DPF Forced Regen Tools - What works and What does not

[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.