Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue What does the Persisted Data mean in a Log Processing Trend Log and how does if affect the data? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server v. 3.2 onwards Building Operation Automation Server Premium v. 3.2 onwards Building Operation Automation Server Bundled v. 3.2 onwards Cause As described in KB article Log Processing Trend Log records not transferred to Extended Trend Log, if Persisted Data is false the data is not saved to the database, but instead recalculated every time the data is required. This has a few effects on the Log data. Constantly recalculating the data can delay displaying the data. With Persisted Data False, the latest log value can be calculated, but if set to True the latest value will only be available after the end of that period as below: This can have an effect if the data is being used in WebStation Dashboard. In the example below the last 30 days is being viewed:   Resolution If the log data is required frequently and multiple logs are required, the operation of opening the logs may take a while. In that case it is better to switch Persisted Data to true. See Known Issue WebStation Dashboards take up to 20 minutes to open using External log Storage and Log Processor Trend Logs for more information.   The Log value for the latest period is likely to vary depending if the persisted data is true or false.

Issue Test and air balance procedure for balancing airflow Product Line TAC Vista, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Premium  TAC Xenta 102-AX  TAC Xenta 102-AX Plug-in Cause Each 102-AX controller must be calibrated on-site to report accurate airflow readings.  The LNS Plug-in provides this functionality, but it may not be immediately clear what the correct procedure is to perform a valid calibration. Resolution Check the firmware version of your 102-AX controllers in the plug-in, Node Configuration tab. It will be shown under Program Revision. If it's anything earlier than 2.1.6 then the calibration won't work properly. The airflow setpoint changes but the damper does not modulate to maintain setpoint in the calibration mode. Your options in that situation are to manually manipulate the damper to maintain airflow setpoint in order to facilitate calibration or upgrade the controllers firmware. Also verify that the box is set to "Pressure Independent" mode on the Unit Parameters tab.  Pressure dependent boxes do not use airflow sensors, and therefore cannot be calibrated. To balance the 102-AX in Building Operation version 1.4 or higher where the LNS plug-in is no longer provided, review the article TAC Xenta 102-AX TGML plug-in for Building Operation To calibrate airflow using the 102-AX LNS plug-in:  Go to the Node Configuration Tab. Select "Set Default m & b." This is a good idea before each calibration attempt since incorrect calibration values can make it more difficult to perform a valid calibration. (NOTE: The m & b values can be viewed under the Airflow Parameters Tab of the 102AX LNS plug-in...m = Velocity Pressure Gain & b = Velocity Pressure Offset) Select "Start Calibration." At this point the airflow setpoint should go to the minimum. You can check the Cooling Minimum airflow setpoint on the Airflow Parameters tab. The damper now modulates to maintain the minimum cooling flow setpoint. Watch the VAV Reading (Low) and wait for it to hit the minimum flow setpoint and level out. If the airflow is fluctuating a lot, it could be that the low setpoint is below the threshold the box can confidently supply. Or it could be bad placement of the flow sensor in a turbulent area of the duct. It can affect your calibration greatly if the value is fluctuating too much. A relatively level reading will provide a good calibration. When it levels out, measure the actual airflow with a highly accurate magnehelic hood. Enter the actual value into Reference (Low) and select "Continue." The damper now modulates to maintain the maximum cooling flow setpoint. Watch the VAV Reading (High) and wait for it to hit the maximum flow setpoint and level out. When it levels out, measure the actual airflow with a highly accurate magnehelic hood. Enter the actual value into Reference (High) and select "Finish." The new calibrated m & b values are shown. The gain (m) is shown in the format of multiplier/divisor. Divide the values to get a decimal format of the gain. The closer to 1 this value is, the less calibration was required. actually gains of 2 or more indicate probable airflow reading problems. It may be advisable to reset factory calibration values and try the calibration again. The box should now be displaying values very close to actual measured readings. Test the low and high flow during normal operation using the Status Tab, Right click on the Space Temp and override the space temperature to a value equal to or greater than the Occupied Cooling Setpoint plus half the Cooling Band to drive the airflow setpoint to the cooling maximum airflow setpoint (you can find the Occupied Cooling Setpoint and Cooling Band on the Operating Tab).  With the space temperature already in override, left click the Space Temp to change the space temperature without taking it out of override, and set the space temperature to the Occupied Cooling Setpoint minus half the Cooling Band to drive the airflow setpoint to the cooling minimum airflow setpoint.  With the space temperature in override, right clicking it will take it out of override.

