Mine works just fine manually, so I don't see the point in pulling out the circuit. I've also never had a problem with the auto-up, only with the auto-down and then only when it's been sitting outside.

I'm looking forward to a fix, but am willing to wait until they've got it fully tested, as I can still use it manually without issue.

 

ditto for me.

 

Matt,
If I understand your question - mine is acting the way you described - the circuit works in the garage, does not work (lowering) after the car's been driven, but it does (usually) close with a tap. Holding the buttons down does nothing either up or down.

My window circuit is a little flaky too - I frequently open the back windows for the dog, keeping the side windows up. Normally the window down works when the car is cool (I give it a second tap once the back windows are down to stop the side windows from lowering), but getting them back up after driving the car almost always requires that I turn the ignition off and back on to wake it back up so I can raise the back windows.

 

Sorry I am late for the party here. I am having issues with my Easy Up/Down circuit I bought months ago. It has never operated correctly and requires me to push the buttons the old fashioned way. I removed the circuit and it is sitting in my glove box.

I have not read this whole thread. Is there a plan to fix the problem? Money back? What??

 

Matt,
Mine does not work manually. When my circuit stops working in the heat of the day, I can hold the switch down for over 20 seconds until my finger turns blue and it will not open. Only the sun roof will work.

It is good to hear other work arounds like Winnie Mini's turning off of the ignition. Does anyone else have tested work arounds beside removing the circuit board?

 

Hi.

Mine doesn't really work in the heat or the cold. It is troublesome opening and closing. I find if I press the button twice to open, it will open the sunroof, and then stop. I can sometimes hit the button again and it will continue to open (same for closing), but often none of the buttons work. I usually find pressing the open button, and then the close button will allow it to open the rest of the way.

 

Today mine went total fritz...sunroof open/closed fine without the top budging one bit. Checked the boot for the pesky am I properly closed thingy...still nothing. The thing as adapting itself to further drive me insane! In need the Dr.......heeeeeeelp!

 

I've seen the convertible roof refuse to operate because it thinks the pump motor is overheated - and it was hot simply because of sun on the car body (the roof had not been used since the previous day!)

It's possible your non-working roof is unrelated to the easy-up circuit, if you are in hot weather right now.

 

Thanks GB, I needed a time out! It was 50 degrees this morning when I posted. I went out just now, lifted the canvas top up in back, manually activated the switch sensor and Viola. Was not a problem at the Commander at all. Just another fun MINI day...I love all the surprises !

 

We've designed the replacement and we're doing the first build now. It's a small run to make sure it really fixes the problems. Anyway, here's what we had to do:

• Changed driver electronics design to better mimmic the actual switch action.
• Made the switch action for the window circuit electrically isolated from the top switch controls.
• Because of this, we'll be changing the wiring harnesses and board as well. We initially thought that a simple board between the existing and the new unit would do it, but because of the electrical isolation, that wasn't to be.
• We've added the same buzzer that we use in the Ian Cull v7 and v7.1 so you can hear when a mode change has occured (it's indicated on the LEDs on the Top Commander board, but that doesn't help when the car is all buttoned up!)

These first circuits will be using basically the same programming that is in the current top commander. We've figured out some nifty tricks and will be implementing a "learning mode" for cars that have top timing that is very different from the norm. That will go out in the final release of the product.

Anyway, what's wierd is that the circuit is still working in a majority of the deployed units. The fact that it's not univeral has been a major source of frustration to FES and all of you that have had a problem. I'll post when I have the units in stock and we can roll some of them out to the field to those of you with problems.

Matt

 

 

Get anywhere with this yet, Dr O?

 

Nothing?

 

Please Matt, give us an update. I don't even use it for the top down function now. It never works for me above 65 degrees.....

 

FES has a contract engineering project that is really large (for FES) just starting off....

so here's the status... All of this stuff had us really, really digging into what's going on and there are two results to date:

1) we've made changes to the current firmware that seems to solve almost all of the problems. I've shipped a few of them and they are all working good, but one of our team of testers didn't have it solve everything his car was doing (and some of that stuff was just wierd).

