bollar
Disgruntled Member
So, they're installed and they work fine. Still not sure how I feel about the size of the gizmo attached to the valve, but I'll leave them on for now.
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Fobo Tire Pressure monitor for smart phones
- Thread starter joer00
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
araxara
X-LR M3AWD, MYLR
I got my FoboTire sensors about 10 days ago and have gone on several long road trips since then. They worked flawlessly. The sensors are rated for 50PSI max, but my tires did warm up on one trip and the app displayed 50.7PSI at one point. Also, the maximum pressure you can set on the app is 44PSI.
The ideal system, for now, would be a 433 MHZ receiver that will decode the TPMS signal directly from the OEM tire sensors and rebroadcast that as Bluetooth LE. Then, no special valves would be needed for the tires. I wish Tesla would just make a UI for the TPMS.
And here is a screenshot of the app, since no one has posted one yet:
The ideal system, for now, would be a 433 MHZ receiver that will decode the TPMS signal directly from the OEM tire sensors and rebroadcast that as Bluetooth LE. Then, no special valves would be needed for the tires. I wish Tesla would just make a UI for the TPMS.
And here is a screenshot of the app, since no one has posted one yet:
Johan
Ex got M3 in the divorce, waiting for EU Model Y!
I'm too lazy to go research it so instead I'll just ask here (I notice a couple of very technically inclined people now have these sensors): What is the certified precision of these sensors? I see from the the screenshot above they display 0.1 PSI increments but surely the rated sensitivity is not +/- 0.1 PSI? Does the manufacturer publish test data supporting a certain precision rating, as compared to a gold standard method for tire pressure measurements?
artsci
Sponsor
teslasguy
MSP P#1117
I got my sensors yesterday, downloaded the app to my IPhone 6, created and account and logged in to the app. I then started the setup process. It asks you to give the car a name, take a pic of the car, select C or F, tire pressures recommended by the manufacturer and click DONE. There is also a field in this screen called "In_Car Id" that you cannot enter anything into. When I clicked done nothing happened. It was acting like I hadn't entered a required field for setup. After trying everything I could think of I opened the battery case of the in car unit and removed and reinstalled the two batteries. After doing this my IPhone app immediately filled the protected setup field with a code. It then let me click done and proceed with installing the sensors. One other tip. Install each sensor according to instructions but do NOT tighten sensors enough to release air. Then you can proceed with the installation pairing process as guided by the app without a lot of time lost between wheels. This way your phone won't time out while doing all the install from scratch on each wheel. Basically you just need to screw in each sensor tightly and hold phone close to pair. Then on to the next wheel. Everything now works fine and I love this product so far. Just had my tires inflated a couple weeks ago to 45 psi but sensors show a little over 39psi in each wheel. Cold weather!!
gzerninplatz
Member
Anybody tried the Papago sensors? Rated up to 60lbs...
GoSafe TPMS 500BT |
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1064028-REG/papago_gsbt500_us_gosafe_500_bluetooth_tire.html
GoSafe TPMS 500BT |
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1064028-REG/papago_gsbt500_us_gosafe_500_bluetooth_tire.html
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artsci
Sponsor
Looks very similar to the FoboTire system. I wonder if we'll see an IP battle between the two companies? It certainly seems that somebody's ideas were purloined.
gzerninplatz
Member
Yeah, they have a lot in common....phone app picture, etc. The papago sensors have been out from a while, from a company that makes other car safety stuff (e.g., dash cam) and has distribution by major retailers (B&H Photo), which suggests some good history with the product...I'm going to go for one of these, don't know which yet, but am leaning toward Papago, for the above reasons plus the 60lb max rating - I'm guessing that at or above rated max pressure (e.g., the fobo 50 lb limit) they become less accurate...
gzerninplatz
Member
Another difference (other than Papago's higher tire pressure limit of 60lbs). Papago uses a USB cable for base unit power, Fobo uses 2 AA batteries - each have their advantages.
From what I can see, the clear difference is that the Papago sensors uses traditional 433 Mhz radio frequency which communicates with a receiver and the receiver then connects with the phone via bluetooth. On the other hand, FoboTire uses Bluetooth 4 on the sensors themselves which allows the phone to communicate directly with the sensors.
Hence, the Papago receiver must be continuously powered for the whole system to function. Which means I can't get a reading if I don't start the car. Whereas for FoboTire, I am still getting readings even when the car's ignition is switched off.
The other functions of FoboTire such as monitoring up to 20 cars and sharing readings with other people who uses the car is non-existent on traditional TPMS which uses 433 Mhz radio frequency on their sensors.
Just got mine by the way. Works as advertised on my iPhone 6 Plus which I am using to monitor 3 cars. My wife shares her reading with me for her car so that I can keep an eye on her tire pressure. It makes my life easier since she is not bothered to do it.
gzerninplatz
Member
I emailed both companies and got a reply only from fobo - they will have an upgraded app in a few months that can accommodate 4 tires plus a spare, for those of you who have added a spare to your Tesla, or who use it on other cars....watching the pressure of the spare is oft neglected...will actually have up to 6 tires on the app, for cars with trailers...
I had one annoying thing happen with them on a long trip from Chicago to Pittsburgh. For some reason there was a lost connection between the front left tire and either the phone or the in-car device. The in-car device beeps repeatedly and did this for about 5 minutes much to my wife's dismay. It was disturbing as I was worried my tire had lost pressure but realized Teslas tmps would have activated. Fortunately a connection was reestablished on its own and the beeping stopped after pressing the in-car device...
teslasguy
MSP P#1117
I'm having the same issue lately with losing connection to the front left tire. In car unit beeps a long time and then eventually it corrects itself and begins displaying properly.
artsci
Sponsor
I'm having the same problem with the right rear sensor. It's been indicating low pressure for more than 24 hours even thought the tire pressure is spot on (checked it with a gauge). This is not a faulty sensor (swapped out a spare and got the same results). So I suspect it's a faulty tire air valve. Will reset tonight to see what happens.
Update: When I drove home tonight the low pressure warning showed on the dash screen, so the Fobo proved to be accurate. And it gave me a low pressure warning 24 hours before the Tesla system and it accurately identified the specific tire. Impressive!
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artsci
Sponsor
As it turns out, that tire had a defective valve that has to be replaced. This morning when I attempted to add more air and check the pressure, the Fobo readings again proved accurate I could only get the pressure up to 40 psi (used my gauge to check it) and when I reinstalled the Fobo sensor it had the same reading: 40 psi.
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