OBD-II and Centrafuse

dune · 04-05-2006, 01:16 AM

I'm in the middle of my project and found the OBD-II support inside of Centrafuse, so I'd like to take advantage of it. I'm not looking for anything advanced, the basic readouts are fine.

The part I'm confused on is how exactly to connect the OBD-II port to the computer. Centrafuse wants a comport and some of the serial cables I've found said they're not meant to be connected directly to a PC (and could do damage?!).

I've attached a picture of my car's OBD connection and need some help finding the right cable. I'd like to go straight from OBD to a USB port, so I *think* this cable will work for me, as long as the system detects it as a com port (like the BU-353 USB GPS). Please advise.

PredatorCoder · 04-05-2006, 01:24 AM

From the linked product:

"The ELM327MU is based on the ELM327 multi-protocol chip with an USB PC interface. Using advance SMD technology the whole circuit is built inside the OBDII connector."

So as long as Centrafuse supports ELM327 you are fine. Note that ELM327 is a OBD-II to RS232 converter. So obviously that cable must have an RS232 to USB converter inside, which will make it look like a COM port to your software. Note that ELM327 is also used in the popular ScanTool.net device: http://www.scantool.net/products/elmscan_5.htm

dune · 04-05-2006, 02:02 AM

Centrafuse will support ElmScan 3 and 5. The USB cable I linked above doesn't seem to be available anywhere and a few other posters recommended going straight serial (no USB), not sure why.

The ElmScan5 seems to be the simplest way to go, I'll try that.