I purchased and fitted a new boost controller this week. It was the HDI Unit from the Group buy.

Base boost with the controller turned to min or disconnected is 0.4 bar.
Max boost setting spikes for a second on 1.2 bar and drops to 1.1 bar. At high RPM the pressure tails off to around 0.8 bar.

Can someone explain why my controller is limiting boost to 1.1/1.2 bar when if I disconnect the bleed pipe from the EBV I can achieve 1.5 bar ? (for testing max boost only)

If the MAC solenoid can only flow up to this level is it faulty? Are ther any test I can do to check out where my missing 0.4 bar of boost is going?

Can someone who had the same unit installed confirm what max boost they can achieve?

The unit is rated up to 8 bar.

I'm running a superspool turbo, uprated IC and Sports cat. I also had my boost gauge pressure tested for accuracy.

Which pipe are you disconnecting to achieve the 1.5 bar boost? Is it marked red, blue or not colour marked?

Without knowing anything about the controller, it sounds to me as though the "max boost" setting is set at 1.2 bar

Are the boost levels at each setting adjustable in any way? If its an electronic controller, I don't see why boost settings should be fixed, so you may find there's a way of controlling the limit for each setting

@G5L - I'm not sure. I removed one to test that the turbo was able to achieve a high level of boost. I'm guessing that the wastegate must be set to 1.5 bar or it would boost continually until it exploded.

The HDI unit only has 2 pots, one for low the other for high. You press a button to select which pot you want and then you can adjust the boost level to where you want. There are no other menu's only the 3 buttons.

The problem is that on it's highest setting it is not quite enough for me. I want Leighton to map the car to 1.3/1.35 and he will be unable to do this if the unit is restricting the max boost.

It would be good to hear if anyone else with this exact unit has managed to achieve more than 1.1 bar?

base boost for a stock turbo is 0.6bar and if your superspool has an uprated actuator on it, it will probably be 0.8bar, it's possible that the boost controller is under reading or you have a boost leak as you are not able to obtain what base boost should be, are all the air hoses to the boost controller on tight as you may be leaking air from there hence giving a false reading

Good point - minimum boost will be set be the mechanical resistance of the wastegate spring and the actuator rod adjustment. So I would agree that either what you are reading is wrong, you have significant leaks (and the leaks would to be pretty major) - or more likely the wastegate actuator rod needs adjustment.

Forgive me for saying, but isn't a boost controller with just two (unadjustable) settings a bit pointless? It seems to me that what you actually have is on or off and nothing inbetween.

I seem to recall someone rigging a manual boost controller through the standard EBC to achieve pretty much what you've got, with the difference being that the upper limit of the 'on' setting was easily adjusted. In fact, now I think about it, it might have had three settings. High boost, standard boost and base boost.

The controller does allow you to adjust boost:

The low dial - 0.4 bar base boost adjusting all the way up to 0.8 bar

The high dial 0.8 all the way to in my case 1.1.

My problem is i need it to keep going to 1.35

TBH - I'm getting a bit fed up of the coupe at the moment.

Tonight I have noticed my lower strut has bent and is touching the exhaust causing clunky noises, oil appears to be underneath the car and last week my air con rad failed.

I'll give it one last chance to be fixed and then I'm going diesel.

/ winge over.

If you read above, you shouldn't be able to get as low as 0.4 bar boost..... I think that is where the problem is.

i had a similar problem. thought i would stick a ebc obln after flea mapped it. not a good idea.

When I set my HDI controller I started from zero and turned it up gradually about three times until boost gauge needle reads just past the 1bar mark as in spiders thread thin.
The high control is set on the knob at 11 o'clock. Since I set it I have not adjusted it ( even though twice while messing in the engine I lost the fuse out of the permanent live feed before I cable tied it secure! Didn't loose setting!)
How far round did you turn your dial before maxing out?
Maybe I could do a short burst to see if past my setting will up the bar. No promises.

I have the Gizzmo MS-IBC and it's great, 6 channels of Boost and a "Scramble" feature for bit of overboost when I want it.

http://www.gizzmoelectronics.com/ It boost up to 3.5 BAR (according to specs), easy to install and has been 100% reliable. The only thing I wish it had is a "Valet" mode, where you can lock the boost at 0.1 BAR (or suchlike) so you can avoid people ragging it...

Charlie is it good. stuck between that one and greedy profec spec b

On its maximum setting (5 o'clock) it reaches 1.1 bar at 3000 RPM. at redline tails off to 0.9

I am not sure if i have a boost leak or a faulty Solenoid?

i have a spare solenoid so i could swap them over.

How do you perform a boost leak test?

When I fitted my controller I replaced all my air hoses for new. Partly new for old and partly my turbo was letting go so wanted nice clean hose. Old hose looked absolutely fine so my prv was at fault was my conclusion.
It overboosted to 1.5 and dropped off dramatically before the controller. I thought I must have a leak for it to drop so quick, but not the case.
I think the only pain in the arse thing to do is to check each hose, even if there is a test it's not going to point you to a hole position in a hose.

Well there is, it's pressurizing the system with smoke. Had it done on the HGT to detect an air leak. It was oozing out the crappy plastic intake manifold.

Pity you didn't say that before I posted my ignorance

Yes mate, I am very happy with it.
Doddle to install, simply tapped into vacuum pipe for boost gauge with t-piece. then ran wiring to the solenoid, lastly tapped in to switched 12V+ feed and all done. I stuck it in place just under the dimmer switch, using Velcro.

On maximum boost it can hit 1.42 though for obvious reasons I didnt keep it there. I set it as:

1: 0.5 Bar (Cruising/fuel economy)
2: 0.8
3. 0.9
4. 1.08
5. 1.1
6. 1.24

On channels 5 & 6 I have the gain set quite high (10) so it spools quicker too.

It's worked perfectly and done all that I expected.

I will attempt to adjust my wastegate actuator first.

Thanks.

Just an update. I have continued disconnecting my battery for tinkering, still holds memory.
Tonight, turned to 12o'clock and boost was 1.4.