DPF Forced Regen Tools - What works and What does not

[Rich W.]

If I have been following this thread correctly, Rich, you now have 3 devices that essentially do the same things - OTR and two Diesel Laptops devices. If ease of use, and available functions are best with the OTR unit, wouldn’t that be the unit of choice if you can stomach the $800 price tag? Are there any other reasons to pick one of the Diesel Laptops instead of OTR?

OTR also comes with a $600/year subscription. For an RV owner thats generally an unnecessary expense. I bought it back when I started having emissions troubles and it kept me on the road, and when the thing was in the shop I knew what was wrong, what it needed (and what it didn't need) and could then determine if it fell under the the emissions warranty.

So it served me well. It doesnt just display the codes, it takes you to a page for each code that details the issue, trouble shooting, and the proper repair proceedure - same info as Insite. And as mentioned it performs the after treatment reset used when you either service or replace your DPF. I also like the way it performs regens better, but the DD does them, just takes longer to initiate.

So OTR is more advanced and the price is reasonable for what it does, but the question is whether or not that level of diagnostics is needed. For us I’d say its generally not, especially with these two devices from Diesel Laptops. They don’t do as much but I don’t need the additional stuff OTR does to keep my coach on the road. If I was relying on a truck for my livelihood or was a fleet manager, I’d be all for it.

At this this point though, if I re-up with OTR next January it will be more out of loyalty than need. They were there for me when I needed help and was new to this fragile diesel emissions system (and the Diesel Decoder didnt perform commands then) and they also invited me to beta test their 2.0 version. They are a great bunch to work with and are dedicated to keeping big rigs on the road instead of on the back of a tow truck or in the shop.

But I really can’t reccomend that the average DP owner go that route with these other devices avaibale and functional, albeit at a lower level. Its an acceptable level and the price is right, and it's a one-time cost. I still haven't received my handheld scanner so until I actually play with that I wont know how much I like it. But I like the idea of having something that attaches to the J1939 port by cable. So stay tuned for that. Should be here in a couple days.

 

[Rich W.]

Is there a white plug/connector below the OBD port? White plug with red lock below is the shorting plug. Separate and then reconnect per the procedure outlined in my Broke down thread.

View attachment 14476

Mine (2016) even has a “Regen” lable on it. It’s right below the J1939 port under the dash, left side.

Here are the instructuons again:

http://www.ourmotorhome.net/2017/docs/DPF_Regen_instructions.pdf

But note that according to this and Neal’s personal experience, it will not work unless the DPF lamp is on, and that doesn't illuminate until you have a considerable soot load (80%?) so it is not useful for maintenance regens.

 

[stang37]

Thanks Rich W. Sometime you can't see the woods for the trees. It was right there in plain site. I even hookup up the scanner to the OBD and didn't notice the connector.

 

[Rich W.]

Thanks Rich W. Sometime you can't see the woods for the trees. It was right there in plain site. I even hookup up the scanner to the OBD and didn't notice the connector.

Lets us know what happens.

 

[Rich W.]

More later but this is it! Done so many regens lately my DPF is squeaky clean. Differential pressure is 0psi. Soot load 0%. But this device doesnt care - it does forced regens with the after tx injector activated and dosing and has a line in the display to confirm it -Love it! If this device doesn't make you happy, you’ll have to buy Insite.

 

[redbaron]

More later but this is it! Done so many regens lately my DPF is squeaky clean. Differential pressure is 0psi. Soot load 0%. But this device doesnt care - it does forced regens with the after tx injector activated and dosing and has a line in the display to confirm it -Love it! If this device doesn't make you happy, you’ll have to buy Insite.View attachment 14532

Ordered....thanks!

 

[Rich W.]

Also with a 30 day return policy you can‘t go wrong. I bought mine used for 1/2 price and cant tell it from new. Might need a firmware update, but it works just fine as is. Here’s a pic of what you get - I guess you can use it on anything with OBDII. I wont travel with the big case and all the cables - just the device and the J1939 adapter. Let me know if you have any questions

.

 

[Neal]

@Rich W. is this the one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MG9KMKZ/?tag=rvf01-20

 

[Rich W.]

@Rich W. is this the one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MG9KMKZ/?tag=rvf01-20

yes same thing.

Here’s some pics from performing a parked/forced/manual regen. The last one is probably the most important to me - it shows the after-treatment doser “on” and the resultant high exhaust temp. This is a first for me and essential to confirm you're actually performing a regen.

For regens, this device is nice because the extra steps/screens give you additional info and it lets you know you’re doing this right. Also it has code reading/clearing, libraries, all that, and will read and clear codes on any gas diesel vehicle with OBDII.

 

[Neal]

yes same thing.

Thanks - ordering from Amazon.

 

[Rich W.]

The info on the after treatment doser (seventh injector) was critical to me. With OTR I don’t have data field, AND my forced regens weren’t going over around 790°. This concerned me enough to have the Freightliner shop peform a regen, record temps, amd confirm that the doser was working (the coach was there for other stuff anyway).

But still with other device I not only had no confirmation of this, but with OTR it seemed to confirm that it wasn’t working. I didn't know if this was because of a fault in the device or my coach, or becuase my DPF was at 0% soot load, or if I just wasn’t getting sufficient data. And there is really no room for confusion or doubts here.

The Diesel Laptops Handhelp came through for me as evidenced in the pics above. It confirms that the doser is either off or on, and my regen ran at about 1050° for the duration (about an hour and ten minutes) after fully heating up. This gives me peace of mind about the system function and the quality of the regen, and thus my DPF health.

