Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Internal time schedules in the SE8300 and other 8000 series room controllers. Environment Schneider Electric SE8xxx Cause As of the time this article is being written these devices are intended to be controlled by a network management controller or using contact closure on the device. However, some sales documentation states that these devices have "7 day occupancy scheduling (2-4 events)". This documentation was released prematurely and, although future models will have this capability, as of March of 2014 the current models do not. Resolution Currently occupancy of the SE8xxx devices can be controlled by a network variable over the Lon, BACnet or ZigBee network. Alternatively, occupancy can be controlled by configuring the device for contact closure control of occupancy. Future model series SE8xxx devices will support scheduling. Note, however, that it will not be possible to upgrade older devices to support scheduling since the hardware will also be changed.

Issue What are the cable specifications for wiring controller inputs to field devices. Environment Inputs Cable Sensors End devices Cause There is no specification for IO field wiring.   Resolution The line drop produced by cable resistance should be taken into account when choosing the wire gage for Input devices. It is good practice to run a shielded cable for analog inputs simply because it give you a way to drain off any externally induced voltage.

Issue Need to reference the outside temperature and humidity under another BCX1, but the value does not change as the referenced point changes. The program is running. The program code is as below: Line 1 Temp_Outside= NetworkA\BCX1_2\Temp_outside line E state=enabled goto 1 The result is : The value of Temp_outside does not change to equal the value of NetworkA\BCX1_2\Temp_outside Environment Continuum BCX1 B3 Cause A difference between the two BCX1s. The object type of the two points is not compatible. Resolution Correct the submask setting to make sure they have the same submask exactly Correct the object type to make sure they are compatible with each other

Issue Each time that a power failure happens on a sites MPM, the clock goes back to 1/1/2000. Environment StruxureWare Lite MPM Cause This is most likely due to the battery shelf life, this happens if the controller was purchased and left unused for over 5 months before being installed. Resolution ∙ BR1220 from Panasonic (Lithium Carbon-Monofluoride) ∙ nominal voltage 3V ∙ Capacity 35mAh ∙ Self-discharge 1%/year, under standard conditions ∙ Operating temperature range -30°C to 85°C Units manufactured after week 13 2016 have a super capacitor rather than a battery. The capacitor has a charge time of approximately 5 minutes after which it will provide backup for the RTC for approx. 48 hours

Issue Values on graphic pages constantly showing 'down' momentarily The following message can be seen in the standard output. "duplicate server session kills" Environment I/A Series R2 Enterprise Server Cause There is another copy of the same Enterprise Server station running on the network. In this particular case, there is a another computer on the network that has been licensed as an Enterprise Server and it has a copy of the Enterprise Server station. This computer is meant as a standby computer and the Enterprise Server station should not be running.  Resolution In this particular case, there is a another computer on the network that has been licensed as an Enterprise Server and it has a copy of the Enterprise Server station. This computer is meant as a standby computer and the Enterprise Server station should not be running.  Stop the Enterprise Server station that is running on the standby computer. From the Admin Tool, connect to the localhost and right click on the Enterprise Server station. Make sure auto run is uncheck. 

Issue When exporting a c2g file, the "Save As" window does not appear Environment SmartStruxure Lite Cause When exporting a C2g file, the "Save As" window does not appear  Resolution For Firefox ensure the ESR (Extended Support Release) version is installed. Update / Install the latest release of Adobe Flash Player

Issue Niagara G3 station fails to send out emails and discards to the email with this error message: "BOutgoingAccount could not dequeue in-memory email: null" Environment Niagara G3 (AX) ENC and ENS stations (all versions) Cause After watching the output with debug turned on, the station connects to the email server and authenticates. When it tires to send out an email there is a null pointer exception and it discards the email. There is a trailing semicolon in the To Field of the EmailRecipient under Alarm Service. The email handler is looking for another email address after the last semicolon and sees a null when trying to add the last non-existent email address.   Resolution Remove the trailing semicolon.  

Issue Some security software will report that there are vulnerabilities for SSL of Xenta Server. Some vulnerabilities look like: SSL Server allow anonymous authentication vulnerability SSL Server allow Cleartext communication vulnerability  Weak encryption model Environment Vista I/NET Cause This is how Xenta Server designed to work. Resolution There is a security enhancement for Xenta Server in Xenta 5.1.9. Update the firmware to Xenta 5.1.9 will fix these vulnerabilities. You can download Xenta 5.1.9 from Buildings Download Center.

