new to scope usage. using autel. not a lot of help out there. please help. thank

i tried to upload captures of what i have taken but it wont upload.

i work at a shop with two other people who cant fix a sandwich and a test light is too advance for them. Only real reason I stay is because im hourly and they pay me well and they dont care about my diag time because im using a scope. With that being sad, im on my own. I own the autel ultra with everything possible for it. I try diag with it and most of the time im right, but some times im wrong and when i see the trace before the repair i would say no problem, but then replace the part, mainly alternators right now, and the trace is different and the problem is gone. i just really need help with it. ive called autel and they just refer me to their user manual and its not really a good source.

second question i have, which i have called autel and they told me they have no clue, with the cop ignition, can i check secondary ignition events?

first pic is a 13 fusion alternator, i current ramp with a 1mv to 1mv1 65 amp amp clamp at the alternator. i used the gen comm and gen mon. i dont think the monitor was captured at the point the pic was taken. either way, the "check charging sytem" message came on the dash randomly. i scoped and got that image. seems fine to me till i got the new alternator and recheck and you can see the amperage is much more constant.

second pic is an update with the new alternator, no message on dash, you can see the amperage on the scope reading much more "steady" any help or input for an explaination would be great

third photo, is a blower motor inop at times. i current trace the motor, just to see, and i figured the amperage reading would be a square wave? just a normal blower motor.

fourth photo is the motor, resister and the power wire repaired, got a little hot. current is "steadier" again

5th photo is a current for main power to injectors and a trigger on injector 1, open circuit. again, i figured my traces would look different than they do compared to what i see on youtube, i know they use a pico and snap on scope but voltages should still graph the same?

thanks in advance for any help. not looking for you to diag my problems, just want help understanding what im seeing, am i doing it correct, etc.

injector current plus trigger off injector 1

Regarding the blower motor pics: they seem to be taken with different time bases and different vertical resolutions. This doesn't help while trying to compare them 1o1. You may want to use the screenshot function within the Autel itself. This will allow to see the settings/scope configuration. That said, there is nothing in the "before" capture that'd had raised my suspicion, the commutator transitions look fine. Again, there is no indication of total current consumption.

The injector capture shows a lot of drop outs and noise, especially on the (green) voltage scale. Actually most of the events do not match with the current ramps, they happen at different points in time. Often they look like some kind of interference from the ignition system. I am not sure if the green trace was connected correctly to injector #1 control side, the capture showing less than 4 volts as "base" voltage when there should be present system voltage?

On most COP ignition system you easily can obtain SECONDARY ignition patterns. They will allow to evaluate dwell time, burn time and compare coils one to each other. You won't get absolute kv readings without further ado

You can use anything from a standard test lead, a dedicated secondary ignition pick up/wand or even an old variable reluctance sensor wired to your scope. Whatever your choice is, you put the probe on top of the coil to get a signal. Move it around a little bit to find the sweet spot where the signal is best. Sometimes a coin on top of the coil will enhance the signal.

Some (few) coils will not render a useful signal, their isolation/shielding is too strong. In these cases you can connect a regular spark wire be plug and coil and get the signal from there.

i can not tell you how appreciative i am that you took the time to reply. thanks for your input. ill do better next time with my captures. i know my motor capture was inverted. the motor didnt work until i hit it. i just wanted to capture the amp on the scope for future testing purpose and to get better with my scope usage.

i tried the cop pickup and i didnt really get anything besides the primary control. ill try again soon.

for the injector it was main power in, red, and green was the control on the injector. i current ramp, red, to main power feed and thats where i saw the no current draw on the scope and triggered off cylinder 1. i knew i had a bad injector with the fault. i ohm the injector and again i just wanted to see that waveform. thankfully my job is hourly and allows me to use my scope.

ill continue to post on here as a go with my scope usage and ill do better about the sample rates, time base etc. thanks again

i can not tell you how appreciative i am that you took the time to reply. thanks for your input. ill do better next time with my captures. i know my motor capture was inverted. the motor didnt work until i hit it. i just wanted to capture the amp on the scope for future testing purpose and to get better with my scope usage.

i tried the cop pickup and i didnt really get anything besides the primary control. ill try again soon.

for the injector it was main power in, red, and green was the control on the injector. i current ramp, red, to main power feed and thats where i saw the no current draw on the scope and triggered off cylinder 1. i knew i had a bad injector with the fault. i ohm the injector and again i just wanted to see that waveform. thankfully my job is hourly and allows me to use my scope.

ill continue to post on here as a go with my scope usage and ill do better about the sample rates, time base etc. thanks again

Secondary ignition testing is indeed possible on the Ultra, using the probes Juergen mentioned. We've got a whole thread going about making your own probes here:

www.scannerdanner.com/forum/lab-scope-di...need-to-buy-one.html

Here's a screenshot of a secondary ignition capture I took with a homebrew sensor:



Another with two primary ignition events:



Speaking of screenshots, I've found the easiest way to get captures off the Ultra is to use the Remote Desktop feature:



It's really just a link to TeamViewer, which you can use for free from start.teamviewer.com.

thanks for your reply. autel support is very poor. ill have to try to secondary ign when i go to work monday. why are there attenuators? i havent found a use for them yet BESIDE secondary with your leads? corret.

thanks for the link to the forum. i will go there next.

oneel998 wrote:

why are there attenuators? i havent found a use for them yet BESIDE secondary with your leads?

A scope can only handle a certain input voltage. Different scopes have different limits but they all can and will get hurt when this limit significantly gets surpassed. To handle higher than rated voltages the attenuator comes into play. It will reduce the voltage entering into the scope by the attenuation factor it is rated at, could be 10 times, 20 times etc. The software will allow for adjustments so the displayed voltage reflects the true voltage level.

Typical use for attenuators is the PRIMARY ignition systems where induction spikes of several hundreds volts ca occur. Another aplication are GDI injectors.

thank you for your reply!

autel has presets and it tells you how to set the scope up but hasnt told me to use one and i just dont want to let the smoke out yet.

oneel998 wrote:

thank you for your reply!

autel has presets and it tells you how to set the scope up but hasnt told me to use one and i just dont want to let the smoke out yet.

FWIW, I haven't been using the attenuators with my Ultra. :blush: Haven't let the smoke out so far.

Not saying it's a good idea. I just tend to treat my equipment like ash trays. :silly: