Author Topic: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller  (Read 7818 times)

Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
       Ok.... so back in 2009 I found that Isis Power ( http://www.isispower.com/ ) released a multiplex kit to replace traditional wiring harnesses.   I was very intrigued, but had already purchased a Painless kit to install in my project.   Family happened and I didn't get around to wiring my car till late last year.   While the Painless kit worked well, I was a little unsatisfied with the wire routing and had a issue with the ignition switch and my ECU for my fuel injection.   I could have solved the issue with just wiring a diode in between the ACCY and IGN contacts in order to keep power to the ECU when starting the car.  Believe me, that was the cheep option at less than $2 for the diode.

      The ISIS kit was still lingering in the back of my mind and decided to ditch my harness and go for it.

      Let me start this by just stating a few things about the company.  I did talk to one of their sales people before I placed my order and he was very knowledge able about their system and electronics in general.  After speaking with him I decided a week later, to place my order on their site.  Notification of my order status was not something that came automatically.   I had to call about my order a week after to find the status and found out that some of the components for the kit were back ordered.   It so happened that I was talking directly with the owner, Jay Harris.  He was extremely personable and helpful on the phone with telling me the situation on the parts and we got everything set up to have the in stock items shipped immediately with the back ordered items to ship when as they came in.  This allowed me to get somethings already wired up.   I did get email notification of shipments.   This being said, if you do decide to go with this setup, call to place your order so you know upfront what that delivery timing is looking like.

The kit:
       I ended up purchasing a front engine 3 cell kit, with the inLINK RF control, and a inMOTION Motor controller.  As of now I have the Master Cell and the Power Cells installed in my car and wired to all my components that require power.   I have no switched wired yet but should complete that by the end of the week.   The biggest issue is deciding how to mount those cells to get easy access, and to get  clean routing of your wires.  I ended up fabricating a several new brackets to mount the cells and the MEGA fuses.  Even though I don't have the switches connected yet, I can control the car with the RF control which is pretty cool.

       The wiring connectors to the the Master Cell, the cell that all the switched connect to, are very intimidating because each of the two connectors have 30 wires coming out them.  It is easy to start thinking "that is a lot of wiring to do!"  It is not once you start getting your head wrapped around how the system works.   You find out that early half of the wires will not be used and you can simply remove them from the connectors.  For instance, on our cars we have single filament bulbs for the tail lights.  On the connector there is a specific wire to be used on the brake switch for single filament bulbs.  There are others to be used for duel element bulbs.  Same for the turn signals if you have a mechanical turn signal switch, like we do, or if you want self cancelling signals.  What I have found out is that I will actually have less wire under my dash, than with the traditional harness.    I will only have seven wires to connect to my steering column harness!

        The other neat thing is that there is no positive power running through any of my switches!  The switches are wired to where they are designed to complete the ground instead of to allow the positive power to flow.  This combined with the Multiplex cells is what allows for the fewer connection to the steering column.   I only need to complete the path for the turn signal to know that the turn signals are to be switched on.   I don't need to route the actual power back out of the column to the lights.   The system just knows that the front and rear signal need to be activated and sends the signal to both Power Cells. You could accomplish the same thing with the use of some relays, but that is going to still require you to do a lot of wiring at the relay or relay station.  As of now I have three wires going to my light switch and only two wires to the floor mounted high beam switch.  The starter relay was eliminated as well while the neutral safety gets wired to the Master Cell.  When you think about it, it makes it extremely difficult for someone to "hot wire" your car without doing some time consuming bypassing of this system.

         The one thing you do have to account for is some of the "luxury" items.   There is not specific wire in the kit to provide power to things like the radio, heater, a/c compressor, and dome light.   You do have to wire for those yourself.  There are plenty of documents on their website to give you ideas and diagrams to get this done or you can call Isis Power to discuss options. You may have them do some custom programming to get what you need accomplished.  In most cases, there are either open outputs and inputs in the system that can be used, or you can wire a relay to to be activated with the ECU/IGN/COIL output to provide power to those devices when the car is on.

         I have yet to connect the inMOTION Motor controller.   I intend to control my electric windows and power locks with it.

