Buying an EFIE
 

I got a EFIE board from fuelsaver-mpg today. Most of it was fine. The LM2940s chip is not completely on the pad. One problem is too much. It only takes one short to cause problems. Will it work? Probably. The run is coated so it should. Could it short...maybe. Do you want a maybe problem attached to your cars ECU?

Notice the three legged chip....designation LM2940s. The chip is over a run...it does not sit completely over the pad. This is not a good thing. I'm not real happy with their work.

you can always put it on a hotplate and move it. or maybe even use a hot airgun and move it yourself. I work in electronics so I have access to quite a bit of soldering equipment. sometimes I take it for granted.

if you art that concerned about it you can always send it back or just get one from somewhere else.

if it helps any (and it might not) here is the data sheet for the part you are worried about.

https://datasheet.digchip.com/064/064-01134-0-LM2940.pdf

*edit* and the tab is ground, crap, I see your delema.

Beef, Do you by any chance make EFIE's? If you do how much do they sell for? I have a couple of schematics for them, but what I know about electrical components is just enough to get someone hurt or ruin more than I would fix.

sorry, no, I work for a company that designs and manufactures amplifiers for cell phones.

I have been in the business for a while and done quite a bit of soldering in my time. I have also worked in repair so I am kind of used to looking up part numbers and data sheets.

move it
 

I know I can move it....it does have very small surface mount chips on the back side of the board. Below the LM chip. Get it too hot and they drop off. But that's not the nut of it. It's a 45.00 board....would have taken 30 seconds for them to spot the chip. 3 minutes to fix it with no chips on the back side. Now I have to deal with it. I bought the board so I didn't have to spend my time putting it together. I did my pwm...I didn't feel like spending the 3 hours to put it together. I've seen shorts in the exact type situation in the Navy.

Now I have to pay with my time...send it back...time...fix it....time. There's no excuse for that chip.

quality control isn't what it used to be.

just out of curiosity....was there a "MADE IN CHINA" sticker on that board?

I say to send it back and raise cane. you may at least get free shipping out of the deal.

I would send it back for repair or replacement. If they get by with it this time they will be less likely to improve the quality of their work. Yes, it will cost you some time, but it is better than coming up 2 months from now needing a complete new board due to manufacture negligence.

For the Record:
 

I am the owner of FuelSaver-MPG. I have already offered to replace the board or refund your money. At your choice. If you hate it, just send it back. I'll refund you in full. Or, if you want, I'll send you another one, and I'll make sure the voltage regulator is on straight. I know the board works, because I test each one before it ships.

I stand behind every product I put out. You're the first unsatisfied customer I've ever had. You must have some other motive. Otherwise you wouldn't have ignored my offer to replace or refund at your choice.

Yea right
 

These people here have seen enough of my posts to know my motives. Yea right! First unsatisfied customer!!! What I hate is that if I didn't know what I was looking at you probably would have said, if your not happy with it then we have a nice forum where you can sell it yourself.

Then you're to blame!....you tested it?...why didn't you look at the unit before you shipped it?

Fine....you want to make it right. Refund the full amount with shipping. I keep the unit. I'm not going to be bothered packing it and sending it out...more postage. I know what the parts cost. You've sent it out without checking it and inconvienced me....take the loss.

Okay, here you go, I'm fair, you want to make it right...refund the cost of the unit, initial postage, return postage, 10.00 for my time and energy to repackage it and send it. When I see it on my card I'll send it back.

Funny, you misplace a chip the size of arizona onto your circuit board so there is a possibility of short at some later date, sell it, and then try and blame the customer of a motive. Boy, that's a fine company!

Check this guys public profile. He just joined today. He's probably hoping to receive some business and it sounds like he came here to defend poor workmanship. I was thinking about watching the outcome of this situation and if it turned out good finding out where it was purchased and maybe getting one of them myself, but no longer after seeing the attitude he has taken simply because the man ask for the opinion of other.

I never looked at EFIEs before seeing this string. The basic idea is a good one, causing the engine to run leaner by altering the O2 sensor signal.

I know that the manufacturer states that it will not improve mileage without other engine mods, but leaning out an engine always increases efficiency, in two ways: More air is brough into the engine at a constant fuleing rate, lowering vacuum/throttle losses; and excess oxygen improves combustion efficiency, releasing heat that is otherwise locked up in exhaust CO, HC and H2 from a stoichiometric A/F mix. (It comes at the expense of NOx emissions, however. Three way catalysts need HC and CO to reduce NOx.)

You guys should stop feuding, the guy is making a worthwhile product nobody else does.

Like Mike
 

Now, should I respond to this like Mike did?

Final word
 

I've said all I have to say.

If you send in the unit, I will refund the $45 plus the shipping cost you originally paid.

actually, what he is offering is better than the usual. usually you will get your money back less shipping so you would be out the $5 for shipping (just a guess). not sure why he thought you had some sort of hidden agenda. maybe he just had a bad day or got a bug up his tail about something before hand.

if it were me (and its not) I would just heat it, move the regulator and be on my merry way. it is faster, cheaper, and gets your project moving.

if you don't plan on doing any more business with that company then cut your ties. we are all fairly intelegent people so do what you have to do to get your moneys worth out of the part and buy elsewhere when the time comes.

if these devices work the way they claim and there is enough benefit from them then I am sure there are other places to get them. not knocking you big mike but first impressions tend to linger. in a world of chinese manufactured crap, I personally care about quality.

BTW: if there are surface mount parts on the rear of the board, the solder viscosity should keep the parts on there even when melted as long as you don't abruptly move the board. delecate is the key. good luck man.

also in manufacturing, they usually use a glue to hold parts in place until they are sent through the oven. usually there will be a sappy material in the middle of the resistor, usually burgundy colored. that is if this board isn't home made.

There are many people who manufacture these units. Just look on eBay. Or do a Google search.

skill isn't always the only factor here. principle to me is even bigger. If I buy a part that will save me time (and time is money) and the workmanship is crap. I am going to say something about it.

and no, this isn't my fight either.

also the concept of the EFIE is pretty simple, you are simply inputting a voltage on the oxy sensor to make the input to the computer think that it is running too rich so it leans out the mixture even more. you can do this with a D cell battery and a potentiometer. why not do it that way then? because it takes time and my time is valuable. it is much more cost effective to get someone else to do the leg work and pay them a couple of buck so I have more time to spend with my family and doing the things that I enjoy. also it takes time to figure out the limits and wether or not you are running too lean and could possibly damage your engine. which we are ASSUMING that the seller of this product did. I personally don't have one of these and don't plan to because I would be putting my trust and the longevity of my engine in someone elses hands. like you said before....not my fight.