EMS221 Capabilities?

[sunfish]

I'm fitting a Rotax 912 iS to my experimental and I bought an EMS221 to handle engine instrumentation. Two questions:


1. The latest release of the Rotax installation manual sect 76-00-00 page 14 there is a note to the effect that if both CAN interfaces (lanes A & B) are connected to one input, and error in one of the ECU's can apparently corrupt the entire data stream and you lose all engine data parameters. Is there anything in the EMS221 to avoid this? I haven't studied the CAN data format.

2. Are there no general inputs in the EMS221 that I could use or perhaps can I reconfigure the flap potentiometer input to a contact? Earthx lithium batteries (the 680) now have redundant battery management stuff and a "fault" indicator wire for aviation use. I would like to wire up that fault indicator to a sky view widget indicating a battery management error.

 

[mmarien]

Not sure about question one, but any EMS general purpose "A" wire can probably be used for the battery fault. See table 16 in the Skyview Installation Manual. A fault usually pulls the wire to ground which is exactly the way EMS contacts work. I used a contact for the fault wire on my EFII ECU. Do you have any information on how the battery fault wire works?

 

[dynonsupport]

Both of these points are covered in the SkyView System Installation Guide. In the SV-EMS-221, both Lane A and Lane B are connected together to communicate both Lane A and Lane B data to the SV-EMS-221 and SkyView.

Yes, there are a number of available General Purpose Inputs on the SV-EMS-221 that can monitor this signal.

I'm fitting a Rotax 912 iS to my experimental and I bought an EMS221 to handle engine instrumentation. Two questions:


1. The latest release of the Rotax installation manual sect 76-00-00 page 14 there is a note to the effect that if both CAN interfaces (lanes A & B) are connected to one input, and error in one of the ECU's can apparently corrupt the entire data stream and you lose all engine data parameters. Is there anything in the EMS221 to avoid this? I haven't studied the CAN data format.

2. Are there no general inputs in the EMS221 that I could use or perhaps can I reconfigure the flap potentiometer input to a contact? Earthx lithium batteries (the 680) now have redundant battery management stuff and a "fault" indicator wire for aviation use. I would like to wire up that fault indicator to a sky view widget indicating a battery management error.

 

[sunfish]

Thank you for your reply. My query about general purpose inputs pins was made after reading table 33 in section 7.

The general purpose pins (4,6,7,9,10,11,etc.)on the EMS221 say "not connected" in that table and that got me asking myself "does that mean it is a general purpose input that is not used but is available, or does it mean that the pin has no connection to anything inside the EMS221 because the circuit board is different?"

The Skyview installation manual is a model of clarity which is sadly lacking with many electronics but I guess my query is just one more example of an ignorant klutz like me getting it wrong.

I will use one of those pins to monitor the battery fault line and put a "battery management System fail" widget somewhere.

 

[dynonsupport]

It's tough to write a "one size fits most" technical manual. Admittedly there is a LOT of information, that's at times hard to parse out exactly YOUR specific situation.

Table 33 is an EXAMPLE, TYPICAL setup of an SV-EMS-221 set of sensors for a Rotax 912 iS engine in which certain pins are (generally, typically) not connected. The charts in that section match the typical engine configuration files that we provide. If you note some of the other tables in that section, you'll note they vary in how the various inputs / pins are used; those tables are also EXAMPLE, TYPICAL setups (using an SV-EMS-220) for THOSE engines.

So, in Table 33, the pins marked "Not connected" are TYPICALLY not connected when monitoring a Rotax 912 iS engine. Again, as example, in Table 33 (Rotax 912 iS), Pin 6 is not connected (because oil pressure is a parameter that is being provided as part of the CAN BUS data). In Table 32 (Rotax 912 ULS), Pin 6 IS connected as an oil pressure sensor.

To see the full set of pins, and their capabilities, see Table 16 on Page 7-8 and 7-9. Note that those pins are for the SV-EMS-220, but the SV-EMS-220 and SV-EMS-221 share the same set of General Purpose Input pins.

Hope that helps clear up the confusion.

Thank you for your reply. My query about general purpose inputs pins was made after reading table 33 in section 7.

The general purpose pins (4,6,7,9,10,11,etc.)on the EMS221 say "not connected" in that table and that got me asking myself "does that mean it is a general purpose input that is not used but is available, or does it mean that the pin has no connection to anything inside the EMS221 because the circuit board is different?"

The Skyview installation manual is a model of clarity which is sadly lacking with many electronics  but I guess my query is just one more example of an ignorant klutz like me getting it wrong.

I will use one of those pins to monitor the battery fault line and put a "battery management System fail" widget somewhere.

 

[sunfish]

Thank you once again for your help and forbearance. I'm most impressed by Dynon customer service.