We had a science teacher that would hand out pieces of his anatomy mannequin. Teachers would see you walking down the hall with a gallbladder or a colon or something and laugh.
We had a science teacher that would hand out pieces of his anatomy mannequin. Teachers would see you walking down the hall with a gallbladder or a colon or something and laugh.
My buddy's dad did that with a solid iron cat's eye reflector from the road (also painted bright orange), they weigh about 5kg so there's absolutely no way you're putting it in a pocket and forgetting about it.
And hope to hell you don’t have to work on one of the stupid cars where they shoved the connector at bottom of the center console.
I’m glad the EPA was like “for the love of god stop doing that”.
Ok fuck this post in particular
I just got one of these about 2 weeks ago and now thanks to this post I'm realizing I have no fucking clue where I've put the damn thing
You've actually made me realize I lost this expensive piece of plastic
Attach the cheapest harbor freight 12 point 11mm stubby you can find on it. You know that thing aint gonna actually be useful the one time you try it, but its gonna stay with the set always
to haunt you
This. OBD2 extension cable also has the additional function of taking the mechanical wear from sliding in and out of the OBD2 port. Scan tool connectors frequently break over years of use and it's better to wear down the replaceable extension cable than the expensive scan tool.
And assuming the cable is some bland colour, make it something bright with tape/heat shrink/tape/whatever. You won't miss a hot pink stripe across the windshield.
ASA Remove Before Flight Banner - MyPilotStore.com
https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/12820
This, and add a 5' length of 550 parachute cord. Hang the streamer thru the steering wheel & out the driver's window.
I was at a custom fab shop (laser and CNC routing) that had a shop tortoise. One of those big sulcata fellows. It had traces of blue paint on its back because all of their workbenches were painted blue and when it got bored it would climb under a bench and use itself as a forklift to move them around.
new shop rule.
wear it as a necklace, or put it back where it belongs.
they make break away lanyards.
this is what we do for the bob cat key. The lanyard makes an obnoxious to stick it in your pocket.
A brightly coloured lanyard or equivalent. I have a similar VCI on my diagnostic tablet and I have left it inside customer vehicles a few times.
Mine doesn't have a spot for a keyring or else I would have done what I suggested to it already
This post reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
Tie a long ribbon or something to it you can leave hanging outside the door of a vehicle It's in. Won't hurt the door or connector if you close it unless you run it over and yank it out the obd.
Our scanner makes all kinds of noise when you end the session to remind you to take it out of the vehicle even tried turning down the volume to no avail.
Zip ties, bells, and some gaffers tape.
Zip tie two bells on it. Zip tie a long boy and put gaffers tape on it, optional is adding some sort of cardboard to it. Cut cardboard braced gaffers tape into penis shape. Spray paint penis shaped tape pink so you can see it, and the balls will jingle hopefully on your way to park the car if you forget to pull it out.
Walk into the parts department, and ask them for the brightest colored lanyard they have. Surely your parts department has some brand-themed swag they offer.
Ok, trying to be practical as it’s what I’d do. Get one of the “hardshell” portable hard drive or flash drive case off Amazon and color it neon pink(personally, I’d go neon green to match) if you want but it will have a safe, somewhat protective home.
OMG i've left my PIM in new cars like 3 times already i had to drive all the way down to the dirt lot to find it, then one time i left it in the cargo pocket of my work pants on friday, luckily i worked on saturday and found it before cintas picked it up on monday. now i put a long piece of yellow electric tape on it so it's easier to spot
I have a long keycord around it. Its long enough to hang over the indicator stalk when its plugged in, if I do forget it. A customer will notice it immediatly
As a side note: these OBD Link LX scanners have more than doubled in price from when I bought one in 2017.
Are there any good alternatives before I have to replace mine for a second time?
Not really creative. But i have a 20cm strip of ducttape attached to it. Attached to the top and bottom.. have lost it (yet). Also easier to remove if in a crappy place.