Warning Hazard of Electric Shock: Remove all power from all devices before removing any covers or doors of the system. Disconnect power at the device and at the power source. Issue The SLO Label shows an incorrect value range for kL. Product Line Field Devices Environment SpaceLogic SLO series Lux sensor Cause The label on the SLO shows the incorrect value range for kL. Resolution SLO: The product specification sheet states the Ranges for the jumper as: - 0 to 500 lx and 0 to 20 kLx The range to 500 lx can be seen on the circuit board. The product’s label shows 0 – 4kL The manufacturer has confirmed the label is incorrect the value should be 500 lx, New labels will be used in production from August 2022.   SLR: The tense delivery situation during the pandemic, especially for electronic components, has forced the manufacturer to make technical changes to the SLR in order to stay able to continue to deliver reliably. The range has extended from 0.4 to 0.5 kLux. These changes are incorporated in the corresponding instructions, provided with the devices. New labels will show the extended range.

Issue How to print out alarms when they occur? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation WorkStation Cause Dot Matrix printers are no longer commonly used and alarm printing has been replaced by features such as SMTP email and Sysman text messaging.  Building Operation does not have native support for alarm printing. Resolution If alarm printing is needed, then a third party file to printer utility such as File2Print (https://community.se.com/) is required to print Building Operation alarms sent using write to file notifications.

Issue EcoStruxure Building Operation allows using a period embedded in the name of an object (i.e My.AnalogValue) and  the name of a binding variable in the Script program cannot contain a period.     In the Script program all the periods in the binding variable names have to be changed to a different character such as the underscore (_).   This in turn causes a problem for a programmer that has created many objects using the period in the names as it is now NOT possible to use the default name matching binding template. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Script Programs Enterprise Server Automation Server Cause Script programs do not allow a period '.' in binding variable names because the period has special functionality in the Script compiler. Resolution Create a new path matching binding template or edit an existing one to map the underscore to the period.  

Issue What are the valid Electrical Types for the smart sensor input on a controller Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment BACnet b3 controllers Infinet i2 controllers Smart or Room Sensor Input b3/i2 controllers excluding b3/i2 608, 824 and 885V Cause What are the valid Electrical Types for the smart input on a controller? Resolution Input X (SmartSensor) valid Electrical Types are:- ACC_TEMP_DEGF ACC_TEMP_DEGC Digital Note If using a Smart sensor then ACC_TEMP_DEGF or ACC_TEMP_DEGC should be used The temperature range is limited, thus room sensors can be used but not duct or pipe sensors as the temperature range is limited to 0-50DegC  

Issue Which Infinet controllers support flash backup? Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Infinet controllers i1 SCX, LCX, TCX & i2 Cause Not all controllers support flash backup. Resolution All i2 controllers can be backed up to flash but none of the i1 controllers SCX,LCX, TCX etc have flash memory fitted. Controllers with a grey icon (i2) on the Continuum Explorer view can be backed up to flash where the orange icons (i1) can not.

Issue Site has a third party BACnet router and B-OWS, want to connect brand new b3s on the MSTP of the BACnet router and configure an application in the b3s using the third party B-OWS. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment b3 Third party BACnet system Cause Documentation Resolution Configuring a new b3 using a BACnet system other than Continuum or EcoStruxure Building Operation is NOT supported. Brand new b3s are shipped from the factory without a valid master MAC id, which means the b3 will not participate on MSTP communications until it has been assigned a valid mac id via a proprietary LEARN mechanism. b3s do not support dynamic object creation of IO points or programs which can only be created using Schneider Electric's Continuum or EcoStruxure Building Operation BACnet BMS.

Issue Unable to connect Enterprise Server or Enterprise Central to the Building Advisor Cloud Portal  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Advisor, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Building Advisor EBO Health Module Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Enterprise Central Cause There are some Operating System Requirements that need to be checked and enforced. Resolution Incompatible versions lead to missing trust certificates that could hinder the connection to Azure cloud services.  The table below provides a compatibility matrix of EBO versions and supported Windows OS that is necessary for the cloud-connectivity to work reliably.   Enterprise Server Software Requirements               EBO Version v2.0 v2.1 v3.0 v3.1 v3.2 v3.3 v4.0 Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Yes Yes Yes No No No No Microsoft Windows 10(64-bit) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Yes Yes Yes No No No No Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Yes Yes Yes No No No No Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Microsoft Windows Server 2019       Yes Yes Yes Yes Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or 4.6 Yes Yes           Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later     Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes The SmartX servers also require TLS1.2 to be enabled to communicate with the BA cloud properly. Automation servers (AS-P/AS-B) have TLS1.2 enabled by default. Check that the Windows OS running Enterprise Server has TLS1.2 is enabled by following the steps in this link: How to Check if TLS1.2 is Enabled 

