Boost Limit Not Set?

[Plan-FAILURE]

So I've done a bit of searching and nothing really comes up for my situation.

I have the Profec B Spec II and have recently realised that my boost limit is set to 34.5 psi (im assuming this is close on the max for this controller) and the boost warning is only a warning and not the level at which it is limited to.

A lot of my confusion relating to my car, I've realised, can now be attributed to my boost controller and settings. Some of you guys can remember me posting some seemingly "random" posts about traction, boost etc. and a lot of my queries were relating to symptoms caused by not having a boost level set.

So the situation at the moment is that my boost (being set at 34.5) never peaks (with the exception of 4th gear under full throttle) and I have the pottential to put down close to double the safe boost level for an rb20det. All the other settings on the controller look correct, with warning light pressures consistently different between HI (20psi) and LO (16psi) modes etc and Gain % @ 5% (LO) and 10% (HI)

My questions are as follows...

1) Would an engine that has probably seen 30 psi 5 or so times in its rebuilt life be damaged? Even if there are no hallmarks of wear (oil leaks, cracks, engine noise etc)

2) Is it possible that I may have some forged internals seeing as it has exceeded 20 psi regularly (couple of times every drive) and not complained at all?

3) How do you set the boost level on a Profec B II (manual is in Japanese)

4) What does it mean by Gain % on the controller?

5) Should I change the settings on the controller or wait for my tuner to do it in a couple of weeks?

James

Edited January 31, 2011 by plan-b

[Plan-FAILURE]

BUMP

[KiwiRS4T]

Google is your friend. Here is an English language manual:

http://justskylines.com/knowledgebase/assets/PROFEC_B_SPEC2.pdf

[Plan-FAILURE]

Google is your friend. Here is an English language manual:

http://justskylines....FEC_B_SPEC2.pdf

Question 3 has an answer! Cheers bro

[The Dan]

I'm not sure the Profec B has settings in PSI does it? Check that manual to find out. Have you got a separate boost gauge that reads the same?

[The Dan]

I just had a quick refresher through that manual and from all the ones I have ever set, you are only setting the SET value from a 0-100? or maybe 50?

That number doesn't represent a PSI value.

The only PSI or kPa readings you can view are the readouts, not the set or gain values that give you the boost you desire

If you check the peak value while you are driving, it will also display what it's maximum was. Anything more than 1.3-1.4 x 100 kpa is getting a little too high for a standard engine. Just because it has lasted 50 or 100 of these possible high boost events, does not mean the engine is forged. You need to get a bore scope down there to look at the piston to know for sure and one in the sump to view the rods.

The manual will explain gain to you but it basically controls how 'snappy' the boost comes on...it's value will also change the boost level somewhat.

Don't change the settings unless you know what you are doing or it may not even make it to the tuner. Just modulate your right foot and don't give it a hard time until you know it's safe for sure

[Plan-FAILURE]

I'm not sure the Profec B has settings in PSI does it? Check that manual to find out. Have you got a separate boost gauge that reads the same?

The Profec Bs adjustable settings (SET, GAIN, LIMITER) all display figures in a percentage and not PSI. The screens that display actual PSI readings are START BOOST, WARNING, PEAK and LAST BOOST.

I've had a few developments since starting this thread. Got my hands on the English Profec B II manual and this has cleared up a few of my misconceptions.

I realised that the PEAK setting is actually just to record the highest boost ever reached (could be a 3 year old reading) - it's not the set boost limit.

The LIMITER setting is the setting I need to sort out as its currently set to a figure (will be checking this when I get to my car today) that lets the boost climb and climb and climb. Since I've seen my car hit 30 psi in 4th, I know the LIMITER limit function is set at 99% or something near it (at 99% the GREDDY manual says that boost will be completely unlimited)

James

[Plan-FAILURE]

I just had a quick refresher through that manual and from all the ones I have ever set, you are only setting the SET value from a 0-100? or maybe 50?

That number doesn't represent a PSI value.

