Bricked ecu members(need your help)...........clone from 99vr4(Brett)

[Greg E]

It could have been just plan old bad luck, it was a 98 sl ecu from a unknown junk yard down in Florida. The Florida humidity could have got to it and it was just its time to take a crap. The world may never know lol. One thing I do know.......... I will never attempt a flash on friday the 13th because it will be brick city

I'm really surprised Brett was quick to assume a corrupt download instead of a bad core ECU. He's the guy who rarely accepts core ECUs because of all the issues that come from a 15 year old micro-controllers.

[ChargerX3]

Both possibilities seem miniscule. Gregs file being corrupt would be less so. I've flashed my ecu's many times and without a charger and on a low battery. Luckily I haven't bricked anything yet, but that is why I have a test ecu that I always preflash my rom to. Just in case something somewhere goes wrong.

I would suggest everyone who flashes gets a battery charger to ensure a proper flash. Not worth having to go back and fix a brick.

[BucknVr4]

Both possibilities seem miniscule. Gregs file being corrupt would be less so. I've flashed my ecu's many times and without a charger and on a low battery. Luckily I haven't bricked anything yet, but that is why I have a test ecu that I always preflash my rom to. Just in case something somewhere goes wrong.

I would suggest everyone who flashes gets a battery charger to ensure a proper flash. Not worth having to go back and fix a brick.

So I've seen plenty about using a battery charger when flashing but I haven't found any specifics. What amperage would be ideal? I'll be using a Schumacher XC75 which has 75 amp start/20-10 amp rapid charge/3 amp slow charge. I would assume I would use the rapid charge setting during a flash and wouldn't have to be concerned with overcharging a new or fully charged battery (this charger has circuit to protect anyhow) or introducing noise into the electrical system?

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

With the big flashes like completely new versions I would have it on the 10 amp charge just to be safe. With the short flashes I just fire the car up and let it idle for 2 minutes or so, then shut it off and flash. I've also flashed plenty of times without doing either of those things, but of course I wouldn't recommend it.

[Greg E]

Both possibilities seem miniscule. Gregs file being corrupt would be less so. I've flashed my ecu's many times and without a charger and on a low battery. Luckily I haven't bricked anything yet, but that is why I have a test ecu that I always preflash my rom to. Just in case something somewhere goes wrong.

I would suggest everyone who flashes gets a battery charger to ensure a proper flash. Not worth having to go back and fix a brick.

The thing to take out of this discussion is that you can't trust any old ECU to flash peoperly. You should just buy a clone from Brett or Adam as any hardware issues will be fixed/warranted.

TDLR;

Friday buys junk yard board
Friday flashes junk yard board with battery tender and ECU still bricks
Friday opens the chrome XML to verify the correct processor type and accidentally deletes a character.
ECUFlash can no long read the chrome file
Friday sends ECU to Brett and Brett finds to board to be corroded
Friday buys new clone from Brett
Charger sends Friday new XML which enables ECUFlash to read chrome again
Flash of the same .bin file goes perfectly and Friday is happy.
Greg stands no chance at hooking up with Lady Gaga.

[Greg E]

With the big flashes like completely new versions I would have it on the 10 amp charge just to be safe. With the short flashes I just fire the car up and let it idle for 2 minutes or so, then shut it off and flash.

Quoted for Truth!

[ChargerX3]

Friday buys junk yard board
Friday flashes junk yard board with battery tender and ECU still bricks
Friday opens the chrome XML to verify the correct processor type and accidentally deletes a character.
ECUFlash can no long read the chrome file
Friday sends ECU to Brett and Brett finds to board to be corroded
Friday buys new clone from Brett
Charger sends Friday new XML which enables ECUFlash to read chrome again
Flash of the same .bin file goes perfectly and Friday is happy.
Greg buys a six pack...of Doritos Tacos.
Adam and Brett grasp hands and frolic through the woods...

Fixed!

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

damn now I want some tacos

[fridayda13th]

So I've seen plenty about using a battery charger when flashing but I haven't found any specifics. What amperage would be ideal? I'll be using a Schumacher XC75 which has 75 amp start/20-10 amp rapid charge/3 amp slow charge. I would assume I would use the rapid charge setting during a flash and wouldn't have to be concerned with overcharging a new or fully charged battery (this charger has circuit to protect anyhow) or introducing noise into the electrical system?

I had one of those Schumacher from wal mart I tested the volt on it and i got 0 on all settings, I took it back to wal mart and got my 60 something buck back.