         At the end of the day, if you are looking to add push button start, want to add starter and ignition kill functionality, and have need to replace your wiring harness, take a good look at this system.  When you start to add those three things together you get close to the same pricing and much simpler to install.  With the RF kit you get control over a lot of functions from your key fob as a bonus.  Up to sixteen functions can be controlled with it.

          When I finish getting everything installed (hopefully by the end of the week), sans the inMOTION cell, I will post some pictures and final thoughts.   Once I get to the point to add the motor controller, I will update you all with that too.
 :2thumbs:








Offline grimmey71

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 733
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2012 - 11:29:07 AM »
Thanks very much for this post. I've been very interested in Isis and sometimes it hard to wrap my head around. Like Did you use parts from your old wiring harness for connections? I plan on running a gen3 hemi with fuel injection, some places sell the harness for this how would it all work together and I guess lastly is the prices. As I will needing to make a decision soon I guess I need to start do more research

Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2012 - 12:27:11 PM »
       The only parts from the old harness I ended up using were the lighting sockets for the parking lights, turn signals, and rear lights.  All of the harness connections I converted to using Weather Pack or Deutsch connectors.  The Deutsch connectors are a little more compact, smaller gauge and can be found with up to 12 wire provisions which I used to connect all of my aftermarket gauges to the car.  Weather Pack were easier to deal with.   With both, it is a tremendous help to have the proper crimp tool and both are different than just regular crimp connections.
       With the harness for your Gen3, most of those connections will be to the sensors, ECU, and ECU to fans and fuel pump.  From whatever harness you start with in the car, the main thing is providing the direct power to the engine harness.  With the ECU and fuel injection it is critical to maintain power when the ignition switch maintains power to them as the key is moved to start position and back.  In the stock wiring harness, I believe this is accomplished through the ballast on the firewall.  Someone else can provide verification on that one.

Offline Chryco Psycho

  • Administrator
  • C-C.com Guru
  • *****
  • Posts: 36620
  • 70 Challenger R/T SE 70 tube Chassis Cuda now sold
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2012 - 12:40:48 PM »
Sounds great , ground switching is a far better system , Mopar started to do this with the alt field in 69 .

Challenger - You`ll wish You Hadn`t

Offline brads70

  • C-C.com Expert
  • ********
  • Posts: 18747
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2012 - 07:24:53 PM »
Electronics have always intimidated me. This looks like lots to learn/conquer ?
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

My restoration thread 
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=59072.0
 My handling upgrade post
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=73985.0

Offline Fastd

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 94
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2012 - 10:52:24 PM »
Great post, I to have been looking at the Isis setup. Unfortunately I am no where near ready to start wiring. I also will be using a gen 3, and will add air, electric windows, stereo etc. I am also thinking about using an Ipad interface to control the stereo windows and seats. I look forward to you pictures and eager to see how it looks in your car.

Todd

1970 Dodge Challenger (pro-touring build)
1999 Dodge Durango
2006 Dodge Charger 5.7 Hemi (Wifes)

Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2012 - 02:23:29 PM »
Took me a bit longer to get all the basics working, not because of the difficultly, but due to schedule.  At this point, everything works that would be required to run the car and pass inspection.   What I have left is to wire up my dome light, A/C, heat, radio, and then the iMotion controller to run my windows and central locking.   I mounted the Mastercell under the dash between my clutch pedal and E-Brake.   I had to fashion a bracket to hold it in place and this location gives easy access to the display and controls if needed.  It is a bit tight there, but I shouldn't have any interference with any of the pedals or my foot.   The rear Powercell was mounted to a custom bracket in the drivers side of the trunk, up close to the rear seat to avoid taking usable trunk space.   The front cell is up where the battery originally was.  My car has Vintage Air and I have found a place behind the unit on the firewall that the iMotion controller will fit nicely.  Again, I should have good access to it in order to program the motor functions.

I do have some clean up of the wiring still left, like moving that wonderful pink wire I quickly routed though the shock access hole in the trunk that goes to my fuel sender.  :poopoke:

The security feature works perfectly!

