The Triton D10: Reader feedback

Cedar Garage in Worthing has 19 staff across two workshops and has invested heavily into the latest tools, diagnostic equipment, and technical training. AT spoke to Senior Diagnostics Specialist Adam Cannell, who has been using Snap-on’s Triton D-10 for several months, to get some feedback on their latest bit of kit.

“Every single tool has got its place in the workshop – there’s not one scan tool that does it all. I’m a fan of the Snap-on tooling, they have very good coverage and are built for technicians – some of the other tools I use are built for technicians but are created by computer programmers and are not very easy to use. I use the Zeus and Triton a lot as they save the information to the Cloud, which is very handy because if you want to recall jobs and fault codes it saves time not having to go back to the tool, you just log in to the website.

“The tool itself is well made, feels solid and it starts up very quickly, which is a huge advantage. Other scan tools can feel like an eternity to turn on, whereas the Triton D-10 takes, I think, two seconds; it’s extremely quick. If it’s connected to a vehicle it starts identifying it, so for less experienced technicians, they’re going to save time. It will test the whole vehicle and give you a list of fault codes, or any stored DTCs, and is sent to the Cloud. You can review it on the tool or Cloud, I prefer doing it from the Cloud so when I’m writing the job up I can just copy and paste it onto our garage management system.

“You’ve got the Fast-Track Intelligent Diagnostics, which is a very handy feature especially if you’re not au fait with the system you’re working on. It will highlight any known faults and parts that been replaced for that fault code, and symptoms. You get a bar graph at the top showing x amount of people replaced this part for this concern. If you’re on the fence about a part then you see a lot of people have been replacing a component for that problem, it gives you more confidence. I’ll always advocate that the part’s tested not just replaced! The other nice thing about it is you have got component test information on the tool so you can flick from the Intelligent Diagnostics to this and have a quick read on how something might operate, the type of plug connection it has, what’s on the wiring etc. It will give you test parameters, so you know what measurements to expect. You can also launch the scope from that screen, which is nice, and will set it up how the guys have done at Snap-on to get that information – when it comes to using oscilloscopes, one of the hardest things is learning the settings.

“I don’t know whether it’s a complete replacement for manufacturers’ information but as far as it goes for the independent, it’s going to get you a lot of fixes and it’s going to get you very close to the ones that you do maybe need to get the manufacturer’s information for but you’ve already got to the point where you’ve authorised a bit more diagnostic time, so you’re in a good place.” www.snapon.co.uk/diagnostics/