Get one of those wheeling stands people always have IV bags on in movies, tie the dealie to a length of bright pink ribbon, clip that to the top of the stand. Now you have to wheel the stand to whatever car you need to plug it into and if you have to take it off for whatever reason it's still got the long hi-viz tail
I put a pink dog leash on my Mopar mds. I developed the habit over looping it around the turn signal switch. I don’t know if you have the capability but I can go to the bcm and honk the horn if I left it a car.
The only logical suggestion has been made (AirTag, tile, etc) so I offer this: 3d print an attachment for the top with a 90 degree bend in it that would stick out the door when it’s plugged in. Then you can’t shut the door if it’s still plugged in.
This reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
This reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
Get a retractable badge lanyard, one end goes to the module and the other end goes to a funnel. Anytime you see it you'll be likely to pick it up to make sure you didn't stain the surface with oil. Change the funnel out with a different size/type/color occasionally so you don't get complacent.
I have a VCM Lite, which is about twice the size of that thing. I still worry about losing it, so I attached a lanyard to it and keep it hung up on my wrench key holder.
Kinda overkill but if you have access to a 3D printer, look up “Gridfinity.” Print some base plates, then print an OBD2 holder that sits on top of the base plates. That’s where I keep mine, alongside all my other Gridfinity-sorted tools.
Fluorescent lanyard. I used to lose things like my pocket knife pretty regularly in my home workshop or even my messy-ass home office desk, but since I attached a very bright pink lanyard to them I've never had a problem. Much easier to notice when you're looking for a long strand of bright ribbon as opposed to a small device.
I tied some paracord around ours (about 2') with a large nut at the other end. Worst case, customer gets in their car and comes back to ask about the ACME Roadrunner trap on their floorboard.
The techs in my shop use a red lanyard long enough to plug it in and over the turn signal switch so it obvious. The newbie almost lost it and he got his right of passage red lanyard 😂
Gorilla Glue it to a 2x4 that’s 2 feet long and spray paint it orange?
Ah, the old 'high school bathroom pass' technique
We had a science teacher that would hand out pieces of his anatomy mannequin. Teachers would see you walking down the hall with a gallbladder or a colon or something and laugh.
That's pretty great. My favorite one I remember was the shop teacher, his hall pass was a comically large pipe wrench that probably weighed 20 pounds
hey, I use one of those for work. comically large turns into 3 foot pipe wrenches.
Had a teacher that had a short surf board with a leash for his hall pass
We had a science teacher that would hand out pieces of his anatomy mannequin. Teachers would see you walking down the hall with a gallbladder or a colon or something and laugh.
My buddy's dad did that with a solid iron cat's eye reflector from the road (also painted bright orange), they weigh about 5kg so there's absolutely no way you're putting it in a pocket and forgetting about it.
Are you in the UK?
this is the way
And hope to hell you don’t have to work on one of the stupid cars where they shoved the connector at bottom of the center console. I’m glad the EPA was like “for the love of god stop doing that”.
Ok fuck this post in particular I just got one of these about 2 weeks ago and now thanks to this post I'm realizing I have no fucking clue where I've put the damn thing You've actually made me realize I lost this expensive piece of plastic
Glue an AirTag to it
Hey, at least give op some time to consider the bad suggestions.
🤣
Airtags don't help you find a thing in a pile of other things - there are trackers (maybe Tile?) which you can message and they'll beep/flash
AirTags do that too. You can prompt it to make noise. Not sure about the flash.
And the tracker will put you maybe a foot away from the location.
So will AirTags.
Yeah sorry that’s what I mean. They are great
Ah, yup. After switching to iPhone that plus the ability to track friends the same way in a crowd is one of my favorite features.
It’s really nice lol I use it when I’m meeting up with a buddy, just share my location.
whatever you do, dont attach a 10mm to it.
Attach the cheapest harbor freight 12 point 11mm stubby you can find on it. You know that thing aint gonna actually be useful the one time you try it, but its gonna stay with the set always to haunt you
Test the universe. Attach a 10mm and 3 feet of heavy chain.
