Is it possible?

[DV52]

Is it possible to show the battery voltage (as an icon - or value) somewhere on the VCDS screen where it is always visible to the cable user (perhaps on the top of the screen in the Ross-Tech ribbon)? Battery voltage is such a vital parameter for the successful completion of all VCDS cable functions, yet the user is blind to it's ability to sustain the next step in the process - this is not intended as a criticism, it's just an observation.

Yes, I'm conscious of the RT warnings about using battery chargers, but often where the work doesn't take a long time to complete, this insurance step is avoided ( by me at least and I suspect by others too). I'm very aware of the state of charge of the battery in my car, but for some of the vehicles that I have seen of late, the owners don't have the same respect for their batteries (difficult to believe, I know -but it's true!). I'm not a professional VCDS user, but I'm certain that commercial workshops must face the same problem.

I haven't thought deeply about how this might be implemented: a simple traffic-light icon would suffice as an easy solution (i.e. good- suspect- bad), or the actual voltage as reported by ODBII with a warning chime when a danger threshold is reached could be a more sophisticated alternative. The existence of such a facility could promote more risky practices by inexperieinced cable users, but I believe that the advantages would far outweigh this possibility.

Comments welcomed

Don

 

[Uwe]

In principle that would be possible with a HEX-NET, but not with the older HEX-USB+CAN, which simply doesn't have the circuitry needed to monitor voltage on the car side.

-Uwe-

 

[NitrousOxide]

Yes, I'm conscious of the RT warnings about using battery chargers,

For peace of mind, I simply have my battery connected to a second battery via a jumper cable (of similar size and capacity), when I'm doing procedures with the vehicle being stationary for some time with the ignition on.