Twinfire blows fuse at key-on

[spoon_ek9]

I picked up a NIB Twin Fire 8-Channel Serial # 2820-0081, wired it up, attached the ground then the power to the battery after fully wired up, and....blown fuse instantly.  I replaced it with 5 fuses that would blow the second you tried to install it.  I couldn't even get it to one key-on and have it function.

I contacted AEM to confirm wiring on my 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse prior to finishing the hook-up just so that everything was proper.

I am using an AEM EMS with 300M COP's wired like a stock 2-coil DSM coilpack on the 3-pin harness connection, and removing the stock ignitor from the 8-pin harness connection. 

I currently am wired into the 8-pin igniter harness at:

 

Pin #1 = Coil #1 Output (Blue/black) = AEM Dark Brown Wire (Coil A Output)

Pin #2 = Coil #1 Input (Orange/red) = AEM White Wire (Ignition A Input)

Pin #3 = Ground (Black) = not tapped

Pin #4 = Tach Signal (White) = not tapped

Pin #5 = Not used = not tapped

Pin #6 = Ignition Switch (+) (Large Black/white) = AEM Red wires (x2) – Both red wires on plug for Channels 1-4 (Ignition Positive Inputs)

Pin #7 = Coil #2 Input (Black/blue) = AEM Yellow Wire (Ignition C Input)

Pin #8 = Coil #2 Output (Small Black/white) = AEM Blue Wire (Coil C Output)

 

I also have the AEM tan wire (540V) tapped into the coil pack harness (stock 3-wire plug that would attach to the stock coil pack that is currently connected to my COP setup) on the Black/white wire (positive (+) wire on harness).

 

I then have the following wires grounded to the Chassis:

AEM Green Wire (Ignition B Input)

AEM Purple Wire (Ignition D Input)

 

I also have the following wires capped with insulation crimp-on caps seperately:

AEM Orange Wire (Coil B Output)

AEM Gray Wire (Coil D Output)

AEM Pink Wire (Positive 540V)

 

I have the CDI box dip switches oriented in the following order:

Dip #1 = OFF

Dip #2 = ON

Dip #3 = OFF

 

--Dip Switch #1 will be changed to the ON mode for timing synch upon startup.

 

I have the main CDI Box Power (+12V) wire directly wired to the battery with a 15A in-line fuse, and the Ground wire is directly wired to the battery as well.  I am using the stock tachometer on the car, and have the AEM main harness white wire unused and capped.




I have contacted Edward Liu at AEM regarding the wiring, and am waiting on a RMA so it can get fixed or replaced.

if u want the system work great for u, u have to wire it in the right way, sound like to me u use one channel to power two coil, u cant do that just like someone wires 2 coils in series, how the hell did they make that up??  to do waste spark, u still need to wire the coil individually to each channel and group the input wire together to the correct order. 

[TheBoz2]

Just giving everyone an update.  I got my TwinFire back from RMA about 9 months ago, and I have been afraid to install it on the car.  So this weeked I decided to say screw it and fire that sucker up.  Well everything went very well.  I hooked everything up to the wireing that was already done from when I put the box in about 1 year ago.  I went to fire the car and it fired right up.

So now I just need to deal with the very rich idle AFR's and I think that I have this thing running like a champ in no time.

So to everyone at AEM, thanks and I am very happy.

[Drastic.]

where's the AEM moderators/employee's on this?


I am looking to get an AEM twinfire, but not if i continue to see issues like this with no resolution.  If that's the case, I'll use a different CDI box.  I'm a huge AEM fan...and rather stick with AEM with this...so whats the deal?

[nutzsrt4]

whats up (assuming thats mike )

the twin fire has been plagued with problems from overheating, DCR went threw 4 box's (from what I'm told) before they gave up and went to another dis box (no failure yet). I wouldnt use the aem TF just because they have not been to reliable on our platform, that being said our coils have a very low pri. resistance and even the EMS dosnt like em


not sure what your set up is (I'm sure its extravagant) if ya need help just give me a call  pimp 

[Vitor]

May not be as sexxy as aem box, but MSD dis-2 (wasted park on 4 banger) and 4 (coil on plug on a 4 banger, wasted on are proven, cost effective solutions.

