Using clone ELM327 Bluetooth OBDII adapter with Leaf

[pcarlson79]

Hi everyone,

I live in Australia and bought my LEAF in Septermber 2012 and found out I actually bought a 2010 model as per VIN. Number 308 off the production line. We are coming into winter now and I have been noticing a decrease in range and was going to build an open source SOC meter like the "WattsLeft" meter but it was going to cost around $280!

So thank you so very much Turbo3!!!

I went out and bought a cheap android phone and OBD2 device

* HTC Explorer - $70
* ELM327 OBD2 bluetooth mini from eBay (same as pictured on page 1) - $9.87
* Android app "Setting Profiles" - $3.99

Total cost: $83.86

But I did buy an android app called "Setting Profiles" for $3.99. This allows me to set 2 power profiles, Battery Power and AC power. So now when on battery (car off) the screen dims to 40% and will sleep after 15 seconds. When AC on (Car on and connected to 12v charger) the phone will light up to Auto brightness and the display will NEVER turn off. So since the bluetooth and app always remain open it will be like an extra LCD screen. I plan to just use double sided tape to stick it to the dash just under the AUTO climate button on the blank plate and modify the USB cable to be 6cm and use a small 12v USB charger as none of us smoke.

I will take photo's once I have it all installed.

 

[JPWhite]

Hi everyone,

I live in Australia and bought my LEAF in Septermber 2012 and found out I actually bought a 2010 model as per VIN. Number 308 off the production line. We are coming into winter now and I have been noticing a decrease in range

Hi and welcome, not many Australian LEAF owners exist me thinks!!

The good news is that range reduction in winter is temporary and the range will return in spring. The app will be useful in helping you time charges in the winter, you want to avoid charging if the cells are at 32F or below. My strategy in the winter was to plug in as soon as I got home when the battery would be its warmest.

 

[davewill]

... So since the bluetooth and app always remain open it will be like an extra LCD screen. ...

You may not be able to leave the battery app open like that. It may run down the phone battery and/or the car battery to leave the bluetooth running and swapping data when the car is off. Maybe your setting profiles app can turn either the battery app or the bluetooth on and off.

 

[pcarlson79]

Hi and welcome, not many Australian LEAF owners exist me thinks!!

The good news is that range reduction in winter is temporary and the range will return in spring. The app will be useful in helping you time charges in the winter, you want to avoid charging if the cells are at 32F or below. My strategy in the winter was to plug in as soon as I got home when the battery would be its warmest.

Thanks JPWhite. I live in Canberra, Australia and I only know of 1 other person in Canberra with a LEAF. We both built our own 7.2Kw EVSE using the OpenEVSE project. This is why I was considering the opensource SOC meter kits but was pleasantly surprised when I saw this thread! I am still waiting for my "overnight" delivery of my OBD2bluetooth scantool. I ordered it Monday, and now it's Thursday

Once I get everything installed, I'll see if I can work out how to upload photo's or youtube links. There is only 1 video on youtube about this project which I find amazing since its such a great app!

Great work Turbo3!!

 

[pcarlson79]

Hi all,

I went home at lunch time and found my ELM327 adapter in the mailbox. I simply plugged it into the car and connected using the 1234 password and it worked!

Here is a quick video I shot on my iPhone.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZJrnp05O5A[/youtube]

 

[pcarlson79]

You may not be able to leave the battery app open like that. It may run down the phone battery and/or the car battery to leave the bluetooth running and swapping data when the car is off. Maybe your setting profiles app can turn either the battery app or the bluetooth on and off.

Thanks Davewill. The settings Profile app does let me enable/disable the bluetooth.

As for leaving the OBD adapter in.... I found this:

My Nissan LEAF has a 520CCA 12v battery. With 86.5Ah capacity. Lets only calculate for a 30% discharge which is 25.95Ah

ELM327 - Wifi version:
Voltage: 12v
Amps: 62.5mA
Power: 750mW
Standby to drain battery: 57 days
Standby to drain battery 30% : 17 days

ELM327 - Bluetooth version:
Voltage: 12v
Amps: 2.5mA
Power: < 30mW
Standby to drain battery: 1441 days
Standby to drain battery 30% : 432 days


I have seen stories on the internet where people have claimed their car has gone flat after 4 or 5 days but I can't believe such a little power draw could do that. Has anyone here had a flat LEAF from leaving a bluetooth OBDII tool plugged in?

 

[LEAFfan]

You may not be able to leave the battery app open like that. It may run down the phone battery and/or the car battery to leave the bluetooth running and swapping data when the car is off. Maybe your setting profiles app can turn either the battery app or the bluetooth on and off.

Thanks Davewill. The settings Profile app does let me enable/disable the bluetooth.

