More Lonspec Questions

[joey791]

Got some more questions guys

I have been doing some reading up on this software from what I can see as long as you do not commission a controller you do not have a problem with knocking it off the severer system. But you can still see and monitor the controller and reconfigure points. Is this true.

Another problem I am having is on the server. When looking at the system tree the controller for the building plant is a yellow color and when you click on it you get a (system error) page that says (Reading XL15C device I/O…. please contact your system administrator if this message continues to appear for a long period.) This controller was connecting fine until a few weeks ago and we started getting this error. This controller has a sub tree under it and the pages on the sub tree work fine any help here would be appreciated.

[joey791]

This is for one of our techs at another branch, no one can shed some light on the subject?

[fxb80]

I have had that error on some XL15C. It could be as simple as cycling power to the 15C, but of course this will shutdown the controlled equipment for a while. If that doesn't work I would try a recommission. A recommission will shut the controller down as it reloads the full configuration so beware if you have some critical equipment it will need to be put in Hand if you have that option. If a recommission doesn't clear the reading error and the "server" is a Building Manager" you might have to restore the Building Manager database. If it's a Building Manager and you can see the points page you can also try "refresh configuration" at the bottom of the points page, but from your description it sounds like you can't see that.

If you change the configuration in LonSpec you have to recommission the controller.

I'm not an expert on this, so somebody correct me, I'm just saying what I've done when this problem has come up.

[tuncos]

One reason for the "Reading XL15C device I/O" error is because of LON bus troubles. The XL15C has tons of points information that has to be sent to the XL15B in a certain amount of time. If all information does not make it, you will see that message and some of the stuff in the left hand tree will be missing.

Troubleshooting a problem LON bus without the proper tools can be like Voodoo, and about all you can do is check all connections, splices, wall penetrations, etc for physical problems. The LON bus is very robust, which makes finding troubles even harder because the problems may appear to be somewhere else. Make sure the XL15C is mounted securely to it's base, with the base not having any flexing of any kind (ie uneven wall mount).

To most efficiently troubleshoot LON, you have to have a LON protocol analyzer like Honeywell's Excelon. There are others out there too. I think they are all very expensive. Also, having an o-scope and the knowledge to use it on a LON bus goes a very long way. If you don't have these tools, then go to LonSpec Monitor mode, and compare how long a refresh on a good XL15C takes compared to the troubled XL15C. A bad LON connection will take forever too update, and maybe even time-out.

On your first question, you can use LonSpec's monitor mode, diagnostic mode and calibration mode without resetting the controller.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[joey791]

Thanks guys passing the info on now