I cover the stoneridge … it’s not that bad.
Unfortunately I’m in the North West
there is a simulater posted on you tube for both siemens and stoneridge that you can learn from
Never used a Stoneridge,which button do you press to change modes,rest,drive etc,also which is the eject button ?
you can try the simulator here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=71510 yourself
their not that difficult to work out
I would rate the stoneridge better than a vdo 
They’re horrid things, doesn’t matter if you follow the proceedure, for some reason they start going around in loops and circles and you don’t know which ‘mode’ you are setting it to if you are manually entering SOD.
On the tacho subject, does anyone know why some tacho heads revert to rest when the ignition is switched off, its so bloody annoying. Especially if the truck has something like Isotrak which doesn’t like you idoling, so you kill the ignition whilst you are waiting to exit a gate in a queue of wagons so you don’t idle to long, and the tacho is on break, it’s impossible to remember it every time you switch off the ignition and so ANNOYING !
Kerbdog:
On the tacho subject, does anyone know why some tacho heads revert to rest when the ignition is switched off, its so bloody annoying. Especially if the truck has something like Isotrak which doesn’t like you idoling, so you kill the ignition whilst you are waiting to exit a gate in a queue of wagons so you don’t idle to long, and the tacho is on break, it’s impossible to remember it every time you switch off the ignition and so ANNOYING !
It can be changed by a tacho calibration centre or whoever. One of our trucks used to do this and it caused a few problems because drivers sometimes forgot to change it when loading etc.
There are quite a few features on the Stoneridge that I like, for instance the default display shows you how long you have been in a particular mode. Much more useful than the VDO telling you what speed you’re doing, why look up in the headlining of the truck to find that info when it is on the speedo in front of you?
Yes, the manual entry procedure is not very easy if you don’t use it very often. The Rev 7 and later versions are much easier than the initial Rev 5 & 6. The main thing to watch is that for some strange reason best known only to the folk in Sweden you have to enter a ‘start’ time for each activity. This means you can end up with ‘unknown’ periods if you don’t watch the pictograms in the display very carefully. The VDO just assumes that the start time of an activity is the same as the end time of the previous activity, which has a neat kind of logic about it.
The early Stoneridge units also wanted start and end times for recording ferry rest interruptions. Again, this has changed in the later versions to match the VDO simple entry just showing why the rest was interrupted.
Watch out when doing printouts from a Stoneridge. It uses a buffer store which means that the printout pauses quite often, wait until the bit for signatures has been printed before ripping the printout off. Hate to think how many times I’ve done that only to watch the next part of the printout appear.
The reason as to why some VUs switch modes when the ignition is switched on or off is simple, blame the French!! The story goes that a manufacture who shall be nameless but they are French reported that they were getting a lot of negative feedback from driver who found that using the mode switch was all too much hard work. Therefore they set the VU so that ‘break/rest’ was automatically recorded when the ignition was turned off. That’s fine if that’s what is happening, but quite often drivers are actually unloading vehicles which means they need to be recording ‘work.’ The Swedish and German VU manufacturers followed the lead of the French 'cos they argued that if they didn’t the other company had a marketing advantage and we now have a total dogs breakfast. The VDOs need a Workshop card to adjust the settings, the Stoneridge can be set using a Company card (so I’m told), either way you just wish that folk hadn’t meddled with the system. Having said that it worked to my advantage the other day. I needed to be somewhere but also needed a break to satisfy the RTWTR. Pulled onto Birch services and prepared to sit and fume for 15 minutes. Checked the continuous driving time and ■■■■■■■■■■ break screen on the VDO VU and found that I had got 19 minutes ‘break’ when I knew I hadn’t selected it. Not being one to argue with the regulatory device I set off and got to delivery on time where I was able to play and discovered that truck was fitted with this type of tacho.
I only used one once and couldn’t get my card out 
after pressing every button i finally got it out.
At the end of the month i got an infringement for that day. Other work for 47 hours 
I would be much more annoyed to find it had recorded other work when I was on rest.
Just because it went digital there was no reason to have to push buttons and then peer at an LCD display I’d much rather have a clearly marked dial to twist to change modes.
Like most things when they are improved they just make it over complicated
Still i am now driving a 1996 truck so don’t have to worry about over complicated things 
Chewyboy:
I would rate the stoneridge better than a vdo
+1^^^^ & they tend to be fitted to Scania too…
205:
you can try the simulator here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=71510 yourself
their not that difficult to work out
Cheers,will give it a whirl.
James Bateman2:
Never used a Stoneridge,which button do you press to change modes,rest,drive etc,also which is the eject button ?
For driver one the ‘1’ button changes mode and hold it in for 3 to 5 seconds and it ejects the card. Same for driver ‘2’ believe it or not.
Manual entry process is a little confusing until you get the hang of thr symbols used for start of an activity and end of an activity.
I do however avoid the Stoneridge where I can
I’ve used a Stoneridge and it is absolutely horrific. I absolutely DREAD using them and I really mean that.
Had a dinosaur version for a few weeks, sodding thing had a mind of its’ own. Whoever wrote the user manual was obviously on something. Printouts coming out my arse. When it woudn’t let the Company download the gubbins, it was exchanged for a newer version. What a difference, piece of ■■■■!
Pimpdaddy:
Chewyboy:
I would rate the stoneridge better than a vdo
+1^^^^ & they tend to be fitted to Scania too…
All the new Scania’s at my dads place have Siemens in them now, my dad had to use one for a while and he hated it, compared to the stoneridge.
