Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Prior to installing an older MNB-1000 (sitting in the office unused), the firmware was updated to the most recent release.  Right at the completion of the upgrade, an 'Error 15' occurred.  However, a power cycle of the controller seemed to reset it.  The firmware revision was correct.  A database was installed successfully and the controller communicated with the WorkPlace Commissioning Tool. What does 'Error 15' signify and is it enough of a concern to not install it on a jobsite? Environment MNB controllers WorkPlace Commissioning Tool Cause Error 15 indicates that WorkPlace Commissioning Tool could not determine if the controller restarted. Resolution Since a connection was possible after the firmware upgrade and a power cycle, then the MNB-1000 is fine to continue to use.

Issue A jobsite consists of several (independent) buildings each installed with a UNC-520. They are not networked together (i.e. standalone) and each one has a different projectID.  The customer would like to use Workplace Pro to do some occasional changes and scheduled database backups.  Can a copy of Workplace Pro be purchased / provided without the need to purchase the Enterprise Server as well? Environment Niagara R2 Cause Unusual jobsite configuration with several standalone UNC-520 controllers and no Enterprise Server. Resolution Workplace Pro can only be purchased along with the Enterprise Server software.  It cannot be purchased in any other configuration. Perhaps an arrangement can be made with the local Schneider-Electric branch or I/A partner for temporary usage of a pc with Workplace Pro.

Issue The AO output on the SE7600 controller is either off or on instead of modulating. Environment SE7600F Room Controller Cause The SE7600 Room Controller is expecting a Discharge Air Sensor to be connected in order to detect minimum heating temperatures. While this is missing it will not modulate the heat based on room demand. Resolution Install a 10k Type 2 Discharge Air Sensor between the DS an Comm terminals or add a 10k resistor to allow the unit to modulate heat based on room spacetemp.

Issue What is a quick way to read a dynamic value from LNSDDE server? Environment InVue Cause Trying to confirm if the value of a snvt is updating and reading accurately - without using InVue. Resolution LNSDDE server and Microsoft Excel are both DDE compatible. Open a new sheet or book in Excel. Find the snvt in LNSDDE and copy / paste the link into one of the cells in Excel.  After hitting enter, the cell will display the dynamic value of the selected snvt. This is a good way to troubleshoot the LON programming and controller communication from the field all the way back to the server - without adding InVue programming to the troubleshooting process.

Issue When a graphic is opened in WorkStation, the graphic work area is just white. If the mouse cursor is moved over the white area, it is possible that some objects will show. Environment Detected in SmartStruxure version 1.4.1 WorkStation Cause This is caused by an issue in the graphics card display driver. Resolution Update the graphics card display driver to the newest version. Sometimes you will need to refer to the manufacturer of the card, and not the manufacturer of the PC.

Issue Netcontroller 2 offline with CPU LED and Ethernet LED's on solid. This occurred after electrician installed new equipment in the same cabinet. Environment Netcontroller 2 Continuum Cause Controller database has become corrupt. Resolution Clear controller RAM and Flash and reload controller. In this instance, the Controller did not seem to respond to pressing the "reset IP" button for 30s. Removing power and battery connections for a minute and then reconnection power cleared the memory. Able to see device online and reload from the Workstation after this.

Issue The option to download the application to a MNL-800 controller is not available in StruxureWare Building Operation Workstation. Environment StruxureWare 1.1 or higher Cause For the download option to be available the MNL-800 version must be 2.0. Resolution There are two options to handle this issue: Upgrade the controller board to version 2.0 Treat the controller as a 3rd party LON device by importing the XIF file and handling the program in an external version of WorkPlace Tech.

Issue Card Reader gets a valid card read but does not unlock the Door. Environment All versions of I/Net using DPU's 7910, 7920 and SCU 1284. Cause The Door does not have an Exit Reader but the parameters are set for Anytime. Resolution To resolve the issue, the following steps need to be followed: Connect to the Controller Select Controller/Doors Select the door in question and click on the Modify button In the Editor, at the Exit Reader, click on the drop down menu and select None from the options. Click on Okay and close out the Editor.

Issue Vista Server trends, logging BACnet, M-bus or modbus values, are not updating. The same value being logged over and over. Environment TAC Vista Xenta 700 TAC Xenta 913 Cause This is due to a bug in the Xenta Server firmware, and happens if you have a menta application that uses other modbus values than the ones being logged. If you open a graphic or the value columns the log works.   Resolution This issue will be fixed in 5.1.9. 5.1.8 hotfixes for Xenta 913 and Xenta 700 are available on request from PSS.