As for leaving the OBD adapter in.... I found this:

My Nissan LEAF has a 520CCA 12v battery. With 86.5Ah capacity. Lets only calculate for a 30% discharge which is 25.95Ah

ELM327 - Wifi version:
Voltage: 12v
Amps: 62.5mA
Power: 750mW
Standby to drain battery: 57 days
Standby to drain battery 30% : 17 days

ELM327 - Bluetooth version:
Voltage: 12v
Amps: 2.5mA
Power: < 30mW
Standby to drain battery: 1441 days
Standby to drain battery 30% : 432 days


I have seen stories on the internet where people have claimed their car has gone flat after 4 or 5 days but I can't believe such a little power draw could do that. Has anyone here had a flat LEAF from leaving a bluetooth OBDII tool plugged in?[/quote

The 12V doesn't have to be 'drained' to not start your car. I can't remember at what voltage, but it probably will be dead around 11V-11.4.
Leaving the OBDC plugged in doesn't drain the 12V, but make sure you exit the App or it will 'kill' it fairly fast (overnight).

 

[Turbo3]

Where are you getting 2.5ma for the BT ELM327?

I get 80-82ma on the bench in pairing mode and drops to 52 when paired. So you should use the higher 82ma for your calculations.

 

[Ingineer]

My Nissan LEAF has a 520CCA 12v battery. With 86.5Ah capacity.

You are way off! There is no way the small PbA battery in the LEAF has 86.5Ah capacity.

Your calculations are also wrong, as you aren't accounting for the Leaf's other standby loads. I give your LEAF less than a week if you leave a BT dongle plugged in on the unswitched line.

-Phil

 

[Turbo3]

If you don't drive your Leaf every day or two I would not leave an ELM327 plugged in.

Just touch it and you can feel how warm it gets. The Bluetooth is at highest current when trying to pair which is what it will be trying to do when the app is not around.

For the WattsLeft meter I use a DC-DC converter that draws less than 2ma when the CPU is in sleep mode and the OLED display and Bluetooth module are switched off by a MOSFET.

 

[LEAFfan]

My Nissan LEAF has a 520CCA 12v battery. With 86.5Ah capacity.

You are way off! There is no way the small PbA battery in the LEAF has 86.5Ah capacity.

Your calculations are also wrong, as you aren't accounting for the Leaf's other standby loads. I give your LEAF less than a week if you leave a BT dongle plugged in on the unswitched line.

-Phil

Phil, you misquoted. That's not mine.
But my statement stands about being able to leave the BT dongle plugged in because I drive my car every day.

 

[Duncan]

G'day Pcarlson. My Leaf is up in Sydney but I'm working here in Canberra during the week atm. I might drop you a note next week about testing out my recalcitrant ELM thingy on your car if that's OK...

 

[pcarlson79]

Hi All.

Thanks for all the feedback. I found out after driving the car tonight that the Bluetooth OBD tool turns off its bluetooth link when I turn the car off. I can not connect to the OBD unless the car is in either on or accessories mode.

 

[pcarlson79]

G'day Pcarlson. My Leaf is up in Sydney but I'm working here in Canberra during the week atm. I might drop you a note next week about testing out my recalcitrant ELM thingy on your car if that's OK...

I'm happy to help. I noticed my elm lost connection at times while driving. I'm not sure if it the phone, app or elm device.

 

[rslatkin]

Just got my bluetooth adapter in the mail, and it's working great with an old MyTouch Android phone.

If I modify my adapter to read the EV-CAN bus, what will be different?

 

[LEAFfan]

Just got my bluetooth adapter in the mail, and it's working great with an old MyTouch Android phone.

If I modify my adapter to read the EV-CAN bus, what will be different?

Nothing yet, but soon. The only thing different on mine was in EV mode, it read the 12V exactly, but the CAR CAN doesn't.

 

[davewill]

Nothing yet, but soon. The only thing different on mine was in EV mode, it read the 12V exactly, but the CAR CAN doesn't.

That make no sense. The 12v reading doesn't come from the CAN bus. It is measured by the ELM327 directly.

 

[LEAFfan]

Nothing yet, but soon. The only thing different on mine was in EV mode, it read the 12V exactly, but the CAR CAN doesn't.

That make no sense. The 12v reading doesn't come from the CAN bus. It is measured by the ELM327 directly.

Yes, it is. But it obviously reads differently when it is switched to EV. Convert one and see for yourself before you JTC.

 

[vrwl]

I'd like to suggest calling the 'Gids something a bit different that can be more easily distinguished among forum members who haven't followed this thread from its inception. In the Battery App data discussion thread, people are not noticing the single quote mark and so the conversation is confusing to others because they don't understand that GIDs are the true value and 'gids are the simulated or calculated value. So how about calling them SGDS or CGDS or something else significantly different but similar, so that there is less confusion among people when the values are being discussed?

 

[LEAFer]

We went on vacation for 10 days. Left the LEAF unplugged at around 60% SOC. But I had forgotten to remove the ELM from the OBDII port. Nothing to report LEAF started fine, no loss of capacity, ELM reader connected right away.