Upgrade D180 With Latest Version Van?s Software

I’m having D180 alarms for high fuel pressure as other’s have mentioned. The fix appears to be installation of Van’s latest “locked” software which has slightly higher limit for fuel pressure. I bought my RV-12 flying from the original builder/owner with 50 hours TT so I have no experience with uploading software into the Dynon. I’ve been trying to research correct procedure and have several questions…

1) Do I buy USB cable and Driver from Dynon?
2) How does USB cable connect to D180? I don’t see a USB port on the D180. I can’t find a photo showing this cable connection.
3) Does Van’s have “unlocked” software?
4) Am I correct that fuel pressure limit is raised in Van’s newest release?

Thanks in advance…

Piper J3

I suggest you start HERE

Early RV-12 kits had the serial data going through the control board to the tunnel. In later versions, the serial 9-pin D-Sub connector is attached to the back of the Dynon D-180 with 6" wires. The first step is to locate the serial connector. If there is none, or if the existing one does not work, I recommend connecting a 9-pin D-Sub directly to the 25-pin D-Sub on the back of the D-180.
EFIS Pin 9 connects to D-Sub pin 5 (wht/blk)
EFIS Pin 10 connects to D-Sub pin 2 (wht/org)
EFIS Pin 22 connects to D-Sub pin 3 (wht/yel)
The 9-pin D-Sub needs to connect to your laptop. If your laptop does not have a serial port, then buy a SERIAL TO USB CONVERTER.
Install the Dynon Support Program on your computer.
I mounted a USB port on the instrument panel so that I can download the data after every flight.

What Joe said! It sounds more complicated than it is. I went to version 5.5 a couple of years ago and worried about an avionics meltdown, but it proved to be a non-event. Just read all the threads on the software update and they should lead you through it.

Now if only I owned something capable of doing the update on mine. Anything portable I have is a tablet with no USB ports. Hmm. Maybe my wife's old Windows laptop can be resurrected enough to be useful.

I found a USB cable hanging out of a corner of the tunnel. Took me a while to find out what it was there for. There's a USB <> serial cable buried in there.

Mich48041 said:

Early RV-12 kits had the serial data going through the control board to the tunnel.

Click to expand...

Mine is early kit - 120058. When you say tunnel, do you mean the angled divider between pilot and passenger's feet? Is there USB connector inside?

If I understand correctly, there will (may) be a 9-pin serial connector in the triangluar section between the pilot and passenger side rudder pedals. If you want USB, you'll need to get a USB to serial adapter unless the previous owner already installed on, as I found in mine. They're cheap and plentiful in Fleabay and Amazon, and probably your local Best Buy as well. It should cost you well under ten bucks.

Mine is early kit - 120058. When you say tunnel, do you mean the angled divider between pilot and passenger's feet? Is there USB connector inside?

Click to expand...

Yes, that is the tunnel. A 9-pin D-Sub connector might be found there. But it is highly unlikely to find a USB connector. The data cable needs to be readily available and not require removal of umpteen screws.

Just a little more info.....

When I needed to hook up the D-180 to a laptop that only had USB ports several years ago I found out the hard way that all USB to Serial converters are not created equal. At that time if I remember correctly Dynon had a recommended brand that they knew worked. You might want to check with them to see if this is still the case.