Opponauts, what did I buy?

"bwp240" (bwp240) 11/13/2015 at 14:18 • Filed to: car technology

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Actually more like, how do I use it and am I missing a bunch of parts?

I found this at a Goodwill store the other day for a dollar and decided the price was right to save it from the dumpster. I figured out that it is a Prince On Board Computer sold in the late 70s. It functions sort of like the on board computer systems that are standard in modern cars.

So what I am trying to figure out is what would I need to make it work. I found another one on eBay that appeared to have many more parts to it. Also what is this socket at the end, a power cord or ECU socket?

I know this is most likely a paperweight, but I think it is a neat little piece. Could go into my man cave or I could put it on eBay and see if anyone wants to use it in their Lincoln Mark IV.

Takuro Spirit > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 14:23

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Made by General Motors?

duurtlang > Takuro Spirit 11/13/2015 at 14:27

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Takata maybe?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Takuro Spirit 11/13/2015 at 14:34

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Probably VAG

Takuro Spirit > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 11/13/2015 at 14:34

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I didn’t see a “cheat” button.

daender > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 14:36

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Holy shit, a Prince On-Board Computer !

“The Prince On-Board Computer was a product of the Prince Corporation of Holland, Michigan.

Edgar D. Prince (1931-1995) was an engineer who parlayed a casting business into an OEM supplier. Apparently their main product in the late ’70s and early ’80s wasn’t the On-Board Computer. Instead it was lighted sunvisors. By 1980, Prince Manufacturing had several plants and over 550 employees, rising to 1500 employees in 1987.

After Mr. Prince’s death, the company reportedly became a unit of Johnson Controls, employing as many as 3,400 in its automotive interiors and electronics businesses.

In contrast, the address listed in the old Zemco ads now appears to be a acupuncture studio on Google Earth.”

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Takuro Spirit 11/13/2015 at 14:37

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I saw INST over MPG, I think they push that button to get good MPG and not care about emissions.

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Takuro Spirit 11/13/2015 at 14:39

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Does the button work?

supra-squirrel > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 14:42

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You could always gut it and rewire for use as an mp3 player. Or depending on how it works, since I have no clue, maybe use as the onboard for a project car.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 14:44

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Socket at the end is one of a whole family of standardized connectors that exist. Most commonly that type are used inside PCs as power connectors, but exactly what it connects to is difficult to say.

(You can see in this pic a four-pin version and an eight-pin.)

It very possibly connected to a gang plug with power, a lead for a fuel flow meter, connection to a speedo/cruise sensor, or others. Are there no other connectors on the back? It seems three of these would be reserved offhand for igniion, always on, and ground. Leaving only three sensor wires.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 14:56

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Can you open it up? If you can wire the switches individually you could use that for all kinds of things

bwp240 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/13/2015 at 14:59

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Yeah, I guessed it was a standard socket. There are no other outlets on it. The only other compartment appears to be a fuse box.

Since I do not know anything about car electronics, I have no idea where this would connect.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 15:18

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I’d examine the connector for how the wires enter it. It very likely has just five wires in the six-wire plug. Ground, power (always on), power (ignition) and two or three sensor wires. The first three would be heavier wires, and how they connect inside the unit to the power supply/board would indicate what’s up. The sensors that the unit uses are a driveshaft sensor and a fuel flow sensor, both of which exist today for similar purposes, but may function differently. The driveshaft sensor probably has only one wire entering the computer, but it’s hard to say - might have two. It will be what’s called a Hall effect sensor, and would use a magnet blipping past the head to create electric pulses which the unit can count. Like this:

I think the sensor requires power and ground, which would account for all three wires. The fuel flow sensor will have a little wheel inside that does something similar and would look something like this:

The only trick is, you will need to know what kind of pulse the unit expects and how many pulses per flow rate or RPM will be appropriate. I don’t know which will be correct in either case. RPM is easy to correct - just add magnets. Getting an accurate flow meter to work with the Prince may be harder.