Issue The units of measurement or time zone on the Advanced Display differ from what is displayed in Workstation or Webstation.  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Advanced Display (AD v1 v2 v3) Building Operation Technician Tool Cause If the language settings on the Advanced Display are not set properly, then the units of measurement and time zone can be displayed incorrectly. For example, the temperatures in EcoStruxure Building Operation WorkStation or WebStation may be in degrees Fahrenheit while the Advanced Display shows the values in degrees Celsius.  Resolution Ensure that the Language used by the Advanced Display is set properly to the region it is located. Advanced Display V1&2 Note: The SBOTechTool supports English, French, Swedish, Finnish, German, and Spanish. On the Advanced Display, go to Settings. If you cannot open up settings, ensure the AD Link app is in the disconnected state first. Go to Controls > Voice and input methods > Language and input. Verify that the Language is set to match the region where the Advanced Display is located. Advanced Display V3 WebStation uses the language settings of the operating systems to detect the units that should be used and the time display format. To access the Advanced Display v3 language settings: Exit the Kiosk application and drag up up from the bottom of the screen Click Settings Click System Click languages and input Click Add a language Reorder (Press and hold, then drag the desired language to position 1) To access the Advanced Display v3 Date & Time settings: From System, click Date & Time Click Select time zone and select the correct local time zone

Issue The process of acquiring a license Entitlement ID and how to activate, release and/or transfer a license in EcoStruxure Building Operation Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation License Administrator Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation WorkStation Cause There are two different ways to activate a license and different types of licenses that can be purchased. Resolution This article discusses Building Operation Software licenses applied to software platforms such as EC, ES, and Workstation. For details on applying licenses on SmartX Server devices, refer to the Automation Server Licensing Workflow Webhelp topic and/or the Offline activation of embedded licenses Knowledge Base article.   Purchasing a License The licenses that can be purchased are listed in the Part Number Summary. After an order is placed, you will receive an email with an Entitlement ID certificate attached. For further details, see the Order Information Request Webhelp topic.   Evaluation Licenses Evaluation licenses are used for demonstration purposes, training, or site engineering. The evaluation license is a file that can be downloaded from the Exchange and is valid for up to 3 months. Refer to the Activating an EcoStruxure Building Operation Demo License webhelp topic for the activation process.   Activating an Entitlement ID Entitlements can be activated online or offline; however, the online method is far simpler and is preferred. The online method requires the computer that the License Administrator resides on have an internet connection. Online Activation If the computer that the License Administrator is installed on has an internet connection, then refer to the Activating EcoStruxure Building Operation Software Licenses Webhelp topic for the activation process. Offline Activation If the computer that the License Administrator is installed on does not have an internet connection and one can not be temporarily arranged, then refer to the License activation or repair without Internet access Knowledge base article. Once a license file or Entitlement ID has been activated, and the Status reads "Valid" in the License Administrator, the activation process has been completed. The license does not need to be re-hosted after an upgrade and will remain on the computer if the Building Operation Software is uninstalled and reinstalled. To check the status of the license server and licenses that have been activated on the local machine, the Flexnet License Administrator can be accessed by navigating to localhost:8888 in a web browser. The licensing system is the same as used in TAC Vista, which can be seen in License troubleshooting in Vista 5.1.8 or greater.   Returning an Entitlement ID License If the computer on which the License Administrator is being replaced, or it has major operating system changes. In that case, licenses may become invalid and should be returned before those changes. Entitlements can be returned online or offline; however, the online method is far simpler and is preferred. The online method requires the computer that the License Administrator resides on have an internet connection. Online License Return If the computer that the License Administrator is installed on has an internet connection, then refer to the Returning an EcoStruxure Building Operation Software License Webhelp topic for the return process. Offline License return If the computer that the License Administrator is installed on does not have an internet connection and one can not be temporarily arranged, then refer to the License activation or repair without Internet access Knowledge base article. Transferring an Entitlement ID License There is no separate process when transferring a license from one system to another.  Simply return the License from the current system as indicated above and then check that the available seat count has increased by one via the original Entitlement ID. Once returned, activate this same License on the new system as detailed earlier.   Note: Releasing and reactivating licenses can only be carried out a finite number of times per year (4 license returns each year) to prevent misuse of the licensing system.

