Summaries Feature in the Text View Menu – Part 1

Last month I wrote about Logical Groups, a feature that resides on the Text View Menu. This month I will continue with the Text View Menu and talk about the first few “Summaries”, which can make things easier for you to see if everything in your building is operating as expected. Click Text View and you will see the menu.

The first “summary” after All Points and Logical Groups, is Alarm Summary. Clicking this menu item will give you a list of all points in your building’s database that are currently in Alarm condition based on the parameters that are set for the Alarm on the point. If there is no Alarm set on the point, then nothing can appear in this summary. Also, it doesn’t matter if an Alarm is not set up to require acknowledgment. Not all Alarms are set up that way, but the point will still turn red in any view within CBAS.

Checking the Alarm Summary on a regular basis, like daily or more often, is a good way for technicians and building engineers to check the health of the building automation system and allow them to get ahead of any problems.

The second summary is WireCheck Summary. If you weren’t aware, LX controllers have a feature that checks all hardware points to see if the correct kind of device is wired to the correct point and it is wired correctly. If you have a point that is in WireCheck, the status of the point will be yellow and the Priority column will show WIRE. In some cases, the point can still work and in other cases, the point will be disabled to avoid any damage to either the controller or the wired field device. Click the WireCheck Summary and you will see all LX points that are in WireCheck. The technician or engineer can investigate to make sure that the device is correct and it is wired properly.

The next summary is the Lost Communications Summary. Click the menu item and you will see something similar to this picture.

The summary doesn’t show actual points like the last 2 summaries. This one shows the names of the controllers that are lost and doesn’t discriminate against any communication protocols. The picture above shows LX controllers, BACnet controllers, OPTO, and BASNet 485.

Summaries are a good way to stay ahead of problems with the CBAS System. I will continue with Summaries next month in Part 2.

I would also like to invite all interested to check out the documentation section of Computrols Web Site. It contains manuals and information on all aspects of our CBAS and our controllers. You can also find Change Logs pertaining to the changes in CBAS, CBASWeb, and firmware on the same page: https://www.computrols.com/support/documentation/