Did you know that you can now use 10K Type II temperature sensors in addition to 10K Type III in CBAS? This means that if Type II sensors are in place when retrofitting controllers at a site, you don’t have to change them.
The use of Type II is limited to the LX line of controllers. You must have a CBAS19 version and LX firmware dated January 15, 2020 or later for this to work.
Did you know that Binary Outputs can be locked out if your power supply is inadequate?
If the power being supplied to the controller is inadequate, all binary outputs will be locked in the OFF state until adequate power is returned. This way the controller continues to run, and if you have alarms setup, you will be notified that the equipment did not start. To know for sure whether this is Binary Lockout or your controller is defective, you must check Controller Diagnostics.
The MN-S series of LCD Display Sensors are a popular choice due to their simplicity and flexibility. Did you know that you can also use the sensor to view the serial address of the UNI, VAV or Stat Interface Board that the MN-S sensor is connected to?
We were recently asked if it would be possible to utilize CO2 sensors with the VAV-B in order to control CFM setpoints. At this particular site, they want to add CO2 sensors to some of the VAV-Bs and command the CFM setpoint to the MAX CFM when CO2 gets above 800 ppm. In the VAV-B manual, there is a scenario that explains how to do this when the CO2 sensor is directly attached to the VAV-B. It is located at the end of the manual in Appendix B.
But what if you don’t have any available inputs on the VAV-B and your CO2 sensor is located on a different controller? In this case, the logic to make this happen will have to come from CBAS.
Did you know that you can simulate your logic programming without having to go into Real Mode or wiring up controllers? This can be really handy, especially when testing central plant operation without having to do it live.
When you look at the list of points, either in Text View or Hardware View, you see the point name on the left. To the right of that is the status of the point, and to the right of that is the priority of the point.
In July of 2018, I wrote an article about The Importance of Probe in BACnet. As a quick recap, when you probe a BACnet Controller in CBAS, the resulting probe file allows points to be imported into the database easily with minimum manual data input. Probing also automatically sets some of the BACnet services that the controller supports, like Read Property Multiple and COV (Change of Value). These are two services that can make BACnet communications more efficient.
CBAS software can be started in several different modes, one of which is GW Mode, also known as Graphical Workstation Mode.
On the DPU, also known as the Automation Server or Front End PC, CBAS software runs the database for the building in Real Mode and communicates in real-time to each of the controllers at the site. Additional PC’s on the network can run CBAS in GW Mode and connect to the DPU, allowing for several users to simultaneously work with a database.
Traditionally, most CBAS Graphics are generated on the CBAS Server. Did you know that you can edit CBAS graphics on a different computer, then restore only the graphics changes back to the CBAS Server? This requires CBAS version 17 or later.
Did you know that you can set up groups of users in CBAS that have the same rights as individual users?
To add users and groups in CBAS, go to System, then Program Passwords and you will see the user list:
It’s good practice to create a user and password for everyone who will be using CBAS. Typically, your most experienced users will have rights to view, command, and program nearly everything in the system. Meanwhile, security users might only have rights to see Activity View and acknowledge alarms, but must log in to do so. You might also have less experienced engineers who are only allowed to view data in the system without the ability to command points or make changes to programming.