Cat® Digital Voltage Regulator Caterpillar

The digital voltage regulator can communicate with a remote personal computer or programmable logic controller. The J4 connector of the digital voltage regulator provides an RS-232 port necessary for communication. The RS-232 port is a 9-pin communication media including a wire for Receive, a wire for Transmit, and a common Signal Ground. The common signal ground is NOT a bonding ground and should not be grounded to the case or frame. The common signal ground must be connected to the RS-232 device signal ground connection point. Cable length must be limited to 15 m (50 ft) maximum for the RS-232 signal wiring. The Caterpillar 1U-9484 Cable is recommended.

Illustration 1	g01008946

Table 1

Pin	Function	Name	Direction
1	-	-	N/A
2	Transmit Data	TXD	From Regulator
3	Receive Data	RXD	To Regulator
4	-	-	N/A
5	Signal Ground	GND	N/A
6	-	-	N/A
7	-	-	N/A
8	-	-	N/A
9	-	-	N/A

Illustration 2	g01136853

Note: Battery power (24 VDC) must be available at "P12-8" (B+) and "P12-7" (B-) in order for the remote communications port to operate.

A Windows-based program is available to communicate with the digital voltage regulator. The Windows program is called Caterpillar PC Software. The part number for the program is 252-7515 Software. The Windows program is available on SisWeb.

Caterpillar PC Software allows the user to perform the following operations.

• Viewing and modifying the parameters in a windowed PC environment

• Sending the parameters to the digital voltage regulator

• Saving the existing digital voltage regulator settings to a file

• Viewing the metering and fault information

• Upgrade embedded firmware

For information on changing and viewing the parameters of the voltage regulator, see Testing and Adjusting, RENR7941, "Parameter Viewing and Configuring Procedure".

Establishing Communication

Communication between the voltage regulator and the PC software must be established before viewing the metering values, reading settings, or changing settings. PC software screen settings are updated only after communication is opened or the communication settings have been changed. Open the voltage regulator communication port by clicking "Communications" on the menu bar, hovering the mouse pointer over "Open Comm Port" and clicking "RS-232 Port".

Illustration 3	g01392570

When "RS-232 Port" is selected, the "Password" dialog box appears and prompts you to enter a password. Refer to illustration 3.

Note: Each voltage regulator is delivered with “cat” as the password.

Illustration 4	g01392575

After the correct password is entered, the "Comm Port" screen is displayed. Refer to Illustration 4. Select "Comm 1", "Comm 2", "Comm 3", or "Comm 4" as the active communication port on your PC and click the "Initialize" button. The PC software initializes communication by obtaining the configuration settings from the voltage regulator.

Illustration 5	g01392576

Note: The Cat PC software will display the "Please wait..." dialog box that is shown in when initializing communication, obtaining configuration settings, or performing other tasks. Refer to Illustration 5. Wait until the box disappears before trying to execute communication commands. Issuing commands while the "Please wait..." dialog box is present may disrupt communication between the PC software and the voltage regulator.

Terminating Communication

Voltage regulator communication is terminated by clicking "Communications" on the menu bar and clicking "Close Comm Port". The user will be prompted to save the settings to the EEPROM. This question is asked even if no changes were made to the voltage regulator settings. When the close command is executed with a "Yes" or "No" to save settings to the EEPROM, communication with the voltage regulator is terminated. If the PC software is exited without first closing communication, the option will still be given to save the settings to the EEPROM.

Note: Click the "File" on the "Menu" bar and then "Exit" in order to exit the software.