Using clone ELM327 Bluetooth OBDII adapter with Leaf

surfingslovak said:

Stoaty said:

TonyWilliams said:

Unless we have Gids (raw data, not simulated), the data won't match up with the dash display.

So, what would be the point?

Click to expand...

Well, I am hoping that either:

1) We will come up with a much better simulation for Gids OR
2) A modified ELM327 will be able to read the EV CAN and provide True Gids (TM)

Click to expand...

Ditto. Raw Gids are coming from somewhere and we have most of the data. Just need to connect the dots (or not). I think finding an off-the-shelf bluetooth dongle, which can read both the CAR and the EV CAN bus won't be possible.

Click to expand...

Ok, so we all agree. I suggest that a semi-custom approach to the OBD2 Bluetooth device is the best approach. It could switch at some rate between CAN and EV-CAN bus, to sample Gids every X amount of time. So, some type of automated switching device installed?

vrwl said:

As an FYI, I purchased my extension cable at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZN0JKG/ref=pe_309540_26725410_item" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (I believe this was the one previously mentioned by Stoaty)

Click to expand...

Nope. I don't have an extension cable (yet), but just purchased the combo of extension cable and splitter I mentioned on the Wiki:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Leaf_Battery_Application" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A 1 foot extension cable is much better in my opinion, otherwise you end up with "cable management" problems.

Not sure a switching device is necessary if two wires are changed, the ELM can read the EV CAN and also still read the CAR CAN.

LEAFfan said:

Not sure a switching device is necessary if two wires are changed, the ELM can read the EV CAN and also still read the CAR CAN.

Click to expand...

Ok, I thought it was one or the other bus. I didn't know it could do both at the same time, therefore the problem is already solved (with a little tinkering on the OBD2 Bluetooth thingy).

LEAFfan said:

Not sure a switching device is necessary if two wires are changed, the ELM can read the EV CAN and also still read the CAR CAN.

Click to expand...

Don't think so. You can send a request on the CAR-CAN that go to the EV-CAN and the response comes back to the EV-CAN. But the CAR-CAN can not see any other EV-CAN messages only those that were requested. Gids are not requested so are only available on the EV-CAN.

However, the currently released app only sends requests for the EV-CAN so can work on either CAN bus. But if connected to the EV-CAN none of the CAR-CAN messages will be seen.

The version of the app I am working on right now monitors Regen/Braking which is only on the CAR-CAN.

The next version will have an option in the Settings to indicated which CAN bus the ELM327 is connected to so the app will know which messages it can listen for.

LEAFer said:

And to JP: could you post where you bought an extension cable (and maybe it can be added to the wiki).

Click to expand...

I liked this one because it's has a right angled cable connection at the OBD interface (which keeps it away from my feet) and is <$10 and Amazon Prime eligible (ie free 2 day shipping for prime membership)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PAHHWM/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=jpwhstebl-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B007PAHHWM&adid=00BV6WZA295T1TBZGDPT&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In addition these clips from Office Depot are ideal for fixing the cable on the under dash area above the feet area.
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/284374/Ativa-Cable-Clips-White-Pack-Of/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Turbo3 said:

The next version will have an option in the Settings to indicated which CAN bus the ELM327 is connected to so the app will know which messages it can listen for.

Click to expand...

Ok, can a OBD2 splitter be used to run two ELM327 devices (one for CAR-CAN, and one for EV-CAN, and then can the phone and your app use the two separate signals into the one app?

The next version will have an option in the Settings to indicated which CAN bus
the ELM327 is connected to so the app will know which messages it can listen for.

Click to expand...

Very nice.

Apparently you are going to add a Braking (Mechanical / Regen) screen?
Wonderful!

You are gradually pulling together all the features that have been discovered.
Splendid work, indeed.

Perhaps if you are displaying a screen that does not use the Query/Response data
(and you are not logging) you could have an option to stop the Queries?

JPWhite said:

In addition these clips from Office Depot are ideal for fixing the cable on the under dash area above the feet area.
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/284374/Ativa-Cable-Clips-White-Pack-Of/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

Will those clips accommodate 2 of the fairly good sized cable we are dealing with? I can't tell how big they are. Do they attach somewhere to really keep the cables out of the way?

edatoakrun said:

I drove my usual range/capacity test rout yesterday with the app running most of the way, with a few frustrations, and leading to severl questions.

I'm still having issues establishing and maintaining a connection. I'm thinking of buying another ELM327and giving that a try.

What procedure should restore connectivity if you lose it while driving?

Could the irritating "connected/ disconnected from phone event" pop up I get on my energy screen every ~30 seconds be indicative of this ELM327 connectivity problem?

How can I make it go away?

What is going on with all the red I saw on the screen all day yesterday??

This shot was taken a few hundred yards into the trip:

Click to expand...

Ed,

I have two things that I try if I lose connection. The first is just >settings >exit followed by a relaunch of the app. The second is to also exit, but then to disable and reenable Bluetooth before relaunch. Try these and see if they work for you.

You have a lot of red. I had quite a bit myself, but only about half as much as you. I found that after several days of disabling my timers and charging when I got home, that my red was almost completely gone. I also see that you have a Cell Pair Voltage spread of (32) millivolts at a high SOC (full?). To me that looks high and you could probably benefit from some pack balancing.

I read a dozen leafs at our local meet up and almost all of them were in the mid-teens for the Cell Pair Voltage spread. I’ve also noticed that value stays pretty low up to about LBW and after that it can range quite high (at least as high at 160). This goes along with the pack voltage knee that was shown a long time ago and is another reason to avoid LBW if we reasonably can.

At Gary's suggestion, I have added a link to the Leaf Battery App Manual to my signature.

garygid said:

The next version will have an option in the Settings to indicated which CAN bus
the ELM327 is connected to so the app will know which messages it can listen for.