Issue Basic Modbus RTU configuration to read a register from PM800 Power Meter. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Automation Server Modbus RTU PM800 Power Meter Cause Integrate power meters to a Building Operation front end for the user to view data and trend logs. Resolution Here are the steps to Configure a ModBus RTU interface in Building Operation to read the Line Voltage register from a PM800 Power Meter. (Assuming meter has already been properly wired to one of the serial ports on the AS) Create the Modbus Interface, in this case a Modbus Master Network.   Link the interface to a serial port in the AS in the Port Reference field, in this example to RTU device is wired to RS485-COMB   2. Under the interface create the RTU device. In this example the device id is 11, enter the appropriate id for the device. Once the device object is saved, the status should show 'Online' unless there is a communications issue. This is provided you have the online poll interval set. If this is disabled the device will stay offline until a Modbus register is polled and a valid response is received.    You can confirm that Building Operation is able to correctly detect the communications status of the device by disconnecting it from the commport and observing the status change to 'Offline', upon re-connection the status should once again display 'Online'   3. Under the device create a Modbus Point of type AnalogInput to get the value of the Line Voltage from the device. According to the documentation for the PM800 the register holding the line voltage is Function Code 3  and register  1124 The value of the point should now correspond to the line voltage in this case 125 volts.

Issue View forced values in a EcoStruxure Building Operation TGML graphic Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation TGML Graphic Cause There are no variables for forced value to trigger an object in a graphic. Resolution In the graphic editor do as follow. Add a text object Add a binding to the text object and name it Change attribute to content Add a convert status Under behavior add text you want to show when the value its forced Edit binding for the graphic, bind the created textobject to the value of the point The text object should now show the text forced when the value is forced.  

Issue What is Domain Name Service (DNS)? Product Line Andover Continuum,EcoStruxure Access Expert,EcoStruxure Building Expert,EcoStruxure Building Operation,EcoStruxure Security Expert,Satchwell BAS & Sigma,Satchwell MicroNet,TAC IA Series,TAC INET,TAC Vista Environment TCP/IP Networks Cause DNS is a distributed hierarchical system for resolving host names into IP address. Under DNS, there is no central database with all of the Internet host information. The information is distributed among thousands of name servers organized into a hierarchy similar to the UNIX file system. DNS has a root domain at the top of the domain hierarchy that is served by a group of name servers called the root servers. Source: TCP/IP Network Administration by Craig Hunt, O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. Resolution Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4. The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.  

Issue Trying to open TGML Graphics Editor and an error appears before the editor crashes.  Crash report shown below: Font 'Arial' does not support style 'Regular'. ArgumentException at System.Drawing.Font.CreateNativeFont() at System.Drawing.Font.Initialize(FontFamily family, Single emSize, FontStyle style, GraphicsUnit unit, Byte gdiCharSet, Boolean gdiVerticalFont) at System.Drawing.Font..ctor(FontFamily family, Single emSize, FontStyle style, GraphicsUnit unit) at SE.Graphics.Viewer.Windows.GDIPlus.RenderText..ctor(Double left, Double top, String textContent, Double fontSize, String fontFamily, Int32 fontStyle, Int32 fontWeight, Int32 horizontalAlign, Int32 verticalAlign, Int32 textDecoration) at SE.Graphics.Viewer.Windows.GDIPlus.DrawingFactory.createText(Double left, Double top, String textContent, Double fontSize, String fontFamily, Int32 fontStyle, Int32 fontWeight, Int32 horizontalAlign, Int32 verticalAlign, Int32 textDecoration) at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlText.getUncachedShape() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlStrokeShape.getShape() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlTextShape.getShape() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlStrokeShape.getUncachedBoundingBox() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.getBoundingBox() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.HandleAfterBoundingBoxChanged() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.OnAfterBoundingBoxChanged() at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.OnChildElementChanged(Node element, ChangeType changeType) at SE.Graphics.DOM.TgmlInheritedElement.FireChildElementChanged(Node element, ChangeType changeType) at SE.Graphics.DOM.TgmlInheritedElement.insertBefore(Node newChild, Node refChild) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.dom.NodeImpl.appendChild(Node newChild) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.dom.ParentNode.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.dom.ElementImpl.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.dom.ParentNode.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.dom.ElementImpl.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at SE.Graphics.DOM.TGML.TgmlShape.cloneNode(Boolean deep) at TAC.Graphics.Editor.Core.GraphicsComponent.ExtractContent() at TAC.Graphics.Editor.Core.ComponentStencilItem.LoadItem(String file, String imageFile, String& description, Image& image) at TAC.Graphics.Editor.Core.FileStencilItem.Load(String file) Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation TAC Vista Environment TGML Graphics Editor Multiple installations of Microsoft Office Cause If a PC comes with Microsoft Office 2010 (which is not currently compatible with Vista) and additional versions of Excel 2007 are installed, for example, it could remove or corrupt the installation of certain fonts. Resolution Obtain a fresh copy of the font .TTF file.  In this example, Arial.ttf. Install the font by dragging and dropping the .TTF file into C:\Windows\Fonts directory.