2) the new hardware has been tested, and it's working well on that very car that had the real wierd behaviours happening (like, top stopped moving if the glove compartment was opened! Still no clue how that one was happening....)

So, what does this mean? If you want to try the current firmware fix, e-mail me at mattr@fes-auto.com and I'll send you one to try. This is the fastest and easiest way to get improvement. I actually expect this to fix almost all of the problems that are out there. It would just be a swap of the current board, and the wiring harness would be the same.

The new board has to go into production, and we've got to finish the final firmware for it. This will also be the basis of the Top Commander for the R57 and will have solutions for those with very, very fast tops and very, very slow tops. I don't know an exact date when this will be available, but the hardware electronics are finished, there are some layout features on the board for us to finish, and it will use a new wiring harness. Install location is the same, and how it hooks into the car will be the same.

Anyway, that's where we are now. So if you want to try one of the current boards with new firmware, e-mail me and I'll get one out to you pronto!

Matt

 

That was me

I have received a new module and this one is working perfectly for a week now with very high ambient temperatures (for Dutch standards, 35 degr. Celcius). It doesn't stop anymore when opening the glove box. Also the auto up windows is working.

I've reported everything back to FES. I would like to compliment and thank FES for their continues excellent support and relentless efforts to find a solution!

 

E-mail sent.

 

Thanks for the work, Matt! I am going to wait for the full production model. I have one the really fast tops, so that would probably benefit me most!

 

I'm happy to report that I've received and installed one of the updated Top Commanders and all seems to be working well! This is my third unit.

I've had it installed for about a week and wanted to see if it continued working properly before speaking about it. I put it to the real test today after letting JIMI sit in about 100 degree heat for a few hours and then trying to raise and lower the top. It worked like a charm!

My previous problems with it most definitely seemed to be temperature related as it would usually work first thing in the morning, coming out of a cooler garage, but once it had been out in the higher temperatures, it would no longer work. Whatever they did, it seemed to have solved the problem; for me, anyway.

I'll update if Murphy is listening to me and something goes awry.

Thanks, Matt!

 

I think the latest firmware will fix most peoples problems. But not 100%. To update the progress on the rest, Guenter (my business partner) has recieved the new boards and is starting to populate them. I don't have an actual release date yet, but we're getting much closer.

Matt

 

I see from your website that sales of the Top Commander are currently on hold. I assume you're just working out the last of the issues, is that correct? Any status info on when you'll be taking orders again?

 

the v1 is back on sale on the web site. Has been for a bit. As far as the V2 unit, I have 18 of the hardware in my hot little hands, and we're closing on some enhanced firmware. Since we had to burn new boards, we added a few features as well.

So, here's what's coming:

• Changed driver chip from darlingtons to SSRs. These bring the voltage to 0 when pretending to be the switch, and some of the top control modules seem to be happier with this (baffling, since the old chip was the same type as used in more than 2000 Ian Cull circuits!)
• Added circuit isolation so that the window circuit uses it's own ground. Honestly, we didn't have firm evidence that this was a problem, but some reported improved performance when the window switch was disconnected, so what the heck!
• Added more capacitence on the power line. It seems like a couple cars had some flakey power at up in the header, and the added capacitance means the circuit is more immune to power reductions and the like.
• Added a peizo buzzer like in the new Ian Culls. This means you'll know a configuration change has happened once it's all buttoned up.

So what's left before shipping? The firmware of course! Guenter is working on it now, but we're doing a lot of new stuff in the code, so it's a total re-write. The new FW will come pre-configured, but besides being able to do "sunroof mode", it will also be able to learn timing for cars that are way too fast or way too slow. This adds a lot of complexity but means that those with the window going up issue, where the "secret fast mode" didn't solve it will have a way to fix it.

This will also be the basis for the Top Commander for the R57... Long time coming and a royal PITA, but I think the wait will have been worth it.

Thank you all for your patience with all the hassle.

Matt

 

This is great news. Like many others I have been waiting for a fix to the balky unit that I got quite a while ago. Let us know what you would like us to do, ship the old one back, price for exchange, etc. I know what kind of nightmare development can be.

Jon
MINI '06 S

 

+1

 

Any Updates?