TD5 On Board Computer - Bin Owl

[PolarBlair]

For anyone looking for a multigauge for their pre-puma TD5, I can thoroughly recommend the Bin Owl on board computer:

https://shop.binowl.com/shop/td5-on-board-computer-with-housing-green/

I cant speak to its longevity but at £61.76 its a pretty good deal. I just went for the bare unit including the optional momentary switches, and Michał Kościowski at Bin Owl was kind enough to send me a faceplate. Super nice guy, and if hes interested, I said I would give him dibs on the 3D model.

There is definitely room for improvement but its a perfect fit into the hole for the ashtray on the older style dash, and neatly follows the curved edge at the front without leaving a gap.

The model is optimised for 3D printing and the red part is just a friction fit. It could easily be updated to include some retaining clips for those that are a bit more adventurous off-road and require a more secure install. I could always revisit this at a later date as its screwed into captive nuts in the base.

There is also plenty of space on the sides of the unit to allow for options like USB charging ports and an android auto connection. I got lucky with the first print and didnt want to overly complicate the design initially.

 

I'm personally not a fan of the complete unit also sold, as I couldn't see a good way of integrating it into the dash and the naked buttons screwed into the face of the housing seem a bit unrefined.

The purple plate is printed in two pieces to negate the need for print supports, although this wouldn't be an issue if it was injection moulded. I made two button caps (green) and the buttons clamp on to the adapter plate. This lets them sit neatly recessed inside the unit.

 

PRINTED PARTS

 

Some defects in the print but my Ender 5 Plus struggles a bit with matt filament. You can also see my obvious mistake with the support bracket. A bit difficult to attach if you cant access the mounting hole! Nothing a flush cutter, file and a little superglue can't remedy. The part has already been redesigned.

 

ASSEMBLY

 

The downside of modelling on screen, is you tend to forget that you don't have the tiny hands of a sweatshop worker in a country with lax child labour laws.

Smart move would have been to extend the screw holes out the back but this would have been problematic for my printer. All work and putting fine thread screws in, one quarter turn at a time makes jack a dull boy.

Can you tell I'm not a product designer?

I would also redesign the purple adapter plate, or add a few small standoffs to glue into the stock faceplate to better retain the display. I cut a corner here by fixing it in place with liberally applied glue from my hot snot gun.

 

INSTALL

 

This part was childs play. The unit only requires 3 wires. 12V, Ground and the ECU K-Line. This is pin 7 on the OBD2 port (pink wire)

All I did was tin a 5A rated wire, which made it the right diameter and rigid enough to just put it in the end of the plug. I intend to print a cover cap to go over the end of the port to clamp the wire in place. I could splice this in, but the OBD2 connector doesnt have enough slack on the cables, so I would have to remove the center console. Not worth the effort. This way its also easily removeable if it has to go in to a garage.

 

DISPLAY

Also not pictured is a waterproof switch on the back of the housing so I can turn off the unit if I find it to be too bright at night. As far as I know, the brightness of the display can't be changed.

The contrast can be fine tuned witih a potentiometer on the circuitboard. I found the unit already came with he best setting, so if you fiddle with yours, I would advise to mark its initial position with a fine pen.

The display is easily readable from a normal driving position and has better contrast viewed in person than comes out in the photo.

 

FINAL VERDICT

Its a great unit at a decent price point. The stock housing leaves a little to be desired but its great you can buy the bare board. You can even supplement your own switches as long as they are momentary. I think Michał fundementally understands his market. I dont think you can be a defender owner without being a bit of a bodger too.

 

YOUR THOUGHTS

Would a ready made drop-in solution that slots into the ashtray recess make this a more compelling option?

Would features like USB ports and an android auto link on the side of the housing sweeten the deal?

I have already suggested that being able to display more than none parameter at a time would be a great feature. Michal hinted that this could be in the works for a future version.

Also what features would you like to see?

Edited November 24, 2021 by PolarBlair

[L19MUD]

Awesome work there! 

[Anderzander]

Wow 🤩 you’ve done a great job there, and I didn’t even know those gauges existed either.

