New total closure design :)

[Clint]

Hi everyone, just thought i would throw up some pics of what i have been up to. I'm now one big step closer to selling total closure units as a professional looking prouct. This is the first test done with the new mould. no circuits in this one, thought i would do a test first. the next will be coloured, probably black or red, havent decided yet, maybe other colours any suggestions welcome. from a marketing point of view probably red or yellow or something else bright as it will catch someones eye more so than a black or blue or other more subtle colours.

I am actually surprised how well this went! i didnt expect the first one to work perfectly! probably because the last lot of stuff from bunnings that they said was right was quite useless! this time i bought some proper epoxy stuff from a shop that specifically deals in epoxy plastics and fibreglass. doing this will have to put the price of the unit up and does cost me a lot more for each one, but now this is a product that looks professional, like any other product bought from a shop.

there is some other benefits from this,
impossible to be damaged in postage unless crushed! even still this is a strong epoxy!
no possible corrosion as everything is completely enclosed

AND 100% waterproof! if your car is submerged in water, dont worry!! your total closure will still work! :p :)

The finished piece minus circuits and colour
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3928/img9411qu0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And the mould:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7508/img9412pk1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

So what does everyone think?

[MatsHolden]

Looking good mate. An Industrial Designer like myself would love to style the casing for that! If you ever plan on going big with this product, seriously consider sourcing an Industrial Design studio and look at injection moulding for the casing... But as I said, only if you plan on going large scale with the product. :)

[Clint]

Can they put the circuit in the mould? and do you know rough costs for something like that? thanks for the info :)

[MatsHolden]

Can they put the circuit in the mould? and do you know rough costs for something like that? thanks for the info :)

Yep, Industrial Designers can put the circuit in the mould. You obviously have the circuit all made, so dimensions for that are what they would work around. You explain to the ID to design a casing to fit this PCB inside, and they will go away and design it. Then they will suggest the best ways for manufacture (most likely injection moulded plastic for this) and they will send it away to be manufactured. Then you have the two halves of the casing which you can then fit your PCB yourself, and screw or clip the two parts together (depending on how they've been designed). Can't really give rough costs, varies a lot depending on the design studio, how long it takes etc. But it isn't cheap, especially having the moulding tools made for injection moulding, BUT if you do have a quite a large market for it, it is well worth the consideration, as it will give you a VERY professional finished product. If you want any more info, just let me know.

Cheers
Mat

[Clint]

yea thats what i thought, 2 halves from injection moulding. what i'm after is a single piece with the pcb inside. i put the pcb into the empty mould, close it and then pour in the epoxy. this way it is completely safe from oxidation, water, people trying to open it and see the components etc.

at this stage i am very happy, and im my opinion this looks very professional :) the next one i do will confirm my thougts, the next one will have paint or dye or something in with the resin to make it cloudy, not so much to give it colour but more to make it so people cant see through and see inside. pcb will be inside this one, then when finished the mould will be painted. i am aware that when painting that you wont be able to see through, but i thought people could stratch the paint off then possibly see through. i doubt anyone would try to see inside but you never know.

[Clint]

and now for another thing, the cost. what is peoples opinion on this,
too much?
ok?
you would pay it?
is the feature is worth the money?
good for the money compared to what other people o/s / shops such as autobarn/jaycar/**** smithcharge?

i have recently added up all my costs involved in producing these and wow its a lot!
i have parts
labour
advertising
website domain
website hosting
website design labour
business registration costs (not cheap!!!!)
travel time/petrol money (20km round trip from my house to a post office, 60km round trip to get to any other shops to buy parts, 120km round trip to buy the resin)
i think there was other stuff but im rushing so i can go get ready for work. so adding all of that up and basing it on a number of units sold roughly based on the numbers i have sold up til now i have worked it out to be sold at about $50 to me this sounds a lot but it cant really be less because of all the factor of producing a product and marketing and running a business. i am thinking some people that before thought hey its only $25 for that cool feature, now i think some people might now buy it at $50 so i would like to get everyones opinion on this, any comments would be great! :)

thanks! Clint

[JasonGilholme]

Conisidering its a stand alone unit to do the job thats not a bad price.

