Fobo Tire Pressure monitor for smart phones

[Phil K]

Apologies if this was discussed upthread, but I'm getting a beep every time I get in my car. I assume this is the control unit beeping to let me know it synced via BT with the app. Is that what it is and is there any way to silence it? Seems like it will get very tiresome...

-- David

This is completely normal operation. To conserve bttery life, the in car unit will go into sleep mode after it detects that the car has been stationary for more than 15 minutes. It will wake up and emit a start-up tone once it detects that the car moves.

 

[4us2bev]

Ok, might be time to disassemble it and put some Shoe Goo in the piezo; or maybe mount it in the frunk. Any other suggestions?

-- David

 

[lsnetman]

Apologies if this was discussed upthread, but I'm getting a beep every time I get in my car. I assume this is the control unit beeping to let me know it synced via BT with the app. Is that what it is and is there any way to silence it? Seems like it will get very tiresome...

-- David

Consider it confirmation that your system is working. I use it to remind me to check the pressure each morning when I head out. I don't rally find it annoying. It becomes second nature.

 

[4us2bev]

Consider it confirmation that your system is working. I use it to remind me to check the pressure each morning when I head out. I don't rally find it annoying. It becomes second nature.

I understand why that makes sense for you :smile:

But the reason I bought the Fobo is so that it can take care of checking the tire pressure each morning, and then let me know (via an alert) only if there is something abnormal.

I get enough blips and beeps in the rest of my life that I don't desire to hear one every time I get in my car.

-- David

 

[EVenthusiast]

I understand why that makes sense for you :smile:

But the reason I bought the Fobo is so that it can take care of checking the tire pressure each morning, and then let me know (via an alert) only if there is something abnormal.

I get enough blips and beeps in the rest of my life that I don't desire to hear one every time I get in my car.

-- David

I totally agree. A device should not make a noise unless it requires attention. I've had several passengers ask me about this already.

 

[lsnetman]

I totally agree. A device should not make a noise unless it requires attention. I've had several passengers ask me about this already.

I totally get that.

FYI, while driving to work today the cars tire warning system came on, first yellow, telling me to check, then red, telling me to pull over as soon as it was safe (I was doing 75 on the expressway). The FOBO sensor beeped simultaneously, and my app showed the right rear was at 13 psi. Worked just like it should.

And, FWIW, the sealant didn't hold to get me to work, and the warnings came on again within a quarter mile, but Tesla Uber'ed me to work, picked up the car on a flat bed from where I left it, replaced the blown tire, and returned the car to me, all by 11:30 this morning. Now that's service!

 

[EVenthusiast]

I totally get that.

FYI, while driving to work today the cars tire warning system came on, first yellow, telling me to check, then red, telling me to pull over as soon as it was safe (I was doing 75 on the expressway). The FOBO sensor beeped simultaneously, and my app showed the right rear was at 13 psi. Worked just like it should.

And, FWIW, the sealant didn't hold to get me to work, and the warnings came on again within a quarter mile, but Tesla Uber'ed me to work, picked up the car on a flat bed from where I left it, replaced the blown tire, and returned the car to me, all by 11:30 this morning. Now that's service!

Unless your life is in danger by having to wait for a tow truck, never use sealant, it can ruin/affect TPMS, and make a big mess for whoever is repairing the tire. I'm also wondering if it could affect FOBO.

I've had the unit warn me once that something was wrong, but it was user error (needed to reconfigure the limits).

I'm dealing with BT interference (Android Lollipop) since I installed these sensors, so not sure yet if I'm keeping them installed, but otherwise, it's a nice solution.

 

[lsnetman]

Unless your life is in danger by having to wait for a tow truck, never use sealant, it can ruin/affect TPMS, and make a big mess for whoever is repairing the tire. I'm also wondering if it could affect FOBO.

I've had the unit warn me once that something was wrong, but it was user error (needed to reconfigure the limits).

I'm dealing with BT interference (Android Lollipop) since I installed these sensors, so not sure yet if I'm keeping them installed, but otherwise, it's a nice solution.

thanks for that info. I was told they clean out all the sealant somehow. I don't know if they replaced the TPMS sensor, I'll have to check, but I put the FOBO sensor back on the new tire and it worked fine.

 

[Andyw2100]

I totally agree. A device should not make a noise unless it requires attention. I've had several passengers ask me about this already.

Any chance the company could change the app such that there was an option to disable the sound at wakeup? Might something like this be possible?

 

[EVenthusiast]

Any chance the company could change the app such that there was an option to disable the sound at wakeup? Might something like this be possible?

These type of devices are usually field upgradeable (look at myEV as an example), so as long as people request the feature, and they have no legal/technical reasons , it shouldn't be difficult.

Ideally, I'd like it to be part of a 'test/debug' mode.

 

[Andyw2100]

I'm dealing with BT interference (Android Lollipop) since I installed these sensors, so not sure yet if I'm keeping them installed, but otherwise, it's a nice solution.

What kind of BT interference? Are you streaming things via BT from your phone, and experiencing the issues, or is it something else? Are you having issues with BT phone calls?

I ask because I haven't used the car much since I've installed the FOBO unit, (my wife has had it most of the time and she uses an iPhone) and I also recently updated to Lollipop.

Thanks!

 

[EVenthusiast]

What kind of BT interference? Are you streaming things via BT from your phone, and experiencing the issues, or is it something else? Are you having issues with BT phone calls?

I ask because I haven't used the car much since I've installed the FOBO unit, (my wife has had it most of the time and she uses an iPhone) and I also recently updated to Lollipop.

