A review of the Foxwell NT809 automotive diagnostic scan tool. This is a mid-level, pro grade scan tool with bidirectional control (also called actuation tests) that will pretty much handle about 99% of things that you could need to repair your own vehicle. It is very well built, it has a nice bright touch screen, with a kickstand on the back, and it’s very intuitive to use. If you can operate a modern day smartphone, then you should be able to easily operate this tool. The included, printed owner’s manual is very well written, easy to read, and includes definitions for all abbreviation that are found on the scan tool. This is handy for users who may not be familiar with all the abbreviations and/or acronyms used in the auto repair world. This Foxwell NT809 scan tool comes with a hard formed canvas case with a handle, the scan tool itself, the OBDII cable, the charger cable with USB-A to USB-C, owner’s manual, and quick start guide.
I did notice the OBDII cable is a tad shorter than I would like, but inexpensive OBDII extension cables can be found all over the internet. In fact, I believe all corded OBDII scan tools could benefit from an extension cable regardless of how long the included cable may be. This way you can easily move about the vehicle while staying connected during auto repairs. Also, I noticed the tool does not come with a power brick (charger). Again, not a big deal because by now, most people probably already have a bunch of these laying around from other devices…. But I still feel it should’ve been included with the tool.
Bottom line, I’ve used many different brands and models of automotive scanners…. This tool seemed very well built and very easy to use. The software was intuitive and functioned smoothly. If you’re in the market for a mid-level pro grade scan tool with bidirectional control, be sure to put this one on your consideration list.
Today I demonstrate my new 16 ton Chinese hydraulic wire crimper that I bought from Amazon. I will be using it with 4/0 (four aught) 100% copper, fine stranded welding cable and per-tinned crimp lugs. I even cut apart the finished crimped fitting to inspect the quality of the crimp connection. I bought this crimper to use on a starting unit for heavy equipment that we were building a few months ago and I was impressed with it’s capability, especially for the low cost of the tool. I figured it was worth sharing my experience with the good people of Garage Topic and youtube. Harbor Freight offers a hydraulic crimping tool also, but it costs more than the tool in this review, and it’s a smaller crimper. The largest wire listed on the Harbor Freight tool is 0 AWG (zero gauge). The cable I am crimping in this review is 4/0 (four aught) which is four sizes larger than 0 AWG. (zero gauge) This 16 ton Chinese crimper comes with 5 sets of dies LARGER than the 4/0 I was crimping. (11 sets of dies in total) This thing is an absolute beast for the price. I should have bought this tool sooner!
YouTube video down below.
I am pretty sure that most of the 16 ton hydraulic crimpers listed on Amazon and eBay are probably from the same factory in China. They are just re-named, or re-branded depending what the private sellers decide to call the product in their Amazon or eBay listings. The unit I purchased from Amazon is called “Goplus”.
This is a picture of the hydraulic crimping tool I purchased:
Goplus 16-Ton Chinese Hydraulic Crimper
PROS:
Low cost. I do not remember the exact price that I paid for this crimper but it was considerably cheaper than the Harbor Freight crimper, which is also considerably smaller than this unit. Not to mention, this crimper is WAAAY cheaper than the well known, brand name crimpers that is available on the market.
Capability. This crimper comes with eleven hex dies which will cover a wide range of cable and wire sizes. Everything from a wire just large enough that you wouldn’t want to crimp it with a hand crimper, all the way up to cable sizes that your average guy would probably never be working with anyway. Another thought I had was…. the dies are nothing proprietary. They literally look like a square piece of metal with a hex hole punched in the middle, then cut in half to make the die. A handy guy in his home shop could easily make custom dies for this crimper out of a square piece of mild steel, drill a hole, then cut in half. Presto! Instant custom die.
Simple and easy to use. This crimper is very easy to use. There is one vale to open and close just like on a hydraulic floor jack, and a handle to pump the hydraulic jaws together. That’s it. (The jaws are spring return) As long as you have the correct size dies installed for the size of cable and fittings you’re using, and you center your fitting in the dies, you really can’t screw up the crimp. Then you just pump the handle until the dies come completely together, so there is no longer a gap between the dies. Done.
Complete kit. The crimper comes in a blow mold case, which is not very good quality, but the only thing the case does is hold the tool and dies together while being stored. The case does not affect the functionality of the tool while it’s crimping wire or cables. And besides, for the cost of this tool, I really didn’t expect the case to be great anyway. lol. It also comes with an extra set of o-rings so when the tool develops a leak in the future, you will already have the o-rings to fix the leak….. if the extra o-ring kit isn’t lost by then. lol
Quality of crimp. I was very impressed by the quality of the finished crimp. Between the size of dies I was using, and the size of the fittings and cable I was crimping, I was VERY happy with the result of the finished crimp. I used my sawzall to cut a test crimp apart to inspect the crimp quality and it looked perfect to me. See for yourself below:
Freshly cut apart with sawzall to inspect quality of crimp
Same crimp as above but different view.
Finished crimp with adhesive lined shrink tubing
CONS:
My number one complaint is die sizing. The numbers on the dies are not inline with any numbers used for wire sizing here in North America, not this part anyway. I’ve been told it’s some sort of metric wire sizing….. which is perfectly fine, but it’s just not very convenient of anyone in North America. You would think if they’re selling millions of these crimper kits here in North America, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to have a different set of dies stamped with AWG sizing. It takes a little trial and error to get the correct size die for your project. I recommend at least one or two test crimps with scrap wire to make sure you get the sizing correct before crimping anything on your project itself. I was mildly upset with the die sizing but then I remembered how much I paid for this crimper kit and I immediately had a smile back on my face. lol.
Other than die sizing, and the low quality case, there really is nothing else to complain about with this hydraulic crimping tool.
