Honeywell XL50 to MCS controller?

[lwarren]

Anybody ever used a lon XL50 to talk to an MCS controller?

The MCS controller is on a 100% OA Florida Heatpump. WE have an MCS portal (gateway) that talks to the MCS controller via rs485 on one side and then goes to an slta adapter that is hooked to the 50.

I have imported the xif file for the 3rd party device into care. I have mapped and bound some NV's from the Florida heatpump. I can see the values of all the NVO's from the florida heatpump by looking at the module (plugin) onnet in the terminal assignment windoe in the network tree, but the 50 cannot see a value in XL online from any of the psuedo analog points that are bound from the nvo's.

Any thoughts are welcomed and appreciated.

[lwarren]

Sysinst, Lonboy, anyone?

Bye the way MCS stands for Micro Control Solutions. These controllers are also installed on Aaonn chillers.

[sysint]

Not familiar enough to help you here...

I'd say dump the two controllers in LM and bind to find your problem.

[jimmyj]

Do you have heart beat enabled? Also do you have the Excelon tool for network diagnostics? You could look and see that the packets are bieng sent to the 50 or if it is requesting the data.

[lwarren]

I do have the heartbeat enabled. I do not have Excelon except the demo version which I might be able to use since it will do two nodes.

I believe the xif file is wrong. When compared to other xif files that work fine it seems to be missing alot of stuff in the file.

The mfg of the MCS controllers is no help. They no nothing about lon. I spoke with the guy who did the xif file. He said all they do is use a program that pulls the info out of their portal that they defined and it automaticaly generates the xif file.

[sysint]

"I believe the xif file is wrong. When compared to other xif files that work fine it seems to be missing alot of stuff in the file. "

- Just upload from the Device.

[lwarren]

Originally posted by sysint
"I believe the xif file is wrong. When compared to other xif files that work fine it seems to be missing alot of stuff in the file. "

- Just upload from the Device.

How will that help me since the device was created by me using the xif that does not work?

[jimmyj]

Sounds like the device is not LonMark approved? Good luck!

[lwarren]

Well, let me clarify my post a little.

The MCS portal or gateway is using an slta adapter to talk on the lon side. So it does not have it's own lon interface.

[sysint]

You are saying the EIA232 port is hooked up to this MCI device and you connect lon side?

Then this is a custom serial gateway...

Refer to Chapter 13 (ironic) Here (http://www.echelon.com/support/documentation/manuals/078-0160-01E.pdf)

.....which means that MCS is a pile of *^^%()_#_)(*_)_$.

[lwarren]

Sysint

Thanks for the info, I will review it although this looks like it is over my head.

[sysint]

Got any MCS web links?

[lwarren]

I'll see if I can find something. I have been told that this gateway that the slta is tied to is made by Automated Logic for MCS.

[sysint]

Another screwed up ALC application. let's see, ALC has managed to screw up Semco, Multistack, MCS.... who am I missing?

[amigo]

What, you are saying you don't like ALC because for example they use 156K baud ARCnet for their BACnet MSTP backbone. Who comes up with this stuff !!!
lw You have an ALC portal that is custom made and programmed. Next to impossible to get any information about it without forking out some cash to ALC.

[lwarren]

You guys are really encouraging.

[sysint]

Another ALC portal disaster apparently.

I noticed that they have there own UPM style circuit boards.. Apparently the $5 to make it LON was too much for them.

[lwarren]

Originally posted by sysint
Got any MCS web links?

Here is the link http://www.mcscontrols.com

[sysint]

lwarren- call MCS. Looks like a Modbus protocol device.

Rather than use that stupid ALC portal (very expensive) get some information from them to use a Modus/LON gateway.

Initially I'd say Fieldserver, although Amigo has a link on a recent LON post (by Cardinal?) to a slick little European gate.

Then throw that ALC piece of junk (for LON) in the trash can.

[lwarren]

Originally posted by sysint
lwarren- call MCS. Looks like a Modbus protocol device.

Rather than use that stupid ALC portal (very expensive) get some information from them to use a Modus/LON gateway.

Initially I'd say Fieldserver, although Amigo has a link on a recent LON post (by Cardinal?) to a slick little European gate.

Then throw that ALC piece of junk (for LON) in the trash can.

We did not supply the portals, probably going to be hard to sell something else altogether unless we just cannot make these work. According to MCS they have sent out plenty of the portals for lon integration to their MCS-8 controllers and ther has been no problem.

I probably don't have something configured right, or I still think there may be an issue with the xif file.

I would'nt mind the challenge of making this work if time was not so critical.

Thanks for all the responses everyone, I will keep yall informed.

[sysint]

"According to MCS they have sent out plenty of the portals for lon integration to their MCS-8 controllers and ther has been no problem."

-you think they would tell you it stinks? Lets see $2,500+ for the ALC junk... I'm thinking real easy to sign up with Fieldserver or even put the $5.00-$15.00 into making a LON controller.

And if they use somebody like Loytec you don't even need the Neuron.... (stupid reply #1)

......and have hundreds of variables (stupid reply #2) which should help you answer their 2 stupid points they will try to bring up. (being BACnetter-brainwashed courtesy of ALC{?}. )

How many points do you need to run a heat-pump? Interesting a company would spend thousands on something that should be hundreds. That's what happens when it's not LON.

[lwarren]

The portal I saw on their website was $3750.00. Thats incredible!

Bye the way sysint, this job also has some large Carrier self contained watersource VAV units that Carrier is sending us a lon interface for. Anything thing special I should know or do for these?

[sysint]

Carrier's LON interface - They actually have some flexibility.

You configure/MAP through CCN. Maybe have the Carrier rep send you an XIF and you tell them all the extra I/O points you would like to have. For instance, you may want all the transducer data if available. Really, any data their stupid overpriced little touchpanel has you should be able to get.

We had a problem with the beta-cards needing to be powered slightly after the onboard CCN controller. They may have solved that problem.

[lwarren]

Well after months and months of trying to resolve this problem, it has finally been figured out. Honeywell came out to the jobsite and tried to commission this hunk of junk with Care, Lonmaker, and Tridium. The device would not commission. Then they noticed that the Subnet and Node Id for the device would not change from 0-0. The only way they could get it to change was through Honeywells Excelon software. But, if you lost power to the portal the the stupid thing would revert back to 0-0. So whenever LNS would try to set the Subnet and Node for these devices they would not take it.

So now we have to remove all of these portals, ship them back to automated logic so they can change a parameter in the portal to accept the Subnet and Node ID's.

These guys need to stick to bacnet!

[sysint]

Lwarren - you could can those dogs for ilon100's if the controller in the heat pump is Modbus. Then connect the Modbus directly to the ilon100 (e3) and you are good to go.

They get ridiculous money for those dogs. Guess that's why Army Corps says what they do about the BACnetter's.