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--- 201811v3productionissue [2018/11/08 18:58]
twdorris [Executive summary]
+++ 201811v3productionissue [2024/03/15 11:16] (current)
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-====== 20181101 - V3 Flash Module Production Issue ======
+{{  https://www.ecmtuning.com/images/forums/v3peeks/v3previewboard.gif?nolink&245x140}}
-{{  :images_forums_v3peeks_v3previewboard.gif?nolink&245x140}}
+====== 20181101 - V3 Flash Module Production Issue ======
-===== Executive summary =====
-On November 1, 2018, we realized that the ICs we bought for production of our ECMLink V3 flash modules were not the chips we had ordered and were not compatible with our flash module design.  Given that these chips were expensive and are no longer made and that we had already exhausted our prior stock of them, we were forced to cease sales of ECMLink packages immediately.
-<font 12.8px/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>Since, however, then we have tested a new design that *is* compatible with these chips and we're currently in the process of working up a new schematic and board layout to accomodate them for production.  This process will take several weeks.  We're hoping to be up and ready to go around Jan 1st, 2019.  Until then, we have removed the ECMLink packages and V2->V3 upgrade options off our website.  We will add those back again as soon as we possibly can.</font>
-===== Details & History =====
-{{  http://www.ecmtuning.com/images/forums/v3peeks/v3previewboard.gif?nolink&245x140}}
-We hand build each and every V3 flash module here. It's a custom in-house design by ECMTuning to provide features specifically for DSMs that work inside DSM ECUs.
-Interally, we use a number of smaller ICs to build up this functionality. These chips are sandwiched between the two PCBs that make up the flash module's "EPROM-like" form factor.
-Unfortunately, one of the chips that we use (in fact, the MOST critical chip by far) was marked "end of life" by the manufacturer several years ago. If you don't know what that means, it means they stopped production of those chips and we had to go find alternative sources through brokers and such.
-This worked OK for a while but we started having bad deals fall through on us. Basically, it got harder and harder to find these ICs so we made one final, large purchase from a supplier we had dealt with before and sat them on our shelf to keep as reserve stock. We confirmed part numbers matched at the time this package arrived, but we did not want to break the seal on the bag to pull some out and build up test boards like we had always done before because we knew we weren't going to use these chips for at least a year or more, if ever.
-Well, that was a huge mistake because when we finally did need to dip into that batch (Nov 1, 2018), we realized that these were relabeled chips that only looked like the chips we had ordered. Someone had wiped the chip surfaces clean and restamped them with part numbers that matched our order.
-===== End result =====
+On November 1, 2018, we realized that the ICs we had purchased for production of our ECMLink V3 flash modules were not the chips we had ordered and were not compatible with our flash module design. Given that these chips were expensive and are no longer made and that we had already exhausted our prior stock of them, we were forced to cease sales of ECMLink packages immediately.
-So, effectively, we're done for now. We have no source for these chips and no new designs ready to release that use different chips. We're stuck with a tiny batch of flash modules we pre-built a few weeks ago and that's it. We'll use those to fill existing orders and then we'll have a couple (literally, less than 10) we'll hold in stock for "emergency" situations while we mull over the future.
+Since then, however, then we have tested a new design that *is* compatible with these chips and we're currently in the process of working up a new schematic and board layout to accomodate them for production.
-We're leaving all options on the table for now, ranging from just shutting down and calling it a good run to refocusing and doubling-down on new V4 design with modern chips and more functionality.
+This process will take several weeks. We're hoping to be up and ready to go around Jan 1st, 2019.
-But for now and for the foreseeable future (at least through the rest of 2018), new production ECMLink packages are not available for sale. We're sorry for the short notice as this was as big of a surprise to us as it was to everyone else. We'll post more here and on our main website when we've had some time to let all this sink in and we've settled on a path forward.
+Until then, we have removed the ECMLink packages and V2→V3 upgrade options off our website. We will add those back again as soon as we possibly can.

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