Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue When we display the SNVTs in Vista, NL220 or Lonmaker the name of the SNVTS are very generic. Environment NL220 Lonmaker Vista Cause The XIF file was uploaded from the device. On some devices the function specific names are not supplied from the controller. Here is a sample of non specific names when uploaded from the controller     Here is a sample of the same controller with the XIF download from the manufacturers website. Resolution Go to the controllers manufacturers website or contact them and get the functioned named XIF file for that device. Use this instead of the uploaded XIF from the device.

Issue DCX 250, backlight is working but no text or splash screen is being displayed. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment DCX250 Cause Failure of controller hardware. Resolution Replace DCX250.

Issue Negative values are displaying *** asterisk instead of the value. Product Line TAC Vista Environment XBuilder 1.6 Vista 4 OGC Graphics Cause To display negative values in XBuilder, add a placeholder for the negative value. Resolution In the example of terminal load, the lowest expected negative value is -100. This will require an integer value of 4 in the graphics editor in order to display -100. If you the integer value is set to 3 and the value goes to -100, the display will show *** . This indicates the value is out of range according to the parameters set.

Issue Is IPv6 supported with Continuum Netcontrollers? Environment BCX 4040 BCX 9640 9680 ACX57xx Cause IPv6 compatibility with Continuum Netcontrollers Resolution As of today, 3/21/2013, Continuum controllers do not support IPv6. There are no plans at this time to implement IPv6 into Continuum controllers.

Issue Are the Universal Inputs (UI) common isolated from the Analog Outputs (AO) common on the MNL-800? Environment MNL-800 Cause N/A Resolution No, the commons for the MNL-800 Universal Inputs and Analog Outputs are not isolated from each other. 

Issue When a program in the source controller keeps setting a point's value to the same value (i.e. set MyPoint = On) every scan, the point's value is being transferred to the destination controller even if the point is subscribed in the Import/Export table. Environment Infinet controllers ( i1 & i2 ) Net controllers ( CX9xxx & ACX57xx) Cause When the value of the source point is changed, it is transferred to the destination Infinet controller(s) by the IE engine.  But when the source point's value is set to the same value (most likely output and numeric points set by calculation programs in the same controller), the IE engine still transfers the same value to the destination controller, in order to have the destination controller get the value that might have been lost due to the controller being offline.  This does not happen to Input points due to the threshold attribute of the object.  Resolution Modify the calculation program in the source controller to compare its value with the previous value before setting the value to the calculation (or condition check) result.

Issue Can more than one MS41-7153 actuator be paralleled when being driven by a MNB series controller? Environment MNB series controller Several MS41-7153 actuators controlled by a common signal. Cause Series of parallel dampers are to be controlled by the same control signal. Resolution Yes several MS41-7153 actuators can be driven by the analog output from a MNB series controller. There are two acceptable methods of providing parallel control. 1. Control the first actuator using either the voltage output or current output from the controller and cascade control from the feedback AO of one actuator into the AI of the next actuator.  The AO of the last actuator should be routed back to the controller to provide feedback confirmation of the damper operation.  In this way should any damper fail, the feedback will indicate that one (or more) of the actuators did not drive to the desired position.  Using this method there is theoretically no limit to the number of actuators that could be driven from one controller AO output.  When controlling a series of actuators in this manner, you must make sure that the power to the actuators are phased correctly, especially if using more than one transformer.   2. Alternate method for use with four or less actuators.  Up to four actuators may be driven using the 4-20 ma drive from the controller.  The 500 ohm resistor should be connected across the actuator wired closest to the controller.  When using this method, and more than two actuators are being parallel controlled, the resistance of the parallel resistor may need to be increased slightly or the drive signal may need to be increased by as much as 2.5% to make up for the parallel resistance effect of the 80 k-ohm input impedance of the actuators.

Issue If creating a shortcut from an object the name of the shortcut does mirror the object. I can change the object name but the shortcuts does not reflect the change and the old name remains. Environment StruxureWare version 1.3 Cause The shortcut object doesn't need to have the same name as the original object. When the shortcut is created it gets the same name default but then you can change the names on booth the shortcut or the original object to anything you like. But the shortcut will still show the value from the original object. This is the same way as it working in Vista also Resolution That is the way it is designed to work.

Issue Use controller addresses to assist in identification of wiring problems in an I/NET controller LAN. Environment I/NET site Cause How to use controller addresses to assist in identification of wiring problems in an I/NET controller LAN Resolution It is common to find installations where the controller addresses follow the physical layout of the wire. This allows the token to be passed between nodes which are closest to each other on the controller LAN. When the controllers on the opposite ends of your controller LAN have consecutive addresses this will require the token to pass the entire length of your controller LAN between those two controllers. (This includes when the token passes between the highest node address and the first if the network addresses are assigned sequentially.) The advantage of this setup is that many communication problems can be identified quickly while your installation technicians are still on site and thus avoiding a return trip when other (new) conditions have degraded the performance of the network.

Issue TGML Script has stopped working after upgrading to Vista 5.1.5 Nothing happens when clicking on a button in a TGML graphic - it worked in Vista 5.1.4  Environment Vista 5.1.5 Graphics Editor TGML 1.1.5 Cause  The TGML language is now case sensitive to increase performance, which may result in upgrading issues. Resolution Check the script and ensure that all keywords such as Visible and Hidden have capital letters if the corresponding object attribute starts with a capital letter.

