Date:         Thu, 16 Mar 2000 20:55:11 -0800
Reply-To:     "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Re: ECU Lifespan?--failure prevention
In-Reply-To:  <20000317001436.27607.qmail@web4007.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Specific types of solder joints fail in a fairly predictable manner given
temperature fluctuations.  Vibration and current make them fail faster.
And if they aren't very good joints in the first place, even faster.

Best prevention against solder failure is to lower the max temperature the
ECU experiences by scraping off the black paint and put a super thin layer
of thermal grease between the ECU and the heat-sink/cover at its contact
points.  Also, don't pile anything on it and give it space for air
circulation.  I'm just repeating stuff that Darrell Boehler has said from
time to time.

Cheers, Tom Neal

On Thu, 16 Mar 2000, Darrell Johnson wrote:

> With Ken's tale of Digifant ECU failure, and many
> others ECU failures I've heard about, it makes me
> wonder why these things fail.  Is there input voltage
> fluctuations in older vans that would stress the
> compenents?  Is it from physical shock?  Is the ECU a
> part that should be changed after, say, 10 years?  It
> sounds like a spare would be good to have on hand for
> longer trips.
>
> =====
> Darrell Johnson
> '90 Vanagon Carat
> Mission Viejo, CA
>
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