The only PSI or kPa readings you can view are the readouts, not the set or gain values that give you the boost you desire

If you check the peak value while you are driving, it will also display what it's maximum was. Anything more than 1.3-1.4 x 100 kpa is getting a little too high for a standard engine. Just because it has lasted 50 or 100 of these possible high boost events, does not mean the engine is forged. You need to get a bore scope down there to look at the piston to know for sure and one in the sump to view the rods.

The manual will explain gain to you but it basically controls how 'snappy' the boost comes on...it's value will also change the boost level somewhat.

Don't change the settings unless you know what you are doing or it may not even make it to the tuner. Just modulate your right foot and don't give it a hard time until you know it's safe for sure

Yeah awesome bro cheers for all your info!

I think we both must have done the same thing at the same time as we have both answered the same questions I originally asked lol.

But yeah, really excited to hear there is a way to see if an engine has been forged without ripping it apart

I will modulate the shit out of my throttle until it gets to XSpeed lol.

Cheers

[JonnoHR31]

you need to lower your limiter or whatever its called (i have myne set to 5%, which is the lowest) and the other red screen needs to be set 2-3psi above your target boost. your set (the main % figure) should be set to whatever gives your a touch below your target boost and then you start adding gain until it spikes then back it off a touch. lastly set the start boost or set gain 2-3psi below your target boost.

if you dont know how to do all that then take it someone who does

[SiR_RB]

mines got a weird problem for the past few months, when ever i hit max boost, say 14psi, the screen flashes red and beeps.

now this is the Warning function, when over-boosting occurs (depends on what setting the warning is set to) the screen will flash and beep

i turned my Warning setting all the way down to zero and still does it when i hit max boost?

[JonnoHR31]

you have to set the warning level higher than your target boost. if you go over that figure it warns you so you back off and sort out your overboost, hence why its a warning function

[SargeRX8]

These controllers are tough. Boost settings on one car could be VERY different on another. My car runs 35% and 40% giving me 13 and 15 psi(my old car actually).

Gain is the main boost settings I think or is that the one where boost falls it boosts it up? I had that set to 10%. Interestingly my warning was set to a couple % above my main % but the drop after warn was 0%.

This was done by CRD and it actually gave me perfect boost control.

You would not have caused any major damage. I know a guy who ran 32psi into his rb25 neo which actually took a few days to kill(the headgasket went).

You gotta check to ensure your boost controller is installed and setup correctly, if anything would die it would be your turbo. You didn't mention which turbo you are running but if you ran 30+psi through a stock r32 turbo I am certain it would have shattered by now.... There is no way a turbo that old could withstand that pressure. These turbos shit them selves close to 15psi...

[JonnoHR31]

set is the main boost settings. gain controls how hard it comes onto boost and how well it holds it up top.

cant remember the exact names but the red screen with a set boost figure sets the warning level, this should be a bit above the max boost you want to normally run. the other screen with the % figure is the solenoid duty the controller will go to if the warning level is reached, until the boost falls back down at which stage it will resume normal operation.

[Plan-FAILURE]

<br />These controllers are tough. Boost settings on one car could be VERY different on another. My car runs 35% and 40% giving me 13 and 15 psi(my old car actually).<br /><br />Gain is the main boost settings I think or is that the one where boost falls it boosts it up? I had that set to 10%. Interestingly my warning was set to a couple % above my main % but the drop after warn was 0%.<br /><br />This was done by CRD and it actually gave me perfect boost control.<br /><br />You would not have caused any major damage. I know a guy who ran 32psi into his rb25 neo which actually took a few days to kill(the headgasket went).<br /><br />You gotta check to ensure your boost controller is installed and setup correctly, if anything would die it would be your turbo. You didn't mention which turbo you are running but if you ran 30+psi through a stock r32 turbo I am certain it would have shattered by now.... There is no way a turbo that old could withstand that pressure. These turbos shit them selves close to 15psi...<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Yeah haha its a gt2871r so it was more engine internals I was worried about haha.

I'm just going to get my tuner to suss it. I didn't know it was technical like this with ebc's.

