Silo Track Software...Don’t sweat the small stuff

I was happily sitting at my desk today, reading up on how one of my colleague was spending his week when the phone rang from a frantic caller wanting to know why his SiloTrack inventory software wasn’t working with his SiloPatrol® level sensors. He had installed his SiloTrack software around 2 years ago and didn’t have a problem with it until he received a call from his inventory controller letting him know that both of his second generation SiloPatrol SMU’s were reporting a COM error in the software. From the get-go, he was adamant on getting support, and from the sounds of it, he had not been in this situation before. For the record, his electricians had to do some work on the vessels, so the power was turned off to the sensors the previous day, but upon restoration of the power, the sensors reported a COM error.

 
I proceeded to walk him through the normal rings of troubleshooting a COM error in SiloTrack.
 
Power? Check. End-user was able to climb up to the sensors and perform a manual measurement. (Users who may have problems like this frequently, listen up)
Good connections? Check. End-user was also able to verify that the sensors were properly addressed and that there was no solder bridging between the two wires of the RS-485 cable on the DB-9 connector. At this time, I presumed that he had measured the resistance of the two wires. While this is a good practice, you must remember to do this when all power to the sensor(s) is OFF. This measurement, in a good environment, should read about 120 ohms depending on how much network termination resistor switches are in the ‘on’ position. (Remember, you only want the end points of your network to have those switches in the ‘on’ position) This proves that there are no breaks in your RS485 line running from the PC to the sensors. But wait! I would imagine when he had measured the resistance, he had accidentally pulled out the Y-cable from the RS485 PCI card and it had fallen on the floor. The call had dropped for some odd reason, and I was about ready to yank all my hair out while I was calling him back, only to him getting on the phone and explaining what had happened.

At least he knows now exactly what to check for when he has this problem! I hope that all the other users who may have this problem check all the necessary things, as well as checking to make sure all the connections into your equipment are sound! Don’t sweat the small stuff!

John Mish
Sales / Technical Support
Monitor Technologies

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Comments

[Greg DeRudder]

There are a few other instances where "sensors stopped working overnight" because the circuit breaker placement was adjacent to overhead light breakers and personnel accidentally turning the sensor breaker off when they extinguished the lighting for the night and then not turning the sensor breaker back on in the morning.

[Joe Lewis]

I remember the one about the user who wired his BulkSonics through the switch for the outdoor lights LOL... someone had turned the lights off and they didn't know why the units were no longer working... darn those ultrasonic units anyhow.