CBus 2

Hi folks
I have CBus2 system installed in my home by my Electrician some years ago.
He has retired and i cant get hold of him ( gone bush to the back of QLD) to do some adjustments and fix an error only just discovered with the system.
I guess with the correct knowledge from you all i can undertake this myself.
I have a C bus board and star serve box in a room - see attached pic - with a connection for my laptop to connect to but wanted to check first on the process so i don't bugger it up.
Do i download the tool kit from cilpsal and if is there a specific one?
Can i do what i want wireless? if so how?
If i connect wired the connection on the board is a male end = im guessing a male to male will be needed or is another connection better - source to HDMI etc
My issue 1 is he has connected two heated towel rails the wrong rooms around

 

You have a Serial PCi Cbus interface. This requires the old fashion Serial RS232 connection. It has the standard DB9 socket on top and also 2 RJ45 (Serial ) connection on the back. Note these are SERIAL connections, not Network/Ethernet ports. If the 2 blue network cables shown in your picture connects to these ports, DO NOT plug them into your network. Bad things will happen. If you don't have a PC with a serial port, you can use a USB to Serial adapter, but you must use a good name brand one. Note that these 3 serial ports are all connected in parallel and you must only ever connect one at a time.

Once you have this connected, download the latest version of toolkit and you can connect. You will need to tell toolkit which COM port on the PC to use.

Ideally, the installer left the Cbus configuration file for you. If not, you can re-create it from the network, but it's a bit of work.

 

Thanks again
So I'm clear the Serial RS232 will connect onto the Serial PCi Cbus interface and then to my laptop,
My laptop only has a VGA serial port, but has USB, HDMI, ethernet ( see attached pic)
I called into Officeworks but they didn't appear to have anything i could use, so it could be an online item i need to source

Alternatively i could connect to one of the two RJ45 connections which appear to be located under the black grommets. ( I would need a male end RJ45 to USB)

I also have a C-Touch color touch screen 5080CTC2,GF and my question is can i connect to this and do what i want via it rather than via the board? I think i recall the sparky having his laptop connected to the touchscreen when he was setting up the system.

Another question for my system is can i add/alter/change it so that it becomes wireless by Wiser or other and is this easy to achieve

 

You need a USB to Serial (RS232) converter. This will have a DB9 connector that will connect to 9 pin socket on the top of the PCI. Officeworks do sell these:

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop...le-serial-rs232-9-pin-adaptor-1-5m-cou209m015

Note however that the PCI is a bit fussy when it comes to these adapters so I can't guarantee this one will work, although quality brand ones are usually ok.

Don't plug anything into the RJ45 RS2323 ports on the PCI. They are for advanced users only.

You connect directly to the Touch Screen to program it via the PICED app. Connect to the PCI to program CBus units via Toolkit.

Both the older Wiser2 and later SHAC include a CNI which is a network (ethernet) version of the Serial PCI. You can connect to these wirelessly via your router to program the Cbus network. The Touchscreen also has an Ethernet port which can be used to program it (with PICED) but not the network. You may want to see if this is connected.

Also, having the PCI installed in a switchboard is really bad practice and should never have been done. I would recommend you get it relocated outside the switchboard. It can be connected anywhere on the network.

 

All sorted and i have been able to find the file eventually by using the old Toolkit version 1 1-10-9.
Backed it up also.
I used a CBus toolkit connection guide from Cleverhome which was suggested in another forum, under note 1 on that publication it states to restore an old .cb2 project go through the process outlined.
However when i get to installing Toolkit2 Version 2.7.10 my laptop sates 'this PC cant run 2.7.10.
How can i get around this to update the old into the latest version

 

Steve
I think you have a bit of a conflict about versions of software used to program C-Bus.
C-Bus has gone through 3 seriously different version of software, but lets concentrate on the last 2.
So to clarify what I mean we are talking about
C-Bus installation software V2 and C-Bus Toolkit software (which is the 3rd version)
Its import to note the title first then their individual version number.


You mentioned Toolkit2 Version 2.7.10 which should be referred to as C-Bus installation software V2 (v2.7.10)
This is really old software circa 2005 and is not compatible with windows 10.
If you have a C-Bus project with the extension of .cb2 then you have a reasonable task ahead of you to upgrade this project to be compatible with C-Bus toolkit and if that is the case I can help take you through the process.
I presume you may actually have a .cbz file not a .cb2 please check, the reason for this presumption is based on the version as you mention it as 'old Toolkit version 1 1-10-9'. This is Toolkit not V2 software which will make your life so much easier.
If I am correct please download the latest version of toolkit and import your project into that software.
https://updates.clipsal.com/Clipsal...te/cis/technical/downloads/c-bus_toolkit.html
Note you can find various versions of software on the Schneider sites and can become confusing.
If you need more help just ask.
Colin

 

Thanks Colin
Screen shot of Toolkit version attached which successfully opens my project.
The files are .cbz.
So downloading the latest version of Toolkit will do the trick?

 

It should all work, if you have problems just ask on the forum for help.

 

Hi again
I have upgraded the CBus Toolkit to most recent version 1.15.7, had no trouble doing that -, copied across a backup file i made from about an hour before upgrade.
Project shows up in the projects, however when i go to connect to the network i get ERROR 22918 - PCI FAILED TO REST - UNABLE TO OPEN NETWORK.
any tips