Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue An SP-C-WEB needs to be upgraded.  Can this be done without removing the controller? Product Line Security Expert Environment Security Expert Controller (SP-C) Security Expert WEB Controller (SP-C-WEB) Cause Due to site expansion, it is necessary to upgrade an SP-C-WEB to an SP-C.  Resolution It is not possible to upgrade an SP-C-WEB to an SP-C in the field. The SP-C-WEB will need to be replaced and re-programmed via Security Expert Server.

Issue With triac digital outputs, such as those in the i2866-V, what is the fastest they can switched for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) applications? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum controllers with triac digital outputs. Cause Require information on using triac outputs for Pulse Width Modulation control. Concerns over minimum pulse times and frequent switching. Resolution The triac outputs on some Continuum controllers (such as the i2866-V) will be able to perform pulse width modulation from a minimum of 0.1s pulses. As apposed to relays, outputs using triac's have negligible wear and tear during extended use. Switching the outputs frequently, such as once a second, should not cause any premature failure issues.  Further data on the triac outputs on the i2866-V: Specification sheet Installation Guide for wiring details. i2 Technical Reference Manual

Issue In the MPM, it is possible to creat a new Calendar object, but it is not possible to change or add information, it is not possible to Save. Environment MPM Cause The User Rights does not allowed you to Save your changes in the Calendar objects. Resolution In the MPM, right click on the top right, where it says Management. Select Permissions, and verify that the user that are logged in at the moment have permissions to Edit/View Calendar Objects.

Issue From the Monitor (DEV100) it is possible to pick up values from other MPMs, by the use of an LUA script. Example: ME.AV1 = DEV200.AV1 But, it is not possible for another device to pick up values from the Monitor (DEV100) device. Environment MPM Cause The Monitor device (DEV100) could see all other MPM in the network, and therefore could get values from other devices. Other devices will only see devices that are below itself in the tree structure, and will therefore not be able to get values from the Monitor device. Resolution The Monitor device (DEV100) have to handle all the transfers of variables both from MPM below, as well as sending variables to MPM devices below in the tree structure. Example: ME.AV1 = DEV200.AV1 DEV200.AV2 = ME.AV2

Issue All efforts to move a Continuum Virtual License from one host machine to another are unsuccessful. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause The license type is not shown as Re-hostable in the Sentinal Admin Control Center webpage.   The license type is not shown as re-hostable after applying the Re-hosting upgrade activation file received from Andover Upgrade Services.   The error Invalid Recipient information, process canceled! is displayed when entering the recipient id file (.id) in the RUS Key Utility.   The HaspRuntimeForContinuum.exe is the wrong version. Resolution Contact Andover Upgrade Services and provide them with a new host information file (.c2v) produced using the RUS Key Utility. On the host from which the license is to be transferred... HaspRuntimeforContinuum.exe is the most current version available on Exchange. Rus Key Utility is the latest version available on Exchange. Contact Product Support Services for assistance. On the host the license will be transferred to... The most current version of HaspRuntimeForContinuum.exe must to be installed prior to using the RUS Key Utility to generate the recipient fingerprint file (.id). The HaspRuntimeforContinuum must be installed As Administrator. On the host licensed host… HaspRuntimeforContinuum.exe is the most current version available on Schneider Electric Exchange.   A demonstration of the rehosting process can be viewed here.

Issue Could the L-VIS screen be manage even if the operator is using latex gloves? Environment Loytec L-VIS Cause The screen used on Loytec L-VIS is resistive, and due to that can be managed with latex gloves. Resolution The screen used on Loytec L-VIS is of resistive type, and due to that can be managed with latex gloves.

Issue What is baud rate of the Netcontroller IO Bus? Environment NetController IO Bus ACC Lon FTT-10A Cause         Parameter      ACC LON       FTT-10A Baud Rate    39,063            78,125 Duplex         Half                 Half Data Bits      8                    8 Stop Bits      1                    1 Parity           None               None Resolution The ACC LON data signal is Differential Manchester Encoded.  The packets therefore cannot be viewed with a generic sniffer like a UART based comm signal. 

