Another V2 question

Richard Smith smithbone at gmail.com
Fri Jan 21 09:36:01 CET 2005


> > Our product is going to go into Gasoline pumps.  You would not believe
> > the lengths that some store operators go to so they can cheat the
> > consumer slightly per fillup.  So our customer requires a flash update
> > to be physical mod.
> 
> I want to know more about their tricks. Is there any mod chip I can use
> to lower my fuel expense?

As a consumer I think you are out of luck.  Pump you gas on the
coldest days when the liquid is the most dense..*grin*  Actually I
think all the newer pumps cal for temp as well.

Perhaps I can add a special ollie backdoor.  *grin*  We don't do any
of that software though.  Just the hardware.

Dishonest store ops will hire black hats to actually reverse engineer
the boards and software that are in the dispenser and have them shave
off some percentage of gas for each fill up so you think you pumped
14.9 gallons but you may have only gotten 14.8.

One interesting case was a dispenser that would correctly pump for <=5
gallons but skimp on you for larger amounts.  Not coincidently the
inspector that roams around and periodically checks these things used
to use a special 5 gallon jug to test.  So it would pass inspection
but still cheat customers.

This was discovered by accident.  I guess the store changed hands and
the dispenser had a problem and was returned back to the mfg complete
with all the mods.

The inspectors now use several different amounts that are changed frequently.

-- 
Richard A. Smith



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