Not your average communications fault....

I was recently asked to visit a data centre and investigate a communications error between the generator control panel and site BMS. I wasn't given much more information, but generally these problems are fairly simple. 

Being an ex-Finning senior systems engineer, I was pleased to see the yellow lump inside the container. #caterpillar #breadandbutter - #wowgotthatwrong!

Instead of an EMCP with built in modbus, welcome the PL1000E. The PL1000E can be viewed with ET, but not configured...handy!!

To configure the device, you need to access the built in web server and access the file system via the embedded ftp. I didn't have the correct connector to connect my laptop to the Ethernet port connector plug but a quick read of the manual (Thank you Malcolm Bagley & Bob Totty) and a hack of my trusty Ethernet cable (??) and boom, we're in. 

There is a fairly laborious process to follow in order to setup the PL1000E from scratch. Luckily for me, the original file was still in the device, just located in the wrong place. 

Apparently whilst some work was being done on the generator, the charger circuit was turned off causing the batteries to fail and caused the upset to this device. 

This is quite common however, as many devices suffer similar issues on a decaying voltage. The internal memory do not like this type of failure. 

After moving the PCL settings file to the correct directory and a quick re-boot, I was able to bring communication harmony back to the site.

The PL1000E was a powerful little device, I'm not convinced the setup and configuration is a good solution but in the absence of any alternative, it will have to do!

Happy customer and happy end user.