Issue Field engineer needs to convert a TAC I/A Series project from R2, GCM or Signal but can not find the link on iPortal2. Environment TAC I/A Series project files to be converted to SBO Cause User does not have permission to make a purchase through the iPortal2 website. Resolution The field engineer / technician submitting the job must have the right to make purchases through the iPortal2 web site http://iPortal2.schneider-electric.com. The branch or partner office iPortal administrator must give the engineer/technician the right to make purchases through the iPortal site.   The user's purchase limit must be set to at least one dollar ($1).

Issue Using 3.7.106 and want to display a PDF file on a Niagara G3 / AX graphic. It's been done in the past but with "Default Web Profile" "Applet Reload on Hyperlink" set to "False" the PDF does not display. Is there a way to do it without setting the "Applet Reload on Hyperlink" to "True"? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment Niagara G3 / AX revision 3.7.106 and higher Cause More secure changes made to G3 / AX Resolution Instead of creating a hyperlink button with hyperlink: file:^blahblah.pdf Use: http://137.19.60.55/ord?file:^blahblah.pdf This opened the PDF in the browser (it left the default web profile but the back button returned to it).

Issue Can the remote sensor with override switch (SE3020W1045) be interfaced to a SE7600H5045B and be accessed via a BACnet integration? The override switch is a trigger to provide cooling to the area served. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Expert Environment SmartStruxure Lite Cause Provide end user a simple way to get comfort cooling Resolution Interface the override switch to DI 01 on the SE7600H5045B. It will then be accessible via BACnet to trigger comfort cooling.

Issue When trying to discover via BACnet they broadcast the same instance ID. Need Dent Viewpoint software and RS485 converter to change the Instance ID prior to doing Find New BACnet Devices. Environment BACnet MSTP Cause Documentation Resolution Use Dent Viewpoint software and RS485 converter to change the Instance ID prior to doing Find New BACnet Devices.

Issue What are the main differences between Continuum v1.94 SP1 and Continuum v2.0? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum v2.0 Cause Required a quick list of differences between the versions of Continuum to evaluate if a site upgrade to v2.0 was beneficial. Resolution The main features that Continuum v2.0 has over v1.94 are listed below. Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 32 bit support SQL Server 2012  Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 32 bit support Software licensing Support. See Software Licensing for Continuum 2.0 and StruxureWare Solution. Email SMTP Support. See SMTP Email Alarm Configuration in Continuum 2.0. Extended Custom Wiegand Card* (ACX Series Only). See Extended Custom Wiegand features available for ACX57xx controller released in V2.0. Support for new door attribute 'ValidAttempt' see New Door attribute 'Valid Attempt' added in Cyberstation 2.0 for more information. You can also find more details in the v2.0 Feature Blast. And further information on Continuum v2.0 with the links in Continuum 2.0 Product Announcement, Feature Blast, Compatibility Matrix and Installation Guides.

Issue Security Expert does not run correctly after installation Product Line EcoStruxure Security Expert Environment Security Expert Cause While Security Expert will install and run correctly on a supported platform, there are occasions when an installed security policy will prevent the correct operation of Security Expert.  In the example below, the installation went smoothly, but when the user tried to log in to Security Expert the error "Error - Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation" is seen. Thus the install could not be licensed. This example had SQL, Security Expert Server and Security Expert Client all installed on the same PC. Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation Resolution If the new install does not run correctly, then install the software on a clean Windows platform, this will allow the site to be set up and commissioned. In the above example, the customers extra security policies were applied one at a time until the policy that caused the problem could be isolated.  

Issue No connection to Lon controllers from VisiSat Environment VisiSat Windows 7 Cause The Echelon Lon driver implementation in VisiSat does not support Windows 7. That means that if VisiSat is installed on Windows 7 (possible from version 2.1.185) it is not possible to use the Lon connection from VisiSat Resolution Install VisiSat on Windows XP to use the Lon connection