Many people charege more then that just to hook it up with a full on car alarm. (500 +)

Good work man.

Also, once you get your business registered, get all your gear at trade price and get it posted to you. you should be able to bring the prices down then.

[Clint]

thats one thing i was thinking, a number of people on here have paid an extra $100 when getting a car alarm or sunroof installed to have total closure

[dug74]

Yep Clint...i got my total closure installation back before it was thought off....Sept 2004.

Cost me $100 and it wasnt a unit...just some bypass wiring.

I have purchased a few TCU from you for friends and they were around the $20 mark...and work fine....but as you said..it was just a circuit board and didnt look very marketable...but did the job. :dance:

Now you have a more professional looking product, you are able to charge more for the unit <ands it honest>. Even $50 is still cheap for a stand alone unit to autolift windows.

In future you could properly add more functions, autodown/lift etc etc and charge more.

I suggest also that you look into other models <mazda>:D and develop your market more.

The bigger the demand....the better the price...

All the best and if you want help developing a new one for mazda or any other model car....get some donors..

I will then ask the mazda club once you have developed......for interest.

Cheers
DUG74

[Tfer]

Hey Clint.... I must say, you never cease to amaze me.... that is quite incredible... not that I know what a TCU is or does ;)

Hats off to you man :cool:

[JasonGilholme]

I'm sure there would be plenty of interest from the honda crew as well. ;)

[Clint]

Thanks everyone! comments greatly appreciated!

Yes $50 is still the cheapest i can find, i just keep thinking its expensive because whenever i see a feature for a car or generally anything electrical/mechanical my first thought is I could make that for a tenth of the price! which is what i usually do, i have done many many mods to my car to do with the interior, sound system, car pc, 7" touch screen, 17" lcd monitor, 80gb music/videos/movies, wireless internet, wireless control of the music/car by my mobile phone, total close, etc etc etc. all done completely by myself most done a a much much lower price than anyone else could do it. but when i make something for myself its just parts that cost money, so i can see how businesses have to charge what they do.. altho at times its questionable how much they charge....

hehe yes that was directed at you dug, the sunroof :p yea it was about a week or a month after you got yours that i told everyone about what i had done for a tenth of what you paid :)

i do have and have had another unit in development for the past year now probably lol, but nothing has been done to it in the past 9 month or so, that unit will be a killer!! it wires up to basically everything in the car, yes installation may take a little while but luckily enough i have found every wire i need all in one location behind the fuse box, so it will be simple. this unit so far has a feature list that is about an a4 page long, and afterwards when its installed in peoples cars, if they want a new feature, one day they could think hey i wish my car did this! they just email me, i add the feature to the software email it to them and they download it to their car! :) It all sounds good in theory doesnt it? i have put it all into practice excluding the downloading of new features, but that will come, i havent decided exactly which method i am going to use for that, ive had a few different ideas and need to work out the best one. enough talk about that, i could go on all day there, that can be in a different thread. and this unit will be from the start made as generic as possible - meaning it will theoritically work in any car, not just the opels, most likely will work with opels and have small modifications or add ons to make it work in others. i wont list the features here as the list is massive! one thing i do wish to take a look at and chris R i think will be willing to help, is can bus :) if i can crack the opel canbus that wouldbe awesome. it would solve the problems of people with new astras and aftermarket headunits/amps, and all of those features i said i had, the a4 list, would all be possible by simply connecting 3 wires, power and ground :)

Thanks for the offer for a donor Dug, i will keep it in mind, i personally havent done a great deal with mazdas, only minor stuff and had a little look around while i was there. my friend has been occasionally asking me for the past year or so about making it for his mazda 323 sp23, then a second one for his parents mazda 3, after that ill take a look at yous dug and see if its the same wiring, i assume something similar, then i could get onto the mazda forums and possibly get people to take a look at theirs and see if it matches etc etc and things will get rolling. the unit i have takes advantage of a circuit prebuilt into opels, but i have had a look at mine and i can also close and open windows without that built in stuff. so if other makes of car have similar electronics or even remotely similar i can get this kit working with only very minor modifications to its design. i am keen to look at others, but first i want my website finished, so once you see that up and ill be able to look at other peoples cars.

