SRC 3000 - 8.3.2. Several Stations Fail

39
Dealing with Failing Stations
2. Perform an "electrical test" as described in "Running the Electrical Test" in Chapter 7: Troubleshooting
from the Ranger Converter 3000. This will activate each in turn - if you see stations failing, chances
are that they are on a stretch of the two-wire that has been orphaned by a break of the loop in the
field.
3. If everything is still OK, close the loop and open it in the other (detach the opposite two-wire of the
one you just tried) end and re-run the test.
If the same stations keep failing, you should look at the instructions in the following section "Dealing with
Failing Stations".
8.3. Dealing with Failing Stations
More often than not, what seems to be a faulty station is really a problem on the two-wire between the station
and the Ranger Converter 3000, since this is the most vulnerable part of your system.
The approach to troubleshooting failing stations vary a bit depending on whether you just have one, or
several failures - the following two sections talk about each scenario.
8.3.1. A Single Station Fails
If the failing station has just been installed, did you remember to assign an ID to the decoder?
If the failing station has been known to work, perform the electrical test (See Section 7.1.2, “Running the
Electrical Test” [39])) on the station in question and follow these guidelines:
If there's little or no reaction from the stations
1. Go to the station in the field and perform these
tests:
• Check wires and connections between the
two-wire, the station and the solenoid (see figure
on next page).
• Short circuit the two-wire at the station and use
a clampmeter (see Section 8.4.1, “Using a
Clampmeter” [51]) to check if power is still OK.
In this case, the current should be > 200 mA. Iif
this is the case, the problem is in the station or
solenoid, and not on the two-wire between the
station and the Ranger Converter 3000 (see
figure on next page).
• Detach the solenoid and measure the resistance
of the solenoid itself. Compare this to another
solenoid of the same type (the resistance is
typically 20-60 ohms.) If the resistance is
significantly higher, try replacing it.
Note
Some solenoids come with a diode
on one of the wires. This means that
the solenoid is polarized and the
connection of the white wires from
the decoder to the solenoid is