PM8240 meter modbus register 30108 Issues after firmware update

[JarrydWebber]

Good day all

We have recently performed some updates on our PM8240 meters, updating the firmware, from V2.1 and V3 up to the latest V4.0.0
We have noted that the performance of the values reported on modbus register 30108 have changed.
Register 30108 is mapped to "Apparent Power Total Last Demand".

In the below screen capture of a log of this register, the behavior changed on the 30th June.

Before the update the log was reporting consistently high values (~1200 kVA) while after the update it reports ~10kVA and occasionally jumps to the previous high values.

The setup of the meter is exactly the same as it was, and we have compared it against meters that we have not updated yet, and the ion settings are the same.

Does anyone have any indication as to what might be happening here?

[Charles_Murison · Accepted solution]

Hello @JarrydWebber ,

Hard to say what is happening from a picture alone. How often are you polling the modbus address? Would suggest tracing the information back through the meter's framework. Mapping from Modbus register to ION register is done through a number of mapping modules. For Modbus address 30108, this is Data mapping demand module. The ION register, "kVA sd del+rec" comes from a sliding window demand module. Would need to look at the output of this module to understand what is happening. It could be that this module update rate changed from end of interval to every second, it could be this module is linked to a reset. Hard to say for sure.

Can use ION Setup to investigate. Connect to the meter and change to advanced view. (Hold ctrl + click on meter in left panel. Setup Assistant needs to be closed.) Navigate to SWinDemand Modules -> kVA sd del+rec. Hold down shift and click on the tab Output registers, you should see the real time values each time you click. Right click on output registers and change the update rate, I would suggest 5 or every second. Watch the value of kVA sd del+rec and compare behavior between meters.

Regards,

Charles 

[JarrydWebber]

Hi Charles

Thank you so much for the advice.
It seems as though the firmware update changed the SD3 Update Rate to Each Second, while it was set to "End of Sub-Interval" previously.

It seems like this has resolved the issue. Thank you

[Unathi]

Hello Team,

Could you please assist with the following issue.

We have a PM8000 meter installed at one of our sites. The meter firmware was recently upgraded from version 4.5 to 4.6 using ION. The firmware upgrade completed successfully and the meter rebooted as expected to apply and save the changes.

However after the reboot, we were no longer able to access the meter through ION. The meter remains operational and can still be accessed successfully through a web browser using the same login credentials and network connection.

We would appreciate your assistance in identifying the cause of this issue and advising on the appropriate resolution. Additionally, could you please confirm whether there is a dedicated tool or utility available that can be used to reset the meter's username and password, should this become necessary?

Please see the attached screenshot for reference.

1. This is ION

2.

3. ION Error message.

We only need to reset the login credentials and, in this case, it would be better to have a dedicated application or tool available to perform this task.

[Mehran_Mehrnia]

Hi @Unathi 

It would be beneficial if you could create a new post, as this may help others who encounter similar behavior.

I believe a related ticket has already been opened by the support team, and the possible causes and solutions provided there are also being shared here.

The pop-up message generated by ION Setup appears when an incorrect password is entered while using the latest versions of ION Setup, such as 3.2.26126.01. This is similar to the scenario where a specific user, such as User1, has been locked out due to repeated incorrect login attempts.

Since the password works correctly when logging in through the web interface, it is very likely that the ION meter has locked out the user on a specific port. In this case, User1 may be locked out of the ION port but still able to access the web pages. As mentioned above, the response returned by the meter for an invalid password is the same as the one returned when a user is locked out, which is an unauthorized response.

A possible test would be to disconnect the meter from the network and power cycle it. Then, directly connect a laptop, configured with the appropriate IP address and subnet mask, running ION Setup to the meter. Disconnecting the meter from the network will prevent additional lockouts if another device is attempting to communicate with it.

Best Regards,

-Mehran

L3 Expert Advanced metering