Issue How to read and write from/to files using PE Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Plain English Cause Site needed a CSV report of personnel accessing the building that included access event information such as time stamp, door, area, card number BUT also data such as employee number etc., a simple list view could not be used since list views can only show data from ONE table in the ContinuumDB. Resolution Sample CyberStation program that reads/writes from/to file and aggregate data from different tables in the ContinuumDB IMPORTANT: PE Program is provided as a sample proof of concept ONLY and it is not to be taken as a complete working solution. REQUIREMENTS: Create STRINGS ReportEventsPath and T_A_Path in the CyberStation where the program will run and set to the path to the input and output files respectively, the input file must exist, the output file will be automatically created if it doesn’t exist. PROGRAM CODE: 'This Cyberstation program takes as an input a CSV file generated from an Access Event list 'and creates a second file with the EMPLOYEE NUMBER added. 'Program is FALL-THRU and NOT autostart 'IMPORTANT 'The Input file MUST be formatted like this... 'AccessEvent 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1 File inputFILE, outputFILE String 132 DATALINE, RESULT, theEMPLOYEE, empNUMBER, localSTR Numeric CHARSREAD, CHARSWRITTEN, OK, RECORDLINE Numeric DEBUG_FLAG Line INITIALIZE DEBUG_FLAG = 0 'SET THIS TO 1 TO HAVE PROGRAM PRINT DEBUG INFO Line OPENING RESULT = "" RECORDLINE = 0 CHARSREAD = 0 If OpenFile(ReportEventsPath, ReadOnly, inputFILE) = Failure then 'OPEN THE INPUT FILE TO READ FROM RESULT = "COULD NOT OPEN inputFILE FILE" Goto FAILING Endif If OpenFile(T_A_Path, WriteOnly, outputFILE) = Failure then 'OPEN THE OUTPUT FILE TO WRITE TO RESULT = "COULD NOT OPEN outputFILE FILE" Goto FAILING Else Goto COPYING Endif Line COPYING RECORDLINE = RECORDLINE + 1 If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Record line = " ; RECORDLINE If RECORDLINE = 1 then OK = ReadFile(inputFILE, DATALINE, 132, CHARSREAD, "|10") 'READ FIRST LINE FROM THE INPUT FILE UP TO THE LF Else OK = ReadFile(inputFILE, DATALINE, 132, CHARSREAD, "|13") 'READ ONE LINE FROM THE INPUT FILE UP TO THE CR Endif If OK = Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT READ FILE" Goto FAILING Else If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Read..." ; DATALINE If OK = Eof then RESULT = "END OF FILE" Goto CLOSING Endif Endif 'INSERT THE EMPLOYEE NUMBER If RECORDLINE = 2 then empNUMBER = "EmpNumber" 'MODIFY THE HEADER WITH THE NAME OF THE FIELD(S) WE ARE ADDING If RECORDLINE > 2 then theEMPLOYEE = (left(DATALINE, search(DATALINE, ","))) theEMPLOYEE = (left(theEMPLOYEE, (search(theEMPLOYEE, ",") - 1))) 'FOR EACH LINE IN THE INPUT FILE GET THE PATH TO THE PERSONNEL OBJECT Print getname(theEMPLOYEE ; " EmpNumber") to empNUMBER 'AND GET THE EMPLOYEE NUMBER Endif 'WRITE THE LINE WITH THE ADDED NEW FIELD(S) TO THE OUTPUT FILE If RECORDLINE = 1 then Print DATALINE ; chr(10) to localSTR Else Print DATALINE ; "," ; empNUMBER ; chr(10) to localSTR Endif OK = WriteFile(outputFILE, localSTR, 132, CHARSWRITTEN) If OK = Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT WRITE FILE" Goto FAILING Else If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Wrote..." ; localSTR Print "CHARSWRITTEN=" ; CHARSWRITTEN Endif 'POINT TO THE NEXT LINE IN THE FILES If RECORDLINE = 1 then If PositionFile(inputFILE, 1, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'ADVANCE PAST THE LF Else If PositionFile(inputFILE, 2, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'ADVANCE PAST THE CR and LF Endif If PositionFile(outputFILE, 0, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'WRITE AT THE CURRENT FILE LOCATION Goto COPYING 'GO DO THE NEXT LINE Endif Line FAILING 'SOMETHING WENT WRONG If DEBUG_FLAG then Print RESULT Goto CLOSING Line CLOSING 'CLOSE THE FILES If CloseFile(inputFILE) is Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT CLOSE FILE" If CloseFile(outputFILE) is Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT CLOSE FILE" If DEBUG_FLAG then PEDebug = PEDebug + 1 'IF DEBUGGING INCREMENTED PEDebug MEANS NO ERRORS Stop Line E 'HANDLE RUNTIME ERROR If DEBUG_FLAG then Print RESULT PEDebug = 666 Endif CloseFile(inputFILE) CloseFile(outputFILE) Stop After the program runs if the input file looks like: 'AccessEvent 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1 The output file will be: 'AccessEvent, 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId,EmpNumber, 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1,12345  