Tfer, The Total Closure Unit is a litle device which is installed in the drivers side kick panel, takes about 5 mins, after which when you deadlock the car, press the button twice, the windows will automatically close. its an excellent idea, for those lazy people like me who cant be bothered closing windows when leaving the car, dont worry this unit will do it for you! other people have it cause it looks cool - at uni a few times i have been leaving my car and someone passing by has said "Hey! your windows are do... hheeeeey that cool! :D" For others its a great security feature, if you have kids in the back, you get out of the car not realising they the kids left a rear window on the opposite side down, it doesnt matter anymore since it will automatically close! the advantages are great and endless, i could list reasons all day long.

And finally Jason, sounds good, when i get time (probably in months as i said after the website) we can take a look. And just to let you know - Wha i have been selling up to this stage weights 18 grams, the new unit pictured above will weigh about 30 grams i am guessing, but if thats too much ill see what i can do about releasing a new weight reduced model featuring only the bare minimum required resin to conceal everything :P

Thanks again guys! the feedback and comments are great!

[JasonGilholme]

Good stuff clint!!!

I'm sure 30 grams won't put my car over the limit :p

[poita]

wow clint, thses are pretty awesome.
they work on a calibra also dont they?

[Clint]

they will work on any opel, its just a matterof knowing the correct wiring, i have installed on a number of vectras/astras but havent personally done much with barinas or calibras. i have installed one in a 91 calibra so if you have a 91-94 i believe then you are in luck. i believe the wiring changed in 95 with the calibras. it isnt hard to work out the wiring though. what year is yours?

[poita]

that'd be my friggin luck, i may a mid-late 1995 model.
i do have full wiring diagram for it courtesy of the haynes manual if you do need it.

[Clint]

you're a god! :) that will certainly do it. thank you. i think post 95 - latest are all the same so that will then mean all of the calibra range covered :)

[Blue_Dvl]

$50........... where do i sign??

[poita]

i have teh wiring diagrams scanned into my computer, it basically covers the whole range of teh calibras. from start to finish.
all up its about 8.29mb, i can email it to you in around 1mb chunks if u like

[Clint]

That would be excellent :) thank you! my email is [email protected]

[Clint]

$50........... where do i sign??

this weekend i should have some of the new total closure units manufactured with the new design as pictured above :)

[poita]

hey clint sent those to ya, is 8 emails all up.
let me know how ya go amte
i'll be defin interested in one if it will work fine.

cheers peter

[Clint]

cool, ill have a look now and get back to you.

[Clint]

ive recieved 7 emails, is that everything?

[poita]

hahahahaha
yer i just cant count
and i even numbered the emails to you
lack of sleep is gettin to me a little
hahahahaha

[Clint]

ill have a look probably on the weekend, ill need to print that out to look at it and not sure when i will be home, but it looks good, no reason you cant have total closure by next week :)

[poita]

ah awesome clint, thanks :)

[Clint]

i've slightly modified the design of the total closure unit, added some reverse polarity protection and a fuse to protect the IC, under normal circumatances this wont change a thing, all this does is saves the total closure unit if it is installed incorrectly. next ive gotta track down some parts so i can make the installation even easier, it will involve no cutting/splicing/soldering or modifying of any wires in the car :) the first real unit is about to go into the mould with colour and everything so this will be the first of the new design to be manufactured :) after that ill start reading those wiring diagrams for your car Poita

[Clint]

oh yea almost forgot, if anyone has any slow closing windows, could you please say how long it takes for them to close? thanks!

[imay]

they will work on any opel

$50 is nothing if you have managed to solve the problem of different wiring on the convertible, mate! Not interested in roof closure, only the windows on deadlock.

