User 52121

Hey all,

Quick question - Google is failing me.

Have an AiM SoloDL in the car (just installed it), connected via the CAN connection (not the OBD-II version).

I know it has a battery in it. Does the CAN connection also keep the battery charged and topped off or do I need to plan to recharge it before events?

Thanks!

Thundermoose

No. But the CAN cable should have 4 wires - 2 to the CAN and 2 for power. I just add an "add a fuse" to a switched circuit. After that you never need to mess with charging the internal battery.

ProCoach

THIS

Matt Romanowski

The Solo DL is the same for CAN or OBDII. The difference is the wiring. If the CAN and power is hooked up properly it will charge from the car.

Watch that the car does not wake the DL up with CAN signals and kill the car battery. This happens on a number of cars now because the CANbus is active even when your not near the car.

ProCoach

While it is possible for the fully charged Solo DL to work with car information but not power, it is not possible to charge or run a SmartyCam in addition to the Solo DL.

Also, for most cars, the normal (J1979) OBDII port is required to have battery power supplied all the time. The Solo DL OBDII cable does receive power from that plug.

User 52121

Cool thanks.

Somewhere along the way (my car has a very LONG story behind it) someone installed an AiM system. I found the connector hidden under the dash this last weekend.

I have no idea if, whoever wired it in, opted to also wire the (+) and (-) in.

Is there a way to tell by going through menus or something on the SoloDL itself to see if it's running off of battery or off of external power?

Matt Romanowski

Battery power will wake it up. Turn the DL off, the power off (master or switch) and then turn the power back on. If the DL turns on, it most likely has power.

The power and CAN hookup on the DL cable are close together. Blue and white are CAN. Red and black are power and ground.

User 52121

Awesome thank you!

ProCoach

That's what is so nice about the Solo DL/SmartyCam combo. Red=12V, Black=Ground and when the switched power comes on, everything comes on, when it turns off, all of it stays on for a few minutes on internal batteries and then it shuts off.

As Matt points out, on the latest cars (generally 2013>), CAN can "wake them."

User 52121

Yeah... so the AiM wiring done on my car (previous owner?) definitely did NOT include power SoloDL went dead after 3 sessions yesterday. Damn!

Thundermoose

I find this to be very common for some reason. I am not sure why people spend all the effort to connect to CAN and not connect the power wires.

bgiere

Thundermoose, what is an "add a fuse" ? Is it a switch ?

User 52121

Ditto! So stupid!

Now I have to figure out where they terminated the cable and wire up the (+) and (-).

A little thing that plugs into a spot in a fuse panel but lets you add a 2nd circuit.

Ref: https://www.parts-express.com/littel...m_campaign=pla

Geneman

Thanks for that!!! that add-a-fuse is cooler than snot!!! I have to get out of the lab more often....

ProCoach

I've used these a lot!