Issue References to objects and points are not easily understood Product Line TAC Vista Environment Xenta Server (511, 527, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913) Cause The references relates to the internal indexes in the project Resolution Here is an example of how to locate a Menta signal referenced in an error log. The procedure is the same for all other types, although the file names may vary. This is an example taken from an error log:   1337 03-09-2014 10:41:19 AM minor trend TLogNotifier 1 menta.5.62 Variable type disagreement (Error#:61971) 1336 03-09-2014 10:41:16 AM minor trend TLogNotifier 1 menta.5.60 Variable type disagreement (Error#:61971) 1335 03-09-2014 10:41:13 AM minor trend TLogNotifier 1 menta.5.61 Variable type disagreement (Error#:61971)   Here is how to locate the signals menta.5.62, menta.5.60 and menta.5.61 Navigate to the XBuilder location on your hard drive, and browse to the folder "TargetImage\configdb". If the XBuilder project is part of a TAC Vista database, either save the XBuilder project outside the database, or locate the zip file containing the project and un-zip it. Depending on the signal reference browse the folder appropriate folder - in this example "menta". Open the file "menta.xml" in notepad or similar - for a better overview you can paste the content of the file on this web page: XML Pretty Print Locate the program id and note the reference. In this case it's id 5: Open the file "mentablocks.xml" in notepad or similar - for a better overview you can paste the content of the file on this web page: XML Pretty Print Locate the signal id's under that program id, in this case it's: Open the file "BHP BILLITON/Mentas/Water Meters.aut" in notepad or similar Locate the ObjectId's, in this case it's: #1 "MUNIC_ABL" [124,32,0,1] '','','946C6EE5-4884-4c24-804F-F7E95BAF262D' = XPR {A-B-C-D-E} #2 "RAIN_ABL" [125,77,0,1] '','','1277F8E5-5451-4dad-BEBF-1461EC75AC30' = XPR {A-B} #3 "GREY_ABL" [124,122,0,1] '','','3FF1B614-2379-47a2-BFCA-782EEE4ADAC4' = XPR {A-B-C-D}

Issue It takes up to 3-4 minutes before a user is logged in to the Workstation. Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista 5.1.8 Cause The problem is a combination between a Vista server network and many disabled alarms. When logging on with a Workstation to a Vista server, the server will read the disabled alarms from the other Vista servers in the TAC Vista network. This is a slow process that can be slowed down even more if there are  hundreds of disabled alarms. Resolution Try to keep disabled alarms to a minimum in a Vista server network. Don't have unnecessary disabled alarms in the system.

Issue Copying objects from one MP-X device to another results in a validation error. "Property value '<object type>' already assigned"     Product Line MPx series EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Building Operation Multi-purpose VAV Cause The Object ID is already used within the destination device Resolution This functions as design. To resolve this:   Manually enter the Object ID when creating files that may be copied to other MP-X devices. One may choose to use blocks of IDs up to 64,999.   2. Utilize the import/export function within EBO which will import the BACnet objects using the next available Instance IDs.

Issue  64-061-31 is no longer available and needs to be replaced Environment 64-061-31  TAC valve TAC DWV - PN 6 DN 32  Cause valve no longer available Resolution This old TAC Valve is no longer in production, Schneider Electric do not have any PN6 valves. It's mainly Germany/Austria that uses PN6 valves. Dimensionally they are the same as PN16 valves, the main difference is the wall thickness but in all practical terms it costs more to have two separate tools for each valve PN hence why Schneider and 90% of other suppliers just have PN16 even though they may only ever be used under 6 bar static pressure. As a replacement flanged valve, DN32, the V211 valve is suggested

Issue When trying to update the OS of a BCX9640 to a BCX4040, the update process seems to succeed but the controller remains unchanged after the update process completes. Continuum indicates no errors during the update process. Environment Convert BCX BCX9640 BCX4040 Update OS Firmware Cause Incompatible bootloader. Resolution Update the controller to the most current version of OS for the same controller model before updating the OS with the new model firmware.