Issue Is it possible to see which user that have disabled an alarm? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation WorkStation Cause It is possible to see from the "show history" view for a disabled alarm. Resolution Open the disabled alarm view. Right click on the disabled alarm and choose "Show history". Right click on the columns field and add a column called "User name" in that column you can see which user that disabled the alarm.

Issue When using CIDR (Classless Inter Domain Routing) or Supernetting it is not always obvious what range of IP addresses can be used. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Device Administrator Building Commissioning Tool Cause When subnet masks with values other than 255 are used it is not always obvious what is the range of valid IP addresses allowed.  There is a need for an easy way to determine the range of valid IP addresses for the Subnet Mask being used. Resolution The IP address range can be calculated mathematically but the simplest method is to use a subnet calculator.  The website links below are both examples that will calculate the range of valid addresses for any specified subnet value.   http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php https://www.calculator.net/ip-subnet-calculator.html   Visit either of the websites for a CIDR / Supernet calculator, enter an IP addresses in the network along with a subnet mask and the calculator will provide the range of addresses that can be used within the subnet.   In addition to online calculators, a number of different subnet-calculator programs are available for Android, Apple and Windows Smartphones.  

Issue No alarms are being displayed in the alarm queue. This includes alarms from any automation server that has been added underneath an enterprise server database or enterprise server alarms. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment WorkStation Alarm Queue Cause This is a result of the alarm queue filter containing active filter conditions. Resolution Remove alarm filters: Click the Alarm Filter icon on the toolbar of the alarm queue. In the Select Conditions window, make sure that all of the alarm conditions have been removed or only the filters that you want remain. To remove an alarm condition, simply click the trashcan button on the far right side of the condition. Note: If a blank condition is left behind, it will prevent any alarm from being displayed in the alarm queue.

  Issue No more equation characters can be entered into a Function Block application Product Line EcoStruxure Buildings Operation Environment Buildings Operation WorkStation Buildings Operations Function Block Editor Cause You have exceeded the maximum number of characters allowed in a Function Block expression editor.   Resolution Expression text must have less than 500 characters. Split larger equations into two Function Blocks if needed. How to add an Expression Block  Expression Blocks 

Issue When adding License Entitlements via Device Administrator using the online method. After clicking activate, a "Communication failed" message is displayed:   Could not establish contact with License Server using SmartX Server Followed by a "License Operation Failed" message:   Add entitlement failed. License Server is offline. Error code: 41 Error message: CURL error: Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Device Administrator Building Operation Automation Server Premium Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Cause When activating a SmartX Server license online, the SmartX server will try to connect to the license activation server to activate the license. If it cannot resolve the license activation server site name and connect, it will show up as offline. Resolution Make sure that the SmartX Server DNS is properly configured in the AS-P.  In Device Administrator select the Ethernet 1 Configuration tab. Check the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary DNS settings If unsure of the correct DNS address, enter the Google DNS address of 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4. The example below shows a local router address as the Primary DNS and Google DNS as the Secondary and Tertiary DNS.   To confirm that the SmartX Server can resolve the license activation server address Open a Console session on the SmartX Server in Device Administrator. Enter the command: ping schneider-electric.flexnetoperations.com If the DNS is correctly set in the SmartX Server, the result should look similar to that shown below: Note: Ensure that the ASP is fully connected to the Internet in order to perform Online Embedded License Activation. You need to be connected to the Automation Server using IP (Not via USB) to activate the embedded license.