As for the difficulty, it really is a bit easier to wire than wiring the Painless kit.   Wiring the Powercells is absolutely no different.  The learning curve comes when wiring the Mastercell to your switches.  You have got to get it into your head that all the switch does is completes a ground connection.  The other topic to understand is the proper wire to use for your application.  ISIS provides a chart of what wire to use to get the desired personality for all of the functions.   That chart takes a few read throughs to identify the ones you will use.  Once you do that, then remove the wires from the harness that will no longer be needed and just get them out of the way.   That last of the difficulties is usually present in any custom wiring project and that is wire routing, then removal to tidy things up, then re-installation.   It is just a pain in the A.  It is easy to get things tangled up and just a headache.

In regard to the picture of the Mastercell, note that the yellow plug at the top is the one for the CANBUS.  None of those wires need to be touched.   The wires coming from the grey connector on the right are the ones that go the the switches.  You will notice that there are not really that many that need to be used.

Enjoy the pictures and I have also added a video with low lighting.   :poopoke: :cheers: :bigsmile:

« Last Edit: October 18, 2012 - 02:29:37 PM by HemiDog »

Offline brads70

  • C-C.com Expert
  • ********
  • Posts: 18747
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2012 - 02:34:51 PM »
Looks great! That Hemi looks right at home there!  :2thumbs:  Running lean I see. Who's injection system are you running?
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

My restoration thread 
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=59072.0
 My handling upgrade post
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=73985.0

Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2012 - 03:11:47 PM »
It is all FAST XFI and FAST components.   Part of why it might be lean is because I didn't have the air temp sensor hooked up.   It was also tuned in California and I am in Missouri.  Not sure how much the altitude will really play.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2012 - 02:46:18 PM by HemiDog »

Offline MEK-Dangerfield

  • C-C.com Expert
  • ********
  • Posts: 20946
  • I don't get NO respect! Member since 1/25/2002
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2012 - 04:33:33 PM »
It sounds mean for sure.    :ylsuper:

I also like the custom gauges. 

Mike

1970 Challenger - SOLD
2016 SXT+.  1 of 524 SXT+'s in Plumb-crazy for 2016.

Offline moparmaniac59

  • Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 3772
  • Drive it like ya stole it!
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2012 - 05:26:47 PM »
Man....that is freakin' awesome!!  :woo: And light years beyond my limited electrical wiring capabilities! I have a hard enough time wiring up a light bulb!!  :roflsmiley: One thing I would like to have on my Challenger due to safety is LED tail lights, marker lights, brake lights. They are a lot brighter than factory and I actually got pulled Memorial Day weekend by a cop that said my brake/tail lights were too dim. I showed him, that in the 70's that's as bright as they get!  :thinkerg:


                                                                         Matt B.

Matt

Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2012 - 05:39:59 PM »
My tail lights are conventional bulbs and are brighter than I expected.   You might consider take a bulb out and compare it's brightness to being directly connected to the battery with the car running (12v vs 14v).   If it is significantly brighter you can put a relay in for each tail light so that they are running more directly off the battery.  :dunno:   If you think that would be an option you can do this fairly cheaply.  However, just switching to the LED's would be much simpler.   :cheers:

Offline grimmey71

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 733
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2012 - 11:44:55 AM »
Great post, I to have been looking at the Isis setup. Unfortunately I am no where near ready to start wiring. I also will be using a gen 3, and will add air, electric windows, stereo etc. I am also thinking about using an Ipad interface to control the stereo windows and seats. I look forward to you pictures and eager to see how it looks in your car.


Just saw this with the iPad

http://www.isispower.com/isis-news.html?NewsID=35

Offline Profire371

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #13 on: December 20, 2012 - 11:01:30 PM »
I am pumped to find this thread. I ordered this system about 2 weeks ago when I was doing some research on re-wiring my 71 Challenger. I did very little research on this system before I bought. But it looked like something I wanted to try compared to conventional wiring. Should be here any day. I will give my 2 cents once I get it going.
Thanks for the info.


Offline HemiDog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1384
  • Do not Assume!
    • Hemi Dog
Re: Isis Power 3-Cell Starter Kit, inLINK, and inMOTION Motor controller
« Reply #14 on: December 21, 2012 - 02:45:50 PM »
Update on the lean condition... It was a header leak on the tube with the gauge sensor.