UPCM Question For those In The Know

[jogas]

One of our Techs went to a site and did not upload the whole UPCM program to his laptop, just certain parts of it, then he downloaded certain parts. He knew he had a problem when all the boilers turned on and ran out of control. When he looked at the "Edit" inputs and outputs, he saw "??????".
I had the whole program on my PC ( the latest version) so I went to the site and downloaded the complete program and left. Now, the system is working correctly except for the 3-way primary/secondary hot water valve, and the boiler control is not working correctly.
Today I asked him to look at the "G" current status/analog outputs. He said the Prim/Sec HWV analog output was "1.$". It seems to me it's out to be lunch.
I am thinking I should re-download those parts of the program that are not working.
Does this happen with the UPCM often?
Does anyone have any other recommendations?
jogas

[vbhvac]

In this case first thing I would do to upload everything from UPCM and then go to current status - and if you would see same - may time to change it.

[trane tek]

The UPCM has 7 critical files and is real easy to corrupt since it is DOS based. You only get one chance to upload/download it properly.

If it has been compromised and had not been backed up previously, I would recommend you go to the original installer and see if they have an archive of it. If not, you may need to reprogram it for proper operation.

[jogas]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm going to the site this morning.
I'll hopefully be able to post a happy ending tonight.
jogas

[jogas]

Cue the Happy Ending background music.
Here's what I did to get the program working.
There were 2 corrupted points, one analog output and one analog variable. Both were displaying "1.$" as values. I tried to download the program from my laptop to the UPCM...that didn't work. Then I put the UPCM in manual mode and tested the routine containing the AOP. When it got to the DDC statement, I could see a valid input and setpoint value, but when it crunched, the DDC output displayed as "1.QNAN". It appeared as though the DDC Loop was corrupted. So I changed the routine to use a previously unused DDC Loop. IT WORKED!!!!!
I then did the same thing to the routine with the analog variable. It worked also.
So both DDC Loops were corrupted or confused.
COOL.
jogas

[trane tek]

I'm really gald that worked out.

Thanks for the info.

[kwillmech]

Yes it is DOS based but that has nothing to do with the data corruption. Poor quality programming from the developer and lack of CRC checks in the data transfer process.

It is common to have corruption like this. Some times you get happy faces. If it is just one or two point names that are bad you can retype them and all is well. Best be to have a good backup some where safe. Floppy disk is not considered safe.

[jogas]

Yes it is DOS based but that has nothing to do with the data corruption. Poor quality programming from the developer and lack of CRC checks in the data transfer process.

It is common to have corruption like this. Some times you get happy faces. If it is just one or two point names that are bad you can retype them and all is well. Best be to have a good backup some where safe. Floppy disk is not considered safe.

I had also tried re-typing every statement of the complete routine and then downloaded it. It did not help.
To clarify, it was the value (or result) of the DDC Loop calculation that was reading 1.$
jogas

[jogas]

Yes it is DOS based but that has nothing to do with the data corruption. Poor quality programming from the developer and lack of CRC checks in the data transfer process.

It is common to have corruption like this. Some times you get happy faces. If it is just one or two point names that are bad you can retype them and all is well. Best be to have a good backup some where safe. Floppy disk is not considered safe.

Would slowing down the baud rate, if possible, help the data transfer integrity?
jogas

[trane tek]

I could be wrong, but 2400 is the only connect speed for a UPCM due to DOS. PCM is 1200 BPS.