Thanks!

It doesn't happen all the time (but haven't figured out a pattern yet), but when it occurs, it sounds like there isn't enough bandwidth (or even like a damaged speaker).

I've disabled other BT devices (watch, myEV), even pulled the battery from the main control unit, but I'm guessing it's either the tire sensors themselves, or something else.

 

[Andyw2100]

These type of devices are usually field upgradeable (look at myEV as an example), so as long as people request the feature, and they have no legal/technical reasons , it shouldn't be difficult.

Ideally, I'd like it to be part of a 'test/debug' mode.

I'll write to my contact and inquire about that.

I'm also going to ask about the possibility of a BT connected phone relaying the FOBO information to another shared phone, via its cellular connection. I had initially thought, before receiving the unit, that I'd be able to monitor tire pressures as my wife drove the car to work. Thanks to a post by HankLloydRight, I came to realize that was not possible. But I'm thinking it could be. If the in car unit provides info to the locally connected phone via BT, and that phone then provides the information somehow to a server, or directly to the other phone via the cellular data connection, it should be possible, shouldn't it?

 

[EVenthusiast]

I'll write to my contact and inquire about that.

I'm also going to ask about the possibility of a BT connected phone relaying the FOBO information to another shared phone, via its cellular connection. I had initially thought, before receiving the unit, that I'd be able to monitor tire pressures as my wife drove the car to work. Thanks to a post by HankLloydRight, I came to realize that was not possible. But I'm thinking it could be. If the in car unit provides info to the locally connected phone via BT, and that phone then provides the information somehow to a server, or directly to the other phone via the cellular data connection, it should be possible, shouldn't it?

As far as I know, you should be able to do just that. From their FAQ:

What if there is more than one person driving my car? Can they use the FOBO Tire in my car?
You can share FOBO Tire in your car with family and friends (up to 100 smartphone users). Key in their e-mail address that will be used to login to their FOBO account and it will be synchronized with FOBO cloud via our CrossPair technology.

The control unit reports the values to the paired phone, which uploads it to their servers. Once that data is there, any phone with the fobo app, and the right e-mail address, should be able to access that data.

I'll have to test this tho, as this sounds like a minor security issue.

 

[Andyw2100]

As far as I know, you should be able to do just that. From their FAQ:



The control unit reports the values to the paired phone, which uploads it to their servers. Once that data is there, any phone with the fobo app, and the right e-mail address, should be able to access that data.

I'll have to test this tho, as this sounds like a minor security issue.

Hmmm...maybe this is why I had thought it should work.

I guess before I write to them about that issue I should test it while my wife is driving the car, and I am out of range.

Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

It doesn't happen all the time (but haven't figured out a pattern yet), but when it occurs, it sounds like there isn't enough bandwidth (or even like a damaged speaker).

I've disabled other BT devices (watch, myEV), even pulled the battery from the main control unit, but I'm guessing it's either the tire sensors themselves, or something else.

You know about the issue that they were having with the iPhone 6, right? I wonder if your issue is somehow related.

 

[EVenthusiast]

Hmmm...maybe this is why I had thought it should work.

I guess before I write to them about that issue I should test it while my wife is driving the car, and I am out of range.

Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -



You know about the issue that they were having with the iPhone 6, right? I wonder if your issue is somehow related.

I've been watching it, but it sounded like the symptoms were different, and a combination of an iOS bug and Tesla hardware (which I don't have). I need to do some more troubleshooting before reporting it to them, I just haven't had the time yet.

 

[4us2bev]

FYI, while driving to work today the cars tire warning system came on, first yellow, telling me to check, then red, telling me to pull over as soon as it was safe (I was doing 75 on the expressway). The FOBO sensor beeped simultaneously, and my app showed the right rear was at 13 psi. Worked just like it should.

Wow, glad to hear it worked like it should. But please clarify, when you say the FOBO sensor beeped, do you mean the in-car unit beeped or that the Fobo App on your phone beeped?

If the former, then perhaps I do not want to try to silence the in-car unit, otherwise I'm not going to be alerted about a low pressure situation. (I was assuming the Fobo App was going to alert me.)

-- David

 

[EVenthusiast]

Wow, glad to hear it worked like it should. But please clarify, when you say the FOBO sensor beeped, do you mean the in-car unit beeped or that the Fobo App on your phone beeped?

If the former, then perhaps I do not want to try to silence the in-car unit, otherwise I'm not going to be alerted about a low pressure situation. (I was assuming the Fobo App was going to alert me.)

-- David

When my alert went off, I'm pretty sure the control unit also beeped (supposed to work without a phone). If you want to test it, just change the alarm settings in the app, so my advice is to not modify/damage the speaker.

 

[HankLloydRight]

As far as I know, you should be able to do just that. From their FAQ:

What if there is more than one person driving my car? Can they use the FOBO Tire in my car?
You can share FOBO Tire in your car with family and friends (up to 100 smartphone users). Key in their e-mail address that will be used to login to their FOBO account and it will be synchronized with FOBO cloud via our CrossPair technology.

The control unit reports the values to the paired phone, which uploads it to their servers. Once that data is there, any phone with the fobo app, and the right e-mail address, should be able to access that data.

I'll have to test this tho, as this sounds like a minor security issue.

To me, that sounds like a "master/slave" set up.. where the phone in the car has to be paired to the receiver (the master) and any slave can then read those values. Does it work in reverse? Can multiple phones be both master and slave depending on which phone is in the car?

 

[Phil K]

One problem I found is that it cannot be paired with multiple phones.