OBD-II Break Out Box

[houdel]

I'm in the market for an OBD-II Break Out Box and am wondering what you guys are using? I'm torn between the Cando OBD Aid and the OTC 3415. I'm partial to OTC tools, but the Cando has a longer cable, a light on the OBD connector, and some sort of built in test routine to conduct a "safety check" of the OBD port. Can anyone tell me what the test routine does? Not interested in the Snap On BOB as it doesn't have a volt meter or LEDs on the pins.

 

[mvdavid]

Check out the one that is sold / modified by AES. I had one for 5 years and was satisfied, great customer service. Lots of diagnostic goodies on their site.

 

[Bobioz1]

Check out the one that is sold / modified by AES. I had one for 5 years and was satisfied, great customer service. Lots of diagnostic goodies on their site.

Same here.

 

[houdel]

Check out the one that is sold / modified by AES. I had one for 5 years and was satisfied, great customer service. Lots of diagnostic goodies on their site.

I also looked at the AES LineSPI Smartbob. Nice tool but it doesn't have a voltmeter and not all of the pins have LEDs.

 

[Brownsfan]

I use the OTC. I have no issues at all. I haven't tried any other brands so i can only tell you about the OTC.

 

[Bobioz1]

The breakout box is for using a voltmeter or scope on the DLC circuits. Why would you need a built in volt meter for pin 16?

 

[houdel]

The breakout box is for using a voltmeter or scope on the DLC circuits. Why would you need a built in volt meter for pin 16?

You can do a lot more with a breakout box than just use a voltmeter or scope on the DLC circuits. For example, you can also use it as a mini power probe to diagnose a malfunctioning power window, door lock or mirror circuit without having to run power and ground leads in from under the hood. Besides, if one BOB has a built in voltmeter and another doesn't, if they were otherwise equal in performance and price why WOULDN'T you want the one with the voltmeter?

 

[Bobioz1]

The fuse that protects pin 16 probably won’t carry the current to run a power window motor. Same for the grounds on pins 4 and 5. The reason to not have a built in voltmeter is noise. Same as the LEDs. That’s why the AES box has an LED defeat switch on it.

 

[houdel]

The fuse on pin 16 is rated at 5 amps. Noise from the voltmeter? I'd like to hear more about that. I can see maybe a few nanovolts on pins 4 and 16, how is that an issue?

 

[Bobioz1]

Power window motors are fused at 20-30 amps. The AES box says 1 amp max. How’s your math? The noise I referred to was in scoping CAN data or flashing a module.

 

[kbeefy]

Amatuer here....

I have seen this box in several tool truck magazines.

I'm intrigued but not sure where the benifit is..... I have a snap-on verus pro D10

Would this be helpfull? Or redundant?

thanks!!

 

[houdel]

Power window motors are fused at 20-30 amps. The AES box says 1 amp max. How’s your math? The noise I referred to was in scoping CAN data or flashing a module.

The OTC and Cando boxes are fused at 5 amps. My interest is more in diagnosing power and ground integrity in the cabin wiring. Mostly low current stuff but I'll still have to break out the Power Probe if I wanted to spin a power window motor.

LEDs do have a reputation for being noisy if the application is poorly engineered, but mostly in amplified electronics and/or RF. Don't know what the S/N ratio would be for a single LED on a CAN line would be. The LED defeat switch on the AES box may be a good idea. I didn't see that feature mentioned when I read the description of the Smart BOB on their webpage.

 

[Tallpilot]

Amatuer here....

I have seen this box in several tool truck magazines.

I'm intrigued but not sure where the benifit is..... I have a snap-on verus pro D10

Would this be helpfull? Or redundant?

thanks!!

Since you have a scope the BOB is a way to see the network traffic without needing to backprobe or pierce a wire. That can be very useful.