I remember looking at the old nanocom’s to see if a dismantled one would fit into the recessed rectangle at the bottom of the Td console …. It wouldn’t - it was too big. I wonder if the little LCD this chap sells would fit there 🤔

Time for some measuring 😊

[PolarBlair]

I think it would. That's a reasonably large recess from what I remember and the actuall display area is a fair bit smaller than the overall screen dimensions. It would be a neat install but perhaps less than ideal from a safety standpoint if you are monitoring parameters while driving?

[steve200TDi]

I got one of these for Christmas!

I think I have a plan for where I'm going to fit it on my dash.

Watch this space!

Steve

[Arjan]

Interesting......
However, from what I read it is Defender only ?

It takes it's data from the OBD if I understand corectly ?

Could also be interesting for the D2.

Esp. is you could include 2 52 mm. holes on either side  for some analogue gauges.

[PolarBlair]

On 12/31/2021 at 1:28 PM, Arjan said:

Interesting......
However, from what I read it is Defender only ?

It takes it's data from the OBD if I understand corectly ?

Could also be interesting for the D2.

Esp. is you could include 2 52 mm. holes on either side  for some analogue gauges.

Yup - pin 7 on the OBD port. I think it's defender specific only because it doesn't conform to the standard OBD communication protocols which is why most aftermarket gauges won't work in pre-puma defenders. So for most people with older defenders, the only way to get a multigauge is with things like the nanocoms which are a bit overkill for basic gauges ( but of course provide a lot more in-depth functionality that the bin-owl unit doesn't have).

There may be other options for multigauges out there on pre-puma Td5s but I'm not aware of them. Would definitely be interested to know mind you!

Of course if you wanted to, the MUD gauge pods would give lots of space either side for extra gauges. 

[Kai3747]

Hi where we can find the 3d draws? I bought the one with the bigger lcd display and i want to install it to ashtray too

[Arjan]

Did you actually get one ?

I have tried several times for the DII but he is not replying...

 

[PolarBlair]

It's been a minute - joys of fatherhood and all that.

I've finally dug out the old laptop and uploaded the stl files to thingiverse. Had to spend a good hour just installing windows updates!

Anyhow - here's the link:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5643443

[steve200TDi]

I finally got mine temporarily wired up to check it out. It's great! Now to make a little pod to house it in.

Steve

[Anderzander]

I keep looking at these .. he has a smaller screen one now, and I keep meaning to measure to see if it would fit in the bottom of the Td5 console 

[simonr]

You (and Bin_Owl) have made a nice job of that!

I wish it had a better type of display - though it may be that when this project started, 2x16 & 4x20 LCDs were all that were available!  They are certainly the lowest cost option.

You can change the brightness of the backlight - but it requires a bit of hackery. 

The LED connections are (usually) brought out on the display connector.  Generally, you would connect one to a PWM output on the microcontroller - but it may just have been connected to power, to simplify the design.  Either way, insert a variable resistor (2k2 is about right) in series with either the LED+ or LED- pin where it connects to the board.

Some really low cost boards omit these pins - but you can cut the track & insert the VR in series too, but this is obviously more invasive.

 

 

[steve200TDi]

10 hours ago, Anderzander said:

I keep looking at these .. he has a smaller screen one now, and I keep meaning to measure to see if it would fit in the bottom of the Td5 console 

Yes, I have the small display, I can measure it if you like?

Si - you can change the contrast, I'll have a look at doing the resistor mod as I know some displays can be just too bright at night!

Steve

[Anderzander]

Oo yes please Steve ! 

[steve200TDi]

Hi,

Some photos and measurements for you @Anderzander

whole board: 80mm x 38mm

Just the LCD and surround: 71mm x 29mm

The two boards are 26mm deep.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Anderzander]

Superb - thank you. I’ll head out with the tape measure shortly.

that looks very very neat.

[PolarBlair]

Would anyone be interested in the enclosure  if I made it available for purchase?

I recently upgraded to a much much more capable up to date printer and could produce this in substantially better quality.

I can't remember what filament I used for mine but the new machine is capable of excellent quality prints in ASA. Great UV and heat resistance and doesn't become malleable up to 95C.

Basically a better version of ABS plastic.

[simonr]

12 hours ago, PolarBlair said:

I can't remember what filament I used for mine but the new machine is capable of excellent quality prints in ASA. Great UV and heat resistance and doesn't become malleable up to 95C.

Basically a better version of ABS plastic.

Bambu Labs - by any chance?  I have one too!