Issue When Sigma is restarted the Alarm manager does not run. Environment Sigma release 4.04 Cause The Alarmslog.rec file is too large. Resolution The archiving process in Sigma release 4.04 occasionally failed and the AlarmsLog.rec file was allowed to continue increasing in size, this file is some cases might reach 2GB, which would cause the Alarm manager to fail. To correct this issue, carry out the following: 1 - Stop the Sigma Client and Server. 2 - Using Windows Explorer locate AlarmsLog.rec in the C:\Sigma\Data folder. 3 - Either rename or delete the AlarmsLog.rec file. 4 - Restart the Sigma Server and Client. Note:- a new AlarmsLog.rec file will be created when a new alarm arrives at the Server. 5 - An alternative to this procedure would be to upgrade to the latest release of Sigma.

Issue The COM ports are defined and the communications works great but when the ENC is rebooted it is unable to start up the serial port (COM3), it says “COM3 is not a valid port”.  However, once the station is running COM3 can be typed in the drivers properties and it works fine.  Environment ENC, G3, Niagara Cause The station was loading the "Drivers" before the "Services".  The Services must come first to prepare the ports before the Drivers are loaded. Resolution Open the running station in Workbench, right click on Config and pull down to "Reorder".  Change the order to load the Services first, save the change and reboot the station. 

Issue No link LED on a Desktop's and Laptop's Network Interface Card (NIC). Environment Windows OS Cause Network interface card has power management feature enabled.  This will shutdown the network interface card if no activity is present, battery is low on power, or battery is intermittent. Resolution Disable power management features under Device Manager Network Adapters. 

Issue I need an object in the UNC that works like the Select object in WorkPlace Tech. Environment I/A Series R2 (Niagara) UNC Cause Specified logic requirements for the UNC station require it. Resolution Inside the TridiumX container - programlib jar - hvac container there is an object called AiMapping that will perform a select function similar to that of the object provided with WorkPlace Tech.

Issue   In Niagara R2, what would cause an IP communication to the UNC to drop out?  There are no errors in the standard output window. Environment Niagara R2 All version; UNC-410, UNC-510, UNC-520 Cause The same IP address is assign to more than on controller. Two UNC controllers are using the same IP address. Resolution This symptom usually indicates a duplicate IP address condition. Under this condition the UNC will keep dropping offline for a period of time.  The duplicate IP address situation will need to be corrected before reliable communications can be established. Reassign one of the UNCs a different IP address that is not currently being used.  Ensure that each IP address is only assigned to one controller.

Issue Trend chart settings aren't saved. The properties dialogue is opened by right-clicking on the open trend chart and then one or more of the settings are changed. After that OK is pressed and then the chart is saved using the save button. Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7. Cause It appears that the new settings aren't being saved, but by clicking the save button before refreshing the trend chart the current "view" is saved - not the new settings entered in the properties dialogue. Resolution Change the settings as described Click OK when finished with the settings Refresh the trend chart immediately Save it. The view with the new settings will be saved. Another option in Windows 7: Right click on the chart object. Go to the "general" tab Uncheck Autoscale Enter the desired value.

Issue Customer does not have Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, only Lotus Notes/Domino. Environment Keywords: Email, Page, Lotus Notes Cause Customer wants email and paging of alarms but does not use Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. Resolution Lotus Notes is not a supported application for emailing or paging of alarms. Microsoft Outlook with Exchange is the only supported program for this application.

Issue When backup to flash is automatically disabled by the system due to exceeding the flash circuit breaker write limit, no system alarm is sent to make the system's operator aware  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Continuum i2920 Controller Cause Implementation of Continuum Infinet integration in EcoStruxure Building Operation did not include this feature. Resolution As a workaround, a user-created alarm can be used instead of the system alarm. Here is a sample implementation of this workaround:   Under the Infinet Interface create an Alarm, in this example, we are using an 'Expression' alarm Here is the algorithm used as an expression for the alarm Value = BackupDisabld In the i2 device, edit the 'StatusBackup' system variable and attach the alarm above in the Alarm Configuration tab. Make sure to tick the 'Enabled' box to engage the alarm.   The alarm will be sent when the flash circuit breaker trips which in the i2 device takes place after 10,000 backups To resume backups the feature must be manually re-enabled from Workstation by right-clicking the device and selecting DEVICE->ENABLE BACKUP TO FLASH

Issue Recovery of an I.LON 1000 in the boot state. Environment i.LON 1000 Cause The router has become corrupt. Resolution If the system image on an I.LON 1000 has become corrupt and the device enters a boot state when powered up then the following steps should be taken to correct it: Download the system image found in the "C:\Lonworks\iLON\Images\iLON x.xx" directory using an FTP client. Connect to the device with the serial cable and issue the "format" command. After the command has completed retry step 1. If neither of the previous methods worked, connect to the device with the serial cable and issue the "factorydefault" command. This should restore the device to how it came out of the box.

Issue Xenta 913 Device Template cannot map to "native" BACnet using 485 Virtual Link Layers. Product Line Andover Continuum,TAC Vista Environment Xenta 913 BACnet Cause The Xenta 913 cannot connect to anything below the IP layer. "Virtual Link Layer" is not able to be used if the points are not exposed at the IP level there is not a way to address defined modules below. Resolution Any point that needs to be exposed at the IP level must have the ability to be mirrored in the BACnet IP device. If the IP device does not have the ability to mirror the 485 layer points, the 913 will not be able to map them.