First step - either try to get another one or a user manual. Or a guy who has one so you can see those two and how they’re wired.

Spoon II > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 15:38

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https://books.google.ca/books?id=NQEAA…

Those things sold for a pretty penny back in the day. Check out this old ad

DrScientist > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 15:38

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well... first look to find a repair manual for the thing. or for a car that came with one. what you need to determine is what each of those connector wires connect to. i’m sure one is the speed sensor, one may be fuel management, etc. etc.

once you figure those out, you have to decide whether you want it in your car or in your kitchen.

if in your car, you need to first figure out if the sensors in your car share the same language (they probably dont) as from the original car. if not, you’ll have to find or fabricate some kind of transformer. then, you’ll have to decide if you want to splice into your car’s sensor wires. who knows, maybe youre an EE and love this kind of stuff.

if you just want to keep it on the counter, try and think of something cool to do with it. its just a calculator based on inputs. figure out if anything else produces interesting signals in your man cave. like... how frequently the kegerator turns its condensor on and off. couple that signal with something else, like... jees... i dont know.... when the bathroom light switch goes on? and maybe you can get a rating of cold-beer to bathroom break readout.

i’m bored. clearly.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > DrScientist 11/13/2015 at 15:54

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I looked into it. There’s no use of any existing sensors in the car with one of these - he needs a Hall effect driveshaft sensor and a fuel flow sensor. Trying to make existing sensors in his car work would be pretty unpossible. I figure he has five wires that need to end up in the gang connector: power, ignition, ground, sensor one, sensor two.

bwp240 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/13/2015 at 16:09

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Interestingly all 6 ports are used. Whether the wires work or not, I am not sure.

Top

Rotated 90 degrees.

DrScientist > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/13/2015 at 16:14

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if its a drive shaft sensor, maybe an original one could be sourced and then fixed to... a blender?

margaritas/minute?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 16:17

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Depending on where they got their sensors, one might require other than 12V supply or have some other requirements. The black is almost certainly ground, and the two reds are likely the two power leads I mentioned, leaving the purple-tan, green and blue as sensors. Probably. This is really down to how the sensors are set up and how they operate - and it’s likely that the sensors used were off the shelf items. Back, again, to whether you can find the info on them and maybe a picture of the wiring harness... and/or if one comes up on eBay. The last one was selling for less than you’d pay for two sensors.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/13/2015 at 16:43

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Yup, those look like molex, alright. A female divided 6-pin socket can probably be sourced.

A wiring diagram and schematic might be necessary to trace the pin-outs of what the power and signal wires are intended for. Red for constant positive (memory retention) and switched positive (ignition signal, for switching the unit on), and black for negative... I assume that at least one of the signal wires is likely for speedometer input.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 11/13/2015 at 16:51

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What info I found on these seemed to indicate that there were probably just two sensors - one being a driveshaft magnet band and sensor, and the other being a wheel-type fluid flow encoder. Either of which might require power, but I’d have expected the power and ground for those sensors to be paired on the other side of the connector if they were 12V. The only other sensor I can think might be possible if it has three and not two would be an ignition counter or a vacuum sensor. I’m thinking it’s just two, though. A competitor to this had a cruise control function, but I don’t think this does anything beyond fuel and distance/speed calculations, which only require the two inputs (things like tank size being manual inputs).

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > bwp240 11/13/2015 at 16:52

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Goodwill is good stuff lately.

Last weekend I picked up an original WorldsOfWonder LazerTag game kit for 3$ at a Goodwill. (usually they go for at least $30 on eBay)

After extensive corrosion removal (and 6 swollen and nasty alkaline batteries) and re-soldering the power leads it actually does work... kinda. The sensitivity seems kind of low between the Starlyte and StarSensor, it doesn’t always hit when it should, but it does some of the time.

None of the successors at infrared laser tag games have been nearly that cool. All ridiculous looking.

The chances of me finding a working StarLyte Pro at Goodwill are infinitesimal, though.