Aeon VCBX controls

[numbawunfela]

I am looking at a set of Aeon RTUs that feature the Wattstopper VCBX controller. Is there any way for me to get into the guts of this thing and see what he thinks of himself?

This is part of a Hospital that had a large renovation done 4 years ago and nothing has ever worked correctly. The short version is that they finished construction, turned it over. The maintenance staff fought with it for a few weeks, turned it back to national corporate. They cancelled all patient operations for 6 weeks to fix the issues. Were unable to do so, then wanted to rip all the mechanicals out and go with through the wall PTACs, but could not find anyone who made hospital grade PTACs anymore. So they are stuck with what they have.
One of those places..... The fun thing about these is that I cannot make it any worse....

anyhow I need to see the programming in the controller.

Thanks in advance guys.

[numbawunfela]

Woops - looks like I went to HTalk before going to Aaon

https://www.aaon.com/ControlsTechSupport

[MaxBurn]

They do have a fairly complex sequence of operation, but as you just noticed the manuals and books are out there. AAON also does supply a jace with what appeared to be a pretty polished station from the one I saw so If you did consider takeover that station might be made available to you so you aren't starting from scratch. I've no idea how to access the programming on orion, but there's about a hundred setpoint and config changes available on the BACnet side.

[numbawunfela]

I have it sucked into a Johnson system, for which I have user creds, not admin creds (read: I cannot add points). If I were able to discover and add points, I might be able to find a setpoint to do what I am looking for?
The issue at the moment is that they want to enable cooling at OA temps below 72 deg.
That and the OA temp sensor fails reliably every 9 to 12 mos... but that is another story.
I got the service tool, and it shows me 10 or 12 things. I would be pissed if I sprang $700+ for it and this was all the functionality I got for my nickel.

[lwarren]

These things can be configured so many different ways, its possible that whoever did startup just didn't get it configured correctly for the application. You are better off getting the Prism software and cable than using the service tool

[Cagey57]

These things can be configured so many different ways, its possible that whoever did startup just didn't get it configured correctly for the application. You are better off getting the Prism software and cable than using the service tool

I agree with lwarren. Past experience the service tool (Game Boy) is for "service folks" so they can't do too much damage.
All the Aaon units I worked with (integration to a Jace) in the past, the Startup Tech had Prism2 on a laptop and the USBLink2 interface. They wouldn't even pickup the Gameboy.

[hvac69]

As stated the sequences are rock solid as long as it was configured properly. Prism and USB link would be best to configure. No access to the actual program is available though. Wattmaster tech support is excellent.

[numbawunfela]

Thanks for the responses guys!
There are 2 units, they both have ebus OA temp/humidity sensors that failed after a year.... they are close to 1k each so no Bueno!
I scoped the trunk and caught packets that were funky electrically. Fortunately there were only 6 devices on the trunk, and 2 of them popped offline regularly... so it was easy to narrow it down - one is bad. They sell replacement rs485 transceiver chips, so gonna replace that.
They want to use this for cooling only and eliminate any dehumidification control. It is a desert climate with a high cooling and nearly no heating load, so it will work well in cooling only based on DAT. So I am installing 10k type 3 OAT sensors, and changing the configuration to eliminate the need for the OA RH sensor.
Lastly I am getting the USB-Link2 doo dad to bend the thing to my will with the Prism2 software I downloaded....
I will be back after all the parts come in next week.

[numbawunfela]

I got the service tool, and it shows me 10 or 12 things. I would be pissed if I sprang $700+ for it and this was all the functionality I got for my nickel.

the dimwit who posted this needed to spend another 10 minutes with the service tool...
After I did that I saw a fair amount of configuration was possible. I am sure the Prism2 options are better... but there was quite a bit one could do with the service tool.

[JSLLC4Life]

Fought three rooftops with the exact same setup for years. Eventually the hospital had enough and we ripped them out and replaced with a Distech 600. No complaints sense. The fact that they tell you what all of the inputs are on the controller makes it pretty easy.

[Thaseus]

If you ever want remote assistance with prism, I can connect to your laptop through TeamViewer and we can discuss on the phone what you want to do. I've written manuals and have created hours of training videos on the subject.

[tridiumtech]

I scoped the trunk and caught packets that were funky electrically. Fortunately there were only 6 devices on the trunk, and 2 of them popped offline regularly... so it was easy to narrow it down - one is bad. They sell replacement rs485 transceiver chips, so gonna replace that.

