Mini 0806 OBD-II Plug Hard-wire

[Thunderbird]

Hi Guys, I've had this 0806 since last Monday and it has been working fine (done about 5hrs recording) using the cigarette lighter adapter. It was also supplied with what the seller's ad called "OBD-II Plug Hard-wire", here's a pic of it:

Can anyone explain how this thing works? I am a little reluctant to connect it, for fear of damaging the camera. Does it do the same job as the ciggy lighter adapter or does the car have a 5volt output on one of the pins? All advice appreciated

 

[Sunny]

I'd not plug anything on the OBD.
If something gets fked up and shorts the circuit, you'll have to spend a lot more to fix that.

 

[jokiin]

Hi Guys, I've had this 0806 since last Monday and it has been working fine (done about 5hrs recording) using the cigarette lighter adapter. It was also supplied with what the seller's ad called "OBD-II Plug Hard-wire", here's a pic of it:

Can anyone explain how this thing works? I am a little reluctant to connect it, for fear of damaging the camera. Does it do the same job as the ciggy lighter adapter or does the car have a 5volt output on one of the pins? All advice appreciated

converter is in the plug, not sure it's something I'd use though

 

[erkme73]

OBD is a direct connection to the CANBUS of your car - it's central nervous system. Agreed that if anything goes wrong, it has the potential of damaging any number of ECUs in the car. Simply not worth the risk, IMHO.

 

[jokiin]

OBD is a direct connection to the CANBUS of your car - it's central nervous system. Agreed that if anything goes wrong, it has the potential of damaging any number of ECUs in the car. Simply not worth the risk, IMHO.

it's probably only connected to the power wires, that said though if you have an issue with the vehicle it wouldn't be too hard to imagine the dealer questioning your 3rd party device as the cause of any computer related gremlins, not a risk I would take given how difficult some can be about warranties

 

[Thunderbird]

OK, thanks for the help guys. You have scared me sufficiently, to prevent me from trying this thing. I might wait until I see a few others using it successfully

it's probably only connected to the power wires, that said though if you have an issue with the vehicle it wouldn't be too hard to imagine the dealer questioning your 3rd party device as the cause of any computer related gremlins, not a risk I would take given how difficult some can be about warranties

The car is nearly 5 years out of warranty, so that's not an issue, but it still runs well and it would be a real pain (not to mention costly) to lose it for any length of time, as we live way out in the bush.

 

[jokiin]

I think they're reasonably low risk as a device, main concern would be connecting to a vehicle that is within warranty in case something unrelated came up and the 3rd party device was blamed, guilty or not

this type of product won't necessarily have a decent quality power supply in it though, convenient sure, but quality unknown

 

[Thunderbird]

I think they're reasonably low risk as a device, main concern would be connecting to a vehicle that is within warranty in case something unrelated came up and the 3rd party device was blamed, guilty or not

this type of product won't necessarily have a decent quality power supply in it though, convenient sure, but quality unknown

I might just use it as a spare, incase the lighter adapter goes belly up. I can't imagine it being any worse quality than the standard adapter, really. The only real issue, would be if different makes of cars were wired differently, but surely, this isn't the case. I guess that's enough of a reason to dissuade me, though.

 

[jokiin]

I believe the power connector pin outs are all the same for OBD ports so shouldn't be an issue

 

[jokiin]

just opened one up and had a look, not exactly a stellar power supply

 

[Thunderbird]

just opened one up and had a look, not exactly a stellar power supply

Nice! Have you opened the cig lighter adapter, it's probably the same, I am guessing. There isn't a lot of room in that either.

 

[jokiin]

the cig chargers generally have bigger caps in them

 

[Rajagra]

I'd not plug anything on the OBD.
If something gets fked up and shorts the circuit, you'll have to spend a lot more to fix that.

Surely all the signal lines are protected by something like opto-isolators? If not there must be money to be made by selling an isolating dongle (extension lead.) Or are they already available?

 

[Gibson99]

what is that, just a couple caps and a vrm? not even a heat sink? and why bother plugging into OBD-II if you're not going to collect data from it?

but yes - pinout is standardized on all OBD-II ports, globally.

one thing to be careful of though - that 12v is CONSTANT. always on. so it could kill your battery having something plugged in there full time. be careful with that.

 

[Gibson99]

Surely all the signal lines are protected by something like opto-isolators? If not there must be money to be made by selling an isolating dongle (extension lead.) Or are they already available?

surely you jest. manufacturers can and do cut corners wherever they think they can get away with it. a haypenny here, 2 cents there, it all adds up when working in volume.

 

[jokiin]

you can see all the pins are exposed, if the power supply were to let go there is always the possibility of it shorting something, even if that's not too likely it's still a consideration I think

 

[Rajagra]

surely you jest. manufacturers can and do cut corners wherever they think they can get away with it. a haypenny here, 2 cents there, it all adds up when working in volume.

Yeah, what was I thinking? That just because there's a legal requirement to fit these things that they would also require them to be safe? Silly me!

 

[Nigel]

the cig chargers generally have bigger caps in them

The ones with bigger caps are the cheap ones with low switching frequency that make nasty noises and interference. A decent high switching frequency one doesn't need big caps as they don't need to store power for long.

...
one thing to be careful of though - that 12v is CONSTANT. always on. so it could kill your battery having something plugged in there full time. be careful with that.

Yes, even the data lines are always on, I have a diagnostic display plugged into my socket and that can read the battery voltage data from the ECU at any time.

How is it going to know when the engine is stopped and it is time to turn the dashcam off if it doesn't also pick up the data lines and the voltage is regulated to a constant 5V?

 

[RavenManiac]

I'd not plug anything on the OBD.
If something gets fked up and shorts the circuit, you'll have to spend a lot more to fix that.

+1

 

[Gibson99]

The ones with bigger caps are the cheap ones with low switching frequency that make nasty noises and interference. A decent high switching frequency one doesn't need big caps as they don't need to store power for long.

Yes, even the data lines are always on, I have a diagnostic display plugged into my socket and that can read the battery voltage data from the ECU at any time.

How is it going to know when the engine is stopped and it is time to turn the dashcam off if it doesn't also pick up the data lines and the voltage is regulated to a constant 5V?

Some electronics are sensitive enough to "hear" alternator noise which indicated that the engine is on. Course that doesn't work on hybrids. And I REALLY doubt this thing has anything like that inside.