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when I did my C2S. It worked great. The fans on the car started up during the flash and draw went up to 19A, according to the charger. Glad I had it in place.
For a car with a good condition battery, in ambient/mild temperatures, with no significant needs to recharge at high current rates, I've been pretty happy with this small 1Amp NOCO Genius 1 unit. I opted to direct connect mine, with the pigtail running to the top next to the wiper arm. I also bought the extended accessory cable.
That's not going to cut it when installing a tune. I think a 25A charger is recommended. Flashing the car can take 15-30 minutes, and the fans will come on during the flash and draw quite a bit of current. The charger needs to be able to supply enough juice to make sure the battery doesn't get low voltage during the process. Otherwise, you could brick your ECU.
That's not going to cut it when installing a tune. I think a 25A charger is recommended. Flashing the car can take 15-30 minutes, and the fans will come on during the flash and draw quite a bit of current. The charger needs to be able to supply enough juice to make sure the battery doesn't get low voltage during the process. Otherwise, you could brick your ECU.
Holy mackarel, that's a lot of current. Yeah a 1A supply is a no-go, for sure.
CTEK makes a 25A charger, but it's a bit spendy at $250.
That's not going to cut it when installing a tune. I think a 25A charger is recommended. Flashing the car can take 15-30 minutes, and the fans will come on during the flash and draw quite a bit of current. The charger needs to be able to supply enough juice to make sure the battery doesn't get low voltage during the process. Otherwise, you could brick your ECU.
I have flashed my ECU/PDK multiple times and have had zero issues. I use my NOCO Genius 10 (10A unit). FWIW, none of my flashes took 30 mins. I would say my experience has been 10-15 mins with no issues. NOCO FTW.
I have a basically new (used for 3 weeks) CTEK MXS 5.0 if you’re interested in buying. I replaced it with a lithium battery compatible CTEK when I changed to an antigravity battery.
I have flashed my ECU/PDK multiple times and have had zero issues. I use my NOCO Genius 10 (10A unit). FWIW, none of my flashes took 30 mins. I would say my experience has been 10-15 mins with no issues. NOCO FTW.
Probably 99.9% of flashes go that way. I just didn't want to run the risk of being that 0.1% guy!
I have a 10A charger. I am buying the Dewalt that was in the second post. About 2 weeks ago, I did the initial Flash to my ECU with the COBB Accessport and was not on a battery charger. It took at least 20 minutes for the first time Flash (Felt like an hour). I was nervous as all get out during the Flash. Every time a sensor or display reacted to the new program (and there is quite a lot going on) I would almost jump. I would never do it again.
This morning I Flashed my ECU with the Stage 2 93 Octane tune. I hooked up the battery charger, doors shut, driver's window down and frunk hood open. Did the Flash from outside the car. DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOORS during the Flash. The Flash from Stage 1 to Stage 2 took less than 2 minutes. Just hook up the 20-30A charger and give yourself the best chance to not kill your ECU. I'm fairly certain you could swap tunes back and forth just on battery power without any issues, but why take the chance. The initial marrying and when you unmarry (go back to factory stock tune) you definitely need to be on a 20A + charger for peace of mind. Both of those evolutions take several minutes.
UGH!! I can only imagine the feeling while sensors and things were going off. You, and others, convinced me. Getting the Dewalt,
Thanks!!
Originally Posted by cutlass476
I have a 10A charger. I am buying the Dewalt that was in the second post. About 2 weeks ago, I did the initial Flash to my ECU with the COBB Accessport and was not on a battery charger. It took at least 20 minutes for the first time Flash (Felt like an hour). I was nervous as all get out during the Flash. Every time a sensor or display reacted to the new program (and there is quite a lot going on) I would almost jump. I would never do it again.
This morning I Flashed my ECU with the Stage 2 93 Octane tune. I hooked up the battery charger, doors shut, driver's window down and frunk hood open. Did the Flash from outside the car. DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOORS during the Flash. The Flash from Stage 1 to Stage 2 took less than 2 minutes. Just hook up the 20-30A charger and give yourself the best chance to not kill your ECU. I'm fairly certain you could swap tunes back and forth just on battery power without any issues, but why take the chance. The initial marrying and when you unmarry (go back to factory stock tune) you definitely need to be on a 20A + charger for peace of mind. Both of those evolutions take several minutes.
UGH!! I can only imagine the feeling while sensors and things were going off. You, and others, convinced me. Getting the Dewalt,
Thanks!!
I think you are a smarter man than me. I was blessed. I'm never going to tempt fate quite like that again.
Now, it may not be quite as easy to fry an ECU as the warnings that come with the COBB AP make it sound, because they are written by lawyers, ask me how I know, and they are trying to indemnify themselves if you frag your ECU when using their product. There certainly is risk, but it can't be as super easy to kill the ECU as is typically let on because the voltage is clearly fluctuating during the install. However, I think it is more about maintaining a minimum voltage/current available during the install. So, again, you are on the right track. Buy the good charger, hook it up do your install on a cold car and I believe you will minimize your risk of ECU damage.
I have flashed my ECU/PDK multiple times and have had zero issues. I use my NOCO Genius 10 (10A unit). FWIW, none of my flashes took 30 mins. I would say my experience has been 10-15 mins with no issues. NOCO FTW.
I have done exactly the same with my NOCO Genius 10 with the same results, no issues. Most of my flashes were in the 10 minute range with zero issues. My flash unit, the My Genius, records the voltage during the install and logs it accordingly so you can verify.
07-25-2021, 02:29 PM
Battery charger recommendation.