[Clint]

I havent forgotten :) when i have a free day that lines up with the owner of the convetible i will be over there to take a look, and dont worrk about the $50, once i get a look at the convertible and see the wiring ill have a free unit coming your way with roof closure if its possible for that.

[jonboy]

Hey mate,

Are your newly designed version of the TCU available for sale yet? I'm looking at putting one in my car... just got the urge to mod something and I'm broke so I was thinking of something small haha.

Thanks

[Clint]

Certainly are! You're in Qld arent you? If so and u need it installed i can do that also. What Opel do you have?

[jonboy]

Ive got an 2005 XC Barina. Its only 2 wires to install down near the door sill isnt it? I should be able to do it myself if its only that.

How much are they with postage to Brissy?

[Clint]

there is 3 wires to connect. the price is $60 + $2 postage to brisbane, or we can arrange for pickup/delivery.

[Red AH SRI T]

Clint I'm wondering if you can help me out?

I sold an AH7.5 CD Manual hatch to a lady just after they came out, and one of the selling points i used was the standard total closure units that are standard when you get the pack.
Anyways on delivery i went to show her the feature and it wouldn't work. Guys in the work shop pulled away the moulding in the boot to see one of the modual missing. Apparently the one that controls the total closure.

Anywho we said we would be able to get it fixed, meanwhile Holden releases a bulletin to staff saying that on some model Astra's this feature is no longer available. Although this bulletin only came out a short time ago, quiet a while after this lady bought her car.

So, Holden say that its not possible to get it retro fitted and they won't recommend an aftermarket fitment. But the lady wants it fitted.

So, can you help me out???

[Clint]

yep certainly can, i wouldnt be surprised if my module was simplier than the opel one! i honestly don't know why they need a seperate module for it, as almost everything goes to the body control module, so it would be just another few lines of code in the firmware, not really any different to the interior light turning on for 30 seconds when unlocking the car, just in this case it would want to close the windows for 10 secs when deadlocking..

anyways i believe my module would work with it, what year is the car? i am not sure about those with canbus as i havent had a chance to take a look at one personally, but i don't think they would be different, but someone may know, maybe Chris R, i think he has worked on a few canbus models.

my module connects into the circuit that closes the windows while the key is held at 45 degrees to the left in the drivers lock. my only thought with those canbus models is about how the signal gets from the lock to the BCM, whether it is analogue like most, or it could possibly be canbus, but i honestly dont think it would be, its just a switching circuit switched by the key, so to have canbus would need at least a power can high and can low. seems a little complicated to have can there but you never know.

if you have the car there, or have another of the same model and wish to test if it will work, grab a multimeter, set it to continuity, place one test lead on ground, the other test lead on the red with blue stripe wire found in the drivers side kick panel leading to the central locking module. be aware that it is the red with blue stripe, and not the blue with red stripe as sometimes the base/stripe is almost 50/50 so the 2 wires can be easily mistaken if not paying attention.

wind a window down, close the drivers door, have the multimeter in clear view, and put the key in the lock, turning it left to close the open window, while the key is held left the open window will close and the multimeter will show 0 or closed circuit. if that happens you know my total closure unit will work.

do you work for holden as a sales person? i doubt holden would ever recommend fitting anything aftermarket, as with all other manufacturers, its just what they do. as for if they believe it is unsafe, could damage something etc, the unit does not directly connect to the window motors, when my circuit activates, if the windows are already closed it does not try to drive the motor still, which would result in damage over the years. if all or 1 or 2 windows are closed, those closed windows do nothing. my unit is the majority of the time unpowered, it is powered from the deadlocks, and therefore is only powered for the 1 second while the car is being deadlocked. it has a capacitor and stores enough electricity in that one second to power itself for the remaining 10 seconds. the whole unit is electically insulated, waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, etc.

Clint

[imay]

But . . . does it work on closing the convertible's windows on deadlocking the car? That's the one that I'm after!

[Clint]

the age old question.. :) after i have a look, yes.

Is there any convertible members on the south side of brisbane or gold coast?