PL 8 - Q and A section - How to Set up - Use etc,

[shirley_hkg]

Another possibility with the addition of a schottky diode.[/attachment]

Yes. It works flawlessly.

[woodygb]

Excellent!

[woodygb]

Make the wiring a little tidier / easier by simply connecting the diode ( use a physically smaller one ) across the RX and TX terminals.

[shirley_hkg]

Ah, brilliant.

I have small diodes coming.

[shirley_hkg]

Hard to keep up with the demand of good working PL8, but to let go of my own collection too.

Very pleased to come across one selling 2 new in box units. Grap them without any hesitation. All good.
Have to fill up the spare of my own too.

I have 5 units which are in perfect working order.

[shirley_hkg]

Exhaust fans are clean as a whistle.

[Burgerman]

Old firmware needs updating to 3.5 or 3.6
How much shipped in £ please?

[shirley_hkg]

One has gone minutes ago.

Only one NIB unit left, though there are 3 other lightly used.

Will get an update shipping quote tomorrow.

[Furio]

I got my second PL8 from Shirley yesterday. Thank you Shirley!

[Burgerman]

Check firmware. Update to latest. 3.5 OK. 3.6 has no extra benefits for our purposes. Before this, there are a few bugs and issues.
So if its 3.4 or earlier update!
If its 3.5 then you dont need to bother. But you can if you want.

[Furio]

Hi BM,

The firmware version is 3.33. I would appreciate the latest firmware. Also I need the FUIM3 USB driver.

[Burgerman]

Driver is easy. The firmware is built in to the latest CCS software.

Will post both soon.

[Burgerman]

All in one version...
www.wheelchairdriver.com/doomed/PL8.zip

[Furio]

Thank you BM.

[shirley_hkg]

Another possibility with the addition of a schottky diode. [/attachment]

New PL8 user lacks no FUIM3

Thanks woodygb again for sharing expertise.

[Burgerman]

Shows why a small capacity lithium pack isnt a good idea quite well.
This is why we SHOULD fit the biggest Ah we can, and at the moment thats 230Ah in a GRP24 chair.
Shows why a BMS equiped small battery isnt a good investment quite well.

Remember that things that degrade a lithium battery are:
Heat (theres little we can do about this)
Deep daily or average discharges, which doesent happen with a big pack.
Number of cycles (the bigger the pack the less often we need to charge to the high full voltage needed to properly balance them).
The fact that a small battery with say 20% degradation matters. But a large pack even with 50% degradation will still give loads o range regardless!

This is talking about the typical lithium ion battery. But the same principles apply.
Also not mentioned here is that a tesla is only 85% charged when it tells you that its full. The top 15% isnt used. Its kept in reserve to increase longevity. Same at the bottom end. You cant actually discharge the pack to 0% as it doesent allow it. More like 10% and this extra 10 is kept as a reserve to prolong lifespan.


youtu.be/IHz-Kx5h_Tw

[martin007]

Another possibility with the addition of a schottky diode.[/attachment]

Yes. It works flawlessly.

What function does the diode have?

[Burgerman]

It prevents the TX and RX from interfering with each other. As they both use a common wire. A one way valve. And a shottky diode because they only lose a very small forward voltage (about .25V) instead of .7v from a silicone diode. Or it may not work.

[martin007]

Is the use of the diode still in the testing phase?
Is it an initiative of forum members?

[Burgerman]

Its just basic well known electronics. Woody started doing it because some programming leads were unreliable or not working.

[martin007]

Why doesn't this component come standard with the PL8?

[Burgerman]

You mean the FUIM3? Not everyone wants to use it with a computer. The thing we are looking at here is to relace the FUIM3 since they are no longer available

https://www.nexusmodels.co.uk/revolectr ... fuim3.html

[martin007]

OK.

[Burgerman]

5 sets, 10 connectors for £6

PL8.
These are the only ones you should use at high currents. They are the only ones that seem OK at 40A and that you cannot accidentally short out the battery. Add a 40A fuse into the cable at the battery end.
Only 2 sellers at the moment. Sometimes more.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185996476465
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314717353731

And the latest firmware, and the driver for the FUIM3 as well as the PC software is all rolled into one file here:
www.wheelchairdriver.com/doomed/PL8.zip

[shirley_hkg]

Nice wiring diagram .

[shirley_hkg]

This guy seems to have endless supply of brand new units. Already bought 2 from him in June , and are sold to members here.

Got another 2 New-in-Box units. Those easily felt off rubber tags are all intact. The most beautiful units I've acquired.

[shirley_hkg]

The first thing to check is the voltage consistency.

[shirley_hkg]

The second unit too.

[Burgerman]

Problem is that those voltages tell you nothing. Because they are all averaged / rounded and pushed close together.

So you will need to ENABLE 4 DECIMAL PLACES in the software. That also removes all of the data averaging. Then they will all read a different voltage on your PC screen.

[Arima]

This guy seems to have endless supply of brand new units. Already bought 2 from him in June , and are sold to members here.

Got another 2 New-in-Box units. Those easily felt off rubber tags are all intact. The most beautiful units I've acquired.

I'd like to purchase another PL8 if you are still in the business of selling and shipping Shirley?