240 Count Zeno Tip
by on Jul.02, 2011, under Matt's Projects
Was jacking around with the Zeno again recently and figured out (as far as I can tell) how to get the most counts or uses possible onto a Zeno tip. I started by comparing the tip EEPROM data of the 60, 90 & 150 count tips. Of the three data sets bytes 2, 12, 49, 65 & 66 were the only ones that changed from tip to tip. After studying these changes I eventually found a pattern and was able to put together some formulas for creating your own custom count tip. But really, who wants less than the maximum amount? For the method I worked out, the tip count must be in multiples of 15. Not saying the Zeno cares, but for the pattern I observed the tip count must be a multiple of 15.
I use TeraTerm for resetting my Zeno tips. For those that dont want to use TeraTerm but need the EEPROM data, open the TeraTerm macro and extract the data you need. For those that do want the macro, here it is: 240 Count Macro for use with TeraTerm
Formulas:
Byte 2 = Desired Count + 5
Byte 12 = 54 + (( Count – 60 )/15)
Byte 49 = 178 – ((( Count – 60 ) / 15 ) * 16 )
Byte 65 = Count + 4
Byte 66 = 131 – Count
The Zeno tips contain a 256 byte I2C EEPROM. The highest number that any single byte can hold is 0xFF or 255. At first I tried to max the tip out to 255 uses. But this forced the data at bytes 2 & 65 to roll over zero when using the formulas. The Zeno did not like that at all. Keeping the tip count value at a multiple of 15 the next step down was 240. This kept our data below oxFF and the Zeno was happy. All other bytes in the EEPROM are the same throughout the various count tips offered by Zeno. Interestingly, I have found that the Zeno could care less about anything past byte 66. So the new 240 count macro writes all zeros 0xFF after byte 66.
