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Blue fire vs Scan gauge


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What’s an honest “poll” of these products??  Need some feedback.  Looking at dash upgrade.

Scan gauge is a small unit but seems reliable.  Getting codes is a slight challenge

Blue Fire - website forum is full of negative hassle type issues, Bluetooth sync signal issues.

I’m in a 2003 Dynasty.  I’m not going to upgrade to silverleaf or anything like that.

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Kurt,

You have already discounted your best solution which is a SilverLeaf System. I like the VMSpc as it is totally customizable.

Next best choice in my opinion is the BlueFire display.

The Scan Gauge display is WAY TOO small for my needs and it only displays one item at a time. That's a showstopper for me. At least the analog gauges on your dash display everything at the same time.

Your coach, your decision, good luck!

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1 hour ago, Martinvz said:

Rich is correct re the Scanguage II with only 4 values displayed. However, the new Scanguage 3 was recently launched that can display many values.

Not for diesel . . . yet

Being able to accurately calculate remaining fuel would be a biggie for me. 

- bob

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6 hours ago, MHRookie said:

What’s an honest “poll” of these products??  Need some feedback.  Looking at dash upgrade.

Scan gauge is a small unit but seems reliable.  Getting codes is a slight challenge

Blue Fire - website forum is full of negative hassle type issues, Bluetooth sync signal issues.

I’m in a 2003 Dynasty.  I’m not going to upgrade to silverleaf or anything like that.

I have owned the BlueFire J1706 Interface for two years.  Initially, I had intermittent bluetooth connectivity dropouts that would require that I manually reconnect the tablet to the adapter via Bluetooth.  BlueFire's latest firmware and software automatically makes adjustments to resolve the Bluetooth connectivity issue.  I was initially disappointed, but I am now pleased with the product.  I now rarely experience a disconnect (Once every ~3 hours of operation).  When I do experience a disconnect, it now self-resolves the issue and reconnects automatically.

I have dedicated an Android tablet as a display to monitor the parameters that my dash instrumentation doesn't display such as actual Allison Transmission fluid temperature, turbo boost, engine load, actual engine coolant temperature, engine intake air temperature, and may other parameters not covered by my RV's instrumentation.

I would recommend this product to you based upon my experience. 

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4 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Kurt,

You have already discounted your best solution which is a SilverLeaf System. I like the VMSpc as it is totally customizable.

Next best choice in my opinion is the BlueFire display.

The Scan Gauge display is WAY TOO small for my needs and it only displays one item at a time. That's a showstopper for me. At least the analog gauges on your dash display everything at the same time.

Your coach, your decision, good luck!

X2

I've had a Silverleaf for ~9 years.  I did start having trouble with it staying connected to a small Sony Viao laptop but it was a laptop issue.  I now use a Microsoft Surface 2 tablet, connects every time and stays connected.  Works great.

Silverleaf does have a diagnostic function which displays current fault codes and keeps a history for older ones.

I haven't got a chance to test yet but I set up a data logger to track Transmission and Engine Temp, Boost, and Voltage.  I was having trouble with high transmission temps and added a cooler so I want to track how it does during a trip.  Should be able correlate hard pulls with boost and engine temp and might see the fan kicking on with voltage.  

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You maybe thinking about the dash upgrade. Silver leaf also has a box that plugs into your service port just like the blue fire. The only difference is it plugs into the screen you provide and the bluefire connects thew Bluetooth. I think both are about the same cost. I've had both (have the bluefire now) and prefer the silver leaf unit. I'm still having connection issues with mine although it does reconnect automatically after the updates. 

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I guess I’m on the lower percentage here. I have the scan gaugeD II and I like it. Gives me a choice of 24 or 25 items to look at for at a time. I do oil pressure, water temperature, transmission temperature, and RPM. I really don’t know how much stuff you want to be looking at while you’re driving down the road. If you’re stopped it is easy to scan through and look at different items. Yes my opinion.

Tim

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4 minutes ago, Tim-AZ said:

I guess I’m on the lower percentage here. I have the scan gaugeD II and I like it. Gives me a choice of 24 or 25 items to look at for at a time. I do oil pressure, water temperature, transmission temperature, and RPM. I really don’t know how much stuff you want to be looking at while you’re driving down the road. If you’re stopped it is easy to scan through and look at different items. Yes my opinion.

Tim

I am in your corner too. RPM, coolant and oil temp and oil pressure. My little gauges work and if their needles point up, I'm good. Old racer trick, no time to read numbers. Never had a trouble code but if it happened, I have Insite to look into it.

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11 minutes ago, Ivan K said:

I am in your corner too. RPM, coolant and oil temp and oil pressure. My little gauges work and if their needles point up, I'm good. Old racer trick, no time to read numbers. Never had a trouble code but if it happened, I have Insite to look into it.

Agreeing with you & Tim. Thanks for your insight.

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42 minutes ago, Ivan K said:

I am in your corner too. RPM, coolant and oil temp and oil pressure. My little gauges work and if their needles point up, I'm good. Old racer trick, no time to read numbers. Never had a trouble code but if it happened, I have Insite to look into it.

Yep, old racer myself.

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Guest Ray Davis
1 hour ago, Ivan K said:

My little gauges work and if their needles point up, I'm good. Old racer trick, no time to read numbers.

I like it,  keep the needles pointing up.    👍

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