So thats why I say “this is it”. I also like a hand held device that’s like a multi-meter and I like that that it plugs into the J1939 port and does not require a blue tooth connection to a ”smart” device. Guess Im a little old school here, but I just find this method much more pleasing and acceptable.

 

[Neal]

Any tips on first time users on how to read info, perform regens, clear codes, etc. is appreciated. A mini tutorial would be great.

The video below is a great tutorial as well as @Rich W.'s pictures above.

Click here to purchase

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diesel+laptops+handheld+heavy-duty+scan+tool+with+regen

 

[Rich W.]

One of the nice things about this tool is that its simple to use. The instruction manual is brief and the screens are intuitive. I read the manual, then went out to the coach, plugged it in, and just explored it. It powers up with the key off so you can start by just letting it examine the system.

After turning the key on I went through the code reading/clearing functions but I dont have any active codes. So then I just went through the regen process (8 pics above). One thing to note, and maybe its because I bought mine used and its older, but there is no mention of regens in my manual. But I also found I didn’t need any instruction. Just paged through the screens and made it happen.

I’ll have to work with it more on codes, code history, and libraries, but it has what appears to be a good code look-up system and library, that includes codes for anything with OBDII - not just our SPN & FMI DTCs. Another nice thing about this is that the whole time I was using it I felt like I was using a professional tool and not some cheap home-owner code reader.

One thing that caused a little concern was that my ABS light came on and stayed on while performing the regen, but it went off as soon as I was finished. Might have a word with tech support about that. The only thing missing is regen timer running on the screen (OTR has this) but I can time it with something else. My regen ran about an hour and ten minutes.

 

[Neal]

My ABS light was on after my tech visited in Breck...it may have to do with clearing codes or some maintenance reset. Once I drove off, wheels turning, it went off. I called the tech about this and he mentioned once the wheel sensors sense the wheels turning it should go off, and it did.

Obviously we are after soot level. If we don't get that on this device and you communicate with the vendor, maybe ask them if it can be added. What we want to know as RVers is when to be concerned and do a regen. We really shouldn't need to be regen'ing unless it's needed. Routine checks of values is where I'd like to be, forcing regens only if necessary.

 

[Rich W.]

This device has a soot level indicator but it doesnt seem all that precise. On mine it said the soot level was “normal” and maybe that’s good enough but I would also prefer more detail. Both my other devices say its 0%. Normal probably just means not out of spec or excessive. Not sure what to believe, and I’m not at all convinced that 0% on mine is correct/accurate, so I’ll add thst to the list. Maybe in a future firmware version?

OTR reccomends doing regens monthly, but again they are more geared toward the occupational driver and fleet manager. Maybe a good practice would be to regen after every trip, whenever you have a DPF light, and/or whenever you see that you have inturpted an active regen by stopping or slowing. But I have enough questions to justify another conversation with tech support and there will probably be more. I’ll report back with anything new.

Edit: I’ll hook it up again and go to that page and see if the soot load reading is different after performing a regen.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Hi Rich, thanks for the extensive reviews in this thread. To recap, are you still saying that both the Diesel devices have the same functionality and display the same info, just the handheld and additional cables versus the BT to a smart phone and the single 9 pin interface??

 

[Rich W.]

Hi Rich, thanks for the extensive reviews in this thread. To recap, are you still saying that both the Diesel devices have the same functionality and display the same info, just the handheld and additional cables versus the BT to a smart phone and the single 9 pin interface??

Not really. The OTR diagnostics app will run a regen immediately which is nice, but on repeated efforts I never saw temps above 700° and there is no indicator for the after treatment injector status. The Diesel Laptops handhelp has a field for the 7th injector on and off.

Clearly though, if the aftertreatment temp reading was correct at under 700°, the “7th injector” was not operating. And as mentioned above it was reading the soot level as 0% which I’m interpreting as a non-reading. And previously OTR read my soot levels anywhere from around 20% to over 130%.

Because of this and after discussing these results with several mechanics, I went to the considerable trouble of changing my differential pressure sensor, which also cost almost $200 and had no effect. So I then paid the Freightliner shop to diagnose my emissions system and their report indicated all was well. So this was a wasted effort/expense.

The Diesel Decoder (also blue tooth) had a considerable delay starting a regen and also reads my soot level as 0%. I’ll run it through the paces again but I’m beginning to think there is an issue with blue tooth reading, at least with these two devices. It does provide a detailed report on every sensor, system, and condition, which is nice, but I’ll have to check again on regen temps.

The Diesel Laptops Handheld gave me reliable data, and performed a regen that went over 1050°. It doesn’t have a precise soot level reading but it’s good enough for me since it seems to at least be correct, and the regen ran as expected. I would reccomend this over the others.

 

[FLSteve]

Ordered....thanks!

@redbaron ... assume this works on Spartan since you are getting one??

FLSteve

 

[Rich W.]

@redbaron ... assume this works on Spartan since you are getting one??

FLSteve

Given the screen in the pic, I think it is drive train manufacturer dependent, not chassis manufacturer. Note it doesn't list Freightliner either, but does list Cummins among quite a few others. So as long as you can plug in to a diagnostics port, it should work.

 

[stang37]

Brief conversation with Diesel lap top expert person via chat. Told him it had been tested on a Cummins engine in a MH FL chassis but not a Spartan MH chassis with a Cummins engine, I just wanted to make sure it would work on either. His reply it works on Cummins engines! Not sure the engine know where it sitting.