There’s now 5ft of chain and the 10mm is gone.
Well, f#*k. I was hopeful.
Gonna end up like the cat+buttered toast free energy machine.
Ah he’d open a wormhole Similar idea putting buttered toast and taping to a cat. Dropping the cat toward floor
3 foot long pink ribbon
Really thought the last word of your sentence was gonna be dildo, was disappointed.
Great minds think alike partner.
And always hang it out the door so even if you close the door you see that pink tape!
Keep it in your prison wallet. Can't lose it if it's inside you
Idk I've lost things a few times up there...
Flared base
Tape a chunk of polonium-210 to it and wear a Geiger counter. If it stops beeping, you forgot it.
User: Any helpful suggestions? This sub: WELD IT TO A 3" CHAIN AND FASTEN IT TO THE MIZENMAST!!!
Obd2 extention cable, plug in cable, leave scanner on winshield or something
This. OBD2 extension cable also has the additional function of taking the mechanical wear from sliding in and out of the OBD2 port. Scan tool connectors frequently break over years of use and it's better to wear down the replaceable extension cable than the expensive scan tool.
bonus points for adding an airtag, tile, or other tracker of choice (or all of the above) zip tied to the extension cable.
And assuming the cable is some bland colour, make it something bright with tape/heat shrink/tape/whatever. You won't miss a hot pink stripe across the windshield.
This is what I do also helps with the wifi reception a little
https://www.naa.edu/remove-before-flight/
THIS
Go to the junkyard, cut off an ODP2 port. Glue it to something like your tool box or scanner. Eventually you'll remember to put it back in it's spot.
Honestly might be my favorite idea here
Chain it to an old hubcap.
This, or cement block.
ASA Remove Before Flight Banner - MyPilotStore.com https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/12820 This, and add a 5' length of 550 parachute cord. Hang the streamer thru the steering wheel & out the driver's window.
Both of mine have keyring slots, just put some long ass neon green key lanyards if yours does too.
Glue it to your balls
This is the way!!
Attach it to the shop tortoise. Then all you need is a bit of lettuce and it will come to you.
Very slowly
I work in IT and wasn't sure if "shop tortoise" was the nickname for something at first 🤣
I was at a custom fab shop (laser and CNC routing) that had a shop tortoise. One of those big sulcata fellows. It had traces of blue paint on its back because all of their workbenches were painted blue and when it got bored it would climb under a bench and use itself as a forklift to move them around.
That's pretty damn funny.
new shop rule. wear it as a necklace, or put it back where it belongs. they make break away lanyards. this is what we do for the bob cat key. The lanyard makes an obnoxious to stick it in your pocket.
You have more motivation not to lose it, with a bobcat if you don't put it back in its cage it pisses everywhere and destroys the shop! /s
Get you a PA piercing and chain it to it.
Third leg anchor
I was thinking gorilla glue the end of it to a dildo, bright colors and shapes depend on make and model.
Put in a ballon and hoop it
Local Chrysler dealer has a big chain on theirs, when you log into witech its name is Chaingalang
Jb weld it to a log chain and weld the other end to a large brake drum. You won't lose it AND it can double as a wheel block.
Several long zip ties of different colors
lanyard clip to the cust keys/keytag
This might work
You're gonna lose it. Why not just give up hope now?
How do you avoid losing other tools?
By leaving them in hard to miss spots, not underneath the dash where you can’t see them.
That's a silly question, you don't.
I have 2 feet of caution tape taped to mine for exactly this purpose.
Just get a lanyard for it and attach it to the equipment.
Hits home....can't find mine 😭
Keep it in your purse.
Tie a Balloon
A brightly coloured lanyard or equivalent. I have a similar VCI on my diagnostic tablet and I have left it inside customer vehicles a few times. Mine doesn't have a spot for a keyring or else I would have done what I suggested to it already
I buy the biggest Remove Before Flight tags off Ebay and secure them somehow. Hard to miss that.