Click to expand...

Very nice.

Apparently you are going to add a Braking (Mechanical / Regen) screen?
Wonderful!

You are gradually pulling together all the features that have been discovered.
Splendid work, indeed.

Perhaps if you are displaying a screen that does not use the Query/Response data
(and you are not logging) you could have an option to stop the Queries?

Click to expand...

It is available now for testing here http://bit.ly/leaf_batt-v023e

When you are on screen 4 Query/Response must be stopped. It is restarted shortly after you leave screen 4.

If you have specified that the ELM327 is connected to the EV-CAN then the Regen/Brake screen will be replaced with a screen showing real Gids. The real Gids will also be displayed on screen 3. But on screen 3 it will be static (i.e. last value received when on screen 4).

Sven said:

Thanks Turbo3 for the work you are putting into this app!

I have tried the 0.22 version with Samsung Galaxy S2 running Gingerbread 2.3.5.
It works nicely for a couple of seconds, then it stops loading data and the yellow "waiting" message stays on the screen, see the screen capture.

I am using the ELM327 mini adapter. When using the new Sony Xperia Z phone, it seems to work fine.

Click to expand...

Sven,

I’m also running v0.22 on a S2 running 2.3.5 and I haven’t seen the troubles that you have. Send me a PM if you want me to try something for you.

Best ELM327?

I am getting to this party kind of late but think joining is a good idea.

I've read through the thread, skimmed the wiki, and will be getting an ATT fusion prepaid phone at Fry's (will my iPhone SIM work with it, we'll see?). Anyway...

I want to order the ELM327 or equivalent at Amazon, but can't figure out the best one? There is the jumper option, etc. Less important than the cost is which one...?

Would someone mind telling me which one is best and why...? Sorry for being a bit lazy, but I did try and got overwhelmed...

It appears to me that when calculating gids from soc that the offset between
the 2 may not be used. I found from extrapolation for me that when soc = 0,
gids = -15.
I recorded data on 4-24-2013 for soc, and gids, with my home brew hardware.
Here is a plot of the data:

The red is about 6600 data points, and green is a
linear fit to the data, using gids = soc * .31 - 15.
While the .31 will change with battery age, I do not know if
the -15 gids will change, or is fixed.
Still as a first guess, using this offset might improve simulated gids calculation.

cliff said:

I recorded data on 4-24-2013 for soc, and gids, with my home brew hardware. The red is about 6600 data points, and green is a linear fit to the data, using gids = soc * .31 - 15. While the .31 will change with battery age, I do not know if the -15 gids will change, or is fixed. Still as a first guess, using this offset might improve simulated gids calculation.

Click to expand...

This is fantastic, thank you for doing this. I didn't think that a linear fit was possible, and it's great to see it black (or green) on white. Perhaps we can find some rational explanation for this, especially as the data from different vehicles will trickle in. There is a very real chance that the veil of mystery will be lifted in the process.

JimSouCal said:

I've read through the thread, skimmed the wiki, and will be getting an ATT fusion prepaid phone at Fry's (will my iPhone SIM work with it, we'll see?). Anyway...

I want to order the ELM327 or equivalent at Amazon, but can't figure out the best one? There is the jumper option, etc. Less important than the cost is which one...?

Click to expand...

I don't think there is a clear answer. You can get the stubby one I got from Amazon that works perfectly with the Fusion 2 phone:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008U1MOM8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you want to be able to modify it to read the EV-CAN bus, I think only one has been mentioned as good for that:

http://www.amazon.com/Vgate-ELM327-Bluetooth-Scanner-ANDROID/dp/B00AAOOQJC/?tag=myelecarfor-20&/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I will probably end up getting the Vgate if/when I want to try the modification (probably after it is clear there will be an advantage to doing that). Of course, I already have a Gid Meter (which I am very fond of), but would like to get down to just one device.

I don't know if anyone has use for this information, but I have been keeping tabs on GID% vs "ELMGIDS%". I have been swapping my GID meter with the ELM and immediately comparing the values. I pasted the numbers in the table below, which is fairly readable. The largest deviation between genuine GIDS and calculated ones was when GIDS were lowest. As long as it is a consistent difference, it is a number that we can use. It would also be interesting to know how well the numbers apply between those with different capacity. At any rate, it is still a more useful number to me than raw SOC%

One other note, on my DROID4, 3 of the last 4 updates caused it to reboot at the end of install. Bug or feature?


Thanks Turbo3!
Jim

Stoaty said:

JPWhite said:

In addition these clips from Office Depot are ideal for fixing the cable on the under dash area above the feet area.
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/284374/Ativa-Cable-Clips-White-Pack-Of/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

Will those clips accommodate 2 of the fairly good sized cable we are dealing with? I can't tell how big they are. Do they attach somewhere to really keep the cables out of the way?

Click to expand...

No the cables are too thick to fit into the clip together. But you could always route the cables parallel to each other and attach each cable individually.

Here's how they look side by side


The cable can be attached to the underside of the drivers side dash. See the following routing I did from the OBDII outlet to the center console where I keep the ELM327 in a cup holder.


The cable can be inserted and removed from the clip multiple times. So if you are concerned the dealer service dept will question having a cable plugged into the ODB Port, the cable, ELM327 and Droid can all be removed from the car in 30 seconds and they are none the wiser.

JPWhite said:

The cable can be inserted and removed from the clip multiple times. So if you are concerned the dealer service dept will question having a cable plugged into the ODB Port, the cable, ELM327 and Droid can all be removed from the car in 30 seconds and they are none the wiser.

Click to expand...

Looks very good. I think I will add the link and the photos to the Wiki when I have time for those of us who don't like to re-invent the wheel.