Issue Pin point crash issue: • Pinpoint crash • Scroll bar does not work on upgrade from older revisions of CyberStation • Making changes to a graphic created in Pre 1.94 CyberStation causes the graphic canvas size to become corrupted • Copying objects/controls of a graphic and pasting them to the same graphic causes the graphic canvas size to become corrupted    WebClient DMZ issue: This hotfix corrects an issue where web.Client positioned in the DMZ only communicates in one direction.   Web Client Personnel Area issue: This hotfix corrects an issue where the web.Client IE browser PC becomes disconnected from the web.Client server when attempting to remove area(s) of personnel objects. It also corrects an issue with web.Client not removing area(s) if the personnel records are not re-opened after saving. Environment Windows all versions Continuum 1.94 SP1  Web Client  Cause This is due to bugs which have been discovered and have now been fixed    Resolution Please go to the below link for hot fixes that apply to your problem, there is also a complete install pack of SP1 which includes all hot fixes which should be installed if SP1 has not already been applied CyberStation & web.Client Service Packs v1.94 Hotfix

Issue Default system message No. 19997 Contact Sigma Support is shown in the Sigma Alarm Manager Environment Sigma 4.00 IC-Modbus Cause Sigma System messages are held in a master file, in early versions of Sigma this file could be edited to include messages for new integrations or new error messages. From Sigma 4.0 and later system messages are now hard coded into the system and can no longer be edited. If an undefined system message is received it is likely that a later version of controller firmware is installed in the field and the Sigma software does not contain the newer system message. Resolution If an unknown error message is received, the Sigma software should firstly be upgraded to the latest version. To assist in tracing the source of errors related to IC-Modbus (system messages 19992 - 20002) the exception code from the modbus device describes the failure mode, in Sigma the reason is calculated as follows: System Message Number = 19992 + exception code seen in Modbus message -1 Thus 19992 = Illegal function code 19993 = Illegal data address 19994 = Illegal data value 19995 = Slave device failure 19996 = Acknowledge delayed 19997 = Slave device busy 19998 = ??? (undefined error code ) 19999 = Memory parity error 20000 = ??? (undefined error code) 20001 = Gateway path unavailable 20002 = Gateway target device failed to respond.

Issue Questions on Sigma backup NiMH batteries. Environment X32 X96 NiMH batteries Cause Questions on the battery packs supplied with Sigma X96 controllers, 1. What is the shelf life of these batteries? (average) 2. Can the voltage of these batteries be checked without disconnecting them from the controller, via measurement points on the PSU board? 3. What is the recommended preventative maintenance interval to check the batteries, if at all?   Resolution 1.       Long-term storage for more than a couple of years can damage the cells. They tend to go short-circuit in long-term storage. This is a trait of all NiMH cells. 2.       The battery pack needs to be disconnected from the controller to measure its voltage, else you will be measuring the voltage from the charge circuit. It is feasible to switch off the controller completely (both the mains switch and the battery switch) and measure the voltage by inserting meter probes into the battery connector, past the wires into the back of the connector. Battery voltage is not necessarily a good indicator of battery health. The only way to test battery health is to measure the run-time while operating on battery power, or otherwise to take out the battery pack and use a commercial battery analyser. 3.       As far as I am aware there is no preventative maintenance interval specified, as battery life is dependent on many things, such as temperature, for instance.  

Issue Webstation closes by itself Environment Webstation  Internet Explorer 9 32bit Cause Vista webstation and TGML do have some compatibility issues with Internet Explorer 32 bit that can cause the webstation to log out itself or even close down when login in. Also a Internet Explorer 32 bit needs to have Java 32 bit installed. On a 64 bit machine if you want to run 32 bit make sure the Java 32 bit client is installed. A normal error to see when those happen is:  --- A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) --- Resolution Following workarounds have been confirmed to help.  Enable the compatibility view in Internet Explorer 9 Upgrade to Internet Explorer 10  Make sure you have Java 32 bit installed.  Use Internet Explorer 64 bit

