350 Z Owners Get Ripped Off!
11-25-2003, 05:31 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: My BIG ol TURBO-DIESEL
Posts: 5,181
Following is a post from 350z (nissan/infinity forums) talking about a "power box" that was giving people mixed results....
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Final report on my testing of the Direct Power System
OK, so I believe I have completed testing of the Direct Power System (DPS) manufactured by K&G of Japan.
I'm sure you're all eagerly awaiting the results.
Thursday I installed the DPS on my Nissan 350Z. My engine mods are:
Procharger Supercharger @ 7PSI
Grounding Kit
Wideband O2 Sensor
Borla True Dual Exhaust
Today I installed the DPS on Zand02Max's car. His engine mods are as follows:
K&N Air filter
Pyle 3 Farad Capacitor
Optima Yellow Top Battery
1) Voltage measurements at the + post on the battery with the engine running with and without the DPS.
Voltages remained constant with no discernable change.
2) Next I tested with a Fluke brand portable Oscilloscope to measure frequency variations with the engine running with and without the DPS.
There was no noticeable difference noted on oscilloscope
3) Test drove the car 5 minutes without and approx 45 minutes total with the DPS.
No noticeable change in acceleration, idle or smoothness during the test drive.
4) I repeated these tests on my car without the supercharger belt connected.
Results were the same.
5) Next, I completed the same tests on zand02max's car.
Results were the same.
The next thing I did was hook up my 13.8V 20W variable voltage power supply. I took measurements at 10V 12V 13V and 13.5V with an oscilloscope and a multimeter.
6) Measured 10V with and without DPS unit.
No load was put on the power supply, no voltage change, no frequncy changes noted.
6) Same test @ 12V
Same results
7) Same test @ 13V
Same results
8) Same test @ 13.5V
Same results
So as you can see my results were inconclusive. I was not able to detect the DPS doing much of anything.
At this point I was frustrated. WTH is going on!?! Surely this box must do something, I mean it costs $250 plus shipping. I wanted to open the box up so I could trace out the circuit so I could know what I should be testing for.
Screw it, I opened the box up.
First barrier: The lid was securely epoxied in place. So I took a small drill and drilled holes at strategic points and was careful not to damage any circuitry inside by pushing the drill in to far. Finally pried the lid off and I saw my next barrier. 5 minutes work
Second barrier: When I opened the box, I found the box was filled with what looked like an opaque beige fiberglass resin. I chipped through that to come to my next barrier. 10 minutes work
Third barrier: Obviously they don't want me looking in this thing. Next barrier was easier, but I couldn't figure out why it was there. I'll come back to that later. Beneath the resin there was what looked like a mass of metal tape. Sure enough I found the electronics were double wrapped in metal foil tape. I removed that. 1 minute work.
I don't know if I should give away the secret to the DPS system and what it actually does.
So, here is my poll. Should I post pictures and a circuit description of the DPS system electronics and potentially open myself up to lawsuits because of their "International Patent"
Yes, I wanna know if this is worth it.
No, Don't risk it man, it's not worth getting sued over.
Who gives a crap, I wasn't gonna buy it anyways.
I'll let the poll run for a while and when I see there is a measurable response to this poll, I will decide whether I should do it or not.
Edit: BTW, I can tell you conclusively what this thing does thanks to a years worth of electronics training courtesy of the US Army.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Well, a few posts later he spilled the beans....basically the box contains an automotive 12volt 30amp fuse which is wired to a male/female connector (pass thru style much like the edge ez).
Talk about some ****** off customers...
here's a link to the post (registration required)
http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthr...&threadid=51032
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Final report on my testing of the Direct Power System
OK, so I believe I have completed testing of the Direct Power System (DPS) manufactured by K&G of Japan.
I'm sure you're all eagerly awaiting the results.
Thursday I installed the DPS on my Nissan 350Z. My engine mods are:
Procharger Supercharger @ 7PSI
Grounding Kit
Wideband O2 Sensor
Borla True Dual Exhaust
Today I installed the DPS on Zand02Max's car. His engine mods are as follows:
K&N Air filter
Pyle 3 Farad Capacitor
Optima Yellow Top Battery
1) Voltage measurements at the + post on the battery with the engine running with and without the DPS.
Voltages remained constant with no discernable change.
2) Next I tested with a Fluke brand portable Oscilloscope to measure frequency variations with the engine running with and without the DPS.
There was no noticeable difference noted on oscilloscope
3) Test drove the car 5 minutes without and approx 45 minutes total with the DPS.
No noticeable change in acceleration, idle or smoothness during the test drive.
4) I repeated these tests on my car without the supercharger belt connected.
Results were the same.
5) Next, I completed the same tests on zand02max's car.
Results were the same.
The next thing I did was hook up my 13.8V 20W variable voltage power supply. I took measurements at 10V 12V 13V and 13.5V with an oscilloscope and a multimeter.
6) Measured 10V with and without DPS unit.
No load was put on the power supply, no voltage change, no frequncy changes noted.
6) Same test @ 12V
Same results
7) Same test @ 13V
Same results
8) Same test @ 13.5V
Same results
So as you can see my results were inconclusive. I was not able to detect the DPS doing much of anything.
At this point I was frustrated. WTH is going on!?! Surely this box must do something, I mean it costs $250 plus shipping. I wanted to open the box up so I could trace out the circuit so I could know what I should be testing for.
Screw it, I opened the box up.
First barrier: The lid was securely epoxied in place. So I took a small drill and drilled holes at strategic points and was careful not to damage any circuitry inside by pushing the drill in to far. Finally pried the lid off and I saw my next barrier. 5 minutes work
Second barrier: When I opened the box, I found the box was filled with what looked like an opaque beige fiberglass resin. I chipped through that to come to my next barrier. 10 minutes work
Third barrier: Obviously they don't want me looking in this thing. Next barrier was easier, but I couldn't figure out why it was there. I'll come back to that later. Beneath the resin there was what looked like a mass of metal tape. Sure enough I found the electronics were double wrapped in metal foil tape. I removed that. 1 minute work.
I don't know if I should give away the secret to the DPS system and what it actually does.
So, here is my poll. Should I post pictures and a circuit description of the DPS system electronics and potentially open myself up to lawsuits because of their "International Patent"
Yes, I wanna know if this is worth it.
No, Don't risk it man, it's not worth getting sued over.
Who gives a crap, I wasn't gonna buy it anyways.
I'll let the poll run for a while and when I see there is a measurable response to this poll, I will decide whether I should do it or not.
Edit: BTW, I can tell you conclusively what this thing does thanks to a years worth of electronics training courtesy of the US Army.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Well, a few posts later he spilled the beans....basically the box contains an automotive 12volt 30amp fuse which is wired to a male/female connector (pass thru style much like the edge ez).
Talk about some ****** off customers...
here's a link to the post (registration required)
http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthr...&threadid=51032
