tbichips.com - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

ssxmac · 12-01-2003, 03:10 PM

I've heard many good things about him and am considering going this way instead of getting into it myself. From what i gather its $30 for a chip, i send him info i get from datalogging, tell him my mods, he does the rest. Anyone got any input on him or his work? I was going to get into burning myself over the winter, but funds were tight then and my stereo just got stolen so im out even more money, and im looking at this as a cost effective alternitive.

I'll hopefully be running full 3" exhaust and a single plane intake, underdrivin pully w/o air, or egr.

-chuck

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Dewey316 · 12-01-2003, 03:16 PM

i personly don't trust mail order chips, custom or not. if you want it done right , you gotta do it yourself.

ShiftyCapone · 12-01-2003, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dewey316
i personly don't trust mail order chips, custom or not. if you want it done right , you gotta do it yourself.

Bingo. He may closely dial in your set-up but you will never see peak numbers that DIY burning will yield.

Grumpy · 12-01-2003, 05:26 PM

Any chip you mailorder, or buy from anyone is done with profit in mind. If you give more then $5 for a chip, your just lining someone's pocket. Typically they are they guys that don't contribute, since they're in for the profit, and wind up hurting the EFI guys that are trying to tune their cars, since the guys that do contribute day in and day out get tired of guys cashing in on their work, and then they stop contributing.

Buy what you need, and when done you can sell it and usually get most of your money back, but in the mean time you got your car right, and learned alot.

Not to mention you can't tune very well by looking at a chart other then some of the WOT stuff. There's lots of details to making a chip really nice.

And he was one of the people in large part that caused a public site that was really helpful to the chip guys, to be closed down, because he took this nice free info., and turned to cash in on another's work.

Dewey316 · 12-01-2003, 05:33 PM

and if you take teh DIY dive, you are not in it alone, we are all here to help you, and help you learn.

just the other night i actualy modified and e-mailed a guy his bin, to help getting him moving in the right direction. we are all here to help. look at the thread by BMmonteSS. there is ALOT of response, and people helping him get his tune right. with a mail order chip, there never would have been a resolution to his issue.

ssxmac · 12-01-2003, 07:40 PM

I did see how big that thread has gotten. I had read some good things about brian @ tbichips.com, but i'm glad I asked.

OK i have a laptop, WINALDL, interface cable. I need a chip programmer (xtronics PPII best for the $?) what about an eraser? and i need one other program, i think its the one used for modifing the data on the chip. What are the options and how much do they cost.

-chuck

Grumpy · 12-01-2003, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ssxmac
I did see how big that thread has gotten. I had read some good things about brian @ tbichips.com, but i'm glad I asked.

OK i have a laptop, WINALDL, interface cable. I need a chip programmer (xtronics PPII best for the $?) what about an eraser? and i need one other program, i think its the one used for modifing the data on the chip. What are the options and how much do they cost.

-chuck

PP II, is the standard by which others are rated. Good support and good service when you need them.

They also sell erasers.
But if your talented at soldering look at Moates site, he sells a deal where by you can change to using an EEPROM, and there's no erasing needed when using them. And you don't need to use the funly holders with his setup.

Tunercat sells editing software, and for 99.9999% of what you'll ever do they're great. His site is WWW.Tunercat.com

http://moates.net/gmecm/hworder.html

ssxmac · 12-01-2003, 11:38 PM

well, if im reading that site right it says tuner cat sells for about $70. Then there is $150 for the PPII, and prolly $20 in assorted accessories (eproms and eraser, and other stuff) so were up to $240. I'm just going to have to take my chances with the $30 tbichips.com chip for now. Just dont have that kind of money. From what ive read the $30 chip will drastically outperform the stock one especially after ive thrown on headers and a single plane. I do plan on getting into DIY burning hopefully funds will be permiting some time soon!

-chuck

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 07:25 AM

all you really need (minimum) is the programer, and the moates adaptor, and a couple of chips. there is free software out there that is very good.

ssxmac · 12-02-2003, 11:41 AM

What is the technical name for the program im looking for. I'm going to try to find some of that free software you're talking about. is it called 'tuning software'. Ill try that, let me know if its different.

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 11:45 AM

the software is called 'tunerpro'

http://www.supportfitness.com/mark/tunerpro/

ssxmac · 12-02-2003, 11:59 AM

k, i found the tuner pro and am downloading it now.

what about stuff from him? http://www.moates.net/

or is tunerpro better?
thanks already
-chuck

looks like moates software and tunerpro are two totally different things. sorry reading/educating/posting at the same time

moates is for datalogging i think. ive already got winaldl for that. Winaldl should be sufficient right?