Conclusion:
I would absolutely recommend this hydraulic crimper to anyone who needs to crimp any wire or cable that is too large to crimp with a hand crimper. It is a complete kit that covers a wide range of wire and cable sizes, it is very easy to use, it gives very high quality crimp results, and is very reasonably priced. The only down side would be if you’re a commercial contractor, who needs to prove that he used certified crimp fittings with a certified crimper, on a commercial job, then this crimper would not be for you. However, if you found yourself in the situation that I just mentioned, you’re probably not reading this review anyway. You would most likely be standing at the city desk of your local electrical supply house picking up that well known, brand name crimper that I mentioned earlier in this post, and paying 60 times (roughly) more than I paid for the crimper in this review.
For the average guy who is looking to crimp heavy gauge welding cable, or battery cables, or even cables for your DIY solar system install, this crimper would be excellent for you.
I was able to review the Autel MaxiCOM MK808BT OBDII scan tool a while back. There are several reasons why I like this scanner, and a few reasons why it’s not so great. First, lets cover the main reasons why I like the MK808BT.
YouTube video below.
PROS:
1) It will communicate with every module on any OBDII vehicle. Every vehicle made has different modules that monitor and control certain systems of the vehicle. This OBDII scan tool will scan for codes and provide live data from every module in the vehicle that it’s connected to. Most cheaper OBDII scan tools will only scan and display data from the the ECM. (Engine control module) Well, that’s great, but what about the other 5 or 10 (or more) modules in that vehicle? Abs brake module, SRS module (air bags), fuel pump module, body control module, transmission control module, etc, etc… This scan tool will scan and display trouble codes and live data from every module in the vehicle.
2) It has full live view data. The live data list for any given module is 100% complete. If the data PID exists in any given module, it will be displayed on the screen. A lot of the cheaper OBDII scan tools will only display a few of the most common PIDS and hide the rest. This scan tool displays all data PIDs
3) The Autel MK808BT will also display generic OBDII data from any vehicle…. which is data without the manufacturer’s (vehicle make) overlay. It’s just raw data from the vehicle.
4) It has wireless Bluetooth connectivity between the scanner and the vehicle – VCI. When you power-up the scan tool, about one second later you’ll hear a loud BEEP. That beep lets you know that the scanner and the VCI are connected to each other and they are ready for use. This happens automatically, every time you turn the scan tool on. I’ve never NOT had it connect immediately. The Bluetooth data connection between the vehicle’s OBDII port and the Autel scan tool is very good. I did not walk very far away from the vehicle to do an overall distance test, but I did walk around the vehicle inside the shop, and outside in the driveway and I never lost connection. The speed of the connection also seems to be very good. I did notice that it took about a half to maybe 1 full second to fully populate a full live data list but I’ve noticed that same delay with my MK908P which is a much more expensive scan tool. That short delay could have also been caused by the computer in my test vehicle. Either way, it was such a minor delay that it was barely worth mentioning. I only noticed the delay because I was specifically looking for it. Another thing I liked about the wireless Bluetooth VCI is that it comes with a mini USB port so if something happens to your wireless connection, you can simply connect a USB cable between the VCI and the scan tool and it now becomes a wired connection. I did test this and it worked flawlessly.
5) It offers all the main “service functions” like EPB, DPF, SAS, ABS, BMS, TPMS, auto brake bleed, oil reset, etc. Most of the cheaper OBDII scan tools do not come with the ability to perform ANY of these typical service functions… but this comes with pretty much every service function you could need. The list of functions are “possibilities”. Keep in mind, if some (or all) of these function do not exists in your vehicle’s computer, then this scan tool will not be able to command those functions. For example: EPB, which is electronic parking brake. My 2006 GMC 1500 pick-up does not have electronic parking brakes so that function does me no good because the computer in my truck wouldn’t know what to do with that command. lol.
6) This Autel MK808BT has SOME bi-directional controls. For example, I can operate the blend doors in my dash for the HVAC system, open and close all eclectic windows, lock/unlock the doors, etc, etc. The scan tool will be able to operate some functions inside the vehicle depending on the make/model. My test vehicle is a 2006, if you tried it on a newer vehicle it may operate more functions as cars became more computer dependent, and more modern over the years.
7) Other pros worth mentioning: The scanner runs on the Android operating platform and it feels like it’s physically very well made, it does not feel flimsy at all. It comes in your typical blow mold case with owners manual, power brick and two USB cables. (one long, one short)
CONS:
1) The MK808BT does NOT have full bi-directional control. Sure, I mentioned earlier that it had some control, but I haven’t been able to find any power train controls. I am not able to cycle the fuel pump, I am not able to open/close evap solenoids, etc, etc. Unfortunately, if you NEED bi-directional controls, then you will need to step up $300-$400 dollars more and buy a higher end model. However, if you are good at diagnosing modern cars, you may not need bi-direction control. The fact that this scanner has FULL live data for all modules, that should be enough to diagnose MOST problems on today’s vehicles.
2) Annual updates are NOT free. This isn’t the end of the world because having to purchase annual updates is fairly common with mid to high end scanners but it still sucks for your average guy to pay for updates that may only get used a few times per year. If you’re a mechanic working in a busy shop and use your scan tool every day, then it’s not such a big deal.
Conclusion
The Autel MK808BT is an excellent OBDII scan tool for serious DIYers, backyard mechanics, and even full time mechanics. If you’re looking for a scanner that will display ALL data for any given vehicle (whatever you’re plugged into) along with having the ability to perform all service functions, then this tool will be hard to beat! If you absolutely NEED bi-directional control, then skip this tool and keep going up the line to find another model that will fit your needs.
Please check out my YouTube video review about the MK808BT below.
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