[Drastic.]

whats up (assuming thats mike )

the twin fire has been plagued with problems from overheating, DCR went threw 4 box's (from what I'm told) before they gave up and went to another dis box (no failure yet). I wouldnt use the aem TF just because they have not been to reliable on our platform, that being said our coils have a very low pri. resistance and even the EMS dosnt like em


not sure what your set up is (I'm sure its extravagant) if ya need help just give me a call  pimp 

yea its me
yea i keep hearing about all these issues of the TF...but i keep getting drawn to the box.  I love AEM's quality of their parts, so im surprised to see that the issue hasnt been completely fixed...i saw on another car forum that a vendor stated they revised them and should be fixed now, but who knows...

The msd boxes are a lil too big for my tastes since i want this mounted on my battery tray..the M&W are probably one of the nicest boxes, but of coarse, at a crazy price that im not willing to dish out.
Dynatek has a CDI box that a big part of the evo and DSM community use.  Dynatek Arc-2.  It has two coil drivers, so it can power wastespark, but not direct fire, and they have a srt-4 wire harness adapter to make the install 1,2,3..  Ive been teeter tottering between this and the AEM TF, and main reason im leaning towards the AEM box is because its a 4 channel, so i can switch to direct fire down the road IF i chose to do so...

[TheBoz2]

Right now I have the TF running on the car.  Maybe 10 hours of run time.  I am in the process of tuning the car so I am not driving it as much as I would like to.  The big thing that I needed to adjust was the Dwell on my ems to get the car to idle correctly.

I got a bad box and had to have it updated.  So far it is still running, and no blown fuses.

On a side note, my box is installed inside the cab of the car pretty close to my ems.  I dont know if that makes a difference at all or not.

[Drastic.]

running it direct fire i presume?

[TheBoz2]

running it direct fire i presume?

Waste Spark.  I will go to direct fire the next time I pull the engine harness out of the car.

[nutzsrt4]

[/quote]

yea its me
yea i keep hearing about all these issues of the TF...but i keep getting drawn to the box.  I love AEM's quality of their parts, so im surprised to see that the issue hasnt been completely fixed...i saw on another car forum that a vendor stated they revised them and should be fixed now, but who knows...

The msd boxes are a lil too big for my tastes since i want this mounted on my battery tray..the M&W are probably one of the nicest boxes, but of coarse, at a crazy price that im not willing to dish out.
Dynatek has a CDI box that a big part of the evo and DSM community use.  Dynatek Arc-2.  It has two coil drivers, so it can power wastespark, but not direct fire, and they have a srt-4 wire harness adapter to make the install 1,2,3..  Ive been teeter tottering between this and the AEM TF, and main reason im leaning towards the AEM box is because its a 4 channel, so i can switch to direct fire down the road IF i chose to do so...
[/quote]

if they revised them that would be great !!

one thing I would strongly advise against is engine bay mounting, heat kills all ignitin boxs
I mounted mine in the fender well near the air filter so its cool and protected from water

good luck on the build

[Drastic.]

if they revised them that would be great !!

one thing I would strongly advise against is engine bay mounting, heat kills all ignitin boxs
I mounted mine in the fender well near the air filter so its cool and protected from water

good luck on the build

pretty sure ima test my luck w/ the AEM TF.  aem quality fan fo lyfe.  neways, i was told by a friend that is getting work done by PFI (kevinwarren240's shop) and they said the new boxes are revised and good to go.  ill prolly order 1 from MAP since i trust them, and have them ship me a new 1 from AEM directly.


off topic, nutz...peep norcal. tossed up a vid of my car doin a few wot pulls.