MHD ECO Off At Start

Mod Description

The idea of MHD is OK but certainly not for everyone, wouldn't it be nice if it was off when the car was started.

Mod Details

PremiumNo Difficulty Mod ID674 CreditJeremy Stevens Cost££3 For Linkhttps://www.evilution.co.uk/mod/mhd-eco-off-at-start.htm Copy to Clipboard

Make One Yourself

Jeremy contacted me to say that he wanted his MHD fortwo to start with the MHD turned off, therefore giving him the opportunity to turn it on if he wanted. He then went and designed a rather neat and compact solution to the problem.

Consisting of 7 cheap components, a small piece of vero board and 3 short pieces of wire. It is easily small enough to be stowed underneath the existing switch to keep the original look.

You can splice into the wiring if you like but you can push the wire ends into the back of the connector and secure for a less permanent solution. With the circuit fitted, the car starts with the MHD turned off but the standard switch still works as intended allowing you to toggle the MHD on and off as normal. If you toggle the ignition on-off-on quickly then the car will start with the MHD on.

Resistor R1 = 12R (12Ω), 0.25W
Resistor R2 = 1M (1,000,000Ω), 0.25W
Resistor R3 = 1M (1, 0.25W
Capacitor C1 = 1µF (1 microfarad), 63V (low leakage)
Zener Diode ZD1 & ZD2= 15V, 0.4W
Semiconductor Q1 = ZVN2106A (N-type mosfet)

Thanks to Roberto who had issues with this design and recommended the 2nd diode. The inclusion of this diode
seems to depend on the type and quality of the transistor used. Some people have needed it, some haven’t.

Resistor Information

12R means 12 Ohms. An upper case R replacing the Ω symbol probably dates back a long time before computers.
Most people, when writing the Ω symbol will make something that looks like an R. So over the years, it stuck.

1M means 1,000,000 Ohms. The M comes from Mega, meaning 1 million.

0.25W is ¼ of a Watt.

Do an online search or look on eBay. There are always Chinese component sellers on there.

Capacitor Information

The capacitor seems to be tripping up a few people so here is a bit more info.

1µF is 1 microfarad. Sometimes written as uF or just U. It is one millionth of a Farad. Ceramic and plastic film capacitors are classed as low leakage. A very small leakage current is commonly referred to as “insulation resistance”.

Do an online search or look on eBay. There are always Chinese component sellers on there.

Zener Diode Information

15 Volt, 0.4 Watt may be getting harder to find. So look for a 15 Volt, 0.5 Watt diode. For example, the BZX55C15 by Vishay, Rectron, Taiwan Semiconductor etc should be fine.

Do an online search or look on eBay. There are always Chinese component sellers on there.

Semiconductor Information

Just do an online search for ZVN2106A.

Can I Buy This Already Made?

Yes.