[Beer Baron]

plan b you have it all wrong mate. peak is just whatever peak it's hit at any point since the controller has first been used. you can clear it and start again so you can find your actual peak.

the limiter is not limiting your boost. it's a 'safety' function. what it does is if your boost level goes over the warning level for a set period you can try to lower it using the 'limiter' for safety. it's most likely been set at 34psi so it's not in use. you don't need it is a pretty useless feature. if your car is overboosting past your warning level then you have 1 of 2 problems. either your boost is set higher than your warning (in which case you need to either raise the warning or lower the boost) or there's a hose off somewhere (in which case the 'limiter' won't work anyway).

the key settings are:

Set boost (reads in % up to 100): this controls what boost you will run. there is no fixed conversion from % to psi etc. it's just a percentage between 0% (wastage open as soon as spring pressure exceeded) to (100% being wastegate full closed will run unlimeted boost). you need to adjust this to get the right boost level you want.

Gain (also set as a % out of 100): this controls the duty cycle of the solenoid. you use this to fine tune the boost control so that once it hits target boost it holds it nice and flat without spiking or without tappering off.

start boost (reads in psi or bar or whatever you've chosen): this is the setting that holds the wastegate shut until you want them to open. so if your target is say 1bar you could set this to .8bar so it will ramp up hard to .8bar and then start to control the boost to the 1bar you want. it cannot be set too close to your target or boost will spike all the time.

the warning setting you just set it above your target so if you want 1bar set the warning to say 1.2bar. and the limiter I explained above. they are not needed really at all. if it's set up properly then they are just added wanky settings. Just so you're clear: they do not have any affect on the actual boost control under normal operation the only settings you need to change to have it working properly are the set boost, gain and start boost. and in fact you don't even need the start boost if your gate spring pressure is close to your target boost. on one of my cars it's been set with only set boost and gain and it works perfectly.

Read the manual a few times so you understand it properly that will help.

they are a good EBC for the price and can give very good boost control. like anything they are only as good as the bloke setting them up.

[Plan-FAILURE]

plan b you have it all wrong mate. peak is just whatever peak it's hit at any point since the controller has first been used. you can clear it and start again so you can find your actual peak.

the limiter is not limiting your boost. it's a 'safety' function. what it does is if your boost level goes over the warning level for a set period you can try to lower it using the 'limiter' for safety. it's most likely been set at 34psi so it's not in use. you don't need it is a pretty useless feature. if your car is overboosting past your warning level then you have 1 of 2 problems. either your boost is set higher than your warning (in which case you need to either raise the warning or lower the boost) or there's a hose off somewhere (in which case the 'limiter' won't work anyway).

the key settings are:

Set boost (reads in % up to 100): this controls what boost you will run. there is no fixed conversion from % to psi etc. it's just a percentage between 0% (wastage open as soon as spring pressure exceeded) to (100% being wastegate full closed will run unlimeted boost). you need to adjust this to get the right boost level you want.

Gain (also set as a % out of 100): this controls the duty cycle of the solenoid. you use this to fine tune the boost control so that once it hits target boost it holds it nice and flat without spiking or without tappering off.

start boost (reads in psi or bar or whatever you've chosen): this is the setting that holds the wastegate shut until you want them to open. so if your target is say 1bar you could set this to .8bar so it will ramp up hard to .8bar and then start to control the boost to the 1bar you want. it cannot be set too close to your target or boost will spike all the time.

the warning setting you just set it above your target so if you want 1bar set the warning to say 1.2bar. and the limiter I explained above. they are not needed really at all. if it's set up properly then they are just added wanky settings. Just so you're clear: they do not have any affect on the actual boost control under normal operation the only settings you need to change to have it working properly are the set boost, gain and start boost. and in fact you don't even need the start boost if your gate spring pressure is close to your target boost. on one of my cars it's been set with only set boost and gain and it works perfectly.

Read the manual a few times so you understand it properly that will help.

they are a good EBC for the price and can give very good boost control. like anything they are only as good as the bloke setting them up.

Awesome info man cheers.

I think that's the key, read the manual until it all makes sense although I will be getting my tuner to set it up initially.

Its funny how much of a misconception I had with regard to my EBC. I thought I could simply set everything up with PSI being the unit of measurement in every screen and literally dial up the boost I wanted to hit without having to worry about gain and percentage values. I can see how this unit is highly effective however =)