All this sounds really 'tech cool', but what scares me is the labor cost in the research and even the learning curve labor to get on board with Prisim (unless you know how to drive that tool & know what to do when the 'bumps' come ;-). Who's paying for this time? And how much time? From my experience in controls service - things need to be done relatively 'lickety split', otherwise your mgt. and even the customer bring out the 'dark clouds' (your spending to much freakin' time). Unless the hospital client is up against the 'tech wall' and has no option and it's basically 'open wallet' and 'just get it done, whatever it takes'.
Yeah - I understand resisting asking the pros & good dudes (and gals) at HVAC-talk and first go to the controller vendor to first to check out any tech help. Interesting thread...

[numbawunfela]

Unless the hospital client is up against the 'tech wall' and has no option and it's basically 'open wallet' and 'just get it done, whatever it takes'.

This is essentially where they are at. They said more than a few times 'it has not worked for 4 years, it will not get fixed in a day. Just make it work, here is a PO.'
Scoping the trunk to find the bad transceiver took about an hour and a half. I scoped everything I could get my hands on for around 6 mos and it is much easier now. They have transceivers in sockets... which is kinda nifty. Never seen that, but makes them easy to replace.
I already have a plan on what to do with these things, the USB adapter, software installed on a VM...
I seem to be the junk drawer for the weird ones that say what is in your quote at our shop. It is great fun for me.... I have that Panasonic PLC thread open - they are in the same boat.

[numbawunfela]

If you ever want remote assistance with prism, I can connect to your laptop through TeamViewer and we can discuss on the phone what you want to do. I've written manuals and have created hours of training videos on the subject.

I will be there Wed and maybe Thursday. I am never ever ashamed to ask for help, I may do just that. Thanks!
Nobody knows everything, that is why we share - the community makes each one of us look smart.

[Thaseus]

My email should be in my profile. Contact me early and let me know when you are going. I'm available after 10am est on Wednesday. If you have the serial numbers, I can get pdf wiring diagrams from AAON which can help also. I should have mentioned, I'm an AAON rep. Not from AAON, but from an office in Canada.

Here is a link to my course. The coupon in the link is good for 5 days and gives you 50% off $25usd.

https://www.udemy.com/course/aaon-ro...12B6AFACCBAD30

Good luck either way!

[numbawunfela]

As stated the sequences are rock solid as long as it was configured properly. Prism and USB link would be best to configure. No access to the actual program is available though. Wattmaster tech support is excellent.

The Prism2 software really is 1000 times better. The unit was not configured properly.... configured for static pressure control, but it has no means of exhausting. Configured with a RAT, but it is 100% OA. Several other issues like that. After I changed the OAT sensor it ran good in the morning.
Came back after a conference call for a project and eating lunch, and it was blowing but not cooling. It was tripping on high head pressure. Gonna get a mechanic out for that. The liquid line was never too hot, so the condenser fan seems to work and cool is clean-ish... so it may be noncondensibles. The only way to know is to pit gages on it... I gave up mine a while ago.
I had just gotten in when @Thaseus came around, showed a few tricks. He says he is a trainer- he sure seemed like it. THANKS!
One gotcha - if using the USB-Link2, you will need to use the selector switches on it. If you change a switch, you need to power cycle the device by unplugging it or the DIP switch changes will not take.

[Thaseus]

On the vcbx and vccx you have pressure sensors that are logged in the controller. You can always try to look at those to give you ideas on what is going on. Since your compressor wasn't running when we were talking, your logs won't help. But in the future keep that in mind.

[hvac69]

The Prism2 software really is 1000 times better. The unit was not configured properly.... configured for static pressure control, but it has no means of exhausting. Configured with a RAT, but it is 100% OA. Several other issues like that. After I changed the OAT sensor it ran good in the morning.
Came back after a conference call for a project and eating lunch, and it was blowing but not cooling. It was tripping on high head pressure. Gonna get a mechanic out for that. The liquid line was never too hot, so the condenser fan seems to work and cool is clean-ish... so it may be noncondensibles. The only way to know is to pit gages on it... I gave up mine a while ago.
I had just gotten in when @Thaseus came around, showed a few tricks. He says he is a trainer- he sure seemed like it. THANKS!
One gotcha - if using the USB-Link2, you will need to use the selector switches on it. If you change a switch, you need to power cycle the device by unplugging it or the DIP switch changes will not take.

No surprise, most of the time when I get complaints for AAON units not operating correctly its due to them not being configured correctly. I have found issues with the electronic valves or HGRH control that causes high pressure trips. The older HGRH control used one output for both valves and the new version has individual outputs and has a display so you have some idea of what should be happening.