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 12:25 PM

moates dataloggin is for TPI cars, for TBI you need winaldl.

Chuck! · 12-02-2003, 02:34 PM

Yep, complete list of what you'll need:

Data logging: Winaldl
Editing: Tunerpro or Winbin (with the JPrevost8746.ecu file)
Burning: pocket programmer II
Chips: check ebay for 2732's
Eraser: some sort of UV light eraser

If you have an electrics junkyard around you check there for the stuff, you never know what you'll find cheap.

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 02:37 PM

or forget the UV earser, and proms.

get a moates adaptor, and eeproms.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 03:01 PM

Where do I get myself a copy of WINADAL and the interface cable? I've already got a laotop and I'd like to get into chip programming myself.

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 03:04 PM

winaldl --- http://www.winaldl.webhop.net/

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 03:41 PM

That interface cable looks like a major PITA to make.

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 03:43 PM

its easy, just take your time, and follow the directions.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 03:47 PM

I don't really see any directions. It's all gibberish to me. I need a parts list and step-by-step instruction

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 05:11 PM

Alright, I went and bought everything I need!

One problem now.....my friggin laptop doesn't have a serial port.

Now what? .......

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 05:13 PM

does it have USB?

you can get DB9->USB converts.

i also beleive they have seriel->parallel port adaptors, that might work for you, just set your com ports accordingly.

if not.

EBAY. a used laptop can be had easily for under $100

Chuck! · 12-02-2003, 05:19 PM

Ya a few of us suck as sodering though.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 05:20 PM

Yeah, it has plenty of USB ports. But my question is... in WINAldl gonna pick it up that way?

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 05:20 PM

i'm not really sure.

i don't have a USB laptop, nor an adaptor to attempt this.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 05:24 PM

Well, is there a was to trick either the LPT1 port or a USB port into being a com port?

Dewey316 · 12-02-2003, 05:28 PM

i am pretty sure you can convince ltp1 to become com1 , then it is a matter of just getitng the right converter to repin things.

what OS is your laptop running? i can try some experments and see what i come up with, all of this will be theory, i really have no way to test it.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 05:41 PM

Windows XP Home.

BadBlue91RS · 12-02-2003, 07:04 PM

Jesus my soldering skills BLOW!

ssxmac · 12-02-2003, 07:20 PM

we went to radio shack and bought a circut board and a 'project box' (little black plastic box). You solder all the parts onto the board, then put the board into the box. Looks nice, its nice and clean, and it works great. the only way i can think of to make it better would be to get an actual adapter that plugs into the car instead of just shoving the wires up in there.

Bill usn-1 · 12-02-2003, 08:34 PM

I have 2 laptops.
An old 75mhz pentium running 98SE. It has 1 serial port and I needed 2 , to be able to log and program on the fly with the romulator. I was able to get a PCMCIA to serial adapter off ebay and disable the IR so the adapter would be recognized as com 4.
Com 1-4 are the only options in winaldl and tunerpro.
I run the aldl cable to com 1 the serial port and tuner-pro to com 4 the serial adapter.

I know tuner pro RT is supposed to do both but I haven't figured out the aldl def file I need yet.

For the other laptop
366mhz pentium with 1 serial port and a usb port running win xp.
I found a usb to serial adapter cable on ebay. The problem is it install as a HID, human input device. I have been un able to set it as a serial port.
And to top it off my pcmcia adapter will not work in XP!.
So I am looking for a copy of 98se to dual boot on the 366 machine and see if it will allow me to configure the port.

So for now I am stuck logging and Real Time programming on my old 75mhz machine. (at least it still works)

Hope some of this will help others.

JPrevost · 12-03-2003, 01:36 AM

Wow.
All I can say is wow.
I think I might start releasing some stuff of interest.

BronYrAur · 12-03-2003, 02:42 AM

Great. I'm a big fan of your "releases." Prom tuning seems to have gotten so much easier now; it seems like anyone with a little patience can easily do it now.

91Bird305 · 12-03-2003, 05:55 PM

I delt with Brian with Tbichips.com. He is a good guy. We deffiently had a rough start since we kept getting "Prom Errors" with a lot of the chips. But we finally got it working.

TKD89RS · 12-04-2003, 12:49 AM

yeah, Dewey316 is great, he sent me in teh right direction, and u learn more by doin it yourself. i cant see how a mail order chip can be at the optimum settings. unless u sent it back everyweek for a reburn. then maybe in a year it would be right.