[PolarBlair]

Maaaaaaaaybe 😜

Been very happy with the print quality. My ender 5 plus did manage ASA just fine but I was using FormFutura Apollo X ASA which is a bit expensive at £30-40 per 750g.

Did print as easily as PLA without an enclosure or even any odour mind you.

But so far I've just been sticking to Bambu Labs own filament as the AMS reads the RFID chip and does all the settings for you. Like printing on easy mode. So far my only gripe is the build volume. Will be very interested if they do a large format printer one day.

[simonr]

23 hours ago, PolarBlair said:

So far my only gripe is the build volume. Will be very interested if they do a large format printer one day.

I've been impressed with the slightly larger volume, compared to my last 3 Ultimakers.  Particularly printing fast enough that the Z height is usable (without having to wait until Christmas for the print to finish.

I printed one part 400mm long by printing it diagonally in X,Y & Z using support under the diagonal.  Even using this approach, the print times are manageable.

I've been printing structural parts in PAHT-CF (Carbon Fibre filled Nylon) with very good results.  Parts which have failed in ABS, PC & PETG previously.

[PolarBlair]

On 9/27/2023 at 2:58 PM, simonr said:

I've been impressed with the slightly larger volume, compared to my last 3 Ultimakers.  Particularly printing fast enough that the Z height is usable (without having to wait until Christmas for the print to finish.

I printed one part 400mm long by printing it diagonally in X,Y & Z using support under the diagonal.  Even using this approach, the print times are manageable.

I've been printing structural parts in PAHT-CF (Carbon Fibre filled Nylon) with very good results.  Parts which have failed in ABS, PC & PETG previously.

For the most part the build volume has been fine but then I've gotten used to the 350x350x350mm build volume from my ender 5+

Now I have the X1 I have bit more confidence to tinker with the 5+. When it's your only printer you don't want to poke it too much incase the magic blue smoke gets released.

High on the list would the mercury 1.1 core XY upgrade. I think this even allows you to utilise the full extents of the print bed increasing the printable area to 370x370mm

The instruction manual isn't quite complete so I'm waiting for all the kinks to ironed out.

With an all metal hot end direct drive extruder it should really transform the 5+.

It won't have the smarts of the X1 but will be darn close to print speeds.

[Arjan]

Impressive - looks good.

Would it be possible to "print" that housing with 2 extra 2" analogue gauge openings and some USB / lighter ports ?

To go on top of a Disco II dash..

[simonr]

10 hours ago, PolarBlair said:

It won't have the smarts of the X1 but will be darn close to print speeds.

In 2016, I built this: https://openbuilds.com/builds/rigid-delta.3983/ which was intended to print as fast as possible.  Steel chassis, very rigid.  The Bed was a ground flat slab of Aluminium.  It could move the print head and drive the extruder extremely fast.  At relatively ordinary speeds, the quality was very good, compared to an Ultimaker (which at the time was about the best).  But as the speed increased, the quality declined.

What I found (and measured) were resonances in the frame and extrusion system which caused ringing on the corners and extrusion artifacts.  Making the frame that rigid was in some ways the problem - Steel is elastic and the structure had very little damping.  After a lot of experimentation, my conclusion was that the only way to achieve really fast printing was some kind of digital signal processing applied to both the stepper drivers and extruder to avoid the resonances.

Using my (Bridgeport) Mill as a printer worked just because of the sheer mass of it (and having servo drives).

IMHO, the DSP is the 'secret sauce' in Bambu Labs printers.  Done right, you can have a more flexible structure and just map the resonance - exactly what Bambu does!

In the end, it was a decent printer, but no faster than the Ultimaker for the same quality.

[PolarBlair]

On 9/29/2023 at 8:26 AM, Arjan said:

Impressive - looks good.

Would it be possible to "print" that housing with 2 extra 2" analogue gauge openings and some USB / lighter ports ?

To go on top of a Disco II dash..

It could of course be done but as soon as you're adding gauge pods I think you're better off modifying one of the MUD gauge pods to be honest. The displays all have a fairly chunky bezel on them so would look pretty smart sticking out of a cut slot. I only went the 3D printing route to use the faceplate.

I think it would also work out cheaper using the pods. If I recall correctly they're available in a few different sizes. I imagine you could even get some switches under the display depending on which size bin owl unit you went for.