Issue Trouble with I/NET to Building Operation bindings. Site can bind an internal I/Net AO to a analogue value in Building Operation but the value won't update. Value appears with a blue triangle that says "unresolved".  Environment I/NET Seven together with StruxureWare Building Operation Cause I/NET points are integrated into Building Operation as points. When you upload the device configuration to the Enterprise Server, the configuration and point information are created in the System Tree pane. You edit and command the points as needed, using WorkStation and I/NET Seven editors. There are ten possible point types available in I/NET: Analog input (AI) Analog output (AO) Discrete input (DI) Discrete output (DO) Discrete alarm (DA) Discrete monitor (DM) Discrete control (DC) Digital input (GI) Digital output (GO) Pulsed input (PI) Resolution For any I/NET inputs (AI, DI, DM, GI and PI) it is only possible for operator changes to be made via the Building Operation Properties. It is not possible to programmatically control I/NET inputs and therefore not to be able to bind an output to an I/NET input point. It is also not possible to programmatically change any points Test state, any outputs (AO, DC, DO and GO) Manual state. And finally it is not possible to programmatically acknowledge an alarm. Therefore it is not possible to bind any script, schedule, FB, etc to any I/NET Points Test, Manual, Alarm Acknowledge or input point.

Issue Is it possible to acknowledge an alarm from a TGML graphic? Environment TGML graphics in StruxureWare Building Operation workstation and webstation. Cause Customers may wish to simplify the user interface and have a TGML graphic as the interface for all user operations. Resolution It is not possible to bind to an "acknowledge" attribute of an alarm from TGML, as this is not exposed. Our recommendation would be to use a panel and have an alarm pane in the panel as well as the graphic.

Issue The TAC200 heat controller is obsolete, but data sheet and handbook may still be useful. Environment TAC200 Cause An obsolete product is still in use on sites. Resolution Documentation is available on The Exchange Download Center by searching for "TAC 200."

Issue Can you disable the wireless in StruxureWare Lite Environment StruxureWare Lite site with wireless devices Cause Does the MPM emit radio waves if the Enocean & Zigbee is not configured (enabled) in the controller set up pages Resolution ZigBee is a wireless communication protocol that uses a mesh network between devices. It operates on the 2.4GHz band and is divided in 16 channels. The Zigbee Pro protocol has error-correction and can dynamically add or remove nodes to the mesh without interrupting the communication. A MPM set as a ZigBee Coordinator creates a network (more or less like a wi-fi router) and a MPM set as a ZigBee router will join an existing network. As a rule of thumb the practical distances are around 150ft in building and 300ft open air but heavily depends on the obstacles around. Disabling ZigBee through the Communication Configuration (C2G1) object will prevent data exchange between this MPM and the rest of the network. It will not disable the radio module, which could still be connected to a network. EnOcean is a 'broadcast' type of protocol that operates on 3 frequency bands. North America is currently using 315MHz and will soon be replaced by 902MHz. Europe operates on 868MHz. As a rule of thumb, the practical distances are about 50ft in building but heavily depends on the obstacles around. There is no way to disable the EnOcean module, however if no device is added or no reference to EnOcean commands are used in the scripts, the module will not transmit or receive packets. More info on wireless deployments can be found here: https://ecobuilding.schneider-electric.com/search#keyword/MPM-GW%20Wireless%20Manager%20-%20Specification%20Sheet/tab/documents

Issue How many points per driver can an Enterprise Network Server (ENS) be licensed for? Environment I/A Series G3 ENS Drivers ENS-BAC-NET ENS-BAC-CL ENS-MOD ENS-MOD-SL ENS-OPC ENS-SNMP Cause Each of the ENS base drivers includes support for 500 points. Additional blocks of 500 points each can be added to the license.  Resolution In terms of licensing, there isn't a limit to the number of points each driver can be licensed for. However, the actual number of points used will be dependent on the computer's resources (CPU, memory etc.). 

Issue In some applications, a compression/conex type connection is requested or required. Environment VZ22 VZ32 VZ42 Cause Application requirement. Resolution Unfortunately, no such connection is available through Schneider Electric, and must be provided from external source if required.

Issue FieldServer makes a proprietary version of their gateway for PolarSoft which uses the BACnet protocol but cannot be discovered via the Who-Is service (and therefore does not show up in the ContinuumExplorer). Is there a way to get/set points in the device from Continuum?   Environment CyberStation Cause Continuum cannot communicate with this version of the FieldServer controller. Resolution Continuum cannot 'hardcode' any points in a device that it cannot discover through the BACnet Who-Is service. It must respond to this in order to create any references to it in the SQL database. The customer will need to get a non-proprietary version of the device, i.e., one that supports BACnet Who-Is/I-Am.