Attach a “REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT” tag
This post reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
Just be responsible and don't? Easier said than done for most of us monkeys though.
Paint it bright pink.
I would take it
Chain it to an old steel wheel.
Or non-dominant arm?
Get a wired one
Lanyard
Tie a 3 ft bright flashy rope to that
Pool noodle. It’s big, it’s bright, but it’s not heavy when you’re crawling around in someone’s foot well trying to plug it in.
Affix a length of bright colour rope of some sort and drape that through the wheel and window
Zip tie it to a 10mm wrench
Extra lost dongle with this method.
3D print a socket Mount to wall.
Tie a long ribbon or something to it you can leave hanging outside the door of a vehicle It's in. Won't hurt the door or connector if you close it unless you run it over and yank it out the obd.
Zip tie it to your pecker
Our scanner makes all kinds of noise when you end the session to remind you to take it out of the vehicle even tried turning down the volume to no avail.
Zip ties, bells, and some gaffers tape. Zip tie two bells on it. Zip tie a long boy and put gaffers tape on it, optional is adding some sort of cardboard to it. Cut cardboard braced gaffers tape into penis shape. Spray paint penis shaped tape pink so you can see it, and the balls will jingle hopefully on your way to park the car if you forget to pull it out.
I have a 3 foot 550 cord epoxy attached to my WITEC pod with a tag on the end with dealership and phone number. My aftermarket scan pod setup the same
I have a pink lanyard with flashing LEDs on my Bluetooth dongle (hehe) and I haven't left it in a car in the last three years.
I bought a cheap dlc breakout box that works great for not losing the dongle to my scanner.
Zip tie it to a three foot long rubber snake. People will ignore a lot of things when driving off, but a long ass snake isn’t one of them.
Walk into the parts department, and ask them for the brightest colored lanyard they have. Surely your parts department has some brand-themed swag they offer.
Ok, trying to be practical as it’s what I’d do. Get one of the “hardshell” portable hard drive or flash drive case off Amazon and color it neon pink(personally, I’d go neon green to match) if you want but it will have a safe, somewhat protective home.
Ours have lanyards and I like to loop it around the turn signal stalk, not fullproof but it helps
We just got an extension cable for our Autel dongle.
I vote for attaching it to a cowbell. I gotta have more cowbell.
Attach it to an annoying piece of metal like a gas station bathroom key
Chain it to ur belt
Air tags
Drill a hole on 2 corners and put a big ass lanyard on it, like those key ones, and put a tile or airtag on it.
Glue a 10mm socket to your buddy’s reader and watch it run home to its nest
OMG i've left my PIM in new cars like 3 times already i had to drive all the way down to the dirt lot to find it, then one time i left it in the cargo pocket of my work pants on friday, luckily i worked on saturday and found it before cintas picked it up on monday. now i put a long piece of yellow electric tape on it so it's easier to spot
Shove it up your ass, it’ll be hard to forget about in there
Cinder block? Police Academy 2 vibes
Attach it to an old chrome hubcap like the old bathroom keys at gas stations would be.
Attach a steel wire with a clip so that you can clip it to the car key or the tablet.
Memory Cable like for a motorcycle brake Disk lock.
Put it in the big box that the old kit came in. Now I'm desperately trying to remember where my one is.
If you have an iPhone, strap an airtag to it. Otherwise a lanyard will do.
Secure some small rope to it then find the biggest shiniest axle nut you can, then tie it to the rope. Never lost one since then.
Hoop a keyring through your foreskin and attach it to that
I have a long keycord around it. Its long enough to hang over the indicator stalk when its plugged in, if I do forget it. A customer will notice it immediatly
Attach a bell to it so anyone moving the car will know it's there
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Southern-Orchid-1786: *Attach a bell to* *It so anyone moving* *The car will know it's there* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
As a side note: these OBD Link LX scanners have more than doubled in price from when I bought one in 2017. Are there any good alternatives before I have to replace mine for a second time?
