Upgrade The Schulze LipoProfiBal 8
By Paul Williams.
Article posted 5th March 2009.
Upgrading the BIOS in Schulze's LipoProfiBal8 lithium cell balancer is reasonable straightforward, in some ways it's even simpler than upgrading a Schulze charger. You will need to download the upgrade from the Schulze website - the link to the firmware upgrades page is found in panel "C - Download" in the left hand frame of their website. You will also need a USB-to-RS232 serial cable. The data port on the balancer is a standard RS232 serial port, but many newer computers now do not have a serial port fitted, hence the need for an adaptor lead. I run Windows Vista, and the adaptor lead I purchased came with a driver on CD.
Upgrades for the Schulze nextGen chargers are done via the Akkusoft program. For the LipoProfiBal8 and 14 balancers, the upgrade is done via a DOS Command Prompt program. The upgrade and DOS program are contained in the zip file you download from Schulze. The upgrade program only allows you to select COM ports 1 or 2, Windows Vista can use multiple COM ports, and the driver for the USB-to-RS232 adaptor lead may select a port other than 1 or 2, so you may need to change this in Windows. Do this by right-clicking on the Computer icon on the Windows desktop and selecting Properties. This will launch the System Panel, from here click on Device Manager:
COM Port Configuration
In Device Manager, scroll down to Ports (COM and LPT) and click on the the "+" to expand this item. Right-click on the driver for your USB-to-RS232 adaptor and select Properties. If Ports (COM and LPT) does not appear in the list, even though you have installed the driver, plug in the adaptor lead and Ports (COM and LPT) should appear after Device Manager automatically refreshes.
In the Properties panel for the adaptor lead, select the Port Settings tab, and then click on the Advanced Settings button. In the Advanced Settings panel, use the drop-down list at the bottom left to select which COM port you want Windows to assign to the adaptor lead:
Click on "Ok" on Advanced Settings and Properties panels to save this setting.
Upgrading
Open the folder containing the unzipped upgrade files. Double-click "PROFIBAL.EXE" to launch the DOS upgrader program. Simply follow the prompts, selecting the required option on each screen. Have a charged lipo pack to hand, the program will prompt you to connect it on screen 4.
Language selection.
COM port selection.
Connect lipo pack now to the balancer, and the upload will begin.
Uploading the upgrade to the balancer.
Finished. Press the Esc key at this point to terminate the program.
© Copyright Paul Williams and www.fastelectrics.net, 2010.
This article may not be reproduced wholly or in part without the written permission of the author and www.fastelectrics.net. If you would like to use this article or the accompanying pictures/diagrams please email articles@fastelectrics.net.
Last modified: 08th July 2010 @ 09:06
