running and the alternator is charging, that voltage should be between 13.8 to 14.2 volts.  The Infinitybox system has internal high and low limits that it watches for the primary battery voltage.  The system can operate down to 6.5 volts and up to 19.0 volts.  If the measured voltage goes outside of these limits, the POWERCELL will shut the outputs off for safety.  In general, your system should be operating between 12.2 and 14.2 volts.  If you’re outside of that, you have a battery or charging issue.

The next one is charge pump voltage.  This is an internal measurement that we take to assess the health of the POWERCELL.  A charge pump is exactly what it sounds like.  We have circuitry on the board that pumps up a charge and stores it.  This stored charge is used to turn the MOSFETs on.  We don’t use relays on the POWERCELL, we use solid-state MOSFETs.  These can do a lot more than a relay but they need to be turned on a specific way.  That’s what the charge pump does.  We monitor the charge pump voltage and display it as part of the POWERCELL statistics.  Depending on the software version, some systems will display CP Volts.  Other systems may display CP Delta.  If  your system shows CP volts, this number should be above 22-volts.  If your system shows CP Delta, it should be above 12.0.  Again, this in an internal measurement that we use to assess the health of the POWERCELL.

The last measurement that we take is board temperature.  Each board has a small temperature sensor mounted on it.  This lets the processor monitor the temperature on the printed circuit board.  This temperature is a combination of the heat generated on the board and the heat from the environment that the POWERCELL is mounted in.  All of the components on the POWERCELL boards are rated to 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit).  If the board temperature measured by the processor approaches this 125 C limit, it shuts the outputs down for safety.

So lets look at the error log.  If a POWERCELL records an error, it sends it to the MASTERCELL which stores it in a list.  The MASTERCELL stores 8 errors.  New errors that are recorded push the oldest errors out of this list.  The MASTERCELL reports the Uptime when the error was recorded, the cell that reported it and the outputs associated with it.  The uptime is a clock that starts when the system is powered up.  You can see this when it is running normally.  This is not a real-time clock because it does not continue to run when the system is shut down.

To get to the error log, you first remove the clear cover from the MASTERCELL.  Then you press and release the HOME and SCROLL DOWN buttons under the screen.  Hold them together for one second then let them go.  The MASTERCELL will display any errors that it has stored.  If you want to stop the error log process at any time, simply press and hold the HOME button for 5 seconds.

Our technical support team can learn a lot about your electrical system by looking at the events recorded in the error log.  It is usually easiest for you just to record a video of the error log running with your smart phone and send that to our team.  We can analyze it for you.

By looking at the events in the error log, we can identify problems with your grounds, your battery, your charging system and how you have the system installed in your car.  Check out this video to learn more.


Contact our technical support team if you have any questions about our error log, our diagnostics, our troubleshooting capabilities or any other questions related to our Infinitybox wiring system.

Output Voltage

We get a lot of questions about how the POWERCELL outputs work on our Infinitybox systems.  Here are answers to the two most common questions.

First, a lot of customers ask if we do anything to modify the voltage on the outputs on the POWERCELL when they are on.  The answer is that we do nothing.  The POWERCELL is going to put out whatever voltage it gets in from the battery.  If the battery is low, the POWERCELL is going to output the same low output voltage.  If the alternator is charging, the POWERCELL is going to output the same voltage as the battery is seeing.

The second question that we get from customers is why there is voltage on the POWERCELL output pins when the output is off.  This voltage is part of our diagnostics on the POWERCELL.  When you wire your car with Infinitybox, we give you powerful diagnostic capabilities that you can’t get from a traditional wiring harness.  For our output detection circuit, there is a small amount of current that leaks out of the POWERCELL output.  This is less than 100 micro-amps.  If you have everything connected properly, this leakage current flows through the fuse, through he output connector, through the wire, through the load (light, fan, ECU, etc.) to ground.  If there is a break anywhere in this chain, this leakage current flows back into the LED on the POWERCELL output, causing it to glow dimly.  This is your indicator to check the fuse, look for a break in your harness, check your ground or check for a problem in your load like a burned out light bulb.

If you were to measure the open circuit voltage on a POWERCELL output with a multimeter, you would measure about 2.8-volts.  This is absolutely normal.  Click on this link to download our diagnostics manual to learn more about this.  

If you have any questions about this post or anything else related to wiring your car with our Infinitybox system, give our tech team a call at (847) 232-1991.