We lost one last week. I buy the mx+ at 130 a pop for the shop. We have 3 currently.
I always just use an extension/breakout box anyway to save on connector wear. Makes it much more visible and harder to misplace
Self sticking Velcro fasteners
Not really creative. But i have a 20cm strip of ducttape attached to it. Attached to the top and bottom.. have lost it (yet). Also easier to remove if in a crappy place.
Airtag
In naval aviation we would attach that to a tailhook, or maybe a used Blue Death
Airtag or tile chip. Super glue one to the mf so you can page/ring it from your phone lol
AirTag
Get one of those wheeling stands people always have IV bags on in movies, tie the dealie to a length of bright pink ribbon, clip that to the top of the stand. Now you have to wheel the stand to whatever car you need to plug it into and if you have to take it off for whatever reason it's still got the long hi-viz tail
I put a pink dog leash on my Mopar mds. I developed the habit over looping it around the turn signal switch. I don’t know if you have the capability but I can go to the bcm and honk the horn if I left it a car.
BOOF IT!
Chain it to a nutsack piercing
Key lanyard.
We just glue a lanyard to them. Still get left in cars but customers usually see them if nothing else
Some guy at my work put the Caroling bells on his and glued bright orange stick off the end. Hard miss and easy to hear
Glue a magnet or Velcro to it and stick it to a specific place on/in your toolbox.
Ziptie a ladle to it
Chain a 4ft length of 6x2 painted pink to it. Downside is you may not be able to use it but you won't lose it.
More zip ties
Attach it to a hubcap.
The only logical suggestion has been made (AirTag, tile, etc) so I offer this: 3d print an attachment for the top with a 90 degree bend in it that would stick out the door when it’s plugged in. Then you can’t shut the door if it’s still plugged in.
put an air tag on it.
This reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
This reminds me of some dive bar I went to where you had to ask for a key to use the bathroom and the key was firmly attached to a large plastic restroom sign.
I put a lanyard on mine, could also get and obd extension cable and hang it out the window when plugged in so you see it dangling there.
Glue it to the old one
I have a 2ft long red "remove before flight", flight aid attached.
Apple tag right on the front of it! It’s not if you misplace it, it’s when….
Get a retractable badge lanyard, one end goes to the module and the other end goes to a funnel. Anytime you see it you'll be likely to pick it up to make sure you didn't stain the surface with oil. Change the funnel out with a different size/type/color occasionally so you don't get complacent.
I attached a bright key lanyard to mine. I see it when I get out the door and it's always annoyingly dangling at my feet when I'm using it.
I have a VCM Lite, which is about twice the size of that thing. I still worry about losing it, so I attached a lanyard to it and keep it hung up on my wrench key holder.
Kinda overkill but if you have access to a 3D printer, look up “Gridfinity.” Print some base plates, then print an OBD2 holder that sits on top of the base plates. That’s where I keep mine, alongside all my other Gridfinity-sorted tools.
Fluorescent lanyard. I used to lose things like my pocket knife pretty regularly in my home workshop or even my messy-ass home office desk, but since I attached a very bright pink lanyard to them I've never had a problem. Much easier to notice when you're looking for a long strand of bright ribbon as opposed to a small device.
We put orange cones on cars that have tools in them.
Which scanner does it go to?
I tied some paracord around ours (about 2') with a large nut at the other end. Worst case, customer gets in their car and comes back to ask about the ACME Roadrunner trap on their floorboard.
The techs in my shop use a red lanyard long enough to plug it in and over the turn signal switch so it obvious. The newbie almost lost it and he got his right of passage red lanyard 😂
Remove before flight flag.
Surgically attached to your forehead.
Ryobi makes an OBD scanner now?!
put it in your wallet
Gorilla tape it to your pubic hair.
Take it as a sign you're probably regularly missing other service steps too, and create a checklist with stow ODB tool on that checklist.