yeah, the wastegate was directly connected to compressor housing outlet prior to MBC install. then I was getting ~4lbs of boost.
with MBC installed between wastegate actuator and outlet, despite increasing the boost on the MBC, I still was topping out around ~4lbs.
I then tried T-ing the MBC pressure line off the CBV line and put a nipple on the comp housing outlet. there I topped out at ~5-6lbs of boost despite MBC settings.
then, simply removing any hose to the wastegate actuator I top out around 10lbs of boost. that's with the nipple on the compressor housing. last week, when I was running 'stock' with a line from outlet to actuator, removing that line from the actuator would result in 15lbs or so of boost. I didn't push it beyond that.
here's a picture of the plumbing currently - MBC T'd off CBV line, nipple on comp housing outlet, line to actuator disengaged in photo:
<a href="https://ibb.co/72js6DG"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/xJXxRbM/DSC-0032-1.jpg" alt="DSC-0032-1" border="0"></a>
so the actuator works, but for whatever reason, I'm unable to 'set' the pressure in the lines correctly to get it to actuate only at higher boost levels.
the hallman unit is new and just arrived friday. could be faulty but doubt it would be D.O.A.
as an aside - on one of my pulls, the oil dipstick came out of the tube. that was running the nipple on compressor outlet and T'ing the MBC off the CBV line. my turbo is also leaking oil. unsure if those would factor into this low boost issue.