Issue Xenta 913 is locked up randomly, and it needs reboot to make it return to work. When referring to the error log on the web page, the following errors show up: event power PowerFail 1 System is safely shutdown (Error#:49154) event power InitSYS 1 System start - power on (WARMSTART) (Error#:49156) Environment Xenta 913 BACnet Cause Possible cause is the baud rate for BACnet communication is too high that Xenta 913 can't deal with it properly. Resolution It is recommended to decrease baud rate for BACnet communication to 9600 or 19200 bps, and then Xenta 913 should work fine now.

Issue M52L is obsolete and needs to be replaced. Environment V354 V355 M52L MC52A MC52B Cause Replacement of obsolete actuator.  Resolution   The M52L on a V354 or V355 is replaced by MC52A or MC52B: -MC52A , part no 8532221010, modulating control -MC52B-24, part no 8532320000, 24V, Inc/Dec -MC52B-230, part no 8531320000, 230V, Inc/Dec  These part numbers does also include an adapter ring that needs to be used when mounted to the V354 or V355 valves. Please note that the suggested replacement actuators listed above does NOT carry a 16V output. If this feature is required, an external 16V supply must be provided.

Issue How many LON Bus Coupling Unit MTN880451 and LON Multi-Sensor LA-21 MTN880541 could be supplied by the Power Supply MTN884019? Environment Schneider Electric Lighting Cause Both MTN880451 as well as MTN880541 has a power consumption about 285 mW, that gives about 7 mA. The power supply MTN884019 could give 1.3 A used with 230 Volt or 1 A used by 115 Volt, so it is more than the number of devices you could have on a segment that are important.   Resolution Both MTN880451 as well as MTN880541 has a power consumption about 285 mW, that gives about 7 mA. The power supply MTN884019 could give 1.3 A used with 230 Volt or 1 A used by 115 Volt, so it is more than the number of devices you could have on a segment that are important. If you use LinkPower, you theoretical have up to 128 devices, but if you also have FTT devices, these should be counted twice, so 20 LPT and 15 FTT devices should be counted as 50. It is a recommendation to stay below 64 devices on one segment.  

Issue When the AS is communicating with another AS and passing values, is this done via subnet broadcast or unicast? Environment SmartStruxure AS Cause Unicast transmission is the sending of messages to a single network destination identified by a unique address. Resolution When AS to AS communication happens it will use Unicast.

Issue Configured a digital input on SXW-UI16, with nothing connected to the input used a volts meter to measure the voltage between RET and the input, the volts meter reads 20.3. Why? Environment SXW-UI16 Other modules Cause This is normal, what is being measured is the voltage across the pull up resistor on the input circuitry. Resolution Any sensor attached to the input must be able to handle the voltage.

Issue Is it possible to integrate third party devices that communicate using CAN to an MPM? Environment Third party CANbus devices MPM Cause A third party device,( for example Woodward genset controller) communicates via CAN (Controller Area Network). Can the CANbus of an MPM be used to integrate such devices with SmartStruxure Lite? Resolution The CANbus protocol is only used between MPM's and the data exchange protocol is built-in. We are aware of one instance where the CANbus port was used to communicate with an end-device using CANopen therefore some commands do exist, but it is not documented anywhere and not tested or supported by R&D. This isn't recommended as a viable solution and Modbus should be used for this type of integration. A Google search brings up this page that has a few options for conversion of CAN to Modbus however none of these devices have been tested by PSS or R&D.

Issue How can Sigma IC Hardware Alarms be disabled? Environment Sigma IC Integration Controllers Hardware Alarms Cause Large numbers of alarms were caused after a power fail. Resolution Hardware alarms are generally a good thing as they advise of a problem on the system, but should it be necessary to disable them, then this is achieved by modifying the Gateway.txt file. There are a range of Sigma IC's available and there are differences between them, so to ensure the correct changes are made, the appropriate IC documentation should be reviewed. In this example the Gateway.txt of an IC-Modbus will be examined. Each object entry in the Gateway.txt can consist of up to nine fields as follows - 55,1,3,101,1,2,0,0,0, and it is the ninth field that controls the Hardware Alarm Suppression. If the ninth field is not used or is set to zero, then the hardware alarms will operate as normal, but if the ninth field is set to 1, then these alarms are disabled. Below shows a section of the Modbus Gateway.txt, where the object field entries are defined. ; Format of list, 8 or optionally 9 parameters per entry:- ; 1   Sigma Object Number, ; 2   Controller Address - Hiromatic Unit not units on sublan ; 3   Modbus Command ( 3, 4, 16, 144) ;      Crompton meters IC uses functions listed (serial only, not TCP) ;      3   Read Holding register (AI) ;      4   Read Input registers (AI) ;      16  Preset multiple registers (AO) ;      144  Set MSB - Write Demand time (DO) ; Note :- Resetting the Demand Period for the CROMPTON is a special case. ; The most significant bit must be set, i.e. Function = 144, and a DO Object ; must be used. This ensures that the Demand Period is only reset ; when the DO Object switches from 'OFF' to 'ON' ; 4  Register Address ; Use the formula ; Register Address = Address-1. E.G. for return temp, at address 233 ; enter the value 232. ; 5  Min time in seconds before polling same controller (Default 1 second) ; 6  Number of consecutive objects to read (inputs objects only, 0 for outputs) ;    Maximum 7 objects ;    Special case: 32- bit data Input objects may be read in a single ;                  transaction ;    Note: This is applicable to Function Codes 0x03 and 0x04 only. ;    Format: 0xST02 ; where- ;    S = Swapped? (0 - unswapped; 1 - swapped) ;    T = data type (0 - 16 bit; 1 - unsigned 32 bit; 2 - signed 32 bit; ;                   3 - float 32 bit) ; ; 7  Min Value (output objects only, 0 for inputs) ; 8  Max Value (output objects only, 0 for inputs) ; 9  Hardware Alarm Message Suppression Flag (optional), ;   0 = Don't suppress,   1 = Suppress

Issue Positioner output's override on 865-V always reads TRUE Environment 865-V Cause Documentation Resolution Unlike the 866-V, the 865-V DOES NOT support feedback on the position of its actuator output, the LCDState attribute of the output CAN NOT be used to learn the end positions of the actuator. As a result, the actuator output's override attribute on the 865-V always prints as TRUE since the firmware has no way of knowing the position of the actuator output.

Issue ERROR: Template or User record is either corrupt or not supported when sending templates to biometric readers Environment Bioscript V-Station integration Cause Enrollment reader's template type different from readers template types. Resolution Make sure the template type at the enrollment reader is the same as the template types in the other readers

Issue Would like the ability to disable "Ping Failed" alarms in G3 Environment Tridium Niagara G3 (AX) network controllers (ENC, JACE-645, JACE6, JACE7) Cause Network communication issues sometimes causes device to timeout on a ping request, but quickly recovers. This failure causes an unnecessary alarm to be generated. Resolution 1.  Go to the Property Sheet of the appropriate network (e.g.. Lonworks Network, Bacnet Network) 2.  Expand Monitor, and set the Alarm on Failure field to False. 3.  Click Save  

Issue I/A Series R2 station on a JACE-603/645 platform indicates ENGINE WATCHDOG TIMEOUT STACK DUMP and App Failed when attempting to start the station.  Reboot of the station fails to correct the issue.  Example startup output window for the JACE-645 shown below: Tridium Niagara Station, r2.301.535.v1 [MedPlace1] MESSAGE: ErrorLogService installed [/MedPlace1/services/ErrorLogService] {lon} Maximum londevices = 27 Start service: ControlEngineService [3] ControlEngineService Start service: UiEngineService [12] UiEngineService Start service: NotificationService [6] NotificationService Start service: LogService [5] LogService Start service: AuditLogService [2] AuditLogService Start service: ErrorLogService [4] ErrorLogService Start service: WebUiService [13] WebUiService Start service: MailService [17] MailService DEBUG: setDebug: JavaMail version 1.4.4 Start service: LonWorksService [15] LonWorksService >>> Lon Driver opened! Start service: BACnetService [14] BACnetService ENGINE WATCHDOG TIMEOUT STACK DUMP @ Tue Mar 18 15:29:19 GMT-05:00 2014 App Failed Environment I/A Series R2, I/A Series G3, JACE-603, JACE-645 Cause The issue is related to an improper implementation of the JRE files required by the R2 mail service on the embedded platform.  A JACE-603/645 will fail if the platform is commissioned for I/A Series R2 use with distribution files provided in I/A Series G3 versions 3.7.46, 3.7.106, and 3.8.37. Resolution The issue can be corrected by installing a clean distribution and commissioning the platform with I/A Series G3 version 3.6.47.

Issue In a Niagara G3 station with a BACnet MSTP integration, the following error appears in the application director output: Transaction Timed out! invokeId 223 TransactionException in poll() for BacnetDevice {Kens_RM106}:pl=PollList [Kens_RM106 device:7219 3000:13] 196608025 {160} 10 PLEs) DCMD_MSTP_TX_FRAME returned 11 (errno 3) DCMD_MSTP_TX_FRAME returned 11 (errno 3) DCMD_MSTP_TX_FRAME returned 11 (errno 3) .... Hundreds & hundreds more Environment Niagara G3 Cause MSTP trunk / traffic issues Resolution See the discussion about an identical issue at Niagara-Central.com.  Here is a link:  https://community.niagara-central.com/ord?portal:/discussion/DiscussionThread/11258