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Mistake #2 - My heart skipped

A project log for CAN-obd2

This project was started as a way to display and save information from my 2008 Honda Civic's OBD2 port.

kevinjkriegerkevinjkrieger 07/25/2014 at 04:500 Comments

 Here we go, things are getting serious in this relationship. It's time to make a cable that will carry the very electrons I control between my car and my CAN-obd2 board. It's like the calm before the storm. 

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Here, we need a little comic relief: http://www.banggood.com/Car-OBD2-16Pin-Male-To-Female-Extension-Cable-Diagnostic-Adapter-p-80098.html?currency=CAD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_content=ruby&utm_campaign=Auto-ca&gclid=CKu41dfS378CFQ0baQodhHoA6Q

I bought my OBD2 cable to cut in half from banggood.com . Oh, engrish you never fail us. Their slogan is "Shopping with Fun, Best Bang For Your Buck". Indeed :). 

After cutting the thing in half, probing with the DMM to make sure I had the right cables, and soldering it all up it was time to head to the garage to violate my car's diagnostic port.

Plug it in. Turn key, slide the switch and 'POP!'. No dash lights, no centre console power, no power to close my open sunroof. Shit.

Let me tell you - I had the fear in me at this point, what exactly did I explode inside my modern automobile? 

I grabbed the DMM and settled in to the fuse box on the interior of the vehicle. All good.

I pop the hood and check the engine compartment ones. OH THANK GOD - it's just a 10 AMP fuse and I had another on hand. I replace the fuse and make sure my car works properly still - I had to dig out the anti-theft code for the CD player but nothing is permanently damaged. Back to the drawing sheet.

My page that shows just how stupid/colourblind I was. Light brown (GND) and brown (Unswitched lead-acid battery) look the same in my basement dungeon I guess. This is the cause of the short and subsequent frying of 10A worth of automotive fuse. 

I think I need to drop the heartrate down below 140bpm before coming back.

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