I plugged my scan gauge in for the first time - GreenHybrid

kristian · #1 (**permalink**) 07-22-2008, 06:43 AM

When I bought my Scan Gauge, it went right into the MMH where it was needed more (I like my miles per hour and mpg in my line of sight). I recently loaned it to my father for a cross country trip and when he returned it, I plugged it into the HCH for the first time.

In only 10 miles of driving, I've already noticed something interesting: when the iFCD does the Samba, the valves are NOT closed like I thought they were. The Scan Gauge reads around 140mpg when doing the Samba, not the 9999mpg that it reads when the valves are closed. Granted, 140 isn't bad, but all this time I thought it was 0gpm...

I really wish that the SG had the ability to read the SoC on the HCH. My battery crashed again on the way in today and I would really like to understand this better. I am going to call the dealer for an appointment for the steering column grease recall and I will have them take a look at the battery system too.

pascha · #2 (**permalink**) 07-22-2008, 07:19 AM

Quote:

The Scan Gauge reads around 140mpg when doing the Samba, not the 9999mpg that it reads when the valves are closed. Granted, 140 isn't bad, but all this time I thought it was 0gpm...

Have you tried putting the SG on GPH during the Samba?

I really like having the SG in the HCH. I like knowing the water temp and air temp. My favorite is Throttle Position (TPS) while I'm training my foot on the pedal.

I had it in the Accord before I got the HCH and used it to 'drive it like a hybrid' as much as possible. The MPG on the SG seems low, especially compared to the iFCD. I guess I need to double-check the settings I changed when I moved it from car to car.

I especially like the fact that I can change the background color on the SG to blue to match the HCH dash at night!

The only thing that bothers me about the SG in the HCH is when I auto stop at a stoplight, the SG will turn off and not come back on when I go again. Is there any way to change the auto-off on the SG?

kristian · #3 (**permalink**) 07-22-2008, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pascha

Have you tried putting the SG on GPH during the Samba?

I had it in the Accord before I got the HCH and used it to 'drive it like a hybrid' as much as possible. The MPG on the SG seems low, especially compared to the iFCD. I guess I need to double-check the settings I changed when I moved it from car to car.

The only thing that bothers me about the SG in the HCH is when I auto stop at a stoplight, the SG will turn off and not come back on when I go again. Is there any way to change the auto-off on the SG?

I have not tried GPH, but I will. I also noticed that my mpg was lower on the SG than on the iFCD. I would guess that the SG is correct, but who knows. I do know that I like having the iFCD as a bar graph a lot more than having numbers--much easier for me to process.

There is a setting for engine in the SG setup somewhere with choices of Gas, Diesel 1, Diesel 2, and Hybrid. If you set it to Hybrid, it will not shut off when you autostop. It took me a little trial and error to find it this morning when I set it up (vs. my father's gas car) but it wasn't buried too deeply in the menus.

pascha · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2008, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristian

I have not tried GPH, but I will. I also noticed that my mpg was lower on the SG than on the iFCD. I would guess that the SG is correct, but who knows. I do know that I like having the iFCD as a bar graph a lot more than having numbers--much easier for me to process.

There is a setting for engine in the SG setup somewhere with choices of Gas, Diesel 1, Diesel 2, and Hybrid. If you set it to Hybrid, it will not shut off when you autostop. It took me a little trial and error to find it this morning when I set it up (vs. my father's gas car) but it wasn't buried too deeply in the menus.

I will assume that the iFCD is correct until I fill up. I have 3 bars of fuel left after driving to work this morning. The trip meter says I've gotten 59.6 MPG over 568 miles. On a side note, I passed 1,000 miles on the ODO this morning and arrived at work with 1,002.

You are right, I didn't have the SG set up right. It was on gas and not hybrid. It worked better this morning, so I will 'trust' the SG more on the next tank. It really is helpful to know when you are 9999'ing versus above 100 MPG, but burning fuel.

dantheman · #5 (**permalink**) 07-23-2008, 10:32 PM

Kristian,

I've had a Scan Gauge in my HCH2 since December. It doesn't work well for me for exactly the problem you reported. If you ask me, the Scan Gauge guys have a bug. I've talked with their tech support (which is very prompt), but nothing they've recommened helps it reliably show 9999 MPG when I know it isn't using gas. The last suggestion they had was to change the data sampling rate to FAST which didn't help.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion on this forum on the same topic if you want more info:

http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f...er-both-18830/

Personally, I think there are more interesting products on the market. But for all I know, they'll have the same problem interpreting the OBD-II data correctly. I probably wouldn't buy a SGII again.

Have you seen the Kiwi? http://www.plxkiwi.com/index.html

-dan

Jettage · #6 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 04:33 AM

Sorry, but someone's gotta be the newB here...

Defs please:
1. Samba
2. iFCD

And what's up with an '06 steering column grease recall - I didn't get anything on that...

(I don't want to hijack the thread - PM me if you'd rather...)

Thanks,

Steve

pascha · #7 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jettage

Sorry, but someone's gotta be the newB here...

Defs please:
1. Samba
2. iFCD

1. Search this forum for 'Samba' but here's a link:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f...10/#post143119

2. instantaneous Fuel Consumption Display...It is the bar graph next to the speedometer. You have to select iFCD or water temp with a little button on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. It's the button next to the SEL/RESET button.

kristian · #8 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jettage

And what's up with an '06 steering column grease recall - I didn't get anything on that...

The steering grease recall involves certain 06-07 cars which may have been "over lubricated" with grease on the steering column that could drip into a brake light sensor and may cause your brake lights to not work. It is not a hybrid-specific recall from my understanding. My car is a very late '06 if that matters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dantheman

but nothing they've recommened helps it reliably show 9999 MPG when I know it isn't using gas.

So does yours not show 9999 under a normal glide, or just during the Samba? If it's just during the Samba, do you know that you aren't actually using any gas? My aFCD (average fuel consumption display for the newbie

) increases when the car is Sambaing, but that would be the case if it's getting 140mpg, or if it is getting 9999.

Have you used the Kiwi? This Scan Gauge is from the MMH and I will probably buy something for the HCH in the medium term. I've been waiting for Linear Logic to decode the HCH SoC before buying an SG, but I will look into the Kiwi too.

Mr. Kite · #9 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 06:47 AM

I've always thought that fuel was still being consumed during the weird iFCD drop.

I posted this about a month ago on a similar topic:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Kite @ CleanMPG

I can get this to occur on a repeatable basis too. I had some ideas about what was going on and actually bought another ScanGauge II mainly to test this out. I wasn't able to do extensive testing since I had some issues with the SG--I returned it. Anyway, the behavior really just seems like a non-linearity in the iFCD . The gauge seems to be relatively accurate when going all the way from 0 to 100 MPG . Also, it will show 100 MPG at infinite FE . However, all the FE above ~100 MPG (I'm not exactly sure where it starts dropping) causes the iFCD to start dropping below 100 mpg.

I cannot say for absolute certainty, but I believe this behavior is just a very high FE regime--and not a 0 fuel mode. As far as propelling the vehicle, this mode is far more favorable than being in a glide--even with a few bars of assist. So, I believe fuel is being consumed in this mode.

There are many places where I see this behavior, but there is one on my commute home that is a slight decline. I'm glad to see this topic brought up again. I have never liked seeing this behavior referred to as a recalibration.

kristian · #10 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dantheman

Kristian,

Have you seen the Kiwi? http://www.plxkiwi.com/index.html

-dan

That compared to the SG kinda looks like a Mac vs. a PC back in the days before Windows

. The thing that is looks to be missing is the ability to program your own "X-gauges." At the moment for the HCH, the SG X-gauges are non-existant, but I'm still hopefull that they will come out with more. For the MMH, I can program about 40 different values--everything from the generator motor RPM to the battery temperature. Most importatly, I can see my SoC as a number, not a graph.

I'll probably get another SG for the HCH--especially since you can daisy chain them and really geek out

.