DICE power supply.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 21 Aug 2014, 07:40

The more I read the more it appears that I can use my knockoff DICE to load software if I buy a three day subscription. I am still having ECM / IMM issues and I need to buy and program keys and remote key fobs so it makes sense to go ahead and pony up for the subscription and do it all myself. I have another '99 V70XC as a parts car and it never had any immobilizer issues so I may try reading the car's current data, swap the modules, and then reload the software to the modules out of the parts car.

As I understand the procedure I need to have an external power supply hooked up to DICE for programming purposes. Does anyone have a recommendation for an off the shelf power supply?

I could build a power supply easily enough but the cost of the parts would likely exceed the price of just buying one.

...Lee

Post by **doublebug** » 21 Aug 2014, 07:58

DiCE does not need to have external power when connected to the car.
The only requirement is that car battery is good and charged.
Dealer also use battery buster connected while doing diagnostics.
It's stated in Vida to get right results it's recommended to have 13.6 volts.

Post by **regent** » 21 Aug 2014, 12:05

If you are connected for an extended period of time to the car's OBD (for programming), you do not want to rely on the onboard battery.
DiCE has its own DC power input tap, which you can use with any adapter capable of delivering at least 3 Amps at 13.6 VDC, preferably stabilized. Alternatively, you could simply hook the car to a good charger (one that will not inject too much ripple). As doublebug pointed out, that's exactly the method the stealerships use when talking to the cars

Post by **precopster** » 21 Aug 2014, 14:35

Henry (doublebug) and I programmed a friend's ECM on a S60 T5 a couple of weeks ago. We had to have 3 reading/loading attempts due to a comm glitch at the time. It took about an hour and 10 minutes with the key in Pos II. Needless to say the battery had dropped to around 10.5 V

The P2 series has so many modules that leaving key in PosII will drain the battery in an hour and it won't start.

I've had no such problems on P80s. If battery charge is good programming can be done without risk.

Post by **jimmy57** » 21 Aug 2014, 15:48

There are two issues here: 1. power supply for dice for some programming steps (rare) where VIDA will be sending commands via DICE link as you connect battery cable and 2. A stabilized power supply for car while any downloads are being performed because even a new fully charged battery can let voltage level to some modules fall below minimum and download can fail repeatedly and even catastrophically when this occurs.

The manufacturer's equipment is a rebranded Iota Engineering 55A RV power supply. These are available on Ebay and Amazon and you only need add leads with jumper cable sized clamps on the ends.

Some indy shops use two of the battery booster boxes or a large fully charged battery with jumper cables as alternates.
You will need 30+ amps to be safe. A battery charger set high enough to provide that does it without stable voltage and overvoltage is just as risky as undervoltage. When the modules are commanded offline the current draw drops and voltage can spike up. At the point the modules are commanded back online the immediate high current draw will drop voltage too much without a stable power supply.
As Precopster said, P80 lowest risk, P2 moderate risk, P1 and P3 are huge risk.

Post by **doublebug** » 22 Aug 2014, 03:06

I must add that while programming (when car is in program mode)car does not have huge power consumption even for P2, P3 & P1 (much less than in II key position). So If programming takes 5-15 minutes it is safe using just battery (if it is good and charged).

Post by **xHeart** » 28 Sep 2014, 07:02

I am running 2014 VIDA DiCE on HP Windows 7 Ultimate.

The updating of firmware and USB driver for DiCE requires DiCE powered up from 12 V supply jack. So that the USB port connection to computer is spared to do the updating function.

See 2.5 and 2.6 in this document...

DiCE_135EN06.pdf: Working with DiCE; (951.8 KiB) Downloaded 6445 times

My DiCE unit did not come with the 12 V power supply cord.
Where did you get yours?
Could it be purchased from RadioShack?

Post by **regent** » 29 Sep 2014, 11:19

No, they don't usually come with an adapter but you can use any adapter capable of delivering at least 3 A at 13.6 VDC, preferably stabilized.

Note that the DiCE in normal mode (while talking to the car other than programming it) is powered by the car battery bus through the CARB link, and not through the computer USB. The USB is limited to just 500mA.

Post by **precopster** » 29 Sep 2014, 15:32

They should all be shipping with the latest Dice firmware. You can check your firmware level with the Dice diagnostic program.

I had no trouble updating firmware with a good battery (over 12.5V with engine off)

Post by **xHeart** » 29 Sep 2014, 19:55

precopster wrote:They should all be shipping with the latest Dice firmware. You can check your firmware level with the Dice diagnostic program.

I had no trouble updating firmware with a good battery (over 12.5V with engine off)

Ok, i see that DiCE uses OBD-II port for 12.5V power supply when key is POS II.

I am able to connect to DICE hardware from Dice diagnostic